At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?”
Proverbs 24:12
“If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
Proverbs 24:12
The problem for those who get into the habit of making excuses is that most of their practicing is on those who are finite and limited, and who are usually not in a position to refute the excuse, whatever it is.
Someone asks, “who left this mess here?” The excuse leaps easily to the lips. “I didn’t know anything about it.” Or, in the words of this proverb, “I knew it not.”
The difficulty is that this is not just said to your teacher, or your supervisor, or your father. It is also said coram Deo, before the face of God. This proverb is therefore an exhortation, every time you think an excuse is in order, to remember that God is the possessor of all the omnis. He is everywhere present, and He knows all things.
Because He is everywhere present, He was there in the room when you left the mess for someone else to clean up. Because He is omniscient, all-knowing, He knows everything about it.
This proverb pushes this truth down into all the corners. This is saying much more than that God knows the state of the room. He knows the state of your heart when you are telling yourself all those lies. The Lord weighs the hearts. The Lord keeps the soul. And when He renders to all according to their deeds, He is going to go on the basis of what He says, and not on the basis of the excuses we may have offered.
