Proverbs 15:25, "The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow."
God has a hammer and He uses it in our world amongst the children of men. His hammer is double-sided and designed to both build and destroy. This proverb gives us two contrasting scenarios in which God picks up His mighty hammer and puts it to holy use. On one side of the proverb, God picks up His hammer and destroys a house with it. On the other side of the proverb, He picks up His hammer and builds a fence with it. In both cases, God swings His holy hammer justly.
By contrasting the house of the proud with the border of the widow, Solomon reveals the determining factor in how God uses His hammer. It's not social or marital status nor is it one's net worth. What determines how God uses His hammer is one's level of dependency on Him. The proud are not dependent on God or on anyone for that matter. In fact, their pride prevents them from asking for help or accepting any help. Pride sees any dependence on anyone at any time as weakness. Pride leads to self-sufficiency and self-dependence. It causes us to build our own home with our own hands so we can boast of our self-made success. It doesn't like to share success. Pride produces a self-made, self-sustaining, self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-dependent lifestyle that refuses to acknowledge the necessity for God and man in any true success. God loathes this evil sin and its offspring. Over and over throughout Scripture, God reiterates His disdain for pride. Earlier in the Book of Proverbs, we're told that God hates it when a man or woman even looks proud (Prov. 6:17). He can't stand pride being in our heart, in our head or even on our face or in our posture.
God is incredibly generous in our world with His mercy and when it comes to our sin, He is best described as being longsuffering. He tolerates much but there is something about pride that He will not tolerate. Eventually and always, God punishes pride. This proverb is one of many Biblical statements that guarantee punishment for pride. There is no greater Scriptural story to illustrate this Divine promise than the memorable story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. King Nebuchadnezzar was wildly successful and wealthy. While there is no sin for being wildly successful or immensely wealthy, there is a great sin in taking all of the credit without any acknowledgement of God's or man's hand in it. God warned the king of coming judgment if he didn't have a change of heart. Unfortunately, only twelve months after being warned by troubling dream and caring prophet, the self-made, self-sustaining and self-dependent king made the following statement, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" (Dan. 4:30). Immediately "while the word was in the king's mouth," God pulled out His hammer from His toolbox and destroyed the king's house by removing him from power and from the palace. What the king had spent a lifetime building on his own, God destroyed in a moment of time. He hates pride and always punishes it. Proverbs 16:18 boldly states that "pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 18:12 adds, "before destruction the heart of man is haughty," or lifted up in pride. Fortunately, the king learned his lesson in the wilderness and would have us all learn from him as he eventually concluded his lesson by saying, "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase" (Dan. 4:37).
The second half of the proverb tells us that God also reaches into His toolbox to get His hammer when He senses a desperate dependence on Him. It is no coincidence that the wise Solomon chose to contrast the proud with the widow. Also, it is worth noting that he didn't contrast the proud with the widower. While widowers feel desperately lonely when losing their wife, they don't feel desperately insecure or unsafe as widows feel when losing their husband. When a man loses his wife, he is devastated by loneliness as he knows "it is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen. 2:18). When a woman loses her husband, she surely is overwhelmed with loneliness but she carries the additional heavy burden of feeling immensely insecure. Generally-speaking, widowers don't worry about paying the bills, feeling safe or making decisions when thrust into singlehood again. They think almost exclusively about losing their companion, friend and lover. Generally-speaking, widows worry about paying the bills, feeling safe and making decisions when thrust into singlehood again. While they certainly think about losing their companion, friend and lover, they think about a lot more ranging from selling the house, fixing the car, feeling safe at night, having enough money to sustain themselves for the rest of their lives to protecting themselves from being taken advantage of. By tragedy, widows understand desperate dependency on God and on man. For that simple but clear reason, God puts His holy hammer to use in building a strong fence around the property of the widow to secure and protect her.
This proverb uses artistic language to draw a picture for us to learn the critical lesson that a self-dependent mindset will provoke the punishment of God while a mindset dependent on God and even on others stirs the grace of God. If we think we can build a life without God and others, He will put His hammer to use in order to punish pride and teach us the same lesson he taught Nebuchadnezzar. If we go through life with the mindset of a widow, recognizing in desperate fashion that we need God in every area of our life at every time of our life, He will put His hammer to use securing and protecting us. Let us learn from this short proverb and loathe pride as much as God does. Let us distance ourselves from proud thinking, proud speaking and even from proud posturing. Let us fear the hammer of God knowing its historic work against the houses of pride. On the other hand, let us welcome the hammer of God knowing its gracious work on behalf on widows and others who live with a desperate dependence on God.
