Proverbs 28

CHAPTER 28

More Proverbs of Solomon, Continued (28:1–28)

1–28 Verse 1: The wicked often have a guilty conscience; they fear retaliation from their enemies and judgment from the Lord. The righteous, on the other hand, have a clear conscience; they are bold—but only in the Lord, not in themselves. They know the Lord will keep them safe (verse 18).

Verse 4: Those who forsake the law⁶⁶ praise the wicked. Our attitude toward God’s law determines whose side we are going to be on: God’s side or the side of the wicked. God’s law teaches us to distinguish good from evil; without the law, humans naturally tend toward evil.

Verse 5: Justice is based on God’s law; only those who seek the LORD and seek to know His law can understand justice fully. Without the law, people try to pervert justice to their own ends.

Verse 6: See Proverbs 19:1.

Verse 8: Charging exorbitant interest was prohibited by the law (Exodus 22:25). The one who does this will end up losing his illegal gains (Proverbs 10:2; 23:4–5); the gains will go to the righteous, to those who are kind to the poor⁶⁷ (Proverbs 13:22; 14:31).

Verse 9: God does not listen to the prayers of those who don’t listen to Him; the prayers of such people are detestable to God, just like their sacrifices (Proverbs 15:8). Such people’s prayers go unanswered because they do not pray according to God’s will and because they harbor sin in their hearts (Psalm 66:18).

Verse 10: Even the upright can be led into a trap by evil men, but in the end those evildoers will fall into the same trap they have laid for others (Psalm 7:15–16; Proverbs 26:27). However, the blameless⁶⁸—those who have not strayed onto an evil path—will receive a good inheritance, an inheritance of blessing both in this life and the next.

Verse 13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper. There are several ways of “concealing” sin, in addition to simply hiding it from others. We can excuse it, we can blame others for it, or we can call it by another name. We may be able for a time to conceal our sin from others and even from ourselves, but we can never conceal it from God. He will judge us for every sin—that is, every sin we do not confess (see Psalm 32:1–7 and comment).

Verse 14: See Psalm 95:6–11; Proverbs 1:7; Romans 2:5 and comments.

Verse 16: See Proverbs 1:19; 3:1–2.

Verse 19: See Proverbs 12:11.

Verse 20: See Proverbs 23:4–5.

Verse 21: Many verses in Scripture command us not to show partiality; but even so, some people will do wrong—show partiality—and they’ll do it for a very low price: they can be bribed with a piece of bread!

Verse 22: A stingy man—a greedy man—is eager to get rich, but he’ll end in poverty instead (Proverbs 23:4–5). It is the generous person who prospers, not the stingy one (Proverbs 11:24–25; 22:9).

Verse 23: A rebuke is at first painful but later pleasing; flattery is at first pleasing but later painful. The one who rebukes a man truthfully face to face is that man’s friend (see Proverbs 27:5). But the flatterer is an enemy to the one flattered. The flatterer only seeks his own advantage; his smooth and deceptive words are designed to extract some benefit from the unsuspecting listener (see Proverbs 29:5). Some people flatter others in the hope of being flattered in return, but such hope is vain; in the end, a flatterer will not gain favor.

Verse 26: To trust in oneself is to walk in foolishness; to trust in God is to walk in wisdom (see Proverbs 3:5–6 and comment).

Verse 27: God has a special concern for the poor, and He rewards those who share in this concern and punishes those who do not (see Proverbs 11:24–25; 19:17; 21:13; 22:9).