Proverbs 20:6 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Proverbs 20:6

Comments

A man of faithfulness, who can find? Such a man is very rare in the world, though not so rare, we trust and hope, among converted people. The deceptive influence here is quite clearly the power of self-justification. The word ‘goodness’, is from the verb ‘to bow’, it means graciousness. Most people, it says, will over-estimate their kindness to others, and their benevolence towards other people, their graciousness. Self-justification is the oldest disease in the world. You find it in the Garden of Eden. What have you done? says the Lord. It was not me, says Adam, it was ‘the woman that thou gavest me’. It is your fault, Lord. Eve also justified herself, and it has been going on ever since. It is in everyone, even Christian people. But the Christian should be a solid man, who will stick to his duties: his duty to others around him in kindness; his duty to unsaved people by giving the greatest kindness of all, the gospel; his duty to defend the Lord and the word, hold up his church, the work of God and never proclaim self. Be like the apostle Paul, faithful to the end.

Application

The world loves chat shows. They are broadcast endlessly. People who are non-stop boasting about their accomplishments, or their jokes – self-advertisement. It is getting even in to the Christian world. We look with amazement and we find this preacher or that preacher, or this church or that church has, of all things, a publicist on the payroll. A publicist! ‘Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness’ – that is, the world draws attention to itself and proclaims itself. For us it is realism we want, not self-assessment, self-justification. It is realism. Daily self-examination – what am I really like, Lord? What should I be giving attention to? We say I am a person who needs to be driven all the time, driven by myself, driven by the help of others, driven by the word of God. I need to be spurred on, reminded of my duties, and kept on the mark, and urged forward and encouraged. The last thing that I want is a bout of self-justification or self-assessment. And that is the idea of this proverb.

Questions

What does ‘faithful’ mean? The Hebrew word means something like this – a built up man, in other words, a reliable, solid person. And so we get to our King James translation, which is very good, a faithful-to-others person, someone who is solid and built up and established and reliable.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Proverbs 20:6 Commentary and Bible Study