Proverbs 20:27 Commentary and Bible Study

The picture is of someone going into a dark place with a candle or lamp and holding it up to see what is hidden in the remote, dark corners. The intriguing thing about the proverb is that the Lord is the one doing the searching and the spirit of man is the lamp which he uses to shed light on the dark corners. Why, we ask, does God need to borrow a lamp from his creature? Does he not have the ability to search the heart without using a lamp? Is it not the case that as David says, ‘the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee’ (Psalm 139:12)? Are not ‘all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do’ (Hebrews 4:13)? Certainly they are, and so we must conclude that if God uses the spirit of man as a lamp it is for man’s benefit not the Lord’s. By this means man is involved in the search as well as the Lord. The spirit of man is the conscious part of man which alone knows what takes places in his heart. The belly or abdomen here stands for the heart of man, the soul of man, the part which is hidden from all others besides the Lord. ‘What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?’ (1 Corinthians 2:11), asks the apostle Paul. Only a man’s own spirit could be involved in this search because all other spirits have no access to the hidden recesses of his own heart. The picture is then of self-examination. The conscious knowledge of what lies in our own thoughts and motives is like a lamp or a torch illuminating what its light falls on. As we meditate and examine our own thought processes we shed light on them, and of course what we know, the Lord also knows. He causes us to reflect on our own ways and we ought to realise that as we do so, he also knows all that we know about ourselves and more. We consider our emotional responses to situations, our reactions to trials, our hopes and aspirations, our desires and affections, our joys and sorrows. All these things tell us about ourselves. Some things we are ashamed of, and other things we delight in. Some things we want the Lord to see and other things we would rather the Lord did not see, but we must bring all to him because all within our hearts is real and our sins must be forgiven which they cannot be if they are hidden from him.The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord not just when we sit in an armchair and reflect on life and consciously meditate, but every moment as we evaluate events that meet us. Man’s conscious attention to the movements of his heart is the Lord’s lamp scrutinising us. Does God’s knowledge stop there? No, but he shows us ourselves. What do we turn our attention to? Can we choose? Yes, but our choices reveal more about us and they too are illuminated. The believer’s heart is searched as well as the unbeliever’s. The believer learns from his own heart. The Lord does not learn. He learns about his own depravity from what attracts him. The Lord searches what we think of Christ, and constantly tests our love as measured by our obedience. What do we think of sin? Do we hunger and thirst after righteousness? It is illumination for our sakes, not for the Lord’s? As we look within we are enabled to avoid a multitude of influences that would deceitfully draw us away from the truth.