“A worthless person, a wicked man goes around speaking dishonestly, winking his eyes, signaling with his feet, and gesturing with his fingers. He always plots evil with perversity in his heart; he stirs up trouble. Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly; he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

There is a basic human intuition that we should reap what we sow. If someone does good things, they should expect to receive good things coming back their way. If a person does evil things, however, just the opposite expectation should frame their thinking. Given the world as it actually seems to exist, we don’t necessarily see this kind of thing playing out as often as we’d like. Yet this basic intuition is more right than perhaps we realize—something the collection of Proverbs helps us to see. Let’s take a look at another of the many examples of what Solomon had to say about this.

Let’s start here at the end, work through from the beginning, and land back where we started. The payoff of the warning Solomon gives here doesn’t seem to connect. There are plenty stories of people who are wicked not experiencing any kind of sudden calamity. There are plenty of stories of people doing the wrong thing over and over and over again and never facing any kind of meaningful consequences for their evil. It doesn’t make the first bit of sense to argue that such a person will encounter a calamitous end from out of nowhere. And the whole idea of being shattered instantly and beyond recovery feels totally at odds with how we normally experience the world.

So why would Solomon write such a thing as this? He no doubt knew of many evil men whose end was not even remotely sudden, let alone instant. Was this just little more than blowing hopeful smoke in our direction? What gives?

Well, let’s walk through his description here and see what we can see. He first described this terrible person as worthless. But doesn’t God declare that in Him everything has worth? He does and they do. So why use such a biting description? Well, to put it rather directly, because it’s true. But isn’t this at odds with the clear pronouncement of the rest of the Scriptures? No, and let me explain.

What is the source of our worth? How do we know we have value? Is it simply inherent to us? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that our value is secure and nothing or no one can touch that. But, no, in the sense that we aren’t independently the source of our value. That is our value doesn’t come from us. And, as much as this doesn’t sound like a good thing at first hearing, it’s actually very good.

For starters, if we were the source of our own value, if we stopped valuing ourselves for some reason, then we would cease to have any value. On the other hand, if our value is secured independently of us, then it is fixed no matter what state we are in and nothing and no one can do anything about that or legitimately declare otherwise unless that independent source is somehow compromised. If this source is unable to be compromised, though, then our value is secure permanently.

Well, the source of our value is God. He has declared us to have value, and He isn’t changing His mind. Nor can His mind be changed by anything else. This means, like I just said, that our value is absolutely fixed. People can declare and pretend otherwise, but these efforts will only ever be just that: pretend. They will be delusional; entirely disconnected from reality.

Okay, but then how does Solomon get off describing someone as worthless? Because they have disconnected themselves from God. Solomon is speaking here in relative terms with absolute consequences. When we disconnect from our only source of value, we no longer have any objective means of securing our value. If we persist in this state until the end, then our lives will have had no value, a condition that has then become permanent. Of course, God still values us, but we have no means of securing that value apart from Him. We are indeed worthless.

And who is this person who is worthless, a wicked person. That is, a person who has set Himself as being opposed to God, and is working diligently to oppose His plans. Wicked sounds like such an ugly word to our ears, but what else should you call someone who has positioned themselves as being opposed to all that is good and right and just in the world by refusing a relationship with God and instead working against His intentions?

Solomon goes on to describe what such a person is like. He speaks dishonestly. He constantly tries to create fantasy worlds with his words that he then either coaxes or coerces the people around him to live in. He winks his eyes. He never intends to keep his word. He is not to be trusted. He signals with his feet. He is always plotting something nefarious and tries to involve those around him in it with him, pulling them down into the same muck he is wallowing in. He gestures with his fingers. He gives directions to those around him in an attempt to control them, bullying them into trouble with him.

He is always plotting evil. The plans he pursues are the antithesis of good and righteous and just. He does this because his heart is perverse. It is twisted by sin into something that is an ugly, terrifying even, distortion of the heart of God. And everywhere he goes trouble follows, not because he is just unlucky, but because he is the one actively stirring it up.

Have you ever known someone like this? They may not have checked every single box here, but perhaps they covered at least a couple of them. Often, if one of these traits is manifesting in someone’s life, others of them will follow soon thereafter. Someone who is opposed to God and His ways won’t be able to produce anything else with his life than this. Evil begets evil. It doesn’t stumble onto to good by accident.

So then, when it comes to this person, will anything ever actually happen to him? Will justice ever arrive? Because we live in a world created and sustained by a God who is just by nature, yes, justice will eventually come. The challenge we face here is that it often doesn’t come when we want it to arrive. We want justice now. We want in the moment of our choosing, of our convenience. When we are angered by offense or hurt directly by someone else’s actions, that’s when we want justice to be delivered. We want what we would define as sudden or instant justice.

But God in His wisdom knows that’s not always the best outcome. His gracious and patient and kind heart is willing to allow time for repentance and restoration. And before we get upset that such love is extended to one who has hurt us, let us remember that but for that same heart, we would have long ago been condemned by our own sinfulness; our own wickedness.

So then, how can Solomon say this justice will come suddenly on these wicked people? Simply put because it will. Here’s the thing about someone who has committed themselves to this particular path: somewhere along the way they have convinced themselves they aren’t going to face justice or judgment for their evil ways.

Perhaps they were nervous about it at first when their conscience was still tender and the Holy Spirit was about to bring them under conviction in hopes of prompting them to repent of their sin. But when those consequences they feared never materialized, they began to feel more confident and comfortable in their sin. Eventually they convinced themselves that they were going to be the exception to what they had perhaps once been taught was the rule.

For these folks who have grow complacent in their evil about the promised justice of God, when His justice finally arrives it will always feel sudden. It will always seem to come completely out of left field. God has warned them of its encroaching arrival, but in tuning Him out, they failed to catch the warning so it caught them off guard.

In other words, Solomon’s warning here is not a general reassurance for the rest of us about the timing of God’s justice. That will almost always feel long overdue from our perspective. The message here is for those who are actually walking this path. This is a call to repentance before such a decision itself becomes overdue. It is a call to turn before turning becomes impossible.

If you have tarried too long on a path of wickedness, know well that an end is coming. Justice will be served because God is just. Judgment will yet arrive. And if you have put off repentance because you assumed there would always be more time, the calamity awaiting all those who refuse God’s call to repentance will strike suddenly. You will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery. So don’t delay. Repent today. Receive the grace Jesus won for you on the cross and is eager to extend to you if you will only abandon your path of sin and join Him on the path to righteousness.