Bird's-eye view
Proverbs 13:19 sets before us a stark and fundamental contrast between the nature of satisfaction and the nature of folly. It is a proverb of two halves that function like two sides of a coin. The first clause states a universal, observable truth: it is a deep and profound pleasure for a human being to have a desire fulfilled. God made us this way. The second clause reveals the tragic distortion of this truth in the life of a fool. For the fool, the desire being fulfilled is a desire for evil, and he is so addicted to this perverse pleasure that the very thought of abandoning it is repulsive to him. The verse, therefore, is not just about desire, but about the object of our desires, and how that object defines whether we are walking in the path of wisdom or the path of destruction.
This proverb functions as a diagnostic tool for the soul. What do you find sweet? What do you find abominable? The answer to those two questions tells you a great deal about your spiritual condition. The wise man desires righteousness, and its fruit is sweet to his soul. The fool desires wickedness, and the thought of repentance is a stench in his nostrils. The verse lays bare the slavery of sin and the liberty of righteousness, showing that true freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want, but the ability to desire what you ought.
Outline
- 1. The Two Appetites (Prov 13:19)
- a. The Universal Sweetness of Fulfillment (Prov 13:19a)
- b. The Fool's Repugnant Alternative (Prov 13:19b)
Context In Proverbs
This verse sits comfortably within the central project of the book of Proverbs, which is to draw a sharp line, a great antithesis, between the way of wisdom and the way of folly. The surrounding verses deal with the consequences of our words (v. 17), our receptivity to instruction (v. 18), and the company we keep (v. 20). Verse 19 fits perfectly into this matrix by addressing the internal engine that drives our words and actions: our desires. It explains why a fool rejects instruction and seeks out wicked companions. He does so because his desires are oriented toward evil, and he finds the fulfillment of those desires to be pleasant. The verse provides the psychological and spiritual motivation for the behaviors described all around it. It is a foundational statement about the internal disposition of the righteous man versus the wicked man, showing that their outward paths diverge because their inward appetites are diametrically opposed.
Key Issues
- The Goodness of God-Given Desire
- The Nature of Biblical Folly
- Sin as Addiction and Idolatry
- The Definition of "Abomination"
- The Antithesis Between Wisdom and Folly
- The Transformation of Desires in Salvation
The Sweet and the Sick
Every human being is a creature of desire. We were woven together by God to want, to long for, to pursue, and to find satisfaction in obtaining. This is not a flaw in the system; it is the system. The book of Proverbs, and this verse in particular, teaches us that the great moral question of life is not whether we will have desires, but rather what we will desire. Our character is not revealed in the fact that we get hungry, but in what we choose to eat.
This proverb presents us with two menus. The first is the menu of the wise, who desire things that are good, true, and beautiful. When they attain these things, the experience is "pleasant to the soul," a sweet confirmation that they are living in accord with how God designed the world. The second is the menu of the fool. He has trained his palate to crave poison. He eats evil for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And because he is so accustomed to this diet, the thought of eating wholesome food, of turning away from his evil, is an abomination to him. He gags at the thought of righteousness. This is the sickness of the fool's soul, and it is a sickness unto death.
Verse by Verse Commentary
19a Desire realized is pleasant to the soul,
The first clause is a statement of fact, a piece of creational wisdom. God designed the universe with a kind of grain, and when we go with that grain, the result is pleasant. When a farmer desires a harvest, plants the seed, works the ground, and finally brings in the sheaves, the fulfillment of that desire is sweet. When a young man desires a wife, courts her honorably, and is united to her in marriage, that desire realized is a profound pleasure. This is a gift from God. The pleasure we feel in the fulfillment of a righteous desire is a small echo of the pleasure God Himself takes in His work. He saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. The problem is never desire itself. The problem is when our desires are disordered, when our "wants" are misaligned with God's created order and moral law.
19b But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.
Here is the great pivot. We move from the universal principle to its horrific perversion in the heart of the fool. The fool also finds desire realized to be pleasant, but his desires are for evil. His soul is satisfied by deceit, by malice, by lust, by theft. He has made evil his good. And because he finds such sweetness in his sin, the very idea of departing from it is repulsive to him. The word abomination is a strong one. It is a term of cultic revulsion, used in the Old Testament for idolatry and other heinous sins. The fool does not simply find it difficult to stop sinning. He finds the prospect of holiness to be disgusting. He is an addict. To ask him to give up his evil is like asking a man to give up breathing. His entire identity is wrapped up in his rebellion. He loves his chains and is disgusted by the thought of freedom. This is a stark picture of what the New Testament calls slavery to sin. The fool is not a free agent making bad choices; he is a slave whose will is in bondage to the evil he craves.
Application
This proverb forces us to conduct a searching inventory of our own hearts. What do we find pleasant? What desires, when fulfilled, bring that sweetness to our souls? Is it the desire for God's glory, for the good of our neighbor, for personal holiness? Or is it the desire for illicit gain, for secret lusts, for the applause of men, for nursing a grudge? The things that bring us the deepest satisfaction are the true indicators of our spiritual allegiance.
Furthermore, what do we find abominable? Does the thought of turning away from a cherished sin feel like a bitter pill? Is there a part of us that is repulsed by the demands of radical discipleship? If so, we are exhibiting the characteristics of the fool. The gospel is the only cure for this condition. The fool cannot fix himself, because he loves his sickness. The grace of God in Jesus Christ is a radical intervention. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit performs spiritual heart surgery. He removes the heart of stone that craves evil and gives us a heart of flesh that desires God. He changes our palate. He makes us hate the sins we once loved and love the righteousness we once found abominable.
The Christian life is therefore a process of retraining our desires. We, by the Spirit, starve the foolish desires that remain and feed the wise ones. We do this by steeping our minds in Scripture, by prayer, and by fellowship with the saints. We learn to find the fulfillment of God's will to be the sweetest pleasure of all, knowing that our ultimate desire, to see Him face to face, will one day be realized, and it will be more pleasant to the soul than we can possibly imagine.