Quarrels and Deceit,

Proverbs 26:17-28

“Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.  Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!  For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.  As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.  The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.   Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.  Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception,
his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.  Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.  A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

These two morsels have no place in a Follower of Christ's heart, quarrels and deceit, yet we know that those who walk in the flesh and not by the Spirit do such things.  My first boss in the Electrical Markets Division of 3M was from Chicago, and he was Irish and liked to say often, “I was only kidding.”  You never knew when he was telling you the truth, and his saying when a customer caught him telling a lie was, “I’m Irish what do you expect?”

I heard a man of God tell a group he was teaching this; “God does not give grace to a person who takes up another person’s offense.”  His teaching was, God would show grace and mercy to the one offended but not to the one that meddles and takes up another’s offense.  Unless you are walking in the Spirit, it is easy to become emotional and attack the wrongdoer, when they have not done anything to you.

Often, I find myself getting emotional about the corruption in our Congress, where dishonesty runs amuck, and they do not need truth to destroy a man who has lived a life of integrity.  So I do find great comfort in verses 24-27.  Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.  Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.   I believe we have seen that stone beginning to move.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice