Proverbs 8:13 (Mini Sermon)

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1.      Pro 8:13 – “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

1. The fear of the LORD
   1. The fear of God is fundamental to the Christian faith.
      1. Fear n. – 1. In OE.: A sudden and terrible event; peril. 2. a. The emotion of pain or uneasiness caused by the sense of impending danger, or by the prospect of some possible evil. This emotion viewed with regard to an object; the state of fearing (something).  d. A mingled feeling of dread and reverence towards God (formerly also, towards any rightful authority).
      2. Dread n. – 1. Extreme fear; deep awe or reverence; apprehension or anxiety as to future events.
      3. Fearing God is not merely having a healthy respect for God, but being seriously afraid of Him.
      4. Those who fear God do so because they understand who God is.
         • Understanding who God is means understanding His attributes such as:
           1. His omnipotence (possessing all power) (Gen 17:1; Rev 19:6).
           2. His omniscience (possessing all knowledge) (Psa 147:5).
           3. His omnipresence (being everywhere present at all times) (Pro 15:3; Jer 23:24).
           4. His love of justice (punishing wrong) (Nah 1:3).
         • A man who understands and believes that God hates sin and will punish it; has infinite power to do so; has infinite knowledge of all of our thoughts, words, and deeds; and is present with us every moment will certainly fear God if he is not insane.
      5. Those who fear God do the following:
         • hate evil (Pro 8:13) – more on this later
         • depart from evil (Pro 3:7; Pro 14:27; Pro 16:6)
         • eschew (to avoid, shun) evil (Job 1:1)
         • walk in uprightness (Pro 14:2)
         • gain wisdom (Job 28:28; Pro 9:10) and knowledge (Pro 1:7)
         • have confidence (Pro 14:26)
      6. is to hate evil:
         1. Hate v. – 1. trans. To hold in very strong dislike; to detest; to bear malice to. The opposite of to love.
         2. A man who fears God will hate evil for the following reasons.
            1. He understands who God is (see above) and knows that God hates sin (Hab 1:13; Heb 1:9), and therefore he hates it too.
            2. He loves God (Psa 97:10).
            3. He knows that wickedness provokes God to anger (Jer 44:3-4).
            4. He knows that to tolerate evil in himself would be to hate God (Pro 14:2).
            5. He loves the word of God and esteems all its precepts to be right, and therefore hates anything contrary to it (Psa 119:104, 128).
            6. He obeys the word of God which tells him to abhor evil (Rom 12:9).

• Hating evil is evidence that a man loves God and his neighbor.

1. pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
   1. Wisdom lists four sins that she particularly hates which are:
      1. Pride
         • Pride n. – B. Signification. The quality of being proud. 1.  a. A high or overweening opinion of one’s own qualities, attainments, or estate, which gives rise to a feeling and attitude of superiority over and contempt for others; inordinate self-esteem.
         • God hates pride (Pro 6:16-17; Pro 16:5).
         • In other words, God hates those who have a high opinion of themselves.
         • God despises people who think they are better than others (Isa 65:5).
      2. Arrogancy
         • Arrogancy n. – 1. The quality or state of being arrogant.
         • Arrogant adj. – A. adj. Making or implying unwarrantable claims to dignity, authority, or knowledge; aggressively conceited or haughty, presumptuous, overbearing. (Used of men, their actions, manner, etc.)
         • God hates those who make or imply unwarrantable claims to dignity and knowledge and those who are overbearing and full of themselves.
         • The Bible defines arrogancy as talking exceeding proudly (1Sa 2:3).
         • Donald Trump is a perfect example of an arrogant man.
         • Those who are arrogant are also proud, lofty, and haughty (Jer 48:29).
      3. The evil way
         • Evil adj. – 1. Morally depraved, bad, wicked, vicious.
         • Way n. – III. Course of life or action, means, manner. a. A path or course of life; the activities and fortunes of a person.
         • God hates a course of life which is morally depraved and wicked.
         • Wisdom hates the evil way, and so should we (Psa 119:128).
      4. The froward mouth
         • Froward adj. – 1. Disposed to go counter to what is demanded or what is reasonable; perverse, difficult to deal with, hard to please; refractory, ungovernable; also, in a wider sense, bad, evilly-disposed, ‘naughty’. (The opposite of toward.)
         • Froward people always want to go counter to what is demanded, are difficult to deal with, hard to please, and ungovernable.
           1. Men with froward mouths are always talking back to authority.
           2. They cause strife (Pro 16:28).
         • God hates froward people (Pro 3:32; Pro 11:20).
         • Froward people will find God to be froward towards them (Psa 18:26).
         • We must put away from ourselves a froward mouth (whether our own, or others’) (Pro 4:24).