Proverbs 10

From Proverbs 10:1 there is a striking change in the form in which Solomon passes on his proverbs. This changed form continues until Proverbs 22:16. In it we do not find the powerful instructions to seek wisdom and no long speeches with clear situations and persons or personifications. Instead, we find, corresponding to the name of the book, Proverbs, a collection of short, concise proverbs or sayings. There are about three hundred and seventy-five of them.

The first part of the book, Proverbs 1-9, deals with two persons: woman Wisdom and woman Folly. In this second section, Proverbs 10:1-22:16, it deals with two kinds of persons, each kind of whom follows one of the women mentioned. One kind is wise, righteous, good, etcetera; the other kind is foolish, wicked, evil, etcetera.

The form of the proverbs in this second volume, with a few exceptions, consists of two lines of verse, with the second line elaborating the thought of the first line. This mode of writing is called "parallelism. The lines run parallel.

We will encounter three main types of parallelism. It is worth paying attention to them:

1. There are parallels that correspond to each other, also called synonymous parallelism. In this case, the second line of verse repeats in different words a similar thought as in the first line of verse. They are two parts that reflect one thought. An example is:
Pride [goes] before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling (Pro 16:18).

2. There are also parallels that are opposite, forming a contrast, also called antithetical parallelism. In this case, the second line of verse says the opposite of what the first line of verse says. This is often expressed by the word "but" at the beginning of the second line of verse. An example is:
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother (Pro 10:1).

3. Another form of parallelism is the complementary form, also called synthetic parallelism. In this, the second line of verse complements the first. The thought of the first line of verse is developed further in the second line of verse. This is often expressed by the word "and" at the beginning of the second line of verse. An example is:
In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge (Pro 14:26).

The use of these different kinds of ‘parallelism’ will make us feel the power of the individual proverbs all the more. Incidentally, we also find this use of parallelism in Psalms and in Ecclesiastes.

The proverbs in this second section are mostly about the consequences of right or wrong actions. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul puts it this way: “For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:7b-8). The proverbs that follow now assist and encourage in making the right choice, or in other words, the sowing to the Spirit.

There is no such thing as a predestination to make a choice, as if it were inevitable to make that choice. That would exclude personal responsibility. This book makes it clear that each one is responsible for the choice he makes and therefore for the consequences of that choice. That is what makes this book so important.

There is no clear order to be noted in this section of the book, although there are instances when two or more consecutive proverbs are connected. In that case, this is evidenced by a theme or word mentioned in the successive verses. That in most cases there is no connection between verses forces the reader to engage deeply with the meaning of one particular verse, that is, one particular saying, before moving on to the next.

That the context is lacking, at least to our eye, is also consistent with the course of daily life, in which not everything always follows a certain pattern, a fixed order, either. Although we have a certain pattern of expectations based on experience, life is still also full of surprises. When we are with the Lord, it may turn out that all sorts of events between which we see no connection have nevertheless been connected, but this has eluded us.

Precisely because of its apparent incoherence, this book invites us to read it daily. The purpose is not so much to read a chapter every day. This is certainly not wrong, for by doing so we become increasingly familiar with the content in a general sense. What it is about is that we read a verse or a few verses and reflect on them. Who knows, we may encounter a situation to which what we have read and pondered applies.

Thus, the proverbs in this section of the book constantly reinvigorate us by each time presenting us with a different truth or the same truth from a different perspective. God’s Spirit has given Solomon these ‘single’ proverbs, in which at first glance no particular order can be detected, to us for a purpose. He knows what we need on a particular day or in a particular situation. He can remind us of a particular proverb for that purpose or have us read it at that moment.

This second part of Proverbs (Proverbs 10:1-22:16) has the same heading as the first part, “the Proverbs of Solomon” (verse 1; cf. Pro 1:1). It confirms that the book continues here, although the form is different from the first part. The second line of verse 1, containing the first proverb, underscores that. The first proverb is about a son in his relationship with his father and mother. This indicates that, as in the first part, the atmosphere in which the teaching is given is that of the family (Pro 1:8). It emphasizes the importance of an upbringing in the fear of God.

All subsequent proverbs are for the purpose of helping the son act like a wise son and keeping him from acting as a foolish son. He who acts as a wise son shows himself to be a son of wisdom. The result is joy with his father, who has raised him in wisdom, as the previous chapters have shown. This includes the warning not to behave as a foolish son, which leads to grief for his mother. Esau is a foolish son. He has caused his parents grief by his marriage to Hittite women (Gen 26:34-35; 27:46).

