Two Destinies, Two Lights Text: Proverbs 13:9
Introduction: The Inescapable Contrast
The book of Proverbs is relentlessly antithetical. It is a book of sharp contrasts, of black and white. It does not trade in shades of gray. There are two paths, the path of the wise and the path of the fool. There are two women, Lady Wisdom and the adulteress Folly. And there are two ultimate destinies, the destiny of the righteous and the destiny of the wicked. Our modern sensibilities chafe at this. We want nuance, we want complexity, we want to believe that the wicked are not so bad and the righteous are not so good. We want to blur the lines that God has drawn with such stark and severe clarity.
But the world is what God says it is, not what we wish it were. And in this world, there are two fundamental postures toward the living God: submission or rebellion. There is no third way. Every human soul is either walking in the light, as He is in the light, or they are stumbling around in the darkness. Every human life is either a steadily brightening flame, fueled by the grace of God, or it is a sputtering wick, choked with soot, destined to be snuffed out.
This is not a popular message. It is offensive to the democratic spirit of our age, which wants to grant every man the right to define his own reality and chart his own destiny. But the book of Proverbs, and this verse in particular, serves as a bucket of cold, divine reality thrown in our faces. It tells us that destinies are not self-created. They are assigned. And they are assigned based on a man's righteousness, or lack thereof. This proverb sets before us two images, two lights, and two final ends. One is a joyous, ever-increasing bonfire. The other is a cheap, smoky oil lamp that is about to go out for good.
We must understand that this is not just proverbial wisdom for a long-dead agrarian society. This is a description of the fixed laws of the moral universe. This is spiritual physics. What goes up must come down, and the lamp of the wicked will go out. It is an inevitability grounded in the very character of God, who is light and in whom there is no darkness at all.
The Text
The light of the righteous is glad,
But the lamp of the wicked goes out.
(Proverbs 13:9 LSB)
The Glad Light of the Righteous
We begin with the first clause:
"The light of the righteous is glad..." (Proverbs 13:9a)
The first thing to notice is the source of the light. It is the "light of the righteous." Who are the righteous? In the ultimate sense, there is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). Righteousness is not a character trait that we generate from within ourselves. It is not about being a generally nice person or having more marks in the "good" column than the "bad" column. Biblical righteousness is a legal standing. It is a declared status. It is an alien righteousness, gifted to us in Christ. We are righteous only because our sin was imputed to Christ on the cross, and His perfect righteousness was imputed to us by faith. The righteous man is the one who has stopped trying to generate his own light and has instead been lit by the Son.
So this light is not our own. It is a reflected light. We are the moon, and Christ is the sun. As John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). The Christian life is one of ever-increasing brightness, not because we are becoming more impressive, but because we are turning more fully to the source of all light. The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18).
And notice the character of this light. It "is glad." Other translations say it "rejoices" or "shines brightly." The Hebrew word carries the sense of joy, of cheerful shining. This is not a grim, dutiful, clenched-jaw kind of light. It is a happy light. The life of a believer is meant to be characterized by a deep and abiding joy. This is not a superficial happiness dependent on circumstances, but a profound gladness that is rooted in the reality of our salvation. We have been rescued from the domain of darkness. We have been forgiven. We have been adopted. We have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. How can we not be glad?
This gladness is a powerful apologetic. In a world choking on cynicism, despair, and anxiety, a genuinely joyful Christian is a profound oddity. He is a walking, talking argument for the truth of the gospel. When our light shines before men in this way, through our good works and our glad demeanor, they see it and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). This joy is not a mask we put on; it is the natural byproduct of a life plugged into the true source of light and life.
The Guttering Lamp of the Wicked
The contrast could not be more stark. We move from a glad, ever-brightening light to a lamp on its last legs.
"...But the lamp of the wicked goes out." (Proverbs 13:9b)
Notice the subtle but crucial difference in the source of illumination. The righteous have a "light," but the wicked have a "lamp." A light, particularly in the biblical mindset, can be a self-sustaining source, like the sun. A lamp, on the other hand, is artificial. It is derivative. It requires fuel, and its fuel is finite. The wicked man's life is a lamp.
What is the fuel for the lamp of the wicked? It is all the stuff they trust in instead of God. It is their money, their power, their reputation, their intelligence, their health, their political connections. For a time, these things can produce a kind of light. The wicked can appear to prosper. They can be the life of the party. Their lamp can seem bright, even dazzling. This is what vexed Asaph in Psalm 73. He saw the prosperity of the wicked and his feet almost slipped. Their lamps were burning so brightly, while his own seemed dim.
But the proverb gives us the long view. The lamp of the wicked "goes out." The Hebrew word means to be extinguished, to be snuffed out. It is not a gentle fading. It is a sudden and final darkness. All the fuel that the wicked rely on is temporary. Riches take flight. Health fails. Power is fleeting. Friends betray. And at the end of it all is death, the great extinguisher. When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes (Proverbs 11:7). The lamp is knocked over, the oil spills, and the flame is gone forever.
This is a terrifying prospect. The Bible describes the ultimate destiny of the wicked as "outer darkness," where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 22:13). It is a conscious, eternal, joyless, lightless existence. Every flicker of common grace, every borrowed bit of fuel that gave their lamp its temporary glow in this life, will be removed. All that will be left is the blackness of their own rebellious hearts, forever.
Living in the Light
So what is the application for us? This proverb is both a great comfort and a solemn warning. It is a comfort to the righteous, and a warning to the wicked.
For the believer, this is a call to perseverance and to joy. There will be times when our light feels dim. There will be times when the lamps of the wicked seem to be blazing, and we will be tempted to envy them. In those moments, we must remember the end of the story. Their success is a mirage; their light is temporary. Ours is eternal. Their lamp is running out of oil. Ours is connected to an infinite source. Therefore, do not lose heart. Walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8), and let the gladness of your salvation shine for all to see.
For the unbeliever, for the one whose life is a lamp fueled by worldly things, this proverb is a gracious, urgent alarm bell. Your lamp is going out. The smoke you see is the harbinger of total darkness. The pleasures you enjoy are the last drops of oil burning away. You may think you have plenty of time, plenty of fuel, but your lamp could be snuffed out this very night. The only hope is to abandon your failing lamp and come to the true Light of the World, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). To follow Him is to be set alight by Him. It is to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness, where all lamps eventually go out, into the kingdom of His marvelous light, a light that is glad, a light that is eternal, a light that will only grow brighter and brighter for all eternity, to the glory of God the Father.