Proverbs 17:20a - “ He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: …”
This verse speaks of the consequences of possessing a froward heart. Ultimately, no good can be found when you have a froward heart. You can seek, but never find; you can hunger for goodness, yet never taste it; goodness can be begged for but none will be received.
I find that word “froward” has 3 distinct meanings. Each definition gives us insight into why the froward cannot obtain a single good thing.
Firstly, froward means disobedient. We know that the scripture teaches that a child of God who lives in disobedience is promised to receive chastisement. Chastisement from God is a spiritual correction, it is not a physical correction. Though you may have the same possessions and access to “good things”, God is well able to take away the goodness found in those things. When you fall under the chastening rod of God, you have no joy, no peace and no reassurance from the Spirit because you are separated from God. Nothing is good without first having a good relationship with God.
Secondly, froward is a term for the unyielding. If you are unwilling to yield to God’s will, it is rooted in pride. There is nothing good to be found in pride. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit leads to a fall. Neither a fall or destruction are “good”, in fact they are the exact opposite. Pride causes you to cease consumption of the fruit of God’s grace and mercy; instead, it will cause you to partake of yourself. The strength of the flesh will fail you and bitterness is all that can be found while we are prideful.
Finally, froward can be defined as “refractory.” Refraction is often a property that has to do with interaction with light. Refraction is the principle that explains how light can pass through some clear objects and be turned into a rainbow on the other side. It also explains why light can be “redirected” instead of shinning in a straight line through the object (refraction is the reason that straws look disconnected above and below the surface of water in a glass cup).
A froward person retracts the truth of God and makes is “slightly askew” from what God intended. They manipulate, split hairs, and turn what God intended into something other than what God intended. How can you have anything good when you argue with what saith the Lord? How can you have blessing when you dispute the very truth of what God said?
To find good in this world, you must be humbly following after God. Everything we have ever seen in this world bares the curse of sin. All good in your life has been received from the merciful and gracious hand of God (not because you earned it, but because by faith you followed and were obedient to his will). You cannot conjure goodness, you cannot stumble upon it buried deep under the layers of filth in the mire. The forward cannot find good in this world, because they are looking to themselves to provide the good they seek.
Your fellowservant in Christ,
Bro. Jordan Foster
Amen, excellent!