Proverbs 14:13–14
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I. False Joy
I. False Joy
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; And the end of that mirth is heaviness.
This verse at first looks tricky, but as we break it down and compare it with other scriptures, it will hopefully become very clear.
A. Sorrow in Laughter
A. Sorrow in Laughter
This verse is obviously not saying that all laughter hides sorrow, or making any statement against the goodness of laughter and joy. The Bible is full of commands and encouragements to be joyful. We’ll look at just one.
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
There does not seem to be any sorrow lurking behind that joy. So what is this verse talking about? Is it saying that all laughter is just a cover for sorrow?
This proverb’s point is exposing, as Matthew Henry puts it, “the vanity of carnal mirth.” When someone is in great trouble, or under conviction, they might try to hide their problems by joking about them and laughing, pretending as if everything is just fine. Think of all the great parties and celebrations that the world puts on, indulging in every pleasure to try to find some meaning in life. As the Romans were once satiated with bread and circuses as their nation fell, so scores of people today only seek to have fun and ignore the deeper questions of live that cause them discomfort.
The design of the proverb is to declare the vanity of all worldly joys and comforts, and to teach men moderation in them, and to persuade us to seek for more solid and durable joys.
But, as this verse shows, that laughter and mirth is tainted with sadness. It is tainted with a deep uneasiness and guilt that very often haunts people throughout their life. All unbelievers know to one degree or another that they are guilty, and not even laughter can cover it up.
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
We see the ultimate emptiness of pursing wordly joys above obedience. While laughter and mirth is good and even commanded in scripture (as we saw), doing so to cover up rebellion against God is spoken against.
Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: For thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, Thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.
Sometimes we can fall into this trap. When we are not walking with God, we lose the joy that He gives us in His presence. So we seek for joy in other places. Work, entertainment, relationships, whatever it might be. We seek that fulfillment there. But it will never give the fulfillment we truly need and desire; only God can do that. When we wander from him and look for laughter elsewhere, it is only a superficial happiness overshadowed with misery.
Spiritual joy is seated in the soul; the joy of the hypocrite is but from the teeth outward.
B. Heaviness in Mirth
B. Heaviness in Mirth
We’ll look first at the definition of heaviness:
sorrow, anguish, i.e., grief as an attitude or emotion, as the antithesis of joy
This second point refers back to the first by saying “the end of that mirth.” What mirth? The false mirth that was presented in the first half. When our happiness is built on that, it eventually collapses into anguish and grief. In addition to it being not satisfying in the moment, afterward, it loses all semblance of happiness and becomes only misery.
Probably most of us have experienced this at some point as we wandered away from God. Instead of the expectation and ultimate fulfillment of true Christian joy, the stuff this verse talks about is fake and forced and will only last a moment.
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
Again, here Jesus isn’t condemning laughter. When this verse is considered with the rest of his sermon, you can see he is speaking about those who are satisfied with themselves and their goodness. They do not weep for their sins or hunger for God, like the person in this verse.
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, And her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a twoedged sword.
This is another way joy can be promised but death delivered.
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II. Fed Up or Filled
II. Fed Up or Filled
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
Out of all the verses we have covered in Proverbs, this is probably the most relatable to me. I can’t even tell you how many times I have lived this verse. Again, it may not make sense at first (at least, it didn’t to me), but with some study there is a great truth here. It shows a contrast of two people who are filled, but filled in very different ways.
A. Surfeited with Sin
A. Surfeited with Sin
We first see that this verse is not a contrast between God’s people and the wicked. This is not a contrast between Christians and worldly rebels. This verse presents a contrast between two kinds of Christians and how they live. We know this because of the word “backslider.” If this is about a wicked man who hates God, what does he have to backslide from? He is already in sin. Rather, this is about someone who used to follow God’s law and walk with Him but at some point forsook Him and followed their own ways.
The term “shall be filled with” is interesting and worth studying for a minute. The Hebrew word used basically means “full,” as in, unable to receive more, but it has different connotations in different contexts. The following verses are just a small sample of the places it is used, but they get the point across.
