Proverbs 15:29 Commentary and Bible Study

To have the friendship of the Lord is a blessing of inestimable worth, and the righteous would be appalled at the prospect of continuing a single day without it. Nevertheless it is not something which troubles the wicked, nor do they think much about it. Their lives are lived far from God and they do not feel any need for his help. They are not in the habit of praying at all and certainly do not rely on prayer or treat it as the breath that they breathe in order to live. It does not worry them that they are far from God or that he is far from him, because they believe they on their own, and assume they have sufficient resources without him to solve every difficulty they encounter along the way. They do not have the defence of the Lord but must fight their enemies alone. They do not have the instruction of the Lord but must be their own teachers even though they are without understanding of what matters most. They do not have the comfort of the Lord and so must weep alone with no solution in sight to death and hell. They do not have the guidance of the Lord and so must make every choice on the basis of sight and not of faith. They do not have the friendship of the Lord and so are not party to his most intimate secrets about the meaning and purpose of life. They do not have the love of God and so Christ does not lay down his life for them and their sins remain without a propitiation. He sees nothing in them that pleases him and so he does not make them to sense his peace. God puts all his help and his salvation far beyond their reach.But to the righteous the state of the wicked is a terrifying one. The prospect of a single day in this godless condition is awful to the righteous. They could not live without the knowledge that God is their Father and is bringing them to glory. All of the myriad confusing events that happen in life are under his control and by his infinite skill are turned to their advantage. God is so close to them that he hears their prayer, even their silent unspoken prayer and the desires expressed in their hearts which only he can read. He hears these because he is sympathetic to the righteous as a father is sympathetic to his own beloved children. He wants them to ask him because he rejoices in their happiness in having him respond to them. Prayer is a very quiet and unnoticed phenomenon in this world but God notices it and make it the occasion of wonderful things taking place. Even from the whale’s belly or from the jaws of death he hears.