“The bloodthirsty hate blameless people, but the upright seek to help them.” Pro 29:10 NLT
In a sinful and fallen world there is something that provokes the wicked when they see a man of true integrity. Today’s proverb tells us about ” bloodthirsty men,” and how they hate men of integrity. There is something about the nature of the wicked that wants to poison, pollute, or tarnish good people. It all started with the fall.
Murderous men hate men of character and godliness. The word hate here is the Hebrew word “sane” which means to hate, to consider another an enemy – to dislike, be hostile to, or to loathe another. It is more than dislike; it is to desire that harm would come upon another. It is the direct antonym of the Hebrew word “anab” which means to love. John wrote of this very incident between Cain and Abel. He said, “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous.” (1 John 3:11-12)
This passage in 1 John tells us exactly what our proverb today is trying to tell us. The murderer hates the godly man. It should be noted that the word “blameless” does not mean without sin. It speaks of a person of integrity who desires to live a godly, moral life according to God’s Word and God’s precepts. This world does not love such a man – and the more ungodly they are – the more they hate him. We see this growing every day in our society. Just look at how Christians are portrayed in our world today – especially in the media. The hatred of the media elite and the ungodly in positions of power there drips off our television and movie screens. It is difficult, unless you are watching a movie produced by a Christian, to find positive Christian characters. This is because when a man’s deeds are evil – he hates the people who pursue righteousness.
The remainder of our proverb today states that the upright is concerned for the lives of the moral and those who walk in integrity. The literal translation of this would say, “But the upright seeks his soul.” We stand with the godly man of integrity – because we see that life is more than just the 70 or so years we spend on this planet. There is an eternal soul in each man – and that is what we should be most concerned with in life. There will come a day when the wicked will be loosed in a way that we have not seen before in our nation. Regardless of who wins in the coming elections, there is not a moral, godly ascendency going on in our nation. If there was, such moral issues such as abortion, homosexual and heterosexual immorality, decency, and the moral debauchery of our nation would be put on the front burner as the real problems we face as a nation. As it is – we continue to worship the dollar – and when it finally crashes to the ground, which it will, we will face a country that will rip itself apart because we lack basic morality. In that day it will be difficult to stand with the “blameless man” in our nation. In some ways it already is. Franklin Graham has taken several biblical stands for righteousness, and he is more and more being ripped apart in the public square. We should stand with him and with other men who stand for biblical righteousness. Even if it becomes increasingly difficult to do so – we need to be concerned with the souls and lives of such men. For according to this proverb . . . that is wisdom.
This week be praying for those that are living upright.
In His Hands,
John