Proverbs 4:19

Are you appalled at the stupidity of the human race, especially the present generation? You should be. Due to the depravity of their hearts and ignorance of their minds, they live in darkness as to truth and wisdom. They keep hurting themselves with what they cannot see, and their lives become more and more dysfunctional each passing day.

Solomon concluded a parallelism here. In the previous proverb, he described the life of a just man as the shining light, which increases until the full light of day is seen (Pr 4:18). As a man learns and applies truth and wisdom, God gives him more understanding in the same way a sunrise chases away darkness and eventually brings full and clear daylight.

But the wicked cannot see at all, for they walk in darkness. They do not know why they trip and fall, for they cannot see the errors in their thinking. Their arrogance is a great curse, for there is more hope of a fool than a man who thinks he is right (Pr 26:12). They rush on in sin, until suddenly it shocks them with painful results (Ps 36:1-2; 50:21-22).

There are many examples of this proverb. Wise men observe the world’s antics and go humbly to Scripture, lest they become as confused and ignorant as those around them. Wise parents show the world’s folly and its painful consequences to their children. The sons of God should despise the children of darkness (Pr 29:27; Gen 6:1-2; Ps 139:21-22).

God owes truth and wisdom to no man. He revealed His eternal power and Godhead in His creation (Rom 1:18-20). When they reject this offer of knowledge, He justly darkens their hearts and leaves them in confusion (Rom 1:20-23). The curse of sodomy and many other perversions are God’s judgment on rebellious men (Rom 1:24-32; Eph 4:17-19).

Enjoy God mocking idolaters – who take leftover wood and worship it! They have a lie in their right hand and cannot let go (Is 44:9-20). When men do not love the truth they are offered, God sends them strong delusion to believe lies and be damned (II Thess 2:9-12). He deceives prophets to teach lies, when a man comes with idols in his heart (Ezek 14:1-11). And He sent a lying spirit to Ahab, who had chosen wickedness (I Kgs 22:19-23).

Consider. The lazy fool pampers himself by sleeping in, but he is frustrated he cannot afford anything (Pr 21:25). The fornicator thinks he has found great pleasure, until he wakes up the loneliest man on earth (Pr 5:3-5). A modern mother chooses to coddle her children rather than train them, but they put her to shame (Pr 29:15). A prudish woman defrauds her husband of frequent love, and she wonders why he is bitter (I Cor 7:1-5).

The lustful fool dates a woman for her body, and he cannot grasp how he ended up in marital hell (Pr 11:22; 30:21-23; 31:30). A college coed defied the school administration, yet now she resents her husband’s adultery. Politicians offer welfare to buy votes, but they are confused by falling productivity and increasing outlays. The carnal Christian watches television every night, but he blames the pastor for preaching boring sermons.

The modern woman aborts two unborn babies, but she suffers a nervous breakdown when her neighbors get in a fight. The evolutionist teaches man came from monkeys, but he wants police protection from the beasts in the hallway. The Arminian adores decisional regeneration, but he asks why there are no changed lives. The intellectual rejects the idea of a Creator and ends up following Freud’s insane infatuation with his own bodily waste.

The abortionist sucks unborn babies apart with his vacuum wand, but he painfully frets about baby seals in Antarctica. Union workers rejoice at the pay increase they force from their employer, but they are shocked when the plant closes and leaves them unemployed. The teenage gunman slaughters fellow students and teachers, but no one thinks to outlaw the violent music, movies, and video games that entertain and program such teenagers.

The world is not becoming enlightened. Only educated idiots of the past few generations believed evolution. Only the blind admire Picasso. Only the darkened read Nietzsche. Evil men and seducers are worse and worse (II Tim 3:13). Man’s moral decay is obvious. Simply view its art, listen to its music, read its books, watch its youth, count its divorces, measure its contentment, calculate its chemical dependency, number its suicides, etc.

Reader, there is light in Scripture! It can save you from the dark insanity of the world. Listen to the psalmist. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105). “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 19:8). “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles” (Ps 43:3).

There is light in Proverbs! “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Pr 6:23). Isaiah wrote, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Is 8:20). The Bible is better than God’s voice from heaven! “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (II Pet 1:16-21).

Jesus Christ is the light of the world. But only those drawn by His Father – the elect – ever come to His light (John 1:5; 3:19; 6:44-45). If you can comprehend and appreciate Jesus Christ, it is by God’s free mercy (Matt 11:25-27; 16:15-17; John 10:26-29). You must already be born again, for prior to regeneration a man cannot see or hear anything spiritual (John 3:3; 8:43,47; I Cor 2:14). Cast yourself humbly on God’s mercy in Jesus Christ, and He will give you light (John 8:12; Eph 5:14). Thank you, blessed God!