Father and mother both have their own indispensable role in parenting. The father, through his powerful love, provides safety and security. The mother, through her warm, sensitive love, makes the child feel wanted and accepted.

The child can be a son or a daughter. That a “son” is always mentioned is because it is about the ‘masculine’ aspect of life as a believer, that is, the practice of a relationship. The ‘feminine’ aspect of the believer represents more the relationship itself, the relationship in which the believer is placed.

A wise son is not wise simply because he has a lot of knowledge and has also gained the necessary experience. Wisdom is not “knowledge plus experience”, but knowledge of Christ as the wisdom of God. The beginning of wisdom is fearing the Lord. It is impossible to become wise if He is not the center of our heart and life. Wisdom is “Christ-centered”.

We see in the first proverb what the consequence is if the teaching of and about wisdom is listened to and what the consequence is if it is not listened to. He who listens to it is “a wise son”. He is a constant source of joy for his father. He who does not listen to it is “a foolish son”. He is a constant cause of intense grief for his mother. It will be clear that the mother is constantly rejoicing with the father over a wise son and the father is constantly grieving with the mother over a foolish son.

We see that the effects of wisdom or foolishness in the son affect others. These are first and foremost both the parents who have shown him wisdom and folly (cf. Pro 17:21,25; 23:24-25). But others who live with God will also be glad or grieved when they look at young people and perceive wisdom or folly (cf. 2Jn 1:4).

The next saying is about life and death (verse 2). The wicked one lives for the here and now and tries to get as many treasures as possible in this life. He does so in his own wicked way. All those treasures are “ill-gotten gains”, literally “treasures of wickedness”, treasures characterized by wickedness. This may be because of the wicked way they were obtained or because of the way they are dealt with. With these treasures marked by wickedness, he thinks he can live a pleasant life.

But these treasures do not benefit him when he dies. In the words of a well-known proverb: Ill-gotten gains never benefit anyone. What benefit did Ahab derive from appropriating the vineyard of Naboth (1Kgs 21:4-24; 22:39)? What benefit did the thirty pieces of silver give Judas for surrendering the Lord Jesus (Mt 27:5)? Both perished in their sins.

Only “righteousness delivers from death”. In the government of God, doing righteousness will not bring us into death, but will preserve us from it. We do righteousness if we give each one what he is entitled to, both God and a human being. This can only be fulfilled by one who possesses the righteousness of God in Christ. Such a person possesses a treasure of inestimable value. That treasure is separate from all earthly treasures. One who possesses that treasure can face death without fear, for death has been robbed of its terror for him. Christ has conquered death.

Righteousness is of far greater value than earthly prosperity especially if it has also been obtained dishonestly. Thereby prosperity can only be enjoyed for a limited time, at its longest during the short stay on earth, while righteousness passes through death to be enjoyed even afterward.

The LORD sees to it that a righteous person lacks nothing (verse 3). The Lord Jesus points His disciples to the birds of heaven for which He cares. Then He says that His own are far beyond those birds (Mt 6:25-26). Those who live in fellowship with Him receive from Him what they need. Even if he has want, yet his soul will not hunger, because in his soul he has fellowship with God. Habakkuk can therefore sing even though he has lack of everything (Hab 3:17-19).

Wicked people get nothing from God. Nor have they ever asked anything of Him, but steal their possessions from others and above all from God. Their craving He rejects. A wicked person is never satisfied; he never says he has enough, but always wants more. His cravings are also evil cravings, cravings that he wants to satisfy at the expense of others. Sometimes he succeeds, but God will take it all away from him. He will have to live forever with unfulfilled cravings. It is one of the torments of hell that the wicked will never get what they desire because they never desired God when He offered them Christ.

These verses connect to the previous verse. That God provides (verse 3) does not mean that man should not work to earn his bread (verse 4). Here laziness and poverty are linked on the one hand, and diligence and wealth on the other. Laziness causes poverty, and diligence results in wealth. A “negligent hand” is a slack, lazy hand, a hand that seems to perform something, but in reality does nothing. It is a hand that deceives, that disappoints, because nothing is done with it. He who is lazy will become poor. Diligence, or zeal, is a condition for becoming rich. Paul warns against laziness (2Thes 3:7-12). Ruth is an example of one who is diligent (Rth 2:2,19).