By contrasting the house of the proud with the border of the widow, Solomon reveals the determining factor in how God uses His hammer. It's not social or marital status nor is it one's net worth. What determines how God uses His hammer is one's level of dependency on Him. The proud are not dependent on God or on anyone for that matter. In fact, their pride prevents them from asking for help or accepting any help. Pride sees any dependence on anyone at any time as weakness. Pride leads to self-sufficiency and self-dependence. It causes us to build our own home with our own hands so we can boast of our self-made success. It doesn't like to share success. Pride produces a self-made, self-sustaining, self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-dependent lifestyle that refuses to acknowledge the necessity for God and man in any true success. God loathes this evil sin and its offspring. Over and over throughout Scripture, God reiterates His disdain for pride. Earlier in the Book of Proverbs, we're told that God hates it when a man or woman even looks proud (Prov. 6:17). He can't stand pride being in our heart, in our head or even on our face or in our posture.
God is incredibly generous in our world with His mercy and when it comes to our sin, He is best described as being longsuffering. He tolerates much but there is something about pride that He will not tolerate. Eventually and always, God punishes pride. This proverb is one of many Biblical statements that guarantee punishment for pride. There is no greater Scriptural story to illustrate this Divine promise than the memorable story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. King Nebuchadnezzar was wildly successful and wealthy. While there is no sin for being wildly successful or immensely wealthy, there is a great sin in taking all of the credit without any acknowledgement of God's or man's hand in it. God warned the king of coming judgment if he didn't have a change of heart. Unfortunately, only twelve months after being warned by troubling dream and caring prophet, the self-made, self-sustaining and self-dependent king made the following statement, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" (Dan. 4:30). Immediately "while the word was in the king's mouth," God pulled out His hammer from His toolbox and destroyed the king's house by removing him from power and from the palace. What the king had spent a lifetime building on his own, God destroyed in a moment of time. He hates pride and always punishes it. Proverbs 16:18 boldly states that "pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 18:12 adds, "before destruction the heart of man is haughty," or lifted up in pride. Fortunately, the king learned his lesson in the wilderness and would have us all learn from him as he eventually concluded his lesson by saying, "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase" (Dan. 4:37).
The second half of the proverb tells us that God also reaches into His toolbox to get His hammer when He senses a desperate dependence on Him. It is no coincidence that the wise Solomon chose to contrast the proud with the widow. Also, it is worth noting that he didn't contrast the proud with the widower. While widowers feel desperately lonely when losing their wife, they don't feel desperately insecure or unsafe as widows feel when losing their husband. When a man loses his wife, he is devastated by loneliness as he knows "it is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen. 2:18). When a woman loses her husband, she surely is overwhelmed with loneliness but she carries the additional heavy burden of feeling immensely insecure. Generally-speaking, widowers don't worry about paying the bills, feeling safe or making decisions when thrust into singlehood again. They think almost exclusively about losing their companion, friend and lover. Generally-speaking, widows worry about paying the bills, feeling safe and making decisions when thrust into singlehood again. While they certainly think about losing their companion, friend and lover, they think about a lot more ranging from selling the house, fixing the car, feeling safe at night, having enough money to sustain themselves for the rest of their lives to protecting themselves from being taken advantage of. By tragedy, widows understand desperate dependency on God and on man. For that simple but clear reason, God puts His holy hammer to use in building a strong fence around the property of the widow to secure and protect her.
This proverb uses artistic language to draw a picture for us to learn the critical lesson that a self-dependent mindset will provoke the punishment of God while a mindset dependent on God and even on others stirs the grace of God. If we think we can build a life without God and others, He will put His hammer to use in order to punish pride and teach us the same lesson he taught Nebuchadnezzar. If we go through life with the mindset of a widow, recognizing in desperate fashion that we need God in every area of our life at every time of our life, He will put His hammer to use securing and protecting us. Let us learn from this short proverb and loathe pride as much as God does. Let us distance ourselves from proud thinking, proud speaking and even from proud posturing. Let us fear the hammer of God knowing its historic work against the houses of pride. On the other hand, let us welcome the hammer of God knowing its gracious work on behalf on widows and others who live with a desperate dependence on God.
Posted in Proverbs Commentary
Posted in Solomon, Proud, pride, Humility, Self-Dependent, Self-Reliant, Self-Sustaining, Self-Made, Self-Preserving, self-sufficient, Widow, Widower, House, security, Insecurity, Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Hammer, justice
Posted in Solomon, Proud, pride, Humility, Self-Dependent, Self-Reliant, Self-Sustaining, Self-Made, Self-Preserving, self-sufficient, Widow, Widower, House, security, Insecurity, Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Hammer, justice
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