Proverbs 17:27-28, Silent Sense or Fluent Folly!
November 24, Proverbs 17:27-28
Matt. 10:32-33; John 1:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:9 “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.”
Silent Sense or Fluent Folly!
Oh, what sins of the tongue most of us are guilty of! How difficult it is for sinful creatures to control that little member! Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pr. 18:21). Thomas Carlyle called the message of this Proverb, “Silence, the great empire of silence, higher than the stars; deeper than the kingdom of death. Woe to us if we have nothing but what we can show or speak. Bees will not work except in darkness; thought will not work except in silence.”
1. A Cool Head: He that hath knowledge spareth his words; and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit (v.27). The word spareth means to restrain, to hold in check. Excellent is literally cool, thus, an excellent spirit belongs to one who is “cool or self-possessed,” quite a different sense from the modern use of “everything’s cool”! A man of understanding “keeps his head cool, his mouth shut, and his heart warm” (10:19; 15:1). He holds a tight reign on his temper in debate, and gives others a fair hearing (18:13; 25:15). The words of the wise are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that rules among fools (Eccl. 9:17). Christ was silent before His accusers. He answered nothing (Mt. 27:12). “A little spark blows up one of sulphurous temper; and many coals, great injuries, and reproaches are quenched, and lose their force, being thrown at another of a cool spirit” (Abp. Leighton). So there is a time to speak as well as a time to be silent (Jas. 1:19, 3:2). How wise is the one who knows both time and judgment (Eccl. 8:5-6).
2. A Tongue Held: Even a fool when he holds his peace, is counted wise; and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding (v.28). This is the other way he show himself wise, he holds his peace, literally, “one who is silent” and shuts [stops] his lips. Even a fool who holds his tongue, acts deaf, is no longer a complete fool! His silence is itself a degree of wisdom rather than ignorance, though he is reputed to be a fool. “Silent sense is better than fluent folly!” Fool or not, his silence conceals his folly, and may gain for him a reputation for wisdom! “No one knows that he nothing knows, unless he talks too much” (Old Proverb). Thus the judgments of men can be wrong, counting fools as wise, or wise men as fools. Of course, this must not be the silence of a “sullen spirit” that is only the response of a rebellious spirit, not a cool spirit. Again, there is a silence that is consent. When we are called to stand up for truth, silence then is not merely cowardice; it is dangerous sin (Mt. 10:32). There is speech that is folly, but there is silence that is fatal. God knows the hearts and how prone we are to folly. David was under severe personal attack, yet he committed his cause to his God. But I as a deaf man [held peace], heard not, and I was as a dumb man that opened not his mouth. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope; thou wilt hear, O Lord, my God (Ps. 38:11-15). Because God knows all hearts He cannot be deceived in His judgments as man is in his. The Judge of all the earth shall do right.
Thought: He is no fool who never utters his unwise thoughts.
Prayer: Do thou hear me, O Lord, and give me a cool spirit.