Proverbs 17:5 Commentary and Bible Study

The first part of the proverb is similar to Proverbs 14:31 but instead of oppression it considers mocking of the poor. The one in mind here is capable of tremendous cruelty and unjustified superiority. He looks down on others who are less favoured in material terms than he is and despises them, as if there is some inherent worth in him that makes God treat the two of them differently. The poor deserve to suffer as they do, but he has been given a better position in life because God knows that he is deserving of it. When he sees others suffering, he is callous in his indifference and feels no responsibility to do anything to help them. He is free from any ties to his neighbour and so turns his back on the suffering of others. The proverb points out two things that are the enemy of Christian fellowship: a proud superior spirit, and a callous indifference to the plight of others. But did God ever make a defective believer? Is there some fault in God that he has made that other one like that? Do we have the right to say, God has made me better than that one? It is a very dangerous attitude, for all that we have comes from the Lord, and his work in his people is perfect, and his wisdom creates the violet as well as the oak tree. The church has value not only in the sum total of its individual members, but in the love and kindness that operates between its members. God may create one who has greater needs just because he wants to make an opportunity for mercy to be expressed, and for his people to be characterised by care for the weak. To be pleased therefore at the calamities of others is a sign that we do not belong to the body and do not identify other believers as our eternal companions in Christ. When we see others fall, we should naturally come to their aid, in prayer, and if possible by practical means also.