Proverbs 10:23 - Meaning and Application

Sin is terribly sinful. To a fool, doing wrong is like a joke. It comes as naturally to him, and feels as pleasant, as laughter does to other people. Wickedness is his “Isaac,” meaning it is his delight, his favorite thing, what he enjoys most. He treats sin as something to laugh about.

When he is warned not to sin, whether by God’s law or by the truth that God’s anger is against sin, he laughs at the warning. He mocks the warning and acts as if it means nothing. After he sins, he does not grieve over it. Instead, he brags about it, makes fun of correction, and laughs off the guilty feelings in his own conscience (Proverbs 14:9).

Wisdom is truly wise, because its goodness proves itself. A man of understanding does not need much praise beyond this, that he has understanding and wisdom. He is wise enough not to do harm, and if he has made a mistake, he is wise enough not to joke about it.

Or the verse can be read this way: as a fool takes pleasure in doing harm, so a man of understanding takes pleasure in having wisdom and showing it. When a believer lives under God’s ways, he has as much present joy in the restraints and duties of religion as sinners claim to have in the freedoms and pleasures of sin, and more than that, a better joy altogether.