Bird's-eye view
This proverb sets before us a sharp and fundamental contrast, one that runs through all of Scripture and all of created reality. It is the contrast between that which is fleeting and that which is permanent, between the ephemeral and the eternal. On the one side, we have the "truthful lips," which are established forever. On the other, we have the "lying tongue," which lasts for but a moment. This is not simply a piece of moral advice, urging us to be honest because it works out better in the long run. It is a statement about the nature of reality itself. God is the ultimate reality, and He is a God of truth. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Therefore, all that is aligned with Him and His Word partakes of His permanence. A lie, by its very nature, is a parasite on the truth; it has no life of its own. It is an assault on the fabric of God's world, and because the world belongs to God, every lie carries within it the seed of its own destruction. The universe is hardwired for truth, and so the liar is constantly swimming against a current that will, sooner or later, exhaust him and sweep him away.
Solomon, in his wisdom, is teaching his son a foundational principle for building a life, a family, or a kingdom. You must build on the bedrock of what is real, what is true. Anything built on the shifting sands of falsehood, deception, and misrepresentation is doomed to collapse. It may look impressive for a season, it may achieve a quick advantage, but it has no foundation. Its demise is not a matter of if, but when. The righteous man, therefore, speaks truth not just because it is a commandment, but because he desires to build something that will last. He wants his words, his relationships, and his work to be "established forever," and the only material that endures is the truth.
Outline
- 1. The Enduring Nature of Truth (Prov 12:19a)
- a. The Organ of Truth: "Truthful lips"
- b. The Outcome of Truth: "will be established forever"
- 2. The Fleeting Nature of Falsehood (Prov 12:19b)
- a. The Organ of Falsehood: "a lying tongue"
- b. The Outcome of Falsehood: "is only for a moment"
Context In Proverbs
Proverbs 12 is situated in the first major collection of Solomon's proverbs (chapters 10-22), which consists of short, two-clause antithetical sayings. This chapter, like those around it, contrasts the way of the righteous with the way of the wicked. Verse 19 fits neatly into this pattern. The surrounding verses deal with related themes of speech and its consequences. Verse 18 contrasts rash, piercing words with the healing tongue of the wise. Verse 20 contrasts the deceit in the hearts of evil plotters with the joy of peacemakers. Verse 22 states plainly that "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight." So, our verse is not an isolated ethical nugget but part of a broader tapestry of wisdom that consistently links righteous, wise living with truthful, healing, and faithful speech, and contrasts it with the wicked, foolish living characterized by deceit, lies, and destructive words. The theme is clear: the character of a man is revealed by his mouth, and his ultimate destiny is tied to the nature of his words.
Key Issues
- The Metaphysics of Truth
- The Self-Destructive Nature of a Lie
- The Relationship Between Speech and Character
- The Eschatological Dimension of Proverbs
- The Fleeting Advantages of Deception
Truth is Granite, Lies are Vapor
We live in a world that has inverted this proverb. Our culture treats truth as something fluid, personal, and temporary, while it treats lies as powerful, structural, and enduring. We are told to "speak our truth," as though truth were something we manufacture in our gut. We see institutions built on obvious falsehoods that seem to lumber on for decades. And so, the modern man might read this proverb and scoff. "Only for a moment? I know liars who have been getting away with it their whole lives."
But God's timescale is not ours. The book of Proverbs operates with an eschatological horizon. It is describing the world as it truly is under the government of God. A lie is "only for a moment" even if that moment lasts seventy years, because that seventy years is set against the backdrop of eternity. The triumph of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless is but for a moment (Job 20:5). The lie is a sprinter in a marathon. It bursts out of the blocks, takes an early lead, and looks impressive for the first lap. The crowd roars. But truth is the long-distance runner. It plods on, steady and sure, and long after the liar has collapsed in a heap on the side of the track, truth crosses the finish line and receives the imperishable crown. This proverb is a call to faith. It asks us to believe God's valuation of things, not the world's. It tells us to invest in the granite of truth, not the vapor of a lie.
Verse by Verse Commentary
19 Truthful lips will be established forever...
The proverb begins with the positive side of the antithesis. The subject is "truthful lips." This is Hebrew parallelism, a metonymy where the part (lips) stands for the whole (the person and their speech). This is not just about lips that happen to not be lying at the moment. It refers to a character, a person whose speech is habitually, reliably, and fundamentally aligned with reality. These are the lips of a man whose heart is true, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
And what is the destiny of such a person and their words? They "will be established forever." The word for established, kun, means to be set up, made firm, fixed, and enduring. It's the word used for God establishing the heavens and the earth. This means that truthful words have a permanence to them. They become part of the fixed furniture of the universe. Why? Because truth corresponds to the way things actually are. God's Word spoke the world into existence, and that Word is truth. Therefore, when a man speaks truthfully, his words harmonize with the created order. They are solid. You can build on them. A man who speaks truth is building a legacy, a reputation, and a life that will last, not just for his own lifetime, but into the ages. His words have weight and will stand the test of time and judgment. As Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away, but His words, the ultimate truth, will never pass away (Matt 24:35).
...But a lying tongue is only for a moment.
Here is the contrast. The "lying tongue" is the counterpart to "truthful lips." Again, this is a character descriptor. This is the person who has made falsehood his native language, whose father, as Jesus said, is the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44). The tongue is an instrument, and this person has given his instrument over to the service of unreality.
The fate of this tongue is to last "only for a moment." The Hebrew is striking; it can be translated "as long as I can wink." It is instantaneous, momentary, a flash in the pan. A lie can create a sudden effect. It can win an argument, close a deal, escape punishment, or ruin a reputation. It can seem powerful and effective in the short term. But it has no staying power. Because it is at odds with reality, it requires constant maintenance. One lie must be covered by another, which needs a third to prop it up, and soon the liar is exhausted, trying to keep his web of deceit from collapsing under its own weight. It is a house of cards in a hurricane. The lie will be found out. The advantage it secured will evaporate. The trust it violated will be gone. The liar's reputation will be ruined. And in the final judgment, all falsehood will be exposed and consumed by the fire of God's truth. The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a dramatic illustration of this principle; their lie lasted only until the apostle Peter spoke (Acts 5:1-11).
Application
This proverb forces a fundamental choice upon us. In what currency are we trading? Are we dealing in the eternal currency of truth or the counterfeit bills of falsehood, which will be worthless on the last day? This applies to every area of our lives.
In our personal lives, it means we must be people of our word. Our "yes" must be yes. This builds trust, the foundation of all healthy relationships. A marriage built on little deceptions and flattering lies is a marriage being built on sand. A friendship that requires you to lie is no friendship at all. It means we must face the truth about ourselves, confessing our sins honestly to God and, when necessary, to others. We cannot build a sanctified life on the lie of self-justification.
In the church, this means that ministers must preach the truth of God's Word, without compromise, whether it is popular or not. A church that builds its ministry on marketing gimmicks, watered-down theology, or a carefully curated public image is a church whose lampstand is in jeopardy. Its success is "only for a moment." The church that will be established forever is the one that is the pillar and buttress of the truth.
Ultimately, the application is the gospel itself. We are all liars by nature. Our hearts are deceitful above all things. We have traded the truth about God for a lie. Our only hope is to cling to the one who is Truth incarnate, Jesus Christ. He spoke only truth, and yet He was condemned by the lies of false witnesses. He endured the momentary triumph of the lie on the cross so that He could establish the truth of God's righteousness and mercy forever in His resurrection. When we repent of our lies and believe in Him, we are united to the Truth, and He begins the process of making us truthful people, whose lips and lives can, by His grace, begin to build things that will be established forever.