Proverbs 14:12 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is the start of a new section with a proverb that highlights man’s refusal to see the consequences of his conduct. The process which a person goes through in defending their lifestyle is full of self-justification and self-deception. No one arrives at the conclusion that their life seems right without redefining many aspects of their behaviour and setting aside the verdict of conscience which would otherwise find fault with them. To be comfortable with what they are, they must tell themselves repeatedly that their good deeds are weightier than their bad, and that the good they see in themselves is genuine and unmixed. The Scripture says there are fixed principles that operate in our world and inevitable consequences. As unbelievers, we do not think in this way. We assume that everything is open and variable. This is a lawless age and it does not suit it to think in terms of fixed penalties. You might remind such a person that there are one hundred others that have tried this and come to grief, and yet he will still insist that it will not happen to him. We want a fluid situation, but Solomon, banging like a hammer, says fixed principles govern moral behaviour in this world. The Hebrew for ‘way’ means trodden path; Proverbs always speaks of roads when making a general statement about life. We do not like that either. If you set out on a certain road, you will get to the destination that road leads to. You may not want to reach that destination and you may wish to walk down that road without arriving at that place, but the law of consequences operates in your life. If God says that the way of sin leads to death, then to death it shall lead, and none can avoid this. Can I do as I like in this world or is there a God who has made absolutes principles which apply to me as well as to everyone else? Every lie which a man or woman tells themselves does them great harm for it seems to disconnect things which cannot really be disconnected. Thus the sinful soul alleviates the pain which it feels and manages to put out of sight the goal to which it is moving. Those little lies add up, and gradually our whole perspective is changed and moves into an invented fantasy world. This world does not comport with reality and the real will catch up with us suddenly with terrible destructive power. In surprise many will say, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?’ (Matthew 7:22), but the result will be the same nevertheless. How terrible to think you are walking the road that leads to life, only to find it leads to death. How awful will be the disappointment of a soul that had high hopes of heaven (however groundless) and finds everything suddenly taken away from them.