We Are To Follow The Ways Of The Wise And Shrewd, Not The Ways Of The Foolish (Proverbs 14:7-16).
The whole emphasis of Proverbs is on following God's wisdom. By doing so the shrewd man understands his way (Proverbs 14:8); he finds favour with God (Proverbs 14:9); he will flourish whatever his circumstances (Proverbs 14:11), he will avoid final death (Proverbs 14:12); he will be satisfied from what comes upon him (Proverbs 14:14); he looks well to his steps (Proverbs 14:15); and he fears YHWH and departs from evil (Proverbs 14:16).
In contrast is the worldly-wise fool. He does not speak or hear true knowledge (the knowledge of God) (Proverbs 14:7); he deceives and is deceived (Proverbs 14:8); he mocks at guilt (Proverbs 14:9); his emotions constantly vary (Proverbs 14:10); his house will be overthrown (Proverbs 14:11); he will end up in final death (Proverbs 14:12); he never knows full joy (Proverbs 14:13); he will receive the consequences of his own ways (Proverbs 14:14); he believes what the worldly-wise tell him (Proverbs 14:15); he is angry with God and totally self confident.
The subsection is presented chiastically:
A Go from the presence of a FOOLISH man, for you will not know in him the lips of knowledge (Proverbs 14:7).
B The wisdom of the SHREWD is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit (Proverbs 14:8)
C A guilt-offering mocks fools, (or ‘every fool mocks at guilt'), but among the upright there is favour (Proverbs 14:9).
D The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not intermeddle with its joy (Proverbs 14:10).
E The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the UPRIGHT (yashar) will flourish (Proverbs 14:11).
E There is a way which seems RIGHT (yashar) to a man, but its end is the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12).
D Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of mirth is heaviness (Proverbs 14:13).
C The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, and a good man will be satisfied from (what comes) upon him (Proverbs 14:14).
B The naive man believes every word, but the SHREWD man looks well to his going (Proverbs 14:15).
A A wise man fears, and departs from evil, but the FOOL bears himself insolently, and is confident (Proverbs 14:16)
Note that in A you will not know in the foolish man the lips of knowledge, and in the parallel the fool bears himself insolently, and is confident. In B the shrewd man understands his way, and in the parallel the shrewd man looks well to his going. In C the fool mocks at guilt but among the upright there is favour, and in the parallel the backslider is filled with his own ways, and the good man is satisfied from what comes upon him. In D the heart knows its own bitterness, and in the parallel the heart is sorrowful and heavy. Centrally in E the house of the unrighteous will be overthrown, and in the parallel the end of the mistaken man is the ways of death.
‘Go (walk) from the presence of a foolish man,
For you will not perceive the lips of knowledge.'
Solomon now warns that when seeking knowledge (the knowledge of God), we are to avoid ‘fools', those who ignore God's wisdom, and we are to do it because they will not be reliable guides. We could paraphrase ‘you will not perceive the lips of knowledge' as ‘you will not find true knowledge in his words'. And this is because, ‘the mouth of fools pours out folly' (Proverbs 15:2). And they do so because they follow worldly wisdom rather than the wisdom that comes from God.
‘Walk from the presence of a foolish man'. Compare Proverbs 13:20 where Solomon's instruction was rather to walk with wise men. He was to walk with the wise, and walk away from the foolish. Today we would say the same with regard to those who ignore the Scriptures. They are not reliable guides with regard to the things of God, however clever they might be. In regard to the things of God the wise of this world are fools. We should, therefore, rather look to those who are wise in the Scriptures. He is not saying that we should avoid any contact with such people completely, although we are certainly to avoid their ways (Proverbs 2:12-22), only that we should do so in regard to finding the knowledge of God
As the parallel verse in the chiasmus (Proverbs 14:16) makes clear, this is because the fool is over-confident, and insolent towards God. By his manner of life he ‘despises YHWH' (Proverbs 14:2), and this is reflected in his thinking. He is thus not a good guide to a true knowledge of God. This proverb also connects back with Proverbs 14:6 where knowledge ‘is easy (and easy to be found) to him who has understanding', an understanding given to him by God (Proverbs 2:6; Proverbs 2:9; compare Matthew 11:25-27).
We may also see as included here a warning not to discuss difficult questions with the ‘foolish' unless we are of sufficient calibre to do so. Inexperienced Christians may well find themselves distressed by the arguments of clever atheists. It is better if they give their testimony and then walk away from their presence as the proverb suggests.
‘The wisdom of the shrewd is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.'
