Who is Right?

God is always right.  He's the Judge of your heart.

April 21, 2022

"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes:  but the LORD pondereth the hearts."

Proverbs 21:2

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes.”
How true!  Have you ever met a person that didn’t believe they were right about how they thought about things?  I haven’t.  Matthew Henry was correct when he said –

“We are partial in judging ourselves and our actions” [1] (Henry).

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weigheth the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2).

“By nature, we justify ourselves.  Sometimes we do this in sincerity, sometimes with deception, but stubborn pride makes us generally think every way of a man is right in his own eyes” [2] (EWC).

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” (Proverbs 20:6).

“A person may think nothing is wrong with his ways (conduct; cf. 12:15), but the Lord knows what is in his heart” [3] (BKC).

“Sometimes a man is a poor judge of his own actions because, unlike God, he ignores or justifies his motives (cp. 15:11; 16:2; 17:3; 24:12)” [4] (CSB).

For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Galatians 6:3).

Perhaps the worst kind of deception is “self-deception.”  When I look at my life only through the filter of “what I think about myself,” I will be deceived every time, and I did it to myself!  We need the honest filter of God’s Word and the help of a godly friend to help us see what we are really like.

But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

 

“But the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
One Hebrew translator reads this phrase as “But a weigher of hearts is Jahve (Jehovah)” [5] (KDC).  Regardless of how anyone feels about their own ways, Jehovah, the LORD, our Maker, weighs our hearts accurately.  He knows if we are correct and up to His standard or not.  We can never fool our Creator; He knows us too well.

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:10).

God will give us not what we think we should have but what we actually deserve.

“If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works?” (Proverbs 24:12).

Humans tend to look at the wrong data when we are sizing someone up.  Since the LORD checks out the heart of each individual, He never misses His diagnosis.

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Jesus always has His finger on the pulse of anyone who tries to justify themselves.

“And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).

What the citizens of this sinful world think are important — God sees through it and calls what the world loves – an abomination!  Believers, let’s be sure we set our compass for true North, aiming for what our God says is most essential.

 

Quote:  “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching” [6] (C. S. Lewis).

 

 

 

[1] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Pr 21:2.
[2] EWC – David Guzik.  Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] BKC, Sid S. Buzzell, “Proverbs,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 950.
[4] CSB, David K. Stabnow, “Proverbs,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 985.
[5] KDC – Keil & Delitzsch.  Keil & Delitzsch’s Commentary on the Old Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[6] Lewis’ quote downloaded: April 20, 2022.  From: https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/doing-the-right-thing.html.