Proverbs 10:9 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Proverbs 10:9

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Now here is another aspect of sanctification. The contrast is between integrity, uprightness, and honesty before God and men, and furtiveness, cunning, concealment. The first walks in the daylight of heaven, but the second belongs to the night of this world. Even among men, the furtive are seldom entirely successful, because those who know them well see through their deceptive ways. Solomon’s proverbs often contain an element of surprise, and if this proverb was strictly symmetrical we would expected the second half to say that the one who perverts his ways is unstable, insecure, but instead he adds a twist, going beyond the comparison we expected, and compares walking surely with being known. Life is too complex for anyone to plot their course through it precisely and with safely, but the proverb tells us that wisdom knows how to find the best course, for it follows integrity and leaves events to the Lord. He takes note of the honest heart and rewards it with protection from unknown dangers; consequently, the upright approach life with great confidence. By contrast, the perverse man tries to use his cunning to navigate life and is not afraid to employ dishonest means. However he never arrives at his goal: not only does he lack the peace of mind of the upright, but he is exposed as one who perverts his ways. The simple life of the upright is so much better than the complex pathway of the deceiver.

Application

Oh, Lord, deliver me from doing anything of which I would be ashamed, concealed activities, hidden-up inconsistencies, and indeed within families. What is the family life like? What is it like in the home? Would you be ashamed umpteen hours of the day if somebody, somehow, fellow believers were to come to the front door of the house, somehow or other it had not been securely fastened and the bell didn't work and so in good faith they just push open the door and come into the house and enter into the side room or the back room and there something is going on among the family which you wouldn't ever want them to have seen or known? Well, friends, the proverb applies to you. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely, but the person who hides up sins and does not deal with them and lets them go on and has a shameful, hidden aspect in life or in family or in anything – he will fall. You won't be sure in your spiritual life. You will have to come under chastisement or you will get into an even worse state. So here is another challenge. We have to be open and honest and make sure that all departments of life could, if necessary, be seen and inspected without shame.

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Proverbs 10:9 Commentary and Bible Study