Proverbs 16:6 Commentary and Bible Study

The verses in this chapter could be taken as a gospel message: Vs 2 – Though man seems righteous to himself, he is far from it in God’s eyes; Vs 3 – Your life need not be utterly wasted and all that you do worth nothing, for God will make your life profitable if you commit it to him; Vs 4 – However, if you choose to be wicked then remember that even the wicked serve God’s purposes and will provide a demonstration of his justice; Vs 5 Pride in particular is in the heart of everyone that does not choose God’s ways and it will not go unpunished; Vs 6 – But for those who turn realising their sin and who appeal to the mercy of God, then God will provide a way in righteousness to deliver them from all their sin; Vs 7 – The blessings that follow the just state for the encouragement of all those who hesitate; Vs 8 – You may not think that you have much in this world when you forsake all to follow Christ, but what you have is truly given to you by God to enjoy rather than being obtained by wickedness.The salvation of a single lost soul is an insurmountable problem. It is beyond the power of anyone in this world and beyond even the combined power and skill and learning of the whole of mankind put together. Even if all the advance in knowledge which human beings have made were to be employed, man would not begin to know how to take away the guilt of a single sin, for the conscience senses that the payment of debt is more than it can afford, and the sticking plasters which human wisdom apply to the conscience do not relieve the pain.But God has a remedy for us in the gospel if only human beings will avail themselves of it. By mercy and truth it is done, that is, by mercy operating according to truth. God is able to forgive sin and to do what is impossible for man to do, and the driving force behind this forgiveness is his mercy, which looks down from heaven and sees the misery of mankind and is moved by it. But God’s mercy cannot bypass his other attributes; it must act according to truth, and truth demands an unavoidable payment which means that mercy is costly. If mercy is willing to proceed with the plan of redemption, truth insists that it follows the path of justice and takes no short cut. Christ must make an atonement for sin, not just a token payment but a payment equivalent to that which the law demands from sinful men, women, and children. In this way sin is covered. It is put out of sight with a covering that hides it from view. It is hidden from the eyes of God himself for by an act of his own will he decides to hide our sins from the view of his righteous anger. Justice covers our sins under the atoning sacrifice of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing is able to take that covering away again. It is a source of eternal wonder that God can do this, for his holiness and his wrath against sin is such a powerful force within him. He has not intellectually forgotten our sin, but as far as his indignation against evil is concerned it has already been punished, and he is willing to accept the sacrifice of the Son in place of his people.The right response to such unfathomable and far reaching attributes of God as mercy and truth, especially when they work for the covering of our sin, is that we should fear the Lord. The gift of justification naturally leads to a grateful determination to turn away from evil, and regeneration forms the foundation of sanctification. The proverb undoubtedly connects these two things together. We fear the Lord not just out of a sense of his holiness and power. These might cause us to fear the Lord in terror at the vengeance which he could exercise on us. But the fear of the Lord changes and becomes even more effective when that fear arises from his kindness and love towards us. Then it becomes a fear that arises from a fear of ingratitude, from a fear of offending one who has done so much good towards us already.