Proverbs 19:3 Commentary and Bible Study

Mankind is fallen from his original state of righteousness in which he came from the hand of his Creator so that it is not possible now to see what he once was. Part of that fall involves the removal of the wisdom which he was originally given. This effect is universal so that all who come into the world come in the same fallen state. They lack wisdom particularly in relation to God, so that they worship created things instead of the Creator, and their minds are blinded so that they will not receive his testimony to their souls and turn and take advantage of the salvation that is offered in Christ. The same foolishness makes every individual pervert their way by choosing out for themselves paths that lead to destruction and preferring sin to righteousness, being rebels against the Lord all their lives. The word translated ‘fretteth’ also means ‘rages’ or ‘is vexed’. The natural man chafes under God’s government and feels uncomfortable, the word also contains a strong element of resentment and anger. Refusal to obey God goes hand in hand with complaining about his standards. Unconverted men and women must defend their rebellion by building up a case against the Lord. His laws, they says, are unreasonable, restrictive, impractical, authoritarian, and downright unpleasant; why should anyone take them seriously? Moving on from here, they not only object to his laws, but they complain about the Lord who gave them. Life becomes a battle with the Lord, which shows itself in all manner of ways. What is atheism, but a campaign born of hatred for the Lord? God is cursed by the atheist in his moments of strongest feeling, even though he claims not to believe in him. There is this hypocrisy at the heart of atheism.The Christian has a new nature given him at conversion, but even he must take account of the fallen nature that still remains within, for ‘the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other’ (Galatians 5:17). At times the motions of the flesh are hardly suppressed, so that we are uneasy against the discipline of the Lord, as if we are uncomfortable under God’s standards.