Category: Devotions

The two Hebrew words rendered fool in 17:21 are not the same in Hebrew. The first is kesil, the second nabal. There are many fools in Proverbs, but three words cover them all. Yet, each has its own shade of meaning. Surely the Holy Spirit had a purpose in making these distinctions. Let us consider each in turn.

Luther rightly said: “I more fear what is within me, than what comes from without.” God alone sees the heart! Let us ponder this truth.

1. A Warning Echo: The warning in verse 18 takes us back to chapter 6:1-5 which deals with the dangers of co-signing for loans (11:15). A man void of understanding is one who lacks heart, the now familiar Hebrew idiom. To go security for another is to pledge to guarantee the loan. Striking hands is similar to the modern handshake. Solomon warns against such pledges. It is foolish to do so even for a neighbour, but it is the sheerest stupidity to do so for a stranger or for a strange (wayward) woman. Never promise to give what you haven’t got. It can only hurt you, yes, and your wife and family with you. “There is no true benevolence in rash engagements which may involve our name and family in disgrace or ruin” (Bridges). Yet, there’s another blessed echo here. “Christ’s becoming Surety for men, was a glorious display of Divine Wisdom, for He was able to discharge the bond” (Henry). Thank God we have one who “paid our debt in full.”

Writers of every strip have sung the praises of true friendship, but some of the most lovely thoughts every written about friendship are found in Holy Scripture (Ruth; David and Jonathan, 1 Sm. 18:3, 19:2; 20:17). Is it not most amazing, even awesome, to hear God saying, Abraham, My Friend (Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:23)?

This touches most of us to some degree. Who does not wish that he or she could “claw back” some of the wasted opportunities of those youthful years? This proverb is also at the heart of the modern universal-education demand. Why invest education-dollars on fools in these times of economic constraint? While this is widely recognised in principle, to apply it could spell political suicide. After all, we must make allowances for under-achievers, one of the modern buzz-words for fools!

Justifying the criminal and incriminating the just, how prevalent it is, but no less wicked for all that! God, who loves righteousness, sees this injustice and declares both are an abomination to Him. His thoughts are not our thoughts.

Strife is so evil that if not quickly remedied it will burst the dam, and carry everything before it.

1. Begins So Slight: The beginning of strife is as when one lets out water. It may be just a damp spot on the dike wall at first, then a trickle, then a rivulet, then an unstoppable torrent! Truly, is not this an apt description of what happens when personal quarrels break out among us? The cause may be some slight point, a careless word or innocent gesture, but how quickly it can lead on to an all out war, between individuals or even nations! If neither side yields, feelings harden, things escalate and the break becomes fixed. One drop leads to another till it becomes a mad, rushing torrent. When the dam goes, it lets loose devastation, more terrible than anyone can predict, much less control!

2. Evil’s Grief for grief it brings and to grief it must surely come. Evil cannot be conquered by evil, but it can be overcome by good (Rm. 12:21).

1. Evil’s Guise: Satan does more harm in a sheepskin than in his lion skin (Mt. 7:15; Jn. 10:12)! Evil, like the serpent in Genesis, is a dangerous associate.

Preserving “peace among friends” and “a word to the wise is enough” is the sum of our next two proverbs, reinforcing the wisdom that is still too often ignored. Peacemakers are the children of God; peace-breakers are the children of the devil.

Spurgeon said, “Characters that are really great are always simple.” Is not character a man’s true capital? It is the most precious stock-in-trade of life. Let no one who reads these pages lose it or diminish it, for once lost, it is lost forever.