The Inescapable Boomerang Text: Proverbs 11:27
Introduction: The Moral Physics of the Universe
We live in a world that is desperate to detach consequences from actions. Our generation wants to sow thistle and reap strawberries. They want to drink poison and call it health. They want to leap from a ten-story building and, on the way down, repeal the law of gravity by a popular vote. But the universe God made is not a democracy; it is a kingdom. And in this kingdom, the laws of moral physics are just as fixed and unyielding as the laws of physical physics. What goes up must come down. What you sow, you shall also reap. This is not cosmic karma, a vague and impersonal force. This is the personal, covenantal government of a holy God.
The book of Proverbs is a field guide to this reality. It does not contain a series of helpful hints for a better life. It is an inspired manual on how the world actually works. To disregard Proverbs is like disregarding the manufacturer's instructions for a complex piece of machinery. You can do it, but the results will be noisy, smoky, and ultimately catastrophic. Proverbs are not abstract platitudes; they are descriptions of the grain of the universe. To work against the grain is to invite splinters into your own hands.
Today's proverb is a masterful summary of this principle. It presents us with two kinds of people, defined by what they seek. We are all seekers. Man is a desiring, hunting, searching creature. The great question is not whether you will seek, but what you will seek. And what you seek, Solomon tells us, determines what you find. More than that, what you seek determines what finds you. There is a boomerang quality to our desires. What you send out into the world has a curious habit of coming back to you, and often with friends.
This verse sets before us two paths, two orientations of the heart, and two destinies. It is a choice between diligence in one direction and diligence in another. And the results are as predictable as sunrise. One man gets up early to hunt for goodness, and he finds favor waiting for him at the breakfast table. The other man gets up early to hunt for mischief, and he finds that mischief has been hunting for him all night, and is now waiting for him on his doorstep.
The Text
He who earnestly seeks good seeks favor,
But he who searches for evil, evil will come to him.
(Proverbs 11:27 LSB)
The Diligent Seeker of Good (v. 27a)
Let's look at the first half of the verse:
"He who earnestly seeks good seeks favor..." (Proverbs 11:27a)
The key word here is "earnestly seeks." The Hebrew word is shachar, which means to seek diligently, to look for something at dawn. This is not a casual, half-hearted glance in the direction of goodness. This is the man who sets his alarm. He gets up early, while it is still dark, to go hunting. And what is he hunting for? He is hunting for "good."
Now, what is this "good"? In the biblical worldview, "good" is not a sentimental feeling or a vague aspiration. Good is defined by God. It is conformity to His character and His created order. To seek good is to seek wisdom, to seek righteousness, to seek the welfare of your neighbor, to seek the glory of God in all things. It is to look at the world God has made and to desire to build, cultivate, and bless within it, according to the patterns He has established. This man is looking for opportunities to be faithful, to be generous, to speak truth, to work diligently, to bring order out of chaos.
And what is the result of this diligent search? He "seeks favor." The construction here is interesting. It could be read that in seeking good, he is also, as it turns out, seeking favor. But a better way to see it is that the one who seeks good finds favor. Favor is the result. Favor from whom? Ultimately, from God. But the way God's favor is usually dispensed in this world is through the agency of men. The man who earnestly seeks the good of his community will, as a general rule, find that his community holds him in high regard. He who is a blessing to others will be blessed by others. His reputation will be one of integrity and goodwill. When he needs help, people are inclined to help him. When he speaks, people are inclined to listen. This is the ordinary providence of God at work.
This is the law of the harvest in its positive application. "Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Gal. 6:7). If you sow seeds of goodness, diligence, and righteousness, you will reap a harvest of favor. This is not a mechanical transaction. You don't put a good deed in the divine vending machine and get a unit of favor out. Rather, you are cultivating a field that God has designed to produce a certain kind of fruit. You are living in harmony with reality, and reality rewards you for it.
The Diligent Seeker of Evil (v. 27b)
The proverb then pivots to its dark twin, showing the same principle at work in the opposite direction.
