Proverbs 19:26 Commentary and Bible Study

According to the will of God we come into the world dependant on our parents, and he has appointed them to be the primary authority over us, since they are responsible for training us from the earliest stages of life. The 5^th commandment tells us our duty to honour our parents, and to accept their authority over us, as well as every other God-appointed authority on earth. Again, the subject is the receiving of discipline, and the warning here is the great foolishness of rejecting the authority of those appointed to be over us. To rebel against the authority of God’s appointees is to rebel against the authority of God himself, and it is impossible that we can submit to him and yet not submit to those he has ordained in this world to rule over us.The rebellion here is extreme. Solomon presents a son who is so incapable of accepting parental reproof that he develops a hostility to his father and his mother which actually leads to his taking revenge. He cannot see the difference between the administering of parental discipline, and the mistreatment or even assault by a son of his parents. The first is part of God’s order for society; the second is a violation of all proper government. It is something so ugly and unacceptable that it has been regarded by even unconverted society as something unseemly during the majority of earth’s history. The failure of a child to show respect to parents in the home leads to a dangerous attitude that is ready to overthrow all proper authority during life. No wonder it was treated so seriously under the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).He who will not submit to parents causes shame and brings reproach. If his parents have trained him wisely to the best of their ability, he brings shame on himself alone for failing to profit from their instruction. If they have shirked their duty and given him a bad example, then he brings shame on them also. God is the perfect Father and no blame can ever attach to him for the waywardness of mankind. He has set us a perfect example, commanded us, encouraged us, warned us, pleaded with us, threatened us, chastised us, and even made provision for our forgiveness and recovery from rebellion, and yet we still turn away. Short of electing us, there is nothing more that he could have done, but it is his sovereign right to give or withhold his electing mercy.