Proverbs 14:14 Commentary and Bible Study

As in the previous two proverbs there is an element here of our present condition catching up with us in the future. The Hebrew word translated ‘backslider’ means one who turns back, who moves away, or turns away. Christians commonly use the term to refer to a true believer who has fallen temporarily but not fatally into disobedience, but here the term describes one who has abandoned the faith altogether. However this is not necessarily obvious to all; the words ‘in heart’ suggest that this is a secret falling away and that outwardly he keeps up his worshipping habit and his associations with God’s people. Maybe he is in the early stage of decline, but you cannot tell from the outside what is going on in the heart. Something has changed so that his love for God has grown lukewarm, but to begin with he still wishes to be known as a believer and so keep up the externals. How far this decline will go is hard to say for God alone knows the heart, but the reality is that we cannot be sure about the status of the backslider and their turning away is cause for serious concern about their spiritual state. If they continue in this state and do nothing to seek the Lord’s face again in repentance and prayer, then eventually what is hidden in the heart must come out into the open. They will lose all desire for fellowship and for the teaching of Scripture, and their backsliding will be seen by all. Their horizons will be filled with earthly things and these will be the biggest things in their lives. Because they love the world, the love of God will be squeezed out, for no man can serve two masters. Let us therefore keep our hearts diligently, just because once the current of this world gets a grip on us, it is very difficult to turn the ship of our lives back in the right direction again. The verb ‘have his fill’ is not actually present in the second half of the verse, but the contrast implies that it should be supplied to complete the sense. It is right however for it to be translated differently in the second half of the verse because Solomon makes a deliberate contrast between the backslider who has his fill in a negative sense of his ways, and the good man who has his fill in another sense. In the first case the thought is that he is given what he does not want, and his backsliding ways rebound upon him to his eternal hurt, but the second part of the verse teaches that the good man is blessed by the Lord in the reward he experiences for his faithfulness. He seeks his satisfaction in the things of God and he will not be disappointed. His joy comes from serving the Lord, studying his word, obeying his commandments, and anticipating the return of Christ. There is no safer place for the believer than to be wholly taken up with the Lord.