Proverbs 15:17 Commentary and Bible Study

Again Solomon focuses our attention on the inner life and gives it a value far above all externals. It is a fallacy in the thinking of many who do not know God that happiness is equated with material things, that they have a power to lift up the soul, that they are a more important factor in arriving at enjoyment of life than anything else. The unbeliever does not understand himself and does not know how to find contentment. Where love is, there is an absence of rivalry, of jealousy, of exhibitionism and pride. There is instead kindness, genuine interest and care, a desire to help and to build up, an understanding of man’s fragile mortal condition, and an awareness that God must intervene if anyone is to be delivered from the consequences of sin. Fellowship among believers is a wonderful thing, for only in their company is there a true admission of human weakness and a real embracing of God’s solution in the gospel. Unless this is the foundation of fellowship, then all ties of human friendship are only temporary; they are only a brief delay before the night comes when there can be no friendship. The Christian has discovered the secret of contentment in the most humble of circumstances, in the simplest and least sophisticated of environments. His joy comes from the Lord and he is ready to put up with small means in this life, to wander in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, rather than to compromise with the unrighteousness of the world. If God thinks fit to keep him in lowly circumstances in this life, he does not resent it, for what the Lord has stored up for his people more than compensates for any equality here. The opposite to the simple meal of herbs is the fatted calf – a great feast prepared with all the trimmings, a banquet set up in grand surroundings, with expensive furnishings fit for a king which flatter his dignity. And yet with that there is an undertone of rivalry, jealousy, bitterness, and seeking of revenge. In some circles, this is masked by civility as demanded by etiquette, but there is no love found, and if the restraints were removed open warfare would break out.