It is because the shrewd are wise that they will go from the presence of the foolish man. They understand what their way is to be, and thus do not get involved in the way of the fool. For the folly of the foolish man is found in his involvement with ‘deceit'. He is both deceived and a deceiver of others. ‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ may not shine on them' (2 Corinthians 4:4). Thus such men are deceived themselves and deceive others. But they do not deceive the shrewd because the shrewd man understands (from the wise and from God) what the way is in which he should go. And this is because he ‘looks well to his going' (Proverbs 14:15). He ensures that it is in accordance with God's wisdom as taught to him by the wise. He is not like the naive who believe everything they are told (Proverbs 14:15). He rather considers his way in the light of God's wisdom.
‘A guilt-offering mocks fools, (or ‘every fool mocks at guilt')
But among the upright there is favour.'
There is a translation problem here in that the word for ‘guilt' also means ‘guilt-offering'. Thus we can translate as ‘a guilt-offering mocks fools' or as ‘every fool mocks guilt'. In the first case the idea is that it is useless for a fool (a man who ignores God's wisdom) to offer a guilt-offering, because it will be of no avail. The guilt-offering will just mock at him, because he is not bringing it with the right attitude of heart (compare Proverbs 15:8; Proverbs 21:27). In the second case the idea is that the fool mocks at guilt. He does not take it seriously. He is insolent and self-confident (Proverbs 14:16). He is filled with his own ways (Proverbs 14:14). In either case, he, as a consequence, does not find favour with God.
In contrast the upright do find the favour of both God and men. For them the guilt-offering is effective and makes them acceptable before God. For they treat their guilt seriously, and they come in repentance. In the same way today we must take our guilt seriously, knowing that we can then come into God's favour through the guilt-offering of our Lord Jesus Christ Who bore our guilt on the cross (Isaiah 53:10: 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18).
‘The heart knows its own bitterness,
And an outsider does not intermeddle with its joy.'
In context the point here is that man left to himself is terribly alone. He alone knows the bitterness that is within him. He alone appreciates the joy that he experiences. It is only when he comes to God that he can find Someone who can share the bitterness of his soul, and can enter into his joys.
This proverb goes to the depths of our inner beings. It says that in the end we are only known to ourselves. Only we ourselves know the depths of our own bitterness, and the reasons for it, at times of heartache. Others may surmise, but they can only look at the outward appearance. God alone can look at the heart. Comparing with the previous verse this also includes our guilt. This is something of which only we are aware, and it can be bitter within us. But once we face up to it and come to God in God's way we can come into God's favour. And that is what matters. ‘Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.'
And in the same way only we can plumb the true depths of our joy. Others may rejoice with us, but the ‘outsider' cannot fully enter into our joy, nor can he in the end make any difference to it. Our joy is our own. The outsider cannot fully appreciate it or take it away from us. It can, however, be transient. It may soon once again be replaced by bitterness. But for the true believer there is joy that is permanent. Those who joy in God have something which the world cannot affect (Psalms 16:11; Psalms 30:5; Psalms 32:11; Psalms 35:9; etc.). In New Testament terms, when we experience ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory' through knowing Christ, (1 Peter 1:8) it is beyond the wit of man to affect it.
So both our sorrows and our joys find their solution in God. In the end there is only One Who is fully aware of what we suffer, and how fully we rejoice, and that is God. Indeed, as Proverbs 14:13 makes clear, often our emotions are in conflict. We can experience joy and sorrow at the same time. Even in laughter there may be causes of sorrow in our hearts that others know nothing of. And whatever rejoicing we may experience it is often followed by heaviness of spirit. This is why the shrewd man needs to understand his way (Proverbs 14:8), needs to gain true knowledge rather than false knowledge (Proverbs 14:7), and looks well to his going (Proverbs 14:15). For in the end his life is between him and God.
The ideas in the verse are preparing for Proverbs 14:11 where the house of the unrighteous is contrasted with the tent of the upright. It is not what we live in that is important, but what lives in us.
‘The house of the wicked will be overthrown,
But the tent of the upright will flourish (sprout).'
The unrighteous man may live in a splendid house, and live in it with great confidence, happy that his circumstances are now secure. He is confident that he has succeeded at last. He has nothing to fear. He is at last established. He can say to himself, ‘I have much goods laid up for many years, I can take my ease, and eat and drink and be merry' (Luke 12:19). What he does not realise is that in the end his house will be overthrown, and indeed it might be that very night (Luke 12:20). His life is not secure at all. And the final overthrowing of it is certain.
In contrast is the upright. He is happy in whatever God has seen fit to give him. He is happy though he has but a tent. He does not pine for outward security. He rather looks for a city which has eternal foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). And he has reason to be joyful, for his life and home will flourish and grow from its early beginnings, because he walks in God's wisdom.
