Proverbs 15:11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men? I. A GREAT FACT DECLARED. 1. The word translated "hell" might just as well be translated "death," or the state of departed spirits. Death, with all its solemn consequences, is visible before the Lord. God understands all the secrets of death. God knows the burial-places of all His people. He is cognisant of the history of all their bodies after sepulture, or after death. And as the body, so the soul when separated from the body is before the Lord. 2. The word "destruction" signifies "hell," the place of the damned. That also is open before the Lord. That land of terror is to us a land unknown. II. A GREAT FACT INFERRED. 1. Why is it so clear that if "hell and destruction are before the Lord," the hearts of men must be very plainly viewed by Him? We answer, because the hearts of men are not so extensive as the realms of death and torment. They are far less aged too. God may easily understand the history of a man, when He knows the history of the monarchies of death and hell. 2. How does God know the heart? To what degree and extent does He understand and know that which is in man? God searches it; tries it; ponders, or weighs it. 3. What is it that God sees in man's heart? Its evils, imaginations, devices, resolves. 4. When does God see us? Always, and everywhere. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?WEB: Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh— how much more then the hearts of the children of men! |
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