Proverbs 14:13-24

TEXT Proverbs 14:13-24

13.

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful;

And the end of mirth is heaviness.

14.

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways;

And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

15.

The simple believeth every word;

But the prudent man looketh well to his going.

16.

A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil;

But the fool beareth himself insolently, and is confident.

17.

He that is soon angry will deal foolishly;

And a man of wicked devices is hated.

18.

The simple inherit folly;

But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

19.

The evil bow down before the good;

And the wicked, at the gates of the righteous.

20.

The poor is hated even of his own neighbor;

But the rich hath many friends.

21.

He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth;

But he that hath pity on the poor, happy is he.

22.

Do they not err that devise evil?

But mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

23.

In all labor there is profit;

But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

24.

The crown of the wise is their riches;

But the folly of fools is only folly.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 14:13-24

1.

Are there people who try to act happy when they really aren-'t, or is life an admixture of happiness and sorrow (Proverbs 14:13)?

2.

In the Bible whose mirth ended in heaviness (Proverbs 14:13)?

3.

A blackslider in heart is filled with his own ways instead of whose ways (Proverbs 14:14)?

4.

At what stage of life is one of the most apt to believe every word (Proverbs 14:15)?

5.

Cite other passages connecting fear with departing from sin (Proverbs 14:16).

6.

What does insolent mean (Proverbs 14:16)?

7.

Who hates a man of wicked devices (Proverbs 14:17)?

8.

Does life become better for the simple (Proverbs 14:18)?

9.

What are some Bible instances of Proverbs 14:19?

10.

Why do people not want to be companions of the extremely poor (Proverbs 14:20)?

11.

Do you see in Proverbs 14:21 a man despising his neighbor because he is poor, or is the first clause to be so limited?

12.

What are illustrations of devising evil (Proverbs 14:22)?

13.

What are illustrations of devising good (Proverbs 14:22)?

14.

What does penury mean (Proverbs 14:23)?

15.

What is meant by crown in Proverbs 14:24?

PARAPHRASE OF 14:13-24

13.

Laughter cannot mask a heavy heart. When the laughter ends, the grief remains.

14.

The backslider gets bored with himself; the godly man's life is exciting.

15.

Only a simpleton believes what he is told! A prudent man checks to see where he is going.

16.

A wise man is cautious and avoids danger; a fool plunges ahead with great confidence.

17.

A short-tempered man is a fool. He hates the man who is patient.

18.

A simpleton is crowned with folly; the wise man is crowned with knowledge.

19.

Evil men bow before the godly.

20.

Even his own neighbors despise the poor man, while the rich have many friends.

21.

To despise the poor is to sin. Blessed are those who pity them.

22.

Those who plot evil shall wander away and be lost, but those who plan good shall be granted mercy and quietness.

23.

Work brings profit; talk brings poverty!

24.

Wise men are praised for their wisdom; fools are despised for their folly.

COMMENTS ON 14:13-24

Proverbs 14:13. Fun and sorrow are found in both statements. Many who laugh may have inward sorrows they are either trying to suppress or cover up (first statement). Some who laugh easily cry just as easily. An old saying: Laugh before breakfast, and you will cry before night (probably superstition). Mirth sometimes precedes heaviness, like Belshazzar's feast (Daniel 5:1-6) and loose living (Proverbs 5:4).

Proverbs 14:14. A backslidden life is no longer filled with God's ways but with one's own. A backslider is one who has returned to selfish living. Clarke: Who is the backslider? 1. The man who once walked in the ways of religion but has withdrawn from them. 2. The man who once fought manfully against the world, the devil, and the flesh but has retreated from the battle or joined the enemy. 3. The man who once belonged to the congregation of the saints but is now removed from them and is set down in the synagogue of Satan. One backslides in heart before he does in his ways: people cease enjoying the assembly before they actually quit attending; they lose their touch with God in prayer before they drop the practice of prayer; etc. A good man (contrasted with the backslider) will be satisfied from himself because he is actually filled with God's good and holy ways which bring blessings and satisfaction.

Proverbs 14:15. Such are like children (Ephesians 4:14). Older people often amuse themselves by taking advantage of an innocent child's gullibility by telling him all kinds of yarns and tales. And some people grow up and never doubt anything they hear. In contrast the prudent man considers whither the advice given will lead him; he always acts with deliberation (Pulpit Commentary).

Proverbs 14:16. A wise man does not take dangerous chances, but a foolish man will (Proverbs 22:3). Joseph was a wise man who feared God and departed from the evil in which Potiphar's wife would have ensnared him (Genesis 39:9-12).

