Proverbs 29:6 Commentary and Bible Study

‘In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare.’ There may be a snare for others besides himself, for an evil example may be followed by others, but the proverb is referring to the snare which transgression creates for the one who gives way to it. The prover contrasts this state of bondage with the glorious freedom of those who are led by the Spirit and enjoy righteousness. The great contrast between the two is not something that is taken account of by those who belong to this world. In fact, they look at the matter entirely the other way round. The power of this proverb lies in its correction of this false way of thinking. To the worldling, the atheist, the libertine, bondage is any restraint on his lusts. He resents authority because it stands in the way of what he enjoys most, and it puts a most offensive barrier before him, appealing to his conscience in what he regards as an underhand way, to induce him to voluntarily give up what he loves most. Just as he resents the commands of authority, so he resents the voice of conscience, and he hates an appeal that awakens what he regards as a weakness within him. But the truth is that transgression is a snare. As Lawson says, it is a snare for those seduced by it, and it is a snare when they are involved in its miseries. Those who are in the grip of sin can try to convince themselves they are free to turn away from it at any time, but if they were to try the experiment, they would fail. They are enslaved to sin’s progressive character destruction as all that is noble and true is sacrificed in order to continue down sin’s pathway. How can the abortionist love their remaining children when they are ready to murder the child who is still so defenceless? How can the thief experienced the refined graces of compassion and generosity when he is willing to deprive others of what is rightfully theirs by means of cunning and deceit? Sin is a snare because we cannot set ourselves free from it. We can try to convince ourselves that we are free by pushing forward even more vigorously towards our lusts, but this is the freedom of one who has jumped from a plain and whose parachute has failed to open.The righteous however know a freedom that is another world to the evil man. The ache of unforgiven sins is gone. The ability to please God is a reality. Death does not mark the gloomy end of the road, but life goes on beyond it and climbs out of the grave. Sin’s numbing influence is broken and there is exultation in the heart because of what God is going to do with us in the future. Instead of all our greatest hopes having to be silenced and curtailed, hope can expand to the uttermost, to an unlimited degree. Every step along the way brings more experience, and the righteous sense that their strength is growing. If joy has to set an end date, it rapidly dies, but when joy can look forward to eternity it knows no bounds.