Diligence includes seeing and making use of the time to work. It is not to work only when we are in the mood for it. Work should be done when the opportunity is there, or, as the Lord Jesus says of Himself, that He works “as long as it is day” (Jn 9:4). A son of wisdom will gather “in summer” (verse 5; Pro 6:6-8; 30:25). By this he proves that he is “a son who acts wisely”. Harvest is the right time to do the right thing. Joseph acted as a wise son by gathering that abundance in a time of plenty and saving it for the ‘meager’ years (Gen 41:46-56).

When we take full advantage of the suitable occasion, making the most of our time (Eph 5:15-16), we are as “a son who acts wisely”. This has everything to do with learning the will of God, which He makes known to those who want to be obedient. Young people show that they are sons who act wisely when they are diligent in studying the Word of God. They then heed the exhortation given by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come” (Ecc 12:1a).

Opposed to a wise son is the son who “sleeps in harvest”. While everyone is hard at work bringing in the harvest, this son lies in bed fast asleep. Thus he lets the time of gathering pass and will have nothing when he wakes up. The Lord Jesus says: “The fields are white for harvest” (Jn 4:35). But He unfortunately also has to say: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Mt 9:37; Lk 10:2). Many Christians have fallen into a deep spiritual sleep. They are busy doing many things for themselves and not working for the Lord.

A son who sleeps at harvest time is not only shortchanging himself. He “is a son who acts shamefully”, that is, he also shames and shortchanges his father who taught him wisdom. He behaves shamefully by neglecting his duty out of laziness, although he knows it. Demas is an example of one who shames others. Paul must say with sadness to Timothy that Demas had “loved the present age” (2Tim 4:10). Unfaithful believers shame believers who have prayed and struggled for their spiritual welfare (cf. 1Jn 2:28).

Christians who do not respond to the calling with which God has called them put God the Father to shame. God is ashamed of them. The people of God who had returned from Babylon to Judah and Jerusalem shamed God by saying that it was not the right time for the building of the house of God (Hag 1:2-3). They ran hard for their own houses, while any effort for the house of God was too much for them.

“The righteous” and “blessings” belong together (verse 6). On the head of the righteous are blessings from God (cf. Gen 49:26; Deu 33:16), no matter what people may do to him or say about him. God speaks His blessing over the righteous and blesses him with temporal and spiritual blessings. Here again we may think first and foremost of the Lord Jesus Who is the Blessed One.

Opposite the head of the righteous is “the mouth of the wicked”. His mouth conceals “violence”. That can mean that his mouth is forcibly gagged. For him there is no blessing, but he is harshly silenced (cf. Psa 107:42). It can also mean that violence lies like a covering over his mouth, that out of his mouth only violence comes. Every word of blessing for another is foreign to him.

What has characterized the life of the righteous and the wicked is continued after death (verse 7). How blessed is the memory of the Righteous One par excellence, Christ Jesus (Psa 112:6b), and how terrifying is the name of Judas. Reflecting on righteous people who have lived before us is an activity from which blessing flows for us (Heb 11:1-40). We experience this when we read biographies of committed believers. Such believers we hold in grateful memory.

“The name of wicked” works the opposite. Thinking about it or mentioning it evokes disgust. We will not give our children the name of a wicked person. No blessing emanates from such a name, but that name “will rot”, indicating a rotting process. The name of King Jeroboam is such a name. He is referred to after his death as the king “who made Israel sin” (1Kgs 14:16; 15:30; 22:53; 2Kgs 3:3; 10:29,31; 13:2,6,11; 14:24; 15:18,24,28; 23:15).

The question before us is how we want to be remembered. At funerals, often only the good things are mentioned, when sometimes the person was known to be quite different. But the aroma of the life someone lived remains after death, no matter what words may have been spoken at the funeral. Will we leave behind a pleasant aroma or stench? Will our name be mentioned with gratitude or with disgust?

“The wise of heart will receive commands” that his father or anyone above him holds out to him (verse 8). He does so because he is aware of his need for them and their value. In himself, he has no strength to say ‘no’ to sin within himself and to the temptations of the world around him. Therefore, the wise of heart longs for commands that he can keep in his heart to be guided by them in his life (Pro 4:23). He wants to be taught to become even wiser.

The fool is constantly babbling himself with babble that makes no sense. As a result, he is unable to listen to the commands presented to him that are for life. You can try to point out to him that he needs wisdom, but he talks right over it with verbose nonsense. Thus he evades confrontation with his real need, for he does not want to see it.

