Proverbs 16:31 Commentary and Bible Study

Solomon expresses the thought of this proverb positively, but the opposite negative possibility is not far away. The hoary head or the grey head is a crown of shame if it is not found in the way of righteousness, for all those experiences of life have failed to teach that one anything of substance. By focusing exclusively on the positive, he shows the only acceptable outcome to a life, and that the Lord counts anything else to be a mark of rejection not only in this life but in the world to come. It is a wonderful thing that a man or woman has lived long in the world and has walked with the Lord all those years, carefully observing all God’s commandments, having a testimony to the world of the goodness and saving power of Jesus Christ, and seeking and obtaining the Lord’s guidance through many perplexing trials in this earthly life. What merit can we really claim for ourselves in holding on to the way of life, when it is the Lord who has preserved us, and picked us up many times from our falls, and yet God commends his aged saints in this way. A grey head is a well-known visible mark of the advance of the aging process and has therefore come to stand for that process itself. With old age comes the loss of physical strength, the transformation of the features into what is barely recognisable as the same person, the deterioration of all the senses, vulnerability to many weaknesses and illnesses, and all the ills described in Ecclesiastes 12. For the unbeliever that is the end of the story and there is nothing else that can be said to compensate for this loss. All of life the focus has been on the here and now, and there has been a clinging on to what is being irresistibly taken away by a stronger hand so that nothing of value is left. But the believer has profited from life in spite of the aging process, which means that he has gained from life something that old age is not able to take away and which has enduring value. This is triumph indeed, for when we manage to make gains in spite of the actions of a powerful enemy who works against us, then we have wisdom. The believer knows that he shares the common condition of fallen mankind, but he also knows how to thwart this enemy. He cannot overcome by clinging on to what the curse is determined to take away, but he can overcome by taking hold of that which the curse has no power over – the strengthening and growth of the inner man. This cannot be touched by old age, and escapes all its ravages. For him, the grey head is transformed into a badge of honour for what is notable about this one is that he has gained what death cannot take away and what will have lasting value in the world to come. He has gained the knowledge of God, the wisdom to live for God, and a record of service for the Lord that will bring an eternal reward. He has seen the danger and avoided it, for he is found in the way of righteousness and he has stuck to it in spite of all the efforts of the enemy of souls.