Proverbs 26, verses 6 to 9, the mouth of fools

 

Proverbs 26:6 ¶ He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. 7 The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools. 8 As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. 9 As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

A fool acts on the wrong information and acts according to the impulsiveness of his or her emotions. To play the fool is to err or act in a mistaken manner exceedingly.

1Samuel 26:21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

A fool does things in vain, that serve no good purpose. Even their death is a waste.

2Samuel 3:33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

The fool doesn’t believe in God and/or doesn’t believe what God has said. He is wholly corrupt, does evil things, and is incapable of doing good.

Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Come on. We all know people like this. In fact, I myself have been a fool most of my life. Slowly, since 2002, God has been teaching me through His words in His Bible, working on the inside of me. I have slipped and fallen a few times, too many times, but does that make me a hypocrite? You decide for yourself. I am just still amazed that the Holy Spirit is still working on me.

Before 2002, the year it was finally shown to me what the Bible actually was, I, on my own was incapable of doing anything right. God led me to good things; salvation, my marriage, exercise, health, a passion for learning, and perhaps one or two useful character traits but those good things were gifts from God. I was only able to receive the good things I was given. There is still much I just don’t get but slowly, ever so slowly, and with much struggle……..

The fool is not trustworthy. Don’t send an important message by him. Don’t trust a parable to him. Don’t give him honor. To do these things is to invite trouble for yourself. They are like binding a stone in a sling so it can’t be thrown. They are like a man who has trouble walking because his legs aren’t the same length. They are like a thorn in your hand when you’re drunk and helpless to remove it.

 

There are people you know who seem intelligent. They might be bookish and well-spoken and well-read even if they lack common sense. You might think highly of them and speak highly of their smarts. But there are different kinds of intelligence. One important kind of intelligence is emotional intelligence. An interesting book about that is Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman. I didn’t like it. I kept popping up in its pages. But even a better book is the Bible. In the Bible we have the doubting and frustration of Jeremiah, the emotional instability of Saul the king, the stubbornness in the face of the Holy Spirit’s clear warnings not to go to Jerusalem of Paul the apostle to the Gentiles. We have the churlish and evil Nabal, the henpecked and prideful Ahab, the carnal Samson, and the compromising Lot. They are all there in the pages of God’s book. There are unbelievers like the Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2 whose heart the Lord had hardened for a purpose, knowing he would never accept, in his pride, the words from God.

Before you entrust anything important to people who share these traits with these Bible characters, think carefully, use the reasoning ability God has given you, and pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. You may be drinking damage to yourself.