Proverbs 3:7 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Proverbs 3:7

Comments

This is particularly a stumbling block to us, the younger we are. Personal conceit is the greatest mistake for a believer, a seeker after the Lord. You have only got to round up all the things the Lord Jesus Christ said to those symbols and representatives of pride, the Scribes and the Pharisees. God hates pride. God will not bless us when we are proud, wise in our own eyes. I look at myself and I think, how wise you are. Do not do it, says Solomon. You cut yourself off from God, and you make a fool of yourself. Do not trust your ideas; do not trust your instant reactions to things. Do not form speedy judgments: ‘I think this, I think that, my opinion is this.’ Here is a tendency and a snare when we are young, but also when we are old too. When we are young particularly and we succeed in doing something well, the young heart glows for hours, the younger the person, the more we feel how good I am for that, and doesn’t the world encourage this response? Why you have only got to be able to jump over a bit of stick, and they make you feel, I am great. And then they say to you, if you could feel that you were even greater, you would jump over that stick a little higher, it is all a matter of confidence they say. We are even trained this way these days, to respond to our little accomplishments with tremendous pride, and to bask and wallow and to preen ourselves, and to think how wonderful we are. And the younger we are, the greater is the tendency to react in a proud way to any success.

Application

What can I do about it? Look at the second part of this verse: here are the great antidotes to over-trusting our own judgement. ‘Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.’ It does not at first sight look as though it is connected, but it is. You get a good view of God as you sincerely worship him and remember his eternal nature, his infinite power and glory; there is nothing like that to humble the sinner, to humble the individual Christian. Remember grace, fear the Lord, remember his wonderful mercy to you. It is only by mercy that you stand. Fear to grieve him, worship him, that is very humbling.

And secondly, focus on avoiding sin. Why, if I examine my heart every day, and if I really do repent of my sin every day, and if I focus on battling against my faults and my weaknesses, that will take away my conceit and my pride. Solomon helps us here - Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord, and shun, depart from, evil. Get on with fighting the battle against all your faults and your failings, that will keep you humble says Solomon. So we are helped.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Proverbs 3:7 Commentary and Bible Study