Posted on 09/25/2022 11:27:34 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin” (Proverbs 26:27-28).
“Whose diggeth a pit,” that’s the action, “shall fall therein,” that’s the reaction.
“. . . and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him,” that is cause and effect. That is sowing and reaping.
You see, just like verse 26, it'll be shown before the whole congregation. “There's a God in heaven that revealeth secrets.” You try to hide something—that’s the end of Ecclesiastes. You just can't hide nothing from God, and a man is a fool think he can. He is a fool that thinks he can hide hatred, and bitterness, and revenge.
Solomon says, “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). He will reveal it. He will make it known. And a man digs a pit with deceit and deception to capture somebody else God will reveal him and send him into his own pit. Haman hung on his own gallows, a perfect example.
“. . . he that ruleth a stone, it will return upon him.” I don’t know if anybody ever had that happen to them in the Bible like that, but that sure is a fitting thing. It kind of sounds like a guy trying to move a landmark or barrier and it returned on him.
“A lying tongue,” and we're right back to the troublemaker in verse 24. This whole thing deals with a man who's got hatred bottled up in his heart his heart and is just pictured perfectly by those seven abominations. He’s just full of indignation and wrath. He said that “a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it,”
“. . . and a flattering mouth working ruin,” they’ll praise you, whether you deserve it or not for an evil purpose.
“A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet” (Proverbs 29:5).
Flattery is just a way to get your guard down, and to lower your resistance so that a man or a woman can take advantage of you.
“A lying tongue,” see, a lying tongue. It says things that are not true, hiding that hatred, like the man in verse 24, “hateth those that are afflicted by it,” now we’ve already seen the strife of the talebearer. Really, the talebearer and the troublemaker go hand in hand here. People that hated Christ, they told lies about Him, and spread gossip and rumors about Him in hopes to bring about His destruction.
“And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly” (Luke 20:20-21).
The Pharisees and the Scribes were a lying bunch of rascals, all they wanted to do was trip Him up. Remember, “a flattering mouth worketh ruin.”
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