Introduction
Before getting into the meaning of Proverbs 13:19, here’s different Bible translations:
King James Version
The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
American Standard Version
The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul; But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.
World English Bible version
Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.
Proverbs 13:19 Meaning & Commentary
A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools. Proverbs 13:19 (ESV)
A desire is a powerful thing. It can motivate and inspire us to take action and even endure hardship. Everybody has desires – regardless of their past or present circumnutates. Even people who seem to “have it all” have desires. Desire and hope are essentially the same things – or very similar. We know that hope is the substance of what we put faith in – we cannot have faith without hope (or desire):
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
When a desire comes to pass – something we have been earnestly desiring, hoping for, or praying about, it brings us great joy. As Proverbs 13:19 says – it is “sweet to the soul.” Sometimes, we wonder if God sees, hears, and will answer us. When we see a desire actually come to pass, it inspires, motivates, and challenges us to push ahead and trust God to fulfill all the desires we have in our hearts!
The second portion of Proverbs 13:19 says that fools do not like to turn away from evil. In fact, The Bible says that it is an abomination to them! The word “abomination” is a strong word, which means “a thing that causes disgust or loathing.” How crazy to think that someone will be disgusted by turning away from evil? It sounds foolish, however, we see elsewhere in the book of Proverbs that a fool will view doing evil or wrong as a joke:
Proverbs 10:23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding. Yet, as crazy as it may sound, we all participate in evil to some degree or another. For a fool, they may delight in purposely doing evil towards other people – however, in our lives, maybe we delight in the “small sins,” which may not seem like “a big deal” but might be a big deal to God!
Application
How can we practically apply Proverbs 13:19 to our lives?
Whatever desires we have in our hearts – we should pursue them, if they are godly or reasonable. How do we know if they are valid, godly desires? We need to measure them against God’s Word. The Bible is our standard, and everything we seek or desire should be aligned with God’s word!
This is one of the reasons for unanswered prayers: James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. When our desires are wrong, we cannot expect God to answer them!
If we go back just one verse in the book of James, we see another key to having our desires met: James 4:2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. God wants to meet our desires, yet we still need to ask God for what we want Him to do in our life!
If, or rather – when God meets the desires in our hearts, we need to enjoy it and remember to thank God and give Him glory! Then, we can use that as fuel to continue believing and trusting God to do more in our life. The Bible tells us elsewhere that a desire fulfilled is a “tree of life”: Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
As far as turning away from evil, The Bible is explicitly clear: 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil. We do this by seeking God, spending time with him – being changed into his image, and developing the fear of The Lord in our lives:
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your goodness. I know that you want to fulfill the desires of my heart, and I thank you for this. From this day forward, I will commit my desires into your hands and trust that You will answer each one.
Help me to keep my motives pure and serve you all the days of my life. I commit my life into your hands, and I pray that the fear of The Lord will keep me safe and far from all forms of evil. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen!
