Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The wise woman builds her house,
    but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly,
    but those who despise him are devious in their ways.
A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride,
    but the lips of the wise protect them.
Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
    but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.
An honest witness does not deceive,
    but a false witness pours out lies.
The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
    but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
Stay away from a fool,
    for you will not find knowledge on their lips.
The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
    but the folly of fools is deception.
Fools mock at making amends for sin,
    but goodwill is found among the upright.

• Proverbs 14:1-9

“Proverbs 14:9 Fools mock at sin. ”While fools ridicule their impending judgment (cf. 1:26), the wise are promised favor with God (cf. Is. 1:11-20) and man (cf. 10:32; 11:27). Cf. 1 Samuel 2:26; Luke 2:40, 52.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

The wise and foolish women are either building or tearing down the house, but this is not literally the building itself.  Anyone can build a building.  It takes love to turn that building into a home, and that is a love of action.  The wise woman builds it up.  The foolish woman tears it down.

Proverbs 14:2 contrasts fearing God with despising Him.  Most people define “fear” in a biblical sense with awe and wonder of God, but here it also has an element of love.

Proverbs 14:3, 5, 7, and 8 all deal with speech of one type or another.  We should not boast pridefully, not be prideful at all.  We should not give false witness, lie, or deceive.  And we should never listen to a fool.  They do not know enough to keep their mouths shut.  And how do we distinguish between lying and deceiving?  Aren’t they the same thing?  If you fix up your car to sell and you make it look like it has never been in an accident, but it has been in three of them, and then you say nothing, you have deceived.  But you lie to the buyer when he asks if it has been in an accident, and you say “no.”  I guess I did poorly in job interviews because I was mindful of not lying nor deceiving.  And I have had neighbors that told me years later, they did not know how to take me at first – I suppose by me be open about my weaknesses as much as my strengths.

Proverbs 14:4, for a poor person, could be a terrible taunt.  I remember a story from Jerry Clower about a poor man who borrowed the rich man’s mules to bring in a crop when the rich man refused the mules, hoping to collect when the poor man foreclosed on the mortgage.  And to make the story short, the punch line was when the jury came back with a verdict of “Not guilty” to the charge of stealing the mules … “and he don’t have to give the rich man his mules back!”  That may not have made sense in a court of law, but from one poor man to another, it felt like justice.

In Proverbs 14:6 the mocker cannot recognize and learn from wisdom.  He is too busy thinking of his foolish rebuttal.  Have you ever seen a small, impudent child?  Whenever you talk to them sternly, you can see what they are thinking in their eyes.  “When will this old coot quit talking?  Next time, I won’t get caught!”  But oddly, within the next hour or so, he is caught red handed … again.

In Proverbs 14:9, along with Rev. MacArthur’s comments, the fool is like the illustration of the child above.  They mock the entire process.  They can pay the price for the crime.  They will either do it again or they already made enough, that the fine is nothing.  I have seen on the television, both the news and in crime dramas, how the crime boss mocks the system, having already bought the jurors and the judge.

But goodwill goes further than stolen cash.  Neighbors rally around those good people who have always been there for them when times were hard, but the crime boss cannot even fully trust his second in command.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Humble my Heart.  It is sung by Daniel Cha.

“Lord, show me the way so I can live for you
Oh, I need your grace
Take all my pride away

[Pre-Chorus]
Love not of mine own has saved me
Works not of mine own have paid
Help me to give the glory where it’s due
All to you, I pray

[Chorus]
Lord, humble my heart
So that I can taste your goodness o’ Lord
And show me the way
So I can be like Jesus

[Verse 2]
Search me, o’ God
You know my thoughts within
Everything I do is only with what you’ve given

[Pre-Chorus]
Love not of mine own has saved me
Works not of mine own have paid
Help me to give the glory where it’s due
All to you, I pray”

• Daniel Cha, Humble my Heart

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  We need to curb our tongues, a lot.  We need to be honest.  We need to be humble.  And we can do none of that, unless we have you in our hearts.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.