The idea behind the tent would be of a nomad's tent, a kind of bell-tent round a central pole, made of goatskins held down by wooden pegs. It is a reminder that life is transient and that we should be living for things above.
‘There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the ways of death.'
Unrighteous man thinks that he has life worked out. Whilst the upright man (yashar) in Proverbs 14:11 has chosen the straight path, this man thinks that he also has chosen a right and straight path (it seem yashar to him). He is confident that all will go well for him. He builds his house (Proverbs 14:11), establishes his business, and is sure that nothing can go wrong. He lives heedless of God's wisdom. He is sure that he has chosen the right way. But because he is unrighteous he will discover that, just as the unrighteous man's house will be overthrown (Proverbs 14:11), so the way that he has chosen, like the differing ways of other unrighteous people, is ‘the ways of death'. He has forgotten to consider his end (Psalms 73:17). He has chosen the broad way to destruction (Matthew 7:14). He is like the wealthy man in Jesus' parable, self-contained and foolish (Luke 12:16-21). He thinks that he has got it right, but because he leaves God out of account he has not.
‘Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful,
And the end of mirth is heaviness.'
What the unrighteous man forgets is that life is not a smooth ride, except for the very fortunate. Even while people are laughing and enjoying themselves there is that which makes them sorrowful in their hearts, and even whilst they are living it up, black times lie on the horizon. For as Proverbs 14:10 brings out the heart experiences its own bitterness which none can know except itself. And even its joy is personal. And here we learn that it ends in tears. In this is summed up much of the message of Proverbs, that though for the unrighteous life may seem good for a time, it always catches up with them in the end. Without God life goes downward rather than upwards.
In Proverbs 4:12 the end of the man's way was the ways of death. Here the end of mirth is heaviness. The two are related. In Proverbs 14:12 the man has gone on in his life satisfied with his choice, but ‘his end' is no fun, it is the ways of death. Here the man lives for fun and mirth, but ‘its end' is heaviness.
‘The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,
And a good man will be satisfied from (what comes) upon him.'
In Proverbs 14:9 the fool mocked at guilt, whilst among the upright there was favour and goodwill. Here that mocking at guilt results in him being filled with his own ways. It produces the ‘backslider in heart', the one who backslides from God's covenant, and receives the reward that is due to him for his behaviour and attitude. He is filled (repaid fully) with his own ways. There is a dual play on ‘filled'. His mind is filled with his own ways (he thinks only of himself), and as a consequence his own ways come back on him, bringing their own punishment (he is ‘filled', fully repaid, for his own ways).
The backslider in heart is one who with his mind and will has turned his back on God. He may nominally believe in Him, and outwardly profess Him, such belief was after all part of the social structure, but at heart he ignores him. He is like the fool who says in his heart, ‘there is no God' (Psalms 14:1).
In contrast the ‘good man' will be satisfied ‘from upon him'. He will be fully rewarded (and therefore satisfied) from what comes upon him (as a result of what comes upon him). He will not be filled with the consequences of his own ways, but will receive favour from God (Proverbs 14:9).
‘The naive believes every word,
But the shrewd man looks well to his going (steps).'
In Proverbs 14:9 the ‘folly of fools was deceit' (deceiving and being deceived). Here we learn why some fools are deceived. It is because they ‘believe every word' that they are told. They are gullible. They swallow the wisdom of the worldly wise who turn their thoughts away from God and His ways. After all it suits them to do so. In contrast the shrewd man ‘understands his way' (Proverbs 14:9), he ‘looks well to his steps', because he looks to God's wisdom and walks in it step by step. He lives by His Word. He ‘walks step by step by the Spirit' (Galatians 5:25; Psalms 51:10). He says, ‘your Spirit is good, lead me in the land of uprightness' (Psalms 143:10).
‘A wise man fears, and departs from evil,
But the fool bears himself insolently, and is confident.'
The subsection closes by again distinguishing the wise man from the fool. The wise man ‘fears'. He fears the consequences of evil, but most of all he reverently fears YHWH. Thus he ‘departs from evil', from all that is ‘not good'. He seeks only what is good. Departing from evil is specifically said to be a consequence of fearing YHWH in Proverbs 3:7, where we read quite explicitly ‘fear YHWH and depart from evil'.
In contrast the fool has no fear of YHWH. He walks insolently, disregarding His word. He ‘shows himself angry' towards YHWH. He does not like His restrictions. He is fully confident in himself. And this is because he does not have ‘the lips of knowledge (the knowledge of God)' (Proverbs 14:7). He does not speak or hear what is wise and true, because of his supreme confidence in himself.