A person “walks in integrity” when he walks with God and not before the eyes of men (verse 9; Gen 17:1). Then he “walks securely”. Security goes hand in hand with integrity. Joseph went his way in integrity and thereupon enjoyed the protection of God. “But he who perverts his ways”, that is, sinful ways, does not go unnoticed. God sees all his ways and will confront him with them. That discovery, that being “found out” brings punishment (Psa 125:5).

Peter went a perverted way when he denied his Christian position for fear of the Jews. He did not walk straightforward about the truth of the gospel. Paul noticed this and admonished him sternly about it (Gal 2:11-14).

There are those who cause suffering to others by secret communications (verse 10; cf. Pro 6:12-14; Psa 35:19). Saying something with a wink of the eye has the meaning that what is said is not true. A “babbling fool” will be ruined. Here the second line of verse is not a comparison with the first line of verse, nor is it a contradiction, but an addition to it, which is represented by the word “and” at the beginning of the second line of verse.

“The mouth of the righteous”, that is, what the righteous says, “is a fountain of life” for those who listen to him (verse 11). His words are beneficial and give life force. A fountain gives fresh water every time. This is perfectly true of the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Out of His mouth come words of grace (Lk 4:22). His words “are spirit and are life” (Jn 6:63).

We also find it in all the prophets who spoke the Word of God. All their words of instruction that they spoke on behalf of God were for the purpose of making the people of God live the true life. The same is true of the mouth of the New Testament believer. It is a source of life if he is guided by the Holy Spirit in his words. Then out of his inner being come “rivers of living water” for others (Jn 7:38-39).

What the wicked one says has a totally different content. He spreads violence. What he says only causes harm to others (verse 6b). The quality of life is destroyed by him. Wherever he is and opens his mouth, the atmosphere is poisoned. Instead of refreshment and life, he sows death and destruction with his babbling.

The wicked are driven by “hatred”, but the righteous by “love” (verse 12). Out of hatred spring strife and quarrels. The words of the wicked conceal violence, but the love of the righteous covers sins by forgiving them. Love brings peace through forgiveness, through the covering of “all transgressions”.

There is an essential difference between the concealing or covering of verse 11 and the covering of verse 12. In verse 11 it is about the covering itself. Nothing is covered, but visible and violent. In verse 12, through the covering something is hidden and taken away and that is all transgression.

The Lord Jesus, in His love, has covered all the transgressions of those who believe in Him with His blood and thereby forgiven them. Love “does not take into account a wrong [suffered]” (1Cor 13:5). Peter powerfully applies this word to our dealings with one another as believers living in the end times (1Pet 4:7-8). Covering transgressions or sins is also what we do when we bring back a sinner from his erring ways (Jam 5:19-20).

Those who seek “wisdom” find it “on the lips of the discerning” (verse 13). That is where wisdom is found. Just as wisdom and lips of the discerning belong together, so do “the rod” and “the back of him who lacks understanding” belong together. The only language that people without understanding understand is the language of the stick striking their backs as a punishment. They have hurt others with their talk and are given pain as punishment.

Rehoboam, the foolish son of Solomon, is one who acted as a man without understanding when the people asked for relief from their burdens. He did not listen to wise counsel, but followed foolish advice. Therefore, he was struck with the rod, that is, the discipline of God (1Kgs 12:1-24).

“Wise men” are a storehouse of “knowledge” (verse 14). They can bring out the right thing at the right time on the right occasion (Mt 12:35a; 13:52). Wise men know the value of silence. Knowledge is a precious treasure, not to be shown lightly. They do not loosely and inappropriately throw around words of wisdom. The fool makes himself heard at the most inopportune times and in the most inappropriate situations. From what he says, he is leading himself to ruin.

He who is rich feels himself thereby as secure as one who is in a fortress (verse 15). He can equip himself with all kinds of means to protect himself from evil. The poor do not have that and easily fall prey to evil-doers. This is what the wise perceive in the world. A person can be rich or poor, which gives a person a certain invulnerability or vulnerability.

Spiritually, we can apply this to being rich or poor in faith. The one who realizes how rich he is in Christ knows himself to be in a fortress. But the believer who has no awareness of this has a poor and vulnerable life of faith. The rich believer is safe from error; he will not let his wealth be taken from him. The poor one is prey to “every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14).

