Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 21:4 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" A high look and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin. "
Proverbs 21:4
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.
3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
4 A high look and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.
5 The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.
6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.
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This verse shows us two things. First, it describes the marks of a wicked person. The person with a proud look and a proud heart, who behaves haughtily and contemptuously toward both God and people, and who is always planning and plotting some kind of harm, is truly wicked. For such a person, sin is what gives life its light and meaning. Sin is their pride, their ambition, their joy, and their daily work.
Second, it shows the misery of wicked people. Their grand hopes, careful plans, and clever schemes all become sin to them. They gather guilt through them, and so they prepare trouble for themselves. In fact, the whole business of wicked people, as well as their pleasure, is nothing but sin, as Bishop Patrick says. They do everything to serve their own desires and pay no attention to God’s glory. So even their plowing is sin, and it is no surprise when their sacrificing is also sin (Proverbs 15:8).
From This Chapter
Proverbs 21:1
"The king’s heart is in the LORD’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires."
Proverbs 21:2
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts."
Proverbs 21:3
"To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice."
Proverbs 21:5
"The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty."
Proverbs 21:6
"Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death."
Proverbs 21:7
"The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right."
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