There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. There are those–how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind. (Proverbs 30:12-14)

The wicked, the narcissist, the sociopath, the abuser, is clean in his own eyes. He is covered with the filth of his evil, but he sees himself as spotless. Justified. Yes, he raged and threatened last night, but he had a right to it. He had to do it. Any guilt lies elsewhere. Like the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked, this fellow sees himself as white and clean, all the while inside he is filthy, filthy, filthy with the corrupt evil of his own heart.

Look at him. See how lofty his eyes are? He is proud of himself and even boasts of his evil to those whom he oppresses. He is never wrong. Never guilty. Always right. Blame never rests upon him.

But when he speaks, his sword and fangs go to work. His words are uttered with the purpose of destroying and devouring his victims off the face of the earth. He is a bully, picking on the weak. And even if you were to record his words, the slashes of his sword-tongue, and play them back to him, he would admit no wrong. “You made me. I had to do it. You deserved to be punished.”