Proverbs 11:20-22 – Contrast
The perverse and the pure are often contrasted as God looks at them. Perverseness is an abomination to God – those men and women who call wrong right and evil good He detests. But He delights in His people – He chooses them, He makes them blameless by paying their debt, He knows all about them, and He loves them and has given them an eternal inheritance with Him. But whenever man tries to fight against God, he always loses. God sees what he does, God remembers, and one day God will punish. When we watch the news and see wicked men and wicked actions go unpunished, we need to remember that their day is coming. When we watch the tv shows and movies that call things that are evil good, we need to remember that their day is coming. And when we hear of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ suffering for their faith, killed, mocked, tortured, chased, or when we see Christians struggling with disease and grief, we need to remember that their day is coming as well. A day when the wicked will be judged and the righteous go free.
Verse 22 seems a bit out of place, but it again is a contrast between a false appearance and true reality. Beauty is a gift of God, but it fades. If we don’t have a beautiful heart, it matters very little what we look like. A beautiful appearance and an ugly heart just don’t seem to go together – like a gold ring in a pig’s nose. And just like the pig will run his gold ring in the mud, a beautiful woman with an ugly heart will end up dragging her beauty through the filth of sin. Without discretion, without understanding of right and wrong, all the good looks, brains, and accomplishments in the world are worthless.
Questions
- What does it mean to be perverse?
- What is discretion?
- What happens to the beauty of a woman with an ugly heart?
Prayer Points
- Pray for our young girls – that they would have beautiful hearts.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.