"But he who searches for evil, evil will come to him." (Proverbs 11:27b)
Here we have the other hunter. He also gets up early. He is also diligent. But his quarry is different. He "searches for evil." The word for "searches" is darash, which implies a determined, focused inquiry. This is the man who looks for an angle. He's the man who digs for dirt on his rival. He is the one who looks for a loophole in the contract. He is the one who nurses a grudge, rehearsing the offense in his mind, looking for an opportunity for payback. He is the cynic, the slanderer, the schemer.
He is not a passive victim of circumstances. He is an active agent, a searcher. He invests his energy, his intellect, and his time in the pursuit of mischief. He might be seeking to harm another, or simply to advance his own cause through dishonest means. He might be the sort who is always looking for a fight, always interpreting the actions of others in the worst possible light, always ready to take offense.
And what is the result for this man? The proverb is stark and simple: "evil will come to him." Notice the difference in phrasing. The first man seeks good and finds favor. The second man searches for evil, and evil comes to him. It's as though he sends out an invitation, and evil RSVPs with enthusiasm. He sets a trap for his neighbor, and before he can spring it, he finds his own foot caught in a snare he didn't even see. He digs a pit for another, and he himself falls into it (Ps. 7:15).
This is the boomerang effect in its fullness. The evil he intended for others finds its home in him. The universe, under God's government, is rigged against this kind of behavior. Haman builds a gallows for Mordecai, and it is Haman who ends up swinging from it. The persecutors of Daniel arrange for him to be thrown into the lions' den, and it is they, along with their families, who are devoured by the lions. The evil you search for will find you. You will become what you hunt.
The Gospel Seekers
Now, as with all of Proverbs, we must read this through a gospel lens. If we are honest, we must all admit that we have, at times, been the second man. We have all searched for evil. We have all harbored bitterness, plotted petty revenges, and sought our own advantage at the expense of others. Our hearts are naturally inclined to this dark hunt. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). By the standard of this proverb, we all deserve to have evil come to us. And in the final analysis, that is precisely what justice demands: the ultimate evil, which is separation from God.
But the good news of the gospel is that God sent the ultimate Seeker of Good on our behalf. Jesus Christ is the only man who has ever, from birth to death, earnestly sought the good at all times. He got up early, not to seek His own favor, but to seek the good of His people and the glory of His Father. He sought the lost, the broken, the sick, and the sinner. He sought righteousness with a perfect and unflagging diligence.
And what did He find? According to the first half of the proverb, He should have found favor. And in a sense, He did. He found favor with God. "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17). But from men, He found the opposite of favor. He found contempt, slander, betrayal, and murder. Why?
Because He stood in our place. He, the only one who ever perfectly sought good, willingly took the curse of the second half of the proverb upon Himself. We were the ones who searched for evil, but the evil came to Him. He went out looking for us, the seekers of evil, and the accumulated evil of all our wicked searches descended upon Him at the cross. He hunted for us, and the consequences of our sin hunted Him down. He took the boomerang that we had thrown, and He stood in its path as it returned.
Conclusion: A Transformed Hunt
Because of Christ's work, we are now free to become what the proverb describes. Through faith in Him, we are not only forgiven for being seekers of evil, but we are transformed into seekers of good. The Holy Spirit is given to us, and He reorients the desires of our hearts. He sets our internal compass to a new true north.
We are now called to get up early and earnestly seek the good. We are to seek the good of our families, our church, and our community. We are to hunt for opportunities for grace, for mercy, for truth-telling, for beauty-making. And as we do, we will find favor. We will find that the world God has made responds to this kind of living. We will find that living according to the grain of the universe is the path of blessing, joy, and life.
So the question this proverb leaves us with is this: What are you hunting for? When you wake up in the morning, what is the quarry that your heart is set on pursuing? Are you earnestly seeking good? Or are you, perhaps subtly, searching for evil? Be sure of this: whatever you are looking for, you will find it. And it will find you.