Proverbs 14:17. The Bible is against quick-temperedness: Titus 1:7; James 1:19; Proverbs 15:18; Proverbs 16:32. An angry man will deal foolishly because anger momentarily blurs one's judgment (a good reason for not losing one's temper). Jokingly, keep your tempernobody wants it. A man of wicked devices is hated of God (Proverbs 12:2), but two human groups who hate or abhor him are those who are hurt by his devices (like people who get robbed or cheated by some slick maneuver) and those who do not approve of them (Revelation 2:2).

Proverbs 14:18. Those at the low end of wisdom (the simple) participate or know only folly (foolishness) (Proverbs 18:2; Ecclesiastes 7:5-6); those at the top end (the prudent) are blessed with knowledge (Proverbs 9:9). A Stoic saying: The wise is the only king.

Proverbs 14:19. Pulpit Commentary: The final victory of good over evil is here set forth. However triumphant for a time and apparently prosperous the wicked may be, their success is not lasting; they shall in the end succumb to the righteous even as the Canaanite kings crouched before Joshua's captains (Joshua 10:24) and, hurled from their high estate, they shall stand humbly at the good man's door begging for bread to support their life (1 Samuel 2:36). The contrast here indicated is seen in our Lord's report of the rich man and Lazarus when the beggar is comforted and the rich man is tormented, and when the latter urgently sues for the help of the once despised outcast to mitigate the agony which he is suffering (Luke 16:24). When troubles hit the wicked and ungodly (those who never go to church;, they often turn to the righteous for sympathetic help and comfort (a preacher, the church, or some good Christian). Ultimately the wicked will bend (Daniel 3:24-26; Daniel 3:28-30; Daniel 5:13; Daniel 5:16; Revelation 3:9).

Proverbs 14:20. There is a certain shame and disgrace to extreme poverty that causes even neighbors not to be associated with such in people's minds. This is why people are often ashamed of their poor relatives (Proverbs 10:7), their clothes, their car, their home, their ways, etc. But people are usually glad to claim relationship and friendship with the financially successful (a saying: Success makes false friends and true enemies). The rich have many friends, especially if they are generous -with their gifts or have powers and offices to bestow.

Proverbs 14:21. But we are not to despise our neighbor (even if he is poor, as in Proverbs 14:20). Some have no sense of respect or honor, seemingly despising, belittling, and running down everyone continually. Let us not thus violate the second commandment (Mark 12:31), but let us have pity upon the poor (Galatians 2:10; Matthew 25:35-36), for those who do will be blessed of God (Psalms 41:1; Acts 20:35; Proverbs 19:17; Luke 14:13-14).

Proverbs 14:22. Such a question is an emphatic way to state truth. The man who invented the atomic bomb went out of his mind after it was used on the Japanese, and the widow of the man who invented television is extremely remorseful because of the evil it has become associated with and promotes. This verse speaks of two devisings (evil and good). Some are devising evil (the wicked), and some are devising good (the godly). What are you devising? Mercy and truth belong together (Proverbs 3:3; Psalms 61:7; John 1:17; 1 Timothy 1:2).

Proverbs 14:23. There is often a difference between being a talker and a worker. It is not those who talk about what they are going to do but those who go out and get it done that counts. Sometimes children come to look down upon their lazy, wind-bag, good-for-nothing dads who are always talking about the trip the family is going to take, the house they are going to build, etc. but who never get any of it done. This verse has two contrasts: talk vs. labor and penury vs. profit. Penury means to want or to suffer need.

Proverbs 14:24. Notice folly all the way in this triple contrast: The crown vs. the folly; of the wise vs. of fools; and is their riches vs. is only folly. Pulpit Commentary: Decorate folly as you may, deck it out in gaud and ornament, it is still nothing but folly and is discerned as such, and that all the more for being made conspicuous.

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 14:13-24

1.

Comment upon Proverbs 14:13.

2

Who is a backslider (Proverbs 14:14)?

3.

Why is a good man satisfied from himself (Proverbs 14:14)?

4.

What is Proverbs 14:15'S contrast between the simple and the prudent?

5.

What is Proverbs 14:16'S contrast between the wise and the foolish?

6.

What does the Bible say about being quick-tempered (Proverbs 14:17)?

7.

What is Proverbs 14:18'S contrast between the simple and the prudent?

8.

Cite examples of the truth set forth in Proverbs 14:19.

9.

Why do people disdain the poor (Proverbs 14:20)?

10.

Why do many want to claim the rich for friends (Proverbs 14:20)?

11.

What commandment is violated by despising your neighbor (Proverbs 14:21)?

12.

Where else are we taught to have pity (help) the poor (Proverbs 14:21)?

13.

Have people ever lived to regret evil they one time devised (Proverbs 14:22)?

14.

What two contrasts are found in Proverbs 14:23?

15.

What does penury mean (Proverbs 14:23)?

16.

Cite the triple contrast in Proverbs 14:24.