A person’s reward depends on his moral character, that is, whether he is a righteous or a wicked one (verse 16). What a righteous does promotes life; what a wicked acquires, his income, leads to sin and death. Put in New Testament language: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). Above all, “the wages of the righteous”, Christ, is a work that gives “life”. His work has the effect that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

If someone “heeds instruction”, listens to and accepts instruction, he will find himself on “the path to life” (verse 17). He will also hold fast to it and thereby remain on the path of life. Thus he is an inviting example for others to also listen to instruction. Those who do not have an ear for instruction, who ignores reproof, goes astray. He also makes others go astray. How we are does not only affect ourselves. We thereby set an example that leads others to act a certain way. Good example does follow well, bad example does follow badly.

“Conceal” or cover up “hatred”, hiding the wrong, is hypocritical and bears witness to “lying lips” (verse 18). He who covers up hatred is a liar, for he hides his true intentions. He acts sweetly, but in his heart hatred burns. Such a person was Absalom in his approach to Amnon (2Sam 13:22-29). The second line of verse speaks of a possibly even greater evil. That concerns spreading “slander”. Whoever does that breaks someone down among all to whom he tells slander. Whoever does that is a fool. In the first line of verse, something is concealed or covered up or hidden; in the second, something is spread or made public.

Someone who talks a lot cannot possibly be one hundred percent truthful in everything he says (verse 19). Especially true for him is what James says of the words a man speaks: “For we all stumble in many ways” (Jam 3:2a). A fool uses many words (Ecc 5:2). “Transgression” means to cross a line, to trespass. It shows intelligence when we hold back our lips. It is wise not always and certainly not immediately to say everything we think. Every person must be “quick to hear, slow to speak” (Jam 1:19).

“The tongue of the righteous”, meaning what the righteous says, is worth much more than “the heart of the wicked”, meaning his best intentions (verse 20). The contrast between the two expressions is that between the outward and the inward. The outward is the tongue, or what is said. The inward is the mind of the heart, or what one plans. There should be a healthy balance between these.

What the righteous says has the value of “choice silver”, while what the wicked intends has no value at all. The Lord Jesus had a tongue of “choice silver”, for He used His tongue after He had received teaching. As a result, He “how to sustain the weary one with a word” (Isa 50:4). Silver is a picture of the price to be paid for salvation (Exo 30:11-16). The words of the Lord Jesus were for the purpose of redeeming people.

The value of the righteous one’s words is that many are fed (spiritually) by them and kept alive by them (verse 21). To feed means to pasture, as a shepherd does. It is not just about food; it is about caring for the right food. The words are passed on with care. This is especially true of the words of the Lord Jesus. He is the Bread of life. Also the prophets who spoke in His Name fed the people with their words, they gave the good spiritual food (Jer 3:15). Those words build up. The task of the shepherd and teacher in the church is also to build up the church.

The fools lack understanding. They do not want to be fed by the lips of the Righteous One; they despise His words. Thus they reject life and die. Those who reject Him and do not accept His words will be judged by the word He has spoken (Jn 12:48).

All the wealth we have is given to us by God (verse 22). It is His blessing, without adding “sorrow” or “toil”, i.e. without any performance from our side (cf. Psa 127:1). The word “that” puts full emphasis on “the blessing of the LORD”. Only that blessing makes one rich. This verse is a warning against complacency, against thinking that we owe our wealth to ourselves.

There is no contradiction with verse 4, which says that the hand of the industrious makes rich. Both one and the other are true. We must work, but also realize that the Lord must give us the strength for it and also the blessing on it. Then we realize that everything comes from Him and we will give Him the glory for it.

A person’s character is revealed by the things in which he finds pleasure (verse 23). To a fool, behaving disgracefully is like sport and play. It goes off him as easily as playing goes off a child. He finds the greatest pleasure in speaking scandalously, as evidenced by the obscene expressions he uses. “Doing wickedness” is indicative of very sinful behavior. The fool considers even the worst in terms of sin as entertainment, as a joke. He laughs at it and because of it.

This is contrasted with the wisdom that gives someone of understanding full joy as if it were a pleasant game. It is not about what a person does, but the attitude a person has in doing what he does. Wisdom gives delight to one who has understanding. That delight is found in God’s Word (Psa 119:117).

The wicked may take pleasure in his shameful behavior, but at the same time he is inwardly very afraid of what is to come. Indeed, what he fears also comes upon him (verse 24). He lives without God and therefore without any security and therefore always in fear. The righteous on the other hand gets what he longs for, for he lives with God and expects everything from Him. A huge contrast is painted here.

He who has no foundation in his life, that is, who has no biblical principles, resembles a whirlwind that is passing by (verse 25). A whirlwind rages for a moment and then disappears again, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Such is the wicked. This connects with the previous verse, which says that upon the wicked comes what he fears. He can enjoy in his life everything he desires, such as wealth, prestige, family, while living in fear that it will all one day fall away from him. Indeed, it will also be taken away from him as if by a raging storm. Possibly already in this life, but certainly at his (possibly sudden) death.

The righteous one is the opposite. The same things can happen to him as to the wicked. His wealth, prestige, family and health may also be taken from him (Job 1:1-22; 2:1-10). But when disasters come into his life, he proves to have “an eternal foundation” (cf. Mt 7:24-27). It shows the immutability of the position of the righteous man that he has because his life is built on Christ the Rock. As a result, his house of life remains standing firm no matter how much the whirlwind pounds against it.

Vinegar, which is sour, feels very nasty to the teeth when you drink it (verse 26). Smoke to the eyes is also very irritating, because your eyes begin to water, you can no longer see anything and cannot move a step. With these unpleasant experiences, the lazy one is compared who is sent out with a certain assignment. He does not carry out that assignment, or too late, or inaccurately and incompletely. A lazy person only causes irritation when you expect something from him. Slowness in the work of the Lord is also a bad and irritating thing. Those who are slow in it even bring a curse upon themselves as a result (Jer 48:10).

The normal expectation for one who fears the LORD is that he will live long, while the years of the wicked “will be shortened” (verse 27). That a God-fearing person sometimes dies young and a wicked one lives long may cause doubt about this verse (Psa 73:1-22). That doubt disappears when we remember that the meaning extends beyond death.

The expectation that the righteous has gives him joy now and not only later, at the fulfillment of that expectation (verse 28). This is because his expectation is connected to the faithful God and His Christ. That God is with him even now. In Him his heart trusts. The eye of the righteous person is not primarily focused on what he expects, life forever, but on Him Who will not shame his expectation.

Someone has said that it is not about a long life, but a full life. A full life is a life filled with the will of God and is therefore a long life, because “the one who does the will of God, will live forever” (1Jn 2:17). The Lord Jesus spoke of life in abundance (Jn 10:10b). That life never comes to an end and is also life enjoyed in its fullness. It is not only about duration, but also about content. The short stay on earth is followed by a life forever with the Lord Jesus in the Father’s house.

The wicked also have their expectations. They consider themselves well off if they are prosperous and healthy by living as if this will remain so indefinitely. In their dream house they imagine themselves in heaven even now, but they will wake up in hell. They have no ground for their expectation that their prosperity will last forever because they do not count with God. Therefore, their expectation will also perish. King Zedekiah is a clear example of this (Jer 39:1-8).

“The way of the LORD”, that is, the way He goes and the actions He performs, the work He does, “is a stronghold to the upright” (verse 29). The upright person feels perfectly safe in the way of God, under His guidance, protected from all kinds of dangers. He confidently surrenders everything to God, because he knows that He acts justly. That is what the Lord Jesus did (1Pet 2:23b). The same action of God that is a stronghold for the upright means “ruin” for those who work iniquity. God uses His power against them. He is just in His dealings both with the righteous and the ungodly.

“The righteous” will with certainty “never be shaken” (verse 30). He will stand unwavering, continuously and receive all the promises promised to him by God. He will dwell in the land forever (Lev 20:22). But the wicked will get nothing of the future blessing God will give to His people on earth (Deu 4:25-27). They will be exterminated from the earth and will therefore “not dwell in the land”.

“The mouth of the righteous” not only speaks wisdom, but “overflows” with it (verse 31). As always, when we think of “the righteous”, we think first and foremost of the Lord Jesus. He constantly and abundantly speaks wisdom. From that, others can refresh themselves. He is the Source from Whom wisdom flows ceaselessly.

Very different is the case with “the perverted tongue”. This tongue “will be cut out” like a “tree that does not bear good fruits will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 3:10). The man of sin, the antichrist, is the prototype of this. It also applies to all false prophets and false teachers. When the tongue is cut out, it is impossible to say one more word. As a result, he can no longer corrupt anyone with his shameful talk.

“The lips of the righteous” speak pleasant things that do good to a man (verse 32). The righteous one knows “what is acceptable” for others to listen to; he knows how to choose his words well. The Lord Jesus has spoken what is acceptable. He spoke words of grace that people wondered at (Lk 4:22). We are told to speak “such [a word] as is good for edification according to the need [of the moment], so that it will give grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29). These are acceptable words.

In contrast, the wicked one lets out only perverted things. He speaks without thinking about it. What he says will bring ruin to himself and others.