Bird's-eye view
These two proverbs, set side by side by Hezekiah's men, address two fundamental aspects of godly character: humility and self-control. They function as a matched pair, one dealing with the internal appetite for glory, and the other with the internal governance of one's spirit. The first proverb warns against the spiritual gluttony of self-promotion, using the visceral image of eating too much honey. A good thing becomes a sickening thing through overindulgence. In the same way, glory, which God designed us to seek, becomes a vainglorious trap when it is our own glory we are after. The second proverb provides a stark visual metaphor for the man who lacks self-control. He is a city with no walls, utterly defenseless and open to every sort of attack and invasion. Taken together, these verses teach that a man must be guarded in what he seeks from the world (glory) and guarded in how he governs himself before the world (his spirit). A failure in the first leads to prideful foolishness; a failure in the second leads to chaotic ruin.
The central theme connecting both is the necessity of internal government for external fruitfulness. The man who cannot control his appetite for his own glory will find that it turns to shame. The man who cannot control his own spirit will find his life overrun by chaos. The gospel provides the only true foundation for this kind of internal fortitude. Christ refused to seek His own glory, humbling Himself to the point of death, and was therefore highly exalted by the Father. And it is only by His Spirit, the fruit of which is self-control, that a man can rebuild the broken walls of his own soul and become a well-defended city of God.
Outline
- 1. The Guarded Man (Prov 25:27-28)
- a. The Sickness of Self-Glory (Prov 25:27)
- b. The Ruin of Self-Abandon (Prov 25:28)
Context In Proverbs
This section of Proverbs, beginning at chapter 25, is distinguished by the introductory note that "these also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied" (Prov 25:1). This indicates a curated collection, assembled during a time of spiritual reform in Judah. Hezekiah was a king who repaired the temple and restored true worship, and part of that work evidently involved the preservation and study of God's wisdom. These two verses fall within a broader collection of proverbs that deal with kings, neighbors, fools, and the righteous. They are nuggets of practical wisdom intended to shape the character of God's people. The immediate context deals with honesty in speech (v. 26) and the proper timing of a rebuke (26:1-5). These verses fit seamlessly into that flow, addressing the internal character from which all righteous speech and action must spring. A man who is seeking his own glory cannot be an honest witness, and a man without rule over his spirit cannot offer a wise rebuke.
Key Issues
- The Distinction Between Seeking Glory and Vainglory
- The Nature of Self-Control as Spiritual Defense
- The Relationship Between Humility and Self-Rule
- The Gospel as the Foundation for True Glory and Self-Control
The Inward Fortifications
A man's life is a city. God intends for it to be a glorious city on a hill, a Jerusalem, well-fortified, orderly, and a blessing to all who see it. But the fall has turned every man's city into a potential ruin. The walls are breached, the gates are burned, and the inner citadel is in chaos. These two proverbs diagnose two critical points of failure in the city's defenses. The first is a failure of the city's purpose: instead of reflecting the glory of the King, it seeks to generate its own, which is a kind of spiritual autoimmune disease. The second is a failure of the city's perimeter: the walls are down, leaving the man's spirit vulnerable to every passing whim, temptation, and provocation. A Christian is a man whose city is being rebuilt by the Holy Spirit. The Lord is the master mason, restoring the walls. The purpose of this restoration is so that the man might have something to offer, a secure base from which to rule and exercise dominion in the name of Christ. But this requires constant vigilance at the gates, which is what these proverbs exhort us to.
Verse by Verse Commentary
27 To eat too much honey is not good, Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.
The proverb begins with a simple, self-evident truth from common life. Honey is a good thing. It is sweet, a gift from God, a picture of blessing. But if you gorge yourself on it, the sweetness turns to sickness. A good thing becomes a bad thing through a lack of restraint. Solomon then applies this principle to the realm of honor. The pursuit of glory is not, in itself, a bad thing. In fact, Scripture commands it. We are to "seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life" (Rom 2:7). The problem is not the seeking of glory, but the seeking of one's own glory. When glory bends back on itself, it ceases to be glory. It becomes vainglory, a hollow and sickening substitute. The man who is constantly maneuvering for praise, fishing for compliments, and polishing his own image is gorging on honey. He is trying to generate a sweetness that can only be received as a gift from God and others. The result is not true glory, but a spiritual bellyache. True glory is something bestowed, not sought out. It is the byproduct of a life lived for the glory of another, namely, the glory of God. When a man aims at God's glory, true honor often follows. When he aims at his own, he gets neither.
28 Like a city that is broken into and without a wall Is a man without restraint over his spirit.
This proverb provides a powerful and memorable image for the man who lacks self-control. In the ancient world, a city without walls was not a city at all. It was a ruin, a pile of stones, a place utterly defenseless. It was open to bandits, wild animals, and invading armies. It had no integrity, no security, no identity. This, Solomon says, is the state of the man who has no "rule over his own spirit." The spirit here refers to his inner man, his temper, his appetites, his passions. When we think of self-control, we often limit it to bodily appetites like food or sex. But the proverb is broader. It especially concerns the control of one's temper. The man who is quick to anger, who flies off the handle, who is easily provoked, is a man whose walls are rubble. He lets others live in his head rent-free. Any insult, any slight, any inconvenience can march right into the center of his soul and set up a command post. Such a man is not his own master; he is a slave to his circumstances and the whims of others. He cannot protect his family, because he cannot protect himself. He is a defenseless ruin, and a danger to those who take shelter with him.
Application
These two verses call us to a deep and honest self-examination. First, we must ask ourselves about our hunger for glory. Are we seeking the glory that comes from God, or are we trying to manufacture our own? The desire for glory is woven into us by our Creator, but the fall has twisted it into a selfish ambition. We want our names in lights, not His. The gospel is the only cure for this. Christ is the ultimate example of one who did not seek His own glory. He "made himself of no reputation" (Phil 2:7) and humbled Himself to the cross. In response, God the Father "hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." True glory comes through the way of the cross. We must die to our own reputation in order to be clothed in His. This means we must learn to rejoice when others are praised and we are overlooked. It means we do our work for an audience of One. It means we find our deepest satisfaction not in the applause of men, but in the "well done, good and faithful servant" of our Master.
Second, we must inspect the walls of our own city. Are we men who have rule over our spirits? Or are we easily provoked, quick to anger, given to fits of passion? A lack of self-control is not a personality quirk; it is a spiritual disaster. It leaves us vulnerable to every kind of sin and folly. The world, the flesh, and the devil find a man without self-control to be an easy target. The good news is that self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:23). It is not something we can manufacture through sheer willpower. The breached walls of our soul are too broken for us to repair on our own. We need the divine Mason to come and rebuild. This happens as we yield to the Spirit, as we confess our hot-tempered sins, as we immerse ourselves in the Word of God, which is the blueprint for our reconstruction. A man who is being rebuilt by God becomes a fortress of peace in his home, a bastion of stability in his church, and a truly formidable warrior in the cause of the gospel.