Bible Commentaries
Proverbs 20

Verse 17

HARD FARE

‘Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall he filled with gravel.’

Proverbs 20:17

There are instances in which a very little practice in evil will make real wickedness seem to one harmless, to another necessary, to another almost satisfactory. This is what the wise prince meant by saying the bread of deceit was sweet. ‘Yes, it is,’ says Solomon— and afterwards? How may we be certain of the afterwards of deceit? How may we be certain that it will infinitely outweigh the present sweetness?

I. All things that are done by God’s creatures are subject to God’s judgment.—If God approves of a thing, the things that follow from it are sure to be good and happy things. If He condemns it they are sure to be good in one sense, but they are absolutely sure to be destructive of that which is causing evil, and they would not be good unless they were so destructive and baneful and withering to what is evil.

II. The deceiver is especially a person who, by his own act and deed, resolutely and on purpose appeals from this life to the next.—He says, ‘I will not be judged here. I will not now bear the consequences of what I have done.’ Who can aid him? How can his best lover and friend protect him? Is it wonderful that Solomon and St. John alike, in speaking of the deceiver, say that his time comes afterwards?

—Archbishop Benson.