A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
A bad man
I. The portrait of a bad man.
1. He is perverse in speech. He has no regard for truth or propriety. False, irreverent, impure, audacious.
2. He is artful in his conduct. “Winketh with his eyes,” etc. He expresses his base spirit in crafty and clandestine and cunning methods. He is anything but straightforward and transparent.
3. Mischievous in purpose. “Deviseth mischief.” Malevolence is his inspiration. He rejoiceth in evil.
II. The doom of a bad man. “Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly.” This doom is--
1. Certain. The moral laws of the universe and the Word of God guarantee the punishment of sin.
2. Sudden. “Suddenly shall he be broken.” The suddenness does not arise from want of warning, but from the neglect of warning.
3. Irremediable. “Without remedy.” When once his doom is fixed, there is no alteration. “As the tree falls, so it must lie.” (D. Thomas, D. D.)
False liberty
In human nature, as in every other, there is an innate love of freedom. But alas! in human nature, as fallen, this principle, good in itself, has taken a sadly perverse direction. It is too often the mere love of following, without restraint, our own inclinations. And while aversion to restraint is common to all, it is peculiarly strong in the bosom of youth. The freedom, not the want of it, is sometimes the thing really to be ashamed of. (R. Wardlaw.)
Naughtiness
“A man of Belial.” Perhaps an unthrifty man; certainly a lawless man. A man of naughtiness. A child of the devil.
I. A notoriously wicked man cares for no laws of God or man.
1. He hath stopped the mouth of his conscience with his sins.
2. He has no love to either God or man, therefore he disregards both.
3. He fears neither, and therefore slights their laws.
4. He sees many escape, and such examples harden their hearts.
II. Such a man’s life is altogether wicked.
1. His thoughts are altogether earthly.
2. All his delight is in wickedness.
III. A perverse mouth is a sure mark of an ungodly man.
1. Few, or only the extremely wicked, will talk or boast of their wickedness.
2. When men are grown to this height they are beyond the Cape of Good Hope. A crooked mind will make a crooked mouth. Take heed. God hath given thee a mouth to speak to His glory, not to dishonour Him, nor to proclaim thine own shame. (Francis Taylor, B. D. )