12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
14 with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16 There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
A worthless person is described as someone who deceives with their speech, look, feet and hands. They say one thing but it is contradicted by their body language, or they signal a different message to their co-conspirators. Their heart is deceitful and plots evil. They bring strife and conflict between people. Eventually, a person like this will suffer disaster that will be quick and inescapable—it might be a result of their own actions or God might bring some form of judgement against them.
This list of six/seven things is not an exhaustive list of the only things God hates but a list that shows the kind of things God hates and the final item is the result of all the preceding items. Note that this list and the previous have the same final item—sowing discord amongst people.
God detests pride, lying, hands that hurt and murder, a heart that plans evil, feet that are quick to run into sin, falsely accusing or testifying against someone, because all of these things bring strife and conflict.
Both of these lists speak of the eyes, mouth, hands, feet, and heart. Every part of us can get us into trouble with God. What area of your life do you need to pay some extra attention to? Where are you falling into sin too easily and what do you need to do to rectify that today?