Proverbs 30:12 Commentary and Bible Study

The verse describes an enigma, something which is common, but no less remarkable for that. Solomon applies this series of human failings to himself, and this is the point of his list. The repentant sinner is no longer looking at others but he is looking primarily at himself. He realises that he belongs to a fallen human race, and he cannot absolve himself from any of these faults, so he confesses them to God. But how does it happen that these two things are true at the same time: that a man is pure in his own eyes, and yet he is not justified from his filthiness, his sins? Is he deliberately lying? No, for he is pure in his own eyes not in someone else’s eyes. This is more profound than a simple lie. These are people who have positively (we must not say honestly or sincerely) judged themselves to be pure from faults. And yet, for all that, there is deception involved, self-deception. Are they totally unaware of their own remaining filthiness? No, but somehow, they have performed a trick by which they count what remains as nothing, not worth considering. They have seen their sin in part, but they have told themselves that in their case it is not sin. In their case there is good reason for it. It would be sin in others, but in them it is excusable; it is not really a fault. Self-deception gets to work and is so incessant that eventually they listen to their own lies and give themselves a clean bill of health, spiritually. It is a very hard thing for a person to see their own sins because they generate from within them this avalanche of arguments intended to excuse them. They learn to live as those who are blind to their own faults, although they may still be very good at seeing the faults of others. All human being put this enormous effort into justifying themselves, because conscience will not let them live at peace with guilt.