Proverbs 25:26 Commentary and Bible Study

It is inappropriate for the righteous to back down, to be weak, or as the proverb says to totter, to be shaken, before the wicked. Why should they do so? Because there is corrupting moral pressure coming from the wicked to cause others to accept them as they are. Implicit in every act of wickedness is a challenge to God’s authority and a brazen defiance that dares to contradict the Lord. If anyone comes forward to defend God’s honour, they face the force of this defiance and if the wicked dare to contradict God to his face, who is man that he should presume to stop them? Certainly there may also be threats subtle and not so subtle from the wicked that those who do not cooperate with them will suffer for it. Appeals may be made to friendships which will be damaged unless there is approval of the wicked in their schemes, or else suggestions are made, especially from the powerful in this world, that it will go badly for any who do not cooperate. Napoleon bullied his way through life in order to get what he wanted and others gave way to him, even to the point of surrendering their own wives. The judges of Israel were told to be careful not to alter their judgments because of the fear of man (Exodus 18:21; Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17; 16:19).When a righteous man stands for the truth, it does not matter whether he is a single voice against a multitude and stands all alone: he has a powerful testimony. The consciences of all men stand on his side so that there are more who support him than his enemies realise. There is no need for him to totter, that is, to weaken in his stand for the truth and to begin to vacillate. God is on his side and he can stand against a multitude, only let him continue to stand. A man is required to give even his life for the sake of the truth. The comparison with a trampled spring or a polluted fountain is apt. The thirsty go to a spring to be relieved of their thirst. They may travel a great distance to reach it, but if cattle have got into the area and trampled the ground where the spring emerges, then the waters are not fit to drink. The spring or the fountain that should be a source of relief and clean water has become as corrupted as everything else around it. Integrity is too precious and too rare for someone to yield it up under pressure.