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“Fret not thyself because of evil men,
neither be thou envious at the wicked” – Part 2

(Pro 24:19-34)

[Study Aired January 15, 2026]

Pro 24:19  Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
Pro 24:20  For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
Pro 24:21  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Pro 24:22  For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
Pro 24:23  These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
Pro 24:24  He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
Pro 24:25  But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
Pro 24:26  Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
Pro 24:27  Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
Pro 24:28  Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
Pro 24:29  Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
Pro 24:30  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
Pro 24:31  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Pro 24:32  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Pro 24:33  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Pro 24:34  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

In this section of Proverbs 24 we’ll look at how these verses, as we do with all of God’s word, apply to us inwardly as we examine ourselves whether we be in the faith or not, using God’s word to prove our own selves to that end (2Co 13:5, Col 1:27).

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Pro 24:19  Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
Pro 24:20  For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.

The candle in (Pro 24:20) represents God’s word (Rev 1:12-13) that we have wrapped around the idols of our hearts (Eze 14:3, Mat 6:21-23), idols that need to be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens (2Th 2:3, Col 1:24) so that we can be one body full of light, “if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light”, overcoming through Christ (Mat 5:14, Joh 8:12, Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5, Col 1:27).

Satan’s ongoing goal is to sift the body of Christ by taking away that singleness (2Co 11:3) that is in Him, and Christ’s goal through His body is to give us the might and strength to fight a good fight of faith to maintain that unity of the spirit (1Ti 6:12, Eph 4:13)

Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.[wrapped around an idol of the heart Eze 14:3 or set on things above Col 3:2]
Mat 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572(singleness) that is in Christ.

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

G572 haplotēs hap-lot’-ace
From G573; singleness, that is, (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking), or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal): – bountifulness, liberal (-ity), simplicity, singleness.
Total KJV occurrences: 8

In verse 19 we are admonished to fret not because of the evil in this world [within and without]. Notice the words “men and man” are in italics in these opening verses, taking the focus off of the sin within ourselves, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”. We are not to be beset by the destruction of sin process (Heb 12:1-4) which we are enduring through Christ, even though no chastening “seemeth to be joyous” when you’re going through it (Heb 12:6, Heb 12:11). We are not to be envious at the wicked of our past (Php 3:13), or the wicked in this world, our former conversation (Mat 24:17-19, Gal 4:7-11, Eph 4:22, Eph 2:1-4). Rather we are to flee to Christ who gives us the power to flee fornication (1Co 6:18), idolatry (1Co 10:14), youthful lusts (2Ti 2:22) and riches (Pro 23:5), so we can receive a reward (Rev 20:6).

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.[the contradiction of sinners against himself, against His body]

Mat 24:16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (flee to Christ, look to Christ Psa 121:1)
Mat 24:17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Eph 4:20  But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,[your former “house”, your former “clothes”] which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (Jud 1:23)

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

(These verses in (Eph 2:4-5) remind us that God loves us and knows the daily struggle we have against sin in our members and yet He is “rich in mercy”, mercy that is shown by giving us much tribulation as we die daily, so we can inherit the kingdom of God within, day by day (Act 14:22, Luk 17:21, Rev 11:15))

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Pro 24:21  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
Pro 24:22  For their calamity^H343 shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

God does not change (Mal 3:6) in a world that is unstable and ever changing where we are blessed to know the whole counsel of God’s will is being fulfilled (Eph 1:11-12). Our calling is to “fear thou the LORD and the king”(Ecc 12:13) and to not fear or meddle with the unstable affairs of this world, the wars and rumours of wars without, of which God has willed without so that His children can be witnesses of His power that makes it possible for us to be ambassadors and soldiers for in Christ in this dark world, and who are not troubled by such things (Mat 24:6-7, 2Co 4:15).

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

H343 calamity ‘êyd ade
From the same as H181 (in the sense of bending down); oppression; by implication misfortune, ruin: – calamity, destruction.
Total KJV occurrences: 24

The calamities that “rise suddenly” are connected to the plagues that God is going to pour out upon this world when Christ returns with the saints, also likened unto the days of Noah (Mat 24:37-39). The elect will be used to baptize the world with the undefiled word of God, that will be a plague against all carnal thinking (Rev 18:4, Hab 2:14). God knows the ruin of them both (those who don’t fear the Lord and are given to change), and commands us to “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues”. God’s judgement is upon His people now (1Pe 4:17), as we experience those calamities via the seven last plagues [seals, trumpets and vials] being poured out upon us now, so we don’t need to be judged later (Rev 15:8, 1Co 11:31-32).

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came (Mal 3:18), and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.(Heb 12:6)

The good news is that God is moving the world (Act 17:28) in the direction that is according to the counsel of His will (Dan 2:20-22, Act 17:28), with a desire within Him that will be obtained to save all of His creation in time, each man in his own order (Eph 1:11, 1Co 15:22,  Job 23:13-14).

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Pro 24:23  These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
Pro 24:24  He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:
Pro 24:25  But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.
Pro 24:26  Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.

Inwardly we are being told in this proverb to not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, which is what Babylon does when they call “light” ‘dark’, and “dark” ‘light’ (Act 20:27, Isa 5:20). We judge this way when we think that anyone, including Christ, in this sinful flesh, can judge righteous judgement of himself independent of God (Joh 5:30).

