Last time we looked at the sin of sloth, and what God desires of our service to Him. This time, we will be looking at a portrait of a man consumed by wickedness—the exact opposite of keeping our hearts in godly wisdom (Prov. 6:12-15), and what God hates about this (verses 16-19). Here is the first half of today’s text:
12 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, 13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, 14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; 15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
The expression, “a worthless person” means literally, a “man of Belial,” or a man of the devil or demons. It refers to wicked men and women who intentionally go out and entice others to do evil (Deut. 13:13), do abominations themselves (Judges 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam. 1:16; 2:16), or who take on evil tasks that require things like lying, subversion, or false testimony (1 Kgs 21:10, 13; 2 Chron. 13:7). They are regarded as consumed by wickedness; people who actively seek out evil for personal gain. The contrast was such that Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:15, “What agreement does Christ have with Belial?” The implied answer is nothing. Interestingly enough, such men of Belial show singular loyalty. . . to wickedness. Many are the dedicated slaves to evil, and they do so with reckless abandon and even glee. Other texts in Scripture teach that it is out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks (Lk. 6:45), portraying one’s mouth as the litmus for the condition of one’s heart. “Crooked speech” thus contrasts righteous speech, as this personification of wisdom shows: “All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them” (Prov. 8:8).
In verse 13, “winking with his eyes” depicts evil intent, signalling with his feet depicts something covert, and pointing with his finger something particular to communicate his evil desire. Put another way, the eye often represented the desire of one’s heart, the feet going to the place to carry it out, and the hand the actually carrying out of the deed. This seems to depict the whole body being involved in carrying out his evil designs. Verse 14 seems to also confirm this, showing that his evil stems from his heart to wreak havoc continually. The result of one so consumed with evil is sudden destruction.
If this description did not describe this evil explicitly enough, Solomon taught that God utterly detests all that characterize these children of Belial:
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
This whole passage can be used to describe the portrait of the wicked man in verses 12-15. In fact, verses 16-19 even explicitly repeat the content of verses 12-15 in greater detail, helping us to further see the portrait of the wicked man as something God utterly hates. The things described here are also written so that we can know what to hate. Matthew Henry’s Commentary says, “These things which God hates, we must hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. Let us shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them, whatever may be their rank.” This portrait is not to be found in the professing church, as Paul commands, “Purge the evil person from among you,” for wickedness, when given welcome between professing believers, comes to spread like gangrene or as yeast in a lump of dough. It is a poison diametrically opposed to the pursuit of godly wisdom and the keeping of hearts for God. Indeed, it epitomizes the way of evil. If only more would show such dedication to the cause of Christ as many do to the cause of evil! And you, if you are a believer, can show such dedication to Christ—not on your own merit or warrant, but through faithful trust in the grace of God through Christ, and by carefully and willfully subjecting every aspect of your life to Him. This is the pursuit of godly wisdom: magnifying the fear of the Lord in your life according to all that God teaches in His Word. Take Him lightly—which is the opposite of godly fear—and your life will be marked by compromise and ineffectiveness for the Lord. The way of wisdom is aptly named, for there is no better way to live. Cultivate the gift you received when you became Christ’s and leave no provision for the flesh.
Next time we will be looking at the place of the commandment in this teaching.