The Boomerang of Wickedness Text: Proverbs 17:13
Introduction: The Unforgivable Sin of Ingratitude
The book of Proverbs is a book of applied theology. It is not a collection of fortune cookie platitudes for living a vaguely successful life. It is divine wisdom, showing us the grain of the universe. To go with the grain is to find life and blessing. To go against it is to get splinters, and sometimes, to have the whole structure collapse on your head. The proverbs teach us how God's world works, and it works according to covenantal cause and effect. What you sow, you will also reap. This is not karma; this is the personal, covenantal justice of a holy God.
Our text today deals with one of the most perverse forms of sin imaginable. It is a sin that strikes at the very heart of grace, a sin that takes goodness and repays it with a slap in the face. It is the sin of repaying good with evil. This is not just a simple mistake or a thoughtless slight. This is a calculated act of high rebellion. It is to receive a gift and then use it to bludgeon the giver. It is to be rescued from the pit and then to kick your rescuer in after you.
In our therapeutic age, we have a hard time calling sins what they are. We prefer to speak of brokenness, trauma, and dysfunction. But the Bible speaks of wickedness, rebellion, and evil. And this proverb identifies a particular kind of evil that God takes special note of. It is the evil of base ingratitude. Why is this sin so heinous? Because it is a direct assault on the character of God. God is the ultimate giver of all good things. Every breath you take, every meal you eat, every moment of joy you experience is a gift from His hand. To receive good and return evil is to act out in miniature the sin of Adam, who received a garden of delights and returned a fist of rebellion. It is the sin of Judas, who received the bread from the hand of his Lord and returned a kiss of betrayal.
And because this sin is so profoundly wicked, the consequences are commensurately severe. The judgment is not just a temporary setback. It is a curse that settles. It takes up residence. It becomes a malignant squatter in the offender's house. And that is what we must consider today: the nature of this sin and the terrifying permanence of its consequences.
The Text
He who returns evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.
(Proverbs 17:13 LSB)
The Perversion of Justice (v. 13a)
The first clause lays out the crime with stark simplicity:
"He who returns evil for good..." (Proverbs 17:13a)
This is more than just failing to say thank you. This is an active, malicious reciprocation. Good was done, and evil is returned in its place. This is a fundamental violation of the moral order God has woven into the fabric of creation. The created order is designed for grateful and fruitful reciprocity. God gives seed to the sower, the sower plants it, the earth returns a harvest, and the man gives thanks to God. This is the rhythm of righteousness.
This sin, then, is a kind of anti-creation. It seeks to undo the logic of grace. We see this pattern throughout the Scriptures. When Saul was hunting David in the wilderness, David had the opportunity to kill him twice. Instead, he spared Saul's life. He returned good for Saul's evil. And what did Saul do? He continued his murderous pursuit. He returned evil for good. And how did that end for him? The evil never departed from his house, and he and his sons were slain on Mount Gilboa.
Consider Nabal, the fool. David and his men had protected Nabal's shepherds and flocks in the wilderness. They did him good. When David, in need, sent for provisions, Nabal returned insults and contempt. He returned evil for good. David was on his way to wipe out Nabal's entire household when Abigail intervened. But God did not forget. About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. The evil came right back to his own doorstep.
This sin is particularly odious because it often comes from those closest to us. The psalmist laments this very thing: "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it... But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend" (Psalm 55:12-13). When a stranger is rude, it is one thing. But when you have shown kindness, friendship, and generosity to someone, and they turn on you, that is a profound treachery. It is the sin of the traitor.
At its ultimate expression, this is the sin of the world against Christ. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and preached good news to the poor. He did nothing but good. And in return, they handed Him a cross. They returned the ultimate evil for the ultimate good. This is the black heart of sin laid bare: a deep-seated hatred for unmerited goodness.
The Lingering Curse (v. 13b)
The consequence described in the second clause is not a simple tit-for-tat. It is far more ominous.
"Evil will not depart from his house." (Proverbs 17:13b LSB)
Notice the language. It does not say that evil will visit him. It says evil will not depart. It moves in. It unpacks its bags. It puts its feet up on the furniture and makes itself at home. The man who repays good with evil invites a permanent curse into the very center of his life: his household.
This is where we must understand the biblical doctrine of federalism, or covenantal headship. In the Bible, individuals are never treated as autonomous, disconnected units. We are covenantal beings, bound up with others, especially within our families. A man is the head of his household, and his actions have corporate consequences. When Achan sinned in the camp of Israel, his entire family was judged with him. When David sinned with Bathsheba and repaid the good and loyal service of Uriah with betrayal and murder, what did the prophet Nathan say? "Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house" (2 Samuel 12:10). And it didn't. His son Amnon raped his daughter Tamar. His son Absalom murdered Amnon. Then Absalom led a bloody rebellion against David himself. The evil did not depart from his house.
This is a terrifying principle. The evil you do does not just affect you. If you are a father, your sin can open the door for demonic affliction on your wife and children. When you repay good with evil, whether it is betraying a business partner who helped you, slandering a friend who supported you, or cheating on a wife who has been faithful to you, you are setting up a spiritual lightning rod over your own roof. You are inviting chaos, strife, rebellion, and misery to become permanent residents in your home.
This is not to say that children are guilty of their father's specific sin. But it is to say that the father's sin creates a polluted environment. He brings the curse into the house, and everyone living there has to breathe the toxic air. The consequences ripple outward, touching everything and everyone under his authority. The evil will not depart. It becomes a generational cancer.
The Gospel Reversal
This proverb, like all of Scripture, points us to our desperate need for the gospel. For if we are honest, who among us has not been guilty of this sin in some measure? We have all taken the goodness of God for granted. We have all received His blessings of sun and rain, food and family, and returned to Him indifference, disobedience, and pride. We have all returned evil for His good. And the ultimate good He did for us was to send His Son.
At the cross, we see the ultimate fulfillment of this proverb, and also its glorious reversal. At the cross, sinful men committed the ultimate act of repaying good with evil. They took the perfect Son of God, the embodiment of all goodness, and murdered Him.
But on that same cross, God the Father performed the ultimate act of reversal. He took the one who had only ever done good, and He repaid Him with all the evil that we deserved. Jesus received the evil that was due to our house. He took the curse upon Himself. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).
And what does God now require of us? He requires that we stop our wicked pattern of returning evil for good, and that by faith, we receive the good that Christ earned for us. In other words, He requires that we do the opposite of what this proverb condemns. We are to receive the ultimate good, salvation in Christ, and return to Him what is good: our faith, our thanks, our worship, and our obedience.
When we do this, the curse is broken. The evil is commanded to depart from our house. In Christ, the sword of judgment is sheathed. The lingering curse is replaced by a lingering blessing. Where evil once made its home, the Holy Spirit now takes up residence. He does not depart.
Therefore, let this proverb be a sharp warning to us. Do not trifle with the grace of God or the kindness of men. Be a person of gratitude. Repay good with good, and better yet, repay evil with good, as our Lord commanded. And when you fail, as we all do, do not despair. Flee immediately to the cross, where the great exchange was made. Confess your wicked ingratitude, and lay hold of the one who took the evil that was due to your house, so that the goodness of His house might become yours, forever.