10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
And a stranger does not share its joy.
11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,
And the end of joy may be grief.
14 The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied [g]with his.
15 The [h]naive believes everything,
But the sensible man considers his steps.
16 A wise man [i]is cautious and turns away from evil,
But a fool is arrogant and careless.
17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
And a man of evil devices is hated.
18 The [j]naive inherit foolishness,
But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.
In this passage, Solomon gives us yet another lesson in patience. We see in v. 12, “there is a way which seems right to a man…” Except it isn’t the right way, but how are we to know? Solomon continues with a couple more contrasts: laughter concealing pain, and joy ending in grief. Finally in v. 14 we begin to see the root of the thing.
It somewhat has two parts, though they are connected. He says that the backslider will have his fill, which seems innocuous, but the backslider is contrasted with the good man who is satisfied. So I think we can put it another way: the “backslider” will keep going until he is full, not satisfied with what he has. And truthfully, he will never be full, because that’s how it works when we seek fulfillment in this world.
Let’s keep going though, because we find more contrasts that make it more plain. The naive, the fool, the arrogant, careless, quick-tempered, these inherit foolishness. But if we are careful, cautious, content, and willing to be patient, we will not miss out. Rather, we will be “crowned with knowledge”. You’ve likely heard “fools rush in” and nothing could be truer, but being patient is difficult.
I’m sure I’m not the only one, but when I have an idea, I want to do it, right now. No waiting, no dilly-dallying, lets just get it done! Yet “there is a way that seems right to a man” and we won’t find out if it’s really the right way if we just rush in. We may need to gather more information, or we may simply need to wait.
When we are rushing pell mell here and there, it is awfully difficult to hear the voice of God, let alone giving our own mind the time to make wise decisions. That’s a combination ripe for disaster. We need to take time, sleep on it, wait and listen. Then, when we have His peace in our hearts, even if all round seems wrapped in chaos, we can walk forward hand in hand with Him.