Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Proverbs 24:15-20 Serenity & Certainty of Righteousness

Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Proverbs 24:15–20

[15] Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;

do no violence to his home;

[16] for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

[17] Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

[18] lest the Lord see it and be displeased,

and turn away his anger from him.

[19] Fret not yourself because of evildoers,

and be not envious of the wicked,

[20] for the evil man has no future;

the lamp of the wicked will be put out. (ESV)

Serenity & Certainty of Righteousness

v.15-16 builds on the proverb of 24:13-14. The wicked man seeks to advance his fortunes by tearing down another's prosperity—and he is warned that a righteous man can never be torn down to the point of permanent ruin. The number seven here, and elsewhere in the Bible, is the number of comprehensiveness. It is often called "God's number" or "the number of perfection" as it refers to that which only God has done, can do, or will do. See also Proverbs 6:16, 31; 9:1; 26:16, 25. No matter how many times a righteous man fails, with God, he gets up again. In other words, the believer always has an eternal future (see Proverbs 24:13-14, John 6:40, 44, 54; James 5:15).

v.17-18 This two-verse proverb warns about gloating over the downfall of an enemy and is connected to the previous two verses by the word "fall." It warns the righteous man who might be tempted to gloat over the downfall of the wicked man previously encountered; neither should he seek his downfall by his own actions nor celebrate that he got what he deserved. To do so would be to commit sin oneself and thus incur God's wrath. Instead, the righteous man trusts in God's grace and does not succumb to arrogance that he cannot fall himself without it. Likewise, God can choose to aid the wicked man and save him from his adversity, and in so doing, expose his folly leading to repentance. In fact, God can use the righteous to come to the aid of the wicked for just this outcome. See Proverbs 25:21-22 and especially Romans 12:20-21 about overcoming evil with good.

v.19-20 This proverb repeats the thought of 24:1-2: that of jealousy over the apparent advantages of those who prosper in worldly life even though they disbelieve and violate God’s Word. Here we are counseled against both anger abiding over the actions of evildoers and jealousy over what they gain from their actions. Such evil people who have rejected God do not have the eternal future in Him of Proverbs 24:16. The picture of a lamp being snuffed out is repeated from Proverbs 13:9 and again in 20:20. The righteous person’s lamp, which is the Word of God, shines brightly and eternally by contrast. See Ps. 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19; 2 Samuel 22:29; John 1:5; 8:12; 9:5; Matthew 17:2; Acts 26:13; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 1:16).