“Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright.” Proverbs 29:10
Devotional Thought For The Day
There is some debate as to the translation of the second part of the proverb. One group of translators looks at the second part as a contrast to the first. So the KJV translates “but the just seek his soul,” that is, to preserve and protect the soul of the just or upright person. This assertion would of course be true and consonant with many other passages in Holy Scripture. However, other linguistic experts see the second part of the proverb as an intensification – the bloodthirsty not only hate the godly but also seek to kill the godly person. This too is true and in consonance with many other statements and descriptions in Holy Scripture, beginning with Cain in Genesis 4. The ESV and other translations opt for this understanding.
Regardless, whether it just hatred or murderous desires and plotting, it is a pathetic reality that is described. In our time we consider murderers to be “sick” and demented, few in number, rare exceptions. If this were the case, we would hardly need such a general warning. The record of Scripture, as well as even a casual consideration of human history, including what is going on in many parts of the world [including America], indicates that there are numerous people, generally men, who are in fact bloodthirsty misanthropes, haters of mankind, and more than willing to execute innocent people. Those who are “blameless” or “upright” are those who are Christians, believers in God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness, people of faith to whom God has accounted their faith as being righteousness [like Abraham – Gen. 15:6; Abel – Gen. 4:4 and Mt. 23:35; and Noah – Gen. 6:8,9]. It is Christians who are being targeted for death in many parts of the world, and often the “goodness and decency” of Christians compels bloodthirsty men to carry out their murderous hatred.
The proverb is intended as a warning to all, to give all of us pause for thought as to the true nature of sin. We should not consider ourselves above such sin, for as Jesus [Who surely knows what is in the hearts of human beings] asserted: “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” [Matt. 15:19] If we are honest, we will confess that we too have had evil thoughts, anger, hatred, malice, and the desire for harm and perhaps even destruction to come to others. We have at the least engaged in slander, speaking evil of others, and have probably engaged in behavior calculated to bring harm to others. The fact that we recognize such evil for what it is, that we repent of it and confess it to God, that the blood of Christ cleanses us even from such sins, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit our hearts have been re-oriented and we are being re-conditioned by God’s love, should not cause us to discount this evil within or to become lax in confessing and repudiating it. Even though much of our murderous hatred is reduced to malice and slander it remains what it is; its nature is not changed. Lord, have mercy!
The proverb, as a general observation of the state of war between good and evil, is also intended to warn us about the thoughts and intents of others around us. Love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” [1 Cor. 13:7], but we are also instructed and encouraged to be “as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves.” [Matt. 10:16] So we must continue to love and to trust and to believe in others, and certainly to endure and bear all things without becoming malicious and vengeful, but we must also exercise caution, discernment, and wisdom in our interactions and relationships with others – for there are venomous vipers in the world, and some even within the outward fellowship of the church. The key is learning how to deal with them without becoming one of them. Lord, have mercy!
As usual, these words in Holy Scripture are hard and they bite at the sin that lurks within human hearts. As such they will either humble us and bring us to greater repentance, or they will harden us and make us all the more wicked and incorrigible. The proverb clearly warns of what happens if our hearts are hardened and we become “bloodthirsty.” But if we repent and confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and then we will be growing in love because we allow and rejoice that He first loved us. God grant this to all of humanity!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, help us to understand what You have always known about the disease of human sin, that we remain humble and fearful in repentance and allow the healing and renewing warmth of Your gracious love, mercy, and forgiveness to soften our hard and stony hearts. Protect and preserve us from the bloodthirsty, and forbid that we ever take our place among them. Grant that love may grow so that safety and peace may prevail everywhere, especially where Your dear people of faith are. Amen.