And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, And his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
Here it is positive. But some Proverbs use it negatively.
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, Lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; Lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
God can become filled (surfeited) with disingenuous sacrifices (Is 1:11, “I am full of the burnt offerings of rams”). The word has a wide range of applications, and we need to look at the context to understand how it is being used. In this verse, it’s obviously negative because it is describing a backslider. Its usage is closer to the word “surfeited” than “satisfied.”
To be fed till the system is oppressed and sickness or uneasiness ensues.
Surfeited, WD1828
Have you ever eaten too many sweets and once where you feel sick afterward? Or maybe you’ve eaten the same one thing day after day for so long that your stomach turns at just the thought of it. That is how this word is applied. We Americans tend to think that you can never have too much of a good thing, but too much of almost anything will lead to this feeling.
And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
Just remember all of that; we’ll come back to it in a minute.
“His own ways” denotes his manner of life. It’s a broad word used for literal paths and lifestyles, and is the same idea used to describe the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah. It often says that they “walked in the ways of so-and-so their father.” But what are the ways of a backslider? Hypocrisy. Sin. Rebellion. Self-reliance. “His own ways” uses a double possessive for a reason—it’s emphasizing that this backslider has abandoned God’s laws and set up his own counterfeit ones that are much less demanding. He has left the path and climbed over the fence to the seemingly easier way.
Now let’s pull everything together. What does it mean that a backslider is filled with his own ways? It means that what he thinks he wants, in the end, only makes him sick with overuse. God hears his desires for sin and gives it to him in such great measures that he comes to hate it. This could end in his life being a total disaster, or it could simply be heaps of time wasted on trivial things. Unless you’re some kind of self-motivated entrepreneur that was born with a daily planner in hand, you probably know how it feels to waste a day on meaningless junk. I definitely struggle with this all the time. I backslide, in a sense, from what God has given me to work on and pursue what I want to do instead. Then at the end of the day, I’ve indulged in so much entertainment that I feel sick of it and have a nasty feeling come over me.
That’s just a foretaste of what will happen if any of us remain determined to have our own way. God has made this principle true so that being surfeited might turn us back to him and away from the things that will destroy us.
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
They would none of my counsel: They despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.
“Filled with their own devices” is the same idea again. Because of their determination to have their own way, they will be given so much worldly pleasure that they’ll want to vomit it back up.
B. Satisfied with Righteousness
B. Satisfied with Righteousness
There is such a contrast between the idea expressed in “shall be filled with” versus the word “satisfied.”
Having the desires fully gratified; made content.
WD1828, Satisfied
Instead of being so full that you’re sick, you are content. It’s very similar in concept but very different in outcome. Being full and satisfied is not the same thing as being full and sick. It’s like in one of my favorite book series where the main character has to eat thirteen sweet muffins for his thirteenth birthday after having already enjoyed a great feast. Being happy and full after a large meal is something everyone enjoys, but you know that if you kept eating it would be quite a different feeling. The main character is forced to eat the muffins one by one and his nausea increases with every bite. That’s the picture of the backslider.
In direct contrast, the good man is satisfied. He is “made content.” His desires are “fully gratified” but not indulged.
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: And the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.
It’s clear enough from the word “good” describing this man what he is satisfied with. But the last phrase adds another interesting piece. It says he “shall be satisfied from himself.” From himself? Is this about self-esteem and finding contentment in just being yourself?
Taken alone this doesn’t make much sense, but compared to the backslider, it provides the greatest contrast of all between the two characters. While a backslider’s own way surfeits him, a good man’s obedience brings him contentment. You know how it feels to do the right thing and then rejoice in the knowledge that God is working in you. It’s not that the object of contentment resides in us, but rather that our own actions bring or take away contentment. One way or another, your actions will influence your internal state and the way you feel. Would you rather those actions make you feel bloated and wasteful, or purposeful and productive? It all depends on whose laws we want to obey.