Proverbs 11:27 Commentary and Bible Study

What we seek for others we also seek for ourselves, for the justice of God ensures it is so. The reward or punishment we receive is the one which we thought to assign to others, and nothing is more fitting than that the measure we use for others should be used to measure our own portion. Yet few consider this at the time; few think of what will be returned to them by God for their dealings towards others. If they did, they would show much greater kindness to their enemies and not exaggerate their faults; they would show restraint in their outpourings of retribution, knowing that they will receive the same themselves in recompense. But so close is the connection that he who seeks good is seeking his own favour. The proverb is of course speaking of seeking good for others, in agreement with the second half of the verse. It is a very pleasant task for those who already have all that they could desire in Christ to be seeking good for others. They have enough, and they are almost in a position where they have been asked by a rich benefactor to distribute his riches to the needy, and to enjoy doing so as if those riches were their own. This is the case because all that we have has been given to us by the Lord. But he who seeks evil for others gets exactly what he seeks, only it comes to him totally unexpectedly. He ought not to be so foolish as to be taken by surprise, but he does not understand the ways of the Lord.