The fear of man brings a snare

Proverbs 29 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Warnings and Instructions

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.
² When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.
³ A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth.
⁶ By transgression an evil man is ensnared, But the righteous sings and rejoices.
⁷ The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor,
The wicked does not understand such concern.
⁸ Scorners set a city aflame, But wise men turn away anger.
⁹ When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.
¹⁰ Men of bloodshed hate the blameless, But the upright are concerned for his life.
¹¹ A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back.
¹² If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked.
¹³ The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.
¹⁴ If a king judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.
¹⁵ The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.
¹⁶ When the wicked increase, transgression increases; But the righteous will see their fall.
¹⁷ Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul.
¹⁸ Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

²⁰ Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
²² An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
²³ A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
²⁴ He who is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He hears the oath but tells nothing.
²⁵ The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.
²⁶ Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the Lord.
²⁷ An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.

Proverbs is collection of statements based in simple truths, logic, common sense and the wisdom of God. One of the greatest hindrances to logic, common sense and wisdom in our society and culture today is that it has determined that there is no truth. Our culture has come to believe that everything is subjective, relative and even negotiable. Society determines truth for society and each person determines their own truth. The wisdom of statements like those made by the writer of Proverbs in today’s text is lost to the subjective definitions of the culture.  

The text begins:   When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan. A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth.    Those who spend their money on any and every form of self indulgence would say who are you to tell me what to do with what is mine. The culture has redefined what is right and so what is righteous. God says:    “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!”   (Isaiah 5:20-21)  But the culture, which denies God, says that what is good or evil is a matter of choice. The title of the popular yet controversial book and movie, “Fifty Shades of Grey” would also be a fair title to the morality of our culture. There is no more dark and light, only countless shades of grey, an undefined, blurred and subjective definition of what is good and what is moral, what is right and righteous.

In verses 8 and 9, the writer says:  Scorners set a city aflame, But wise men turn away anger.
When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.       We see, in our culture, that very often the response of those who want to define their own truth, rather than accept what God says as true, is as the write describes. They either laugh or rage. Our culture has come to the point where it will laugh at and mock a young person, who because of their faith, chooses not to indulge in sexual relationships, while glorifying those who have scores of sexual encounters with whomever they desire. Our culture and our society will either mock or rage against those who speak of God and Jesus. That same culture will defend the right of another to speak profanity in public. In the 70’s, George Carlin had a comedy routine about the seven words you couldn’t say on television. Today, you and your children might hear them in the grocery store, at a park, blasting through the sound system of a car, or even on some one’s shirt. Those words can be spoken in front of our children, yet it is offensive, and the culture rages against public displays of Jesus in a manger, or the cross. They will rage against the Ten Commandments and Merry Christmas, while celebrating displays of profanity as art. Across our nation cities have literally been set a flame, by those who scorn the law and seek to redefine what is right.

In verses 15;17, the text says:  The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.  Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; He will also delight your soul.     Our culture and society is reaping the fruit of raising a generation of children without discipline. When children are given their own way, not disciplined or corrected they are made to believe that the world should always give them their own way. To the shame of our society we have raised a generation of young people who are disillusioned by the fact that in reality you get what you earn, that not everyone gets a prize, but only those who work and accomplish something. Verse 18 says:  Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.    Some translations say where there is no vision the people perish. So the vision that is spoken of here is not a personal vision for the future. It is not a five, ten or twenty year plan. The vision which brings restraint, the vision which gives life rather than death, is a vision, an acceptance and an understanding of God’s law. It’s not society’s plan, but rather God’s plan. In Jeremiah 29:11-13 God reveals His plan, it’s benefits and how we obtain them. He says:       ^“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”    God’s plan, the vision He wants us to know and have is that:   “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Verse 25 says:  The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.   The fear of man has indeed become a snare to our society and culture. We have become far more concerned about what might offend people than what offends God. We have gone so far as to almost make it our right to be offended. For the sake of offense we have outlawed pronouns. Mr. Mrs. And Miss are no longer acceptable. Schools are no longer to refer to students as boys and girls, even when it comes to the bathroom or locker room they use. Because of offense we ban older books from our libraries, rather than teaching that the prejudices and offensive words in them were a part of a previous culture, no longer acceptable. Rather than teach history, for the sake of offense, we rewrite history. If we, as a culture, were to trust in the Lord, rather than fearing man, prejudice and offense would be gone. Jesus Christ, the Son of God died on the cross, for the sins of all. Our culture and our society cannot change the reality of the color of skin or the gender of people, but as Galatians 3:28 says:  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for the wisdom of Your word. Thank You that there is truth, there is light and dark, there is good and evil. May I individually and we as a culture come to know and accept the one thing which can make us one, not the ever changing whims of culture and society, but the unchanging love of God, demonstrated in the cross of Christ. May we be offended by many things, but may no one be offended by Christ and the cross.   Amen