I think one of my favorite things about the book of Proverbs, is that it doesn’t sugarcoat things. Chapter 26 is just straight-up blunt about foolishness. It’s almost like he’s painting a picture for us.....“Here’s what wisdom looks like… and here’s what folly looks like, so don’t confuse the two.”
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. (v4-5)
When I read these two, I was a bit confused actually. They almost feel like they contradict each other, don’t they? But if you read them together, they actually give balance. Sometimes it’s wiser to walk away than to get pulled into a fool’s drama. Other times, love and truth call us to speak up.....otherwise, silence leaves the foolish thinking they’re right. Wisdom is knowing which moment you’re in.
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. (v11)
Solomon certainly doesn’t mince words here, does he? This verse is gross on purpose. It paints the picture of going back to the very thing that once made you sick. We’ve all been there....running back to old habits, old attitudes, or old sins that God already freed us from. This verse is like God saying "don’t go back. I have better for you".
The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.
As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. (v13-14)
The lazy man is full of excuses.....always finding a reason why today isn’t the day. The lion in the street? Could that be his exaggerated “what if?” And the hinge-door picture? It’s back and forth, motion without movement. Laziness doesn’t just waste time.....it kills opportunity.
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out:
so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. (v20)
Plain and simple, gossip is fuel. If no one feeds it, the fire dies. Imagine if we all chose to be water instead of wood in our conversations....how many fires in families, friendships, and churches would never even take off?
Sometimes wisdom means silence, sometimes it means speaking. Sometimes it looks like refusing to go back to old patterns. Sometimes it’s getting out of bed and doing what God’s called us to. And sometimes....it’s just choosing to not repeat the gossip that would keep the fire burning.
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