Proverbs 14:22 Commentary and Bible Study

Nothing that we do goes unnoticed by the Lord, indeed he sends circumstances that deliberately draw out responses from us that reveal the inner workings of our hearts. This he does to show us what we are, what we are capable of, for the inner recesses of our hearts and the perversity of them is to some an extent a mystery even to ourselves. The word ‘devise’ means ‘to fabricate’, though it is also translated ‘to cut’ or ‘to engrave’, or ‘to plough’. The idea is of someone who turns over a situation in their minds and having no restraining influence on them due to the fear of God, they plan to speak evil or to do evil in order to reach some goal, and they are not afraid to break the commandments of God in the process. They are inventive and their inventions carry them far away from righteousness, but this is not something that concerns them. To devise evil is one stage worse than simply to do evil, for devising involves forethought and planning. It means that we employ our highest faculties in fabricating a path for ourselves which we know to be evil. No one who devises evil can say they were caught unawares by it or that they did not have time to think about it. God’s people also make plans and focus their minds on what is good and noble and true. Though he gives us the ability to think and to plan, he does not deliver ready made plans to us and leave us nothing to do. Instead we use the minds we have been given to devise a way forward, but the godly man is careful to observe the boundaries and to limit the possibilities to what does not transgress the commandments of God. His reward is that God works for him, and often sends providences which assist him, but always blesses him with mercy and truth. Mercy is our constant need, for we sin daily and come daily for God’s pardon. If mercy were not the basis of God’s relationship with us, we would soon be cast aside. Why is mercy needed by those who devise good? Because the conduct of even the best of us is a mixture of good and evil, and though our general direction may be towards what is good, we still have continual need of mercy. God’s truth is also given to us, which means that we possess the truth, and belong to the truth, and enjoy the truth of God.