Three Abominations

Prov. 15

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.” (v. 8)

The wicked offer many sacrifices to the Lord, but they do it not in the sincerity of their heart. Many use their so-called sacrifices as bargaining power; they seem to think they can bargain with the Lord, and yet, Christians find themselves doing the very same thing at times! When troubles and trials come our way, don’t we cry unto the Lord and begin to tell him how much we have done for Him? We are trying to understand why those things happen to us when we are “doing the best we can”. I am afraid that this too may be an abomination to the Lord; this too is bargaining with the Lord; pleading our cause against the trials that come to us all.

I had a friend that was an alcoholic; he went forward and spilled his heart out on the alter many times, but would lapse back into his old habits eventually. I believe that he was sincere when he went to the altar, but he was looking at the work he was doing for the Lord to deliver him from the drink, and not to Jesus only. He was bargaining with the Lord. He expected some great things to happen because he was “doing what was right”, and yet, he inevitably fell back into sin. He was a great soul winner when he was “on the wagon”, but would disappear for weeks at a time because he had fallen back into his old ways. He just couldn’t let go. I cannot say that this man was not saved, but his faith seemed to be a bit mis-guided; he may have trusted in works and not in Christ.


“The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.” (v.9)

The entire life style of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Everything he does is done in unbelief, and cannot be blessed by God. His entire life is one of condemnation, away from God and headed for perdition. His “good deeds” are not good; his “righteousness” is as filthy rags, it is evil in its origin; his life is a mess without the Lord. His giving is not blessed because it is a selfish giving; he cannot do good because his entire lifestyle is evil, and “self” sits on the throne of his life.

“The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.” (v. 26)

Even the thoughts of the wicked are self gratifying thoughts. Under the guise of doing right, the heart is revealed to be wicked, so that the mere thought of man is wicked from the beginning. Genesis 6:5 sums it up best: “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart” are wicked when they are infected by unbelief. It is amazing that none of his thoughts are of any value—only wickedness continually. It cannot be any other way when his heart is full of mischief, and his life is far from God. He is a cancer, spreading throughout the body, and eating away at the innards of man; he is a reproach to himself, as well as others, and is bent only on thinking evil and devising mischief; God is not in all his thoughts.