By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil. Proverbs 16:6 NASB
I absolutely love this verse! The majority of what I believe is encompassed in this one sentence. The very character of God is summed up, what the plan of salvation did, and what our response should be. All in one verse! But if you know me, then you know I can’t stick with just 1 verse. There are so many verses – from both the old and new testaments – that tie into what this verse is expressing.
The words in this verse hold a depth we don’t often plumb. We take them at face value and lean on our meager understanding of the English language that doesn’t even come close to what is expressed through the original tongue. I want to share some of what I’ve learned when taking a closer look. Perhaps you’ll be encouraged to dig deeper as well.
The word lovingkindness is translated from the Hebrew word chesed (Strong’s H2617) and indicates kindness, lovingkindness, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, and acts of kindness. I know it seems a bit repetitive, but perhaps it’s in an effort to really drive the point home that God’s goodness is for us, directed to us, for the benefit of us, and always on us. It’s from this word that I get a peek at God’s character and true nature. God is the very definition of truth, faithfulness, mercy, steadfastness, justice, goodness, and righteousness. He’s eternally Chesed and eternally God and Lord of all.
Psalm 136 (see – I can’t stick to just 1 verse) uses the word chesed 26 times, and the passage is pretty comprehensive in what it covers. It’s a beautiful chapter that includes creation, God’s redemption, His preservation, and even our permanent establishment as objects of His affection. All because of God’s covenant faithfulness, we can read how God’s chesed happened, know that it is still happening, and trust that it will continue to happen. Chesed is a word with a depth we cannot fathom.
Next, we get to a word that often causes us to duck our heads in shame: iniquity. On first glance, it seems pretty straightforward, but surprise! The English language lets us down again. Avown (Strong’s H5771) is the Hebrew word we get iniquity from in this verse, but like I mentioned before, there are depths we don’t see on the surface. Yes, iniquity refers to sin and evil, but avown means much more. It’s 1 of 4 main words in the Old Testament that refers to sin, but the emphasis of avown doesn’t stop at sin, but takes it further. The emphasis is not just on sin, but it’s on deliberate or conscious acts of evil.
But wait – there’s more! So, we have a word that refers to all sin and evil acts, especially deliberate acts of evil, but it also brings with it the understanding of the punishment and the consequences that come with sin and evil. Anyone else feel a bit squirmy? The evil done… the punishment… the consequences… all wrapped up in the word we read in this verse as iniquity. Thankfully we have another word that holds more than surface-level meaning. Let’s look at the word atoning.
There’s this guy, Jesus, that happens to be God’s one and only Son. He came, lived a perfectly sinless life, and took the punishment for all sin. All sin, for all time, for all people. That’s the typical train of thought that is conjured up when we hear or read the word atoning. Basically, He paid the debt that was owed times infinity. But I find it interesting that there was more involved with the word iniquity and there’s more involved with the word atoning.
Have you ever wondered what the word kaphar means (Strong’s H3722)? No? Well, I had no idea the word even existed until I started digging into this verse. This word is pretty cool. We can easily deduce that it means to cover, to forgive, to reconcile, to cleanse, to cancel but – you know it – there’s more! Want to know another word that I had no idea existed? Bitumen.
The word kaphar is a primitive root connected to bitumen. Bitumen is a type of pitch that’s used for setting bricks, sealing boats, rafts, and baskets, that kind of thing. This atoning that’s mentioned in Proverbs 16:6 also brings with it the sealing that bitumen was known for. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that we’ve been sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit – thankfully we get the connection to bitumen, but we’re not sealed with bitumen.
Now for the part that I’ve struggled with for years. Fear. At this point in the verse, I’m feeling pretty good. We have a God who is Chesed, all of our sins and punishments have been paid for and we’ve been sealed safely with Him. But now we get to fear.
Many Christians struggle with taking what chesed entails and trying to connect it to fearing God. Again, our English language is so very lacking here. Fear, in the English language, is described as a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain whether the threat is real or imagined. Why would we ever believe that God is everything chesed describes if we are expecting danger, evil, or pain? Why would we expect danger, evil, or pain when scripture assures us that our iniquity has already been atoned for?
Fear also means reverence – this is the common answer I’ve gotten when I’ve asked for feedback in Christian circles. Reverence is good, but wouldn’t you know – there’s more.
When I began looking more closely at this verse, I didn’t start with lovingkindness, I started with fear. It’s from the Hebrew word yir’ah (Strong’s H3374) and typically refers to the fear of God. Okay, that doesn’t tell us anything new. Continuing on, I found that this fear is viewed as a positive quality and acknowledges God’s good intentions. This fear is produced by God’s Word and motivates and delights. That doesn’t sound like the kind of fear that comes from expecting danger, evil, or pain. But wait… there’s even more.
This word, yir’ah, is also identified with wisdom, restraining from sin, gives us confidence and good sleep (good sleep sounds amazing!). It can also lead to honor, riches, and life. All. Good. Things. Perhaps this fear of the Lord is more like an appreciative awareness of His greatness and our humble acceptance of His free gift of salvation.
For only being 20 words long, this verse offered a lot to chew on. But it’s there… more. We’re told that if we seek Him, we will find Him (Luke 11:9). For me, this verse tells me that because of His goodness and extravagant love and grace, I’m able to be in relationship with Him, and staying away from evil is a natural response to His good intentions toward me.
Grace believers often get a bad rap. People assume that we’re taking grace as a license to go out and live like the devil, but this verse explains exactly what grace is about. I have been so changed by the little bit that I understand of what God has done for me that I have no desire to live like the devil. Sure, I still mess up, but I’m so grateful for what Jesus did that I don’t intentionally set out to abuse it. Grace, the gospel, changes people.
How have you been changed?