Proverbs (Part 037) - Pro 3:32-35

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32. Pro 3:32 - "For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous." A. For the froward is abomination to the LORD: i. Frowardness is a grave sin. a. Froward adj. - 1. Disposed to go counter to what is demanded or what is reasonable; perverse, difficult to deal with, hard to please; refractory, ungovernable; †also, in a wider sense, bad, evilly-disposed, ‘naughty’. (The opposite of toward.) b. Abomination n. - 1. The feeling or state of mind of combined disgust and hatred; abhorrence, detestation, loathing. c. In other words, God hates, abhors, detests, loathes, and is disgusted with those that are ungovernable, difficult to deal with, and are disposed to go counter to what is demanded and reasonable. ii. By way of the preposition for which connects this verse with Pro 3:31, we see that oppressors are froward and are an abomination to God. iii. God hates a froward mouth (Pro 8:13). iv. Froward people devise mischief continually (Pro 6:14). v. God will show Himself froward with the froward (Psa 18:26). vi. The froward man has a life of difficulty ahead of him (Pro 22:5). vii. These are all further reasons to choose none of the ways of the froward (Pro 3:31). B. but his secret is with the righteous. i. Secret n. - 1. Kept from knowledge or observation; hidden, concealed. a. Predicatively (esp. in to keep secret): Kept from public knowledge, or from the knowledge of persons specified; not allowed to be known, or only by selected persons. ii. God has hid His wisdom from the wise and prudent and revealed it unto babes (Mat 11:25-26). iii. The Lord conceals His truth from the wicked and reveals it to the righteous (Psa 25:14). iv. God kept much of the gospel secret for thousands of years until Christ came and revealed it (Mat 13:35; Rom 16:25). v. God keeps His secrets hidden from the wicked in plain sight (Isa 48:16; Joh 18:20). vi. There are some secret things that belong unto God only and no one else (Deu 29:29). 33. Pro 3:33 - "The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just." A. The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: i. Curse n. - 1. a. An utterance consigning, or supposed or intended to consign, (a person or thing) to spiritual and temporal evil, the vengeance of the deity, the blasting of malignant fate, etc. It may be uttered by the deity, or by persons supposed to speak in his name, or to be listened to by him. ii. God commanded the Levites to curse the wicked in their own nation (Deut 27:14-26). iii. God pronounces a curse on the house of those who will not observe His commandments (Deut 28:15, 19-20). iv. Those that render evil for good will have evil abiding in their house (Pro 17:13). v. God will overthrow the house of the wicked (Pro 14:11; Pro 21:12). B. but he blesseth the habitation of the just. i. On the other hand, God blesses the home and lives of the righteous who keep His commandments (Deut 28:1-14). ii. God's obedient people will dwell in peaceable habitations (Isa 32:18). 34. Pro 3:34 - "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly." A. Surely he scorneth the scorners: i. Scorn v. - 1. intr. To speak or behave contemptuously; to use derisive language, jeer. ii. Scorner n. - 1. One who scorns, derides, mocks or contemns; esp. one who scoffs at religion. iii. God is contemptuous of those that are contemptuous of Him. a. With the froward God shows Himself froward and unsavory (2Sa 22:27; Psa 18:26). b. Those that despise Him will God lightly esteem (1Sa 2:30). c. When men scorn at God's reproof and disregard His commandments, He mocks them (Pro 1:22-26). iv. James and Peter quoted this verse and rendered it "God resisteth the proud" (Jam 4:6; 1Pe 5:5). a. Scorners are proud people (Pro 21:24; Psa 123:4). b. God resists and scorns such sinners who think highly of themselves. B. but he giveth grace unto the lowly. i. Whereas God resists and scorns the proud scorners, He gives grace to the lowly and humble (Pro 3:34 c/w Jam 4:6). a. Lowly adj. - 1. Humble in feeling or demeanour; not proud or ambitious. b. Humble adj. - 1. Having a low estimate of one's importance, worthiness, or merits; marked by the absence of self-assertion or self-exaltation; lowly: the opposite of proud. c. Grace n. - II. Favour. 6. a. Favour, favourable or benignant regard or its manifestation (now only on the part of a superior); favour or goodwill, in contradistinction to right or obligation, as the ground of a concession. ii. God shows favour to the those who have a low estimation of their own worthiness and importance. iii. God lifts up those that humble themselves (Jam 4:10; 1Pe 5:6). iv. The path to exaltation is not found in self-promotion and self-centeredness, but in humility and faith in God. 35. Pro 3:35 - "The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools." A. The wise shall inherit glory: i. Glory n. - 1. subjectively. a. The disposition to claim honour for oneself; boastful spirit. Obs. exc. in the combination vainglory. 2. objectively. a. Exalted (and, in mod. use, merited) praise, honour, or admiration accorded by common consent to a person or thing; honourable fame, renown. ii. When wisdom is exalted she will promote a man (Pro 4:8) and give his head a crown of glory (Pro 4:9). iii. Those who humble themselves will be exalted (have glory) (Luk 14:11). iv. Godly wise men also have the evidence in their lives that they have eternal glory awaiting them as well (Rom 8:18). B. but shame shall be the promotion of fools. i. Men work to earn promotions. ii. Promotion n. - 1. a. Advancement in position; preferment. iii. God gives out promotion (Psa 75:6-7). a. God sets up the wise and diligent (Pro 22:29). b. Mean adj. - II. Inferior in rank or quality. 2. a. Of persons, their rank or station: Undistinguished in position; of low degree; often opposed to noble or gentle. c. God puts down and brings low fools (1Sa 2:7). iv. Fools will be promoted to shame. v. Shame n. - I. 1. a. The painful emotion arising from the consciousness of something dishonouring, ridiculous, or indecorous in one's own conduct or circumstances (or in those of others whose honour or disgrace one regards as one's own), or of being in a situation which offends one's sense of modesty or decency. vi. Fools earn a shameful promotion because they: a. are lazy (Pro 10:5) b. are proud (Pro 11:2) c. are wrathful (Pro 12:16) d. are wicked and loathsome (Pro 13:5) e. refuse instruction and reproof (Pro 13:18) f. answer a matter before they hear it (Pro 18:13) g. don't honor their parents (Pro 19:26) h. are hasty to strive (Pro 25:8)