God’s seven “deploreables”

In this oft-quoted section of Proverbs (6:16-19), Solomon lists seven things that God simply will not tolerate; they are “detestable to him” (v. 16). We need to pay attention to the seriousness of this statement because God’s concern is so great that words can hardly express his disgust. The first six form a group to which a seventh is added. Unless this six-plus-one is simply stylistic, it places emphasis on last mentioned thing that God detests – that is, “stirring up conflict.” My plan is to list the first six and comment on the seventh.
       Solomon begins his list of things the Lord hates with “haughty eyes,” that is, the proud look of the arrogant. Second is the “lying tongue” – he regards truth so highly that any deviation is an abomination. “Hands that shed innocent blood” refers to the customary manner in which people kill one another (some would feel that abortion belongs in this category.) God detests the “devising of wicked schemes” because it undermines the stability of family, group, or nation. “Feet that are quick to rush into evil” pictures the readiness of the rebel to break the established rules of society. And the first six end with God’s abhorrence of “lying under oath.”
      A terrible list of six malevolent practices, but there remains one more that’s in a class by itself – “stirs up trouble in the community” (read family, friends, home-owners association, church, community, colleagues in any group). It would appear that social turmoil is a condition that is unacceptable to God. God the creator set everything in motion in such a way that there would be a quiet efficiency in all the “running parts” of the universe – personal and in nature. You will remember that in the creation story, at the close of each day, God surveyed his accomplishment and declared it “good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, etc.). But in Romans 8, Paul pictures creation groaning as in childbirth and waiting to be set right. In addition, unrest exists everywhere in human hearts because we tried in Adam to do it “my way” and the history of the human race has turned out to be one of conflict and dissension.
       Well, that’s the theology of it – dissention is despised by God because it affects everything in a negative way. In the perfect plan, everything runs exactly as it should, but when humans are factored in, we bring with us the sand and gravel of our fallen nature and the giant gears begin to groan and threaten to collapse. Family life becomes more tenuous, friends separate, communities draw up battle lines, and nations take up arms against one another. Discord is a major force working against God’s plan and one in which each of us by nature finds ourselves.
       May God grant us the strength of character to resist the instantaneous temptation to “tell our side of the story.” Others, getting their offense in order, will probably not listen to it anyway. Understanding, harmony, and goodwill should be characteristic of the various groups in which believers find themselves. It is how God planned it all.