Muddy Waters
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 25:26
Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
The person in view in this verse is a “righteous man.” We are not talking about someone who is lost. This is a person who knows the Lord. As eventually happens to every person, this righteous man is confronted in some manner by a wicked man. He has a choice at that point. Will he do what is right, what he knows is right; or will he “give way before the wicked?”
This proverb is specifically considering the righteous man who does compromise and gives way before the pressure put on him by the wicked. This kind of righteous man becomes like “a muddied spring or a polluted fountain.” Compromise defiles the soul and corrupts it to where it has nothing satisfying or refreshing to offer others.
The man who compromises under pressure is the man who loses the respect and trust of others.
