Proverbs 21:12 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Proverbs 21:12

Comments

Whether it is the righteous man or God who is considering the phenomenon of the success of the wicked, the purpose of the proverb is the same. It reflects on the fact that the wicked are allowed by God to make great gains in this world and not to be immediately overthrown. The effect of this on the wicked is to give them a false confidence, a sense that they have escaped God’s attention and avoided judgment, got away with sin, and triumphed over the righteous. But how short lived is their boasting! How little they understand what is happening to them, what God is doing with them! How much more accurate is the outlook of the righteous, even though they do not have all the answers. They know that God will judge the wicked, and though they sometimes wonder at his delay and at the patience of the Lord, in their moments of insight they say, ‘Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image’ (Psalm 73:18-20).

Application

We must not measure God’s justice by the present state of this world, which he has told us is temporary and soon to be reversed. Abraham says to the rich man, ‘Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented’ (Luke 16:25). The wicked have a house and it may be a great house. The temptation is to make this the measure of God’s approval, but what if God gives riches to those who he intends to overthrow? Righteousness needs patience to wait for Christ’s kingdom and power. We need strong faith to see the state of the world as temporary, believing that God can do all things and that he will reverse the prosperity of the wicked. We are to fret not ‘because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass’ (Psalm 37:7). God’s judgment when it comes will more than answer for his delay.

Questions

Although the Hebrew here is ‘the righteous’, the KJV translates the first part of this verse ‘the righteous man’, presumably because God is not mentioned and it would be very unusual to refer to God by this adjective alone. But since the second half of the verse speaks of the wicked being overthrown in judgment, it introduces the word God in the second half of the proverb even though the Hebrew does not have it. Other modern versions understand ‘the righteous’ to refer to God and make him the subject of both halves of the verse.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Proverbs 21:12 Commentary and Bible Study