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.(Eph 1:11)

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (When we seek God’s will we will judge justly like Christ, and be his brothers, sisters or mothers Mat 12:48-50, 1Jn 4:17)

Christ knew he couldn’t judge righteous judgement independent of His Father, and He is showing us in this proverb why man’s judgements fail and don’t produce the righteousness of God (Rom 10:2-6, Jas 1:19-20). It takes God’s spirit within us (Rom 8:9) to clearly see that there is none righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10), and we call no man good, there is one who is good, even God (Mar 10:18).

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.(Christ and his body are sealed with the holy spirit of promise and have become the end of the law for righteousness Joh 6:27, Eph 1:13)

If we are blessed to judge as Christ did, who is our example (1Pe 2:21, 1Jn 4:17), we will not say to the self-righteous man of sin within us [the carnal mind apart from God’s spirit] that he is our righteousness, but rather we will acknowledge it is Christ working in us who is our righteousness (Php 3:9), even as Christ acknowledged it was the Father working in him. This ongoing realization of understanding of who is doing the work (Php 2:12-13, Joh 14:20) is accomplished by the dying daily process, which is also only possible by the son setting us free from sin, “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Joh 8:36).

If we don’t judge matters as Christ did on this earth, that person, me, will be cursed and abhorred by Christ’s body for not binding mercy and truth around my heart (Pro 3:3-4), which mercy and truth makes it possible for us to rebuke the wicked within ourselves (Rom 2:4),  a delight unto God that brings a good blessing upon all who take such actions.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man [“a good blessing shall come upon them”].

Judging righteous judgement is what will happen if we kiss the son while it is today (Psa 2:11-12, Heb 3:12-13). Kissing Christ and his Christ with a holy kiss, symbolizes our having a right relationship with our judge and high priest who alone knows how to judge every matter correctly (Joh 7:24).

Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

He is the reason we can give “a right answer”, just as Christ said of himself that his answers were right because of his right relationship with His Father (I can do nothing of my own self Joh 5:30-31, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself (Joh 15:4-5).

Contrast of the spiritually zealous vs. the spiritually slothful

Pro 24:27  Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
Pro 24:28  Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
Pro 24:29  Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

These verses help us understand how we can fulfill this commandment of not fretting: “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”. If we are diligent, we will by God’s grace “prepare thy work without”, and we will be fit today in the hands of the fit man who is working with us in this world (Lev 16:21). Laying up that foundation of good works is essential against the day of evil, and will give us peace knowing that God does not forget our labour of love for one another (1Ti 6:19, Heb 6:10-11).

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

“and afterwards build thine house” is another way of saying “seek the kingdom first and his righteousness and all those things shall be added unto you” (Mat 6:33). It is the Lord who gives us the diligent spirit, it is the Lord who makes it possible for us to be in the world [the field is the world Mat 13:38] and not of it [“fit for thyself in the field”].

We need to mind, or be mindful of, our own business which is what Christ declared to His disciples when He said he has food that they don’t know of yet, prior to Pentecost (Luk 2:49, Joh 4:32). When we are witnesses against our neighbour without cause, “Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips”, we are not about our Father’s business (Mat 7:6, Pro 26:17).

Meddling in strife that should not be our concern, or taking vengeance that belongs to God, “I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work”, is the opposite of, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Mat 7:12). Vengeance is God’s. He knows how to deal with the unjust ways of mankind and calls us to trust Him against all the adversaries we will be presented with in this life (Rom 14:4, Isa 54:17).

Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Pro 24:30  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
Pro 24:31  And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Pro 24:32  Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.
Pro 24:33  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
Pro 24:34  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

When we are void of God’s understanding, we will be spiritually slothful in this world, not being quickened by the word of God (Joh 6:63) because we are not being drawn to labour in it (Joh 6:44) as we should (Act 17:11, Tit 2:14).

“The field of the slothful” is “grown over with thorns” which represent false doctrines (Gen 3:18), and nettles “had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down”, saying the same thing: that there is no healthy foundation that is laid without Christ and His words of life (1Co 3:11, Mat 16:18).

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What causes this slothful condition is then explained as being a lack of diligence: “Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.”

Christ comes as a thief in the night (1Th 5:2-6, Mat 24:43, Rev 16:15), and if the Goodman in us (Col 1:27) is not being neglected, we will stir up this gift of prophecy (2Ti 1:6-7) that has been given to us so that, Lord willing, we will not be caught unawares when the He returns (Mat 24:45-47).

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief [“if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come”(watch and pray, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because the Father knows the hour and the day and Christ is working within us both to will and to do our Father’s will– Mat 24:24, Mar 13:33, Mat 26:41, Php 2:12-13)].
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

2Ti 1:6  Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.(Luk 18:1)

Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up [If we are being judged in this age our house is being “broken up” and when Christ abides in us we become the goodman who can now watch and pray so that we will be ready when He returns outwardly (Rev 11:15)].
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Christ tells us to not fret because of the evil, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”, wicked that is manifested in the wars and rumours of wars that will escalate as evil men wax worse and worse, producing this spirit of spiritual slothfulness, along with iniquity abounding and the love of many waxing cold (Mat 24:48-51).

Mat 24:48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;[Mat 24:12-13]
Mat 24:50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We ask the Lord to not let us grow weary in well doing, praying to “receive[ed] instruction”, or correction, that must come upon all those who are being dragged to Him in this age (Gal 6:9, Heb 12:22-29)

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Heb 12:12  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;[1Co 9:27]

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: [Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6]
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.