Proverbs 30:10 Vicious Lies

Three different roles are brought in for us. The servant, the master, and the slanderer. The vicious lies of the slanderer could cost the servant dearly, unless he has a good master.

I have gone several rounds with this verse. First, I wondered about the relationship of authority between servant and master and how the slanderer fit in. Was he an outsider? Was he a fellow servant? Maybe someone the master trusted?

Next, I thought about the role of protector in this cast of characters. The master has a duty to provide for his servant and to protect him. The lies will have some impact on the relationship. Would the protection be removed? Would the servant suffer as a direct result of the lies?

I was also curious about who, besides the slanderer, was doing the action in the verse. Who would be cursing the slanderer? Who would be issuing the consequences to the man for his lies and probable damage to the servant.

Finally, I turned to my bible helps to get an understanding of the author’s meaning. My helps state that the servant himself would be the one to curse the man. That makes sense on a personal level as the lies directly impact the servant. However, I would hope the master would be just as angry at the one spreading lies against his servant. Would the master ‘gobble up’ the morsel of gossip brought to him or would he stand behind the character of his servants? If the latter, maybe the master would curse the lying man too.

Lies have a way of spoiling everything. The truth doesn’t always come out immediately, but it does eventually. Often the damage is already done before the truth is known. In these instances, a divide develops between all who are involved.

I would be lying If I said that the master always knows what his servant is doing when not in his presence. This is a relationship of trust and it has been built brick by brick. When the servant is new, there is usually someone watching over his/her work for a time. As they become more familiar with one another, trust develops and the relationship deepens. Someone who destroys that process, without good cause, deserves punishment. And the person we are talking about today is the one who does so trough lies against the servant. He doubly deserves punishment! He is setting up the servant for failure in the eyes of the master.

I was thinking about this in the parent/child relationship area. As parents, we always want to believe the best about our children. Some are deluded enough to believe their children can do no wrong. When one comes against them with accusations, we need to use caution when accepting or rejecting the claims. Knowing your child as an individual will help you in deciding whether to believe the reports or not. The bond of trust is especially important in this relationship and believing lies about your child will hurt damage that trust. But so will believing your child would NEVER do any wrong. Walk carefully and ask for God’s guidance in these places.

The key though to this verse is the action of slander. By using this word, we know that the accusations are false. Woe to the person who does this! The one who intentionally tries to tear down another is a cruel person indeed. I wish I could say that this person WILL suffer for their actions in this world, but I can’t. What I can say with certainty though is that GOD knows what is going on and HE will see that there is justice done. Through our proverb, God says that this person will be held guilty.

Thinking about this whole situation reminds me of an event my mother told me about. My mother’s older sister has two children. The eldest is a girl and the youngest a boy. For some reason, the eldest liked to see the younger get in trouble. One day, as my aunt was washing dishes, her daughter came running to her and told her that her brother was down by the road on his tricycle. My aunt ran out and got him and punished him for going where he knew he wasn’t supposed to. A short time later, her daughter came to tell on her brother for the same offense and the events proceeded exactly as before. I don’t remember how many times this happened before a neighbor finally spoke up. The daughter had been taking her brother on his tricycle to the end of the driveway, leaving him there, and then running in to report it. SHE got in trouble this time. I don’t know what it did to the children’s relationship with each other but I’m pretty sure it left a lasting impact on the trust relationships with mother and children.

DON’T be the one bearing false witness. It WILL bite you in the end. No matter your motives, it’s NOT worth it! There are too many people trying to get ahead by stepping on someone else. Please don’t be one of them. Ask, and trust, God to open the eyes of the other if you happen to find yourself the one being slandered. Sometimes that’s the only hope you have in these circumstances.

Father God, thank You that my hope is in You and NOT in this world. I trust You to watch over me and to protect me. Satan is the BIGGEST slanderer of ALL Your children. And those who follow his lead WILL wind up with his reward in the end. Forgive me if I have injured another with false accusations. I know I have caused some to be found out for their wrongs over my lifetime. And they certainly didn’t ‘thank’ me for it. It is very painful to be the one on the receiving end of slander. Don’t let me inflict this kind of pain on another please Father. Let me speak truth and love instead.

I’m sorry also Father for not finishing our time together last night. My day got away from me again and my body was crying out for sleep. I did try but I wasn’t even making sense to my own mind. I’m not sure how much sense I make anyway sometimes. Thank You for Your love and understanding. Thank You for protecting me from the guilt Satan would try and lay on me too.