Reflections on Proverbs 27

 

Proverbs 27 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Don't brag about tomorrow! Each day brings its own surprises.
   
2. Don't brag about yourself-- let others praise you.
   
3. Stones and sand are heavy, but trouble caused by a fool is a much heavier load.
   
4. An angry person is dangerous, but a jealous person is even worse.
   
5. A truly good friend will openly correct you.
   
6. You can trust a friend who corrects you, but kisses from an enemy are nothing but lies.
   
7. If you have had enough to eat, honey doesn't taste good, but if you are really hungry, you will eat anything.
   
8. When you are far from home, you feel like a bird without a nest.
   
9. The sweet smell of incense can make you feel good, but true friendship is better still.
   
10. Don't desert an old friend of your family or visit your relatives when you are in trouble. A friend nearby is better than relatives far away.
    
11. My child, show good sense! Then I will be happy and able to answer anyone who criticizes me.
    
12. Be cautious and hide when you see danger-- don't be stupid and walk right into trouble.
    
13. Don't loan money to a stranger unless you are given something to guarantee payment.
    
14. A loud greeting early in the morning is the same as a curse.
    
15. The steady dripping of rain and the nagging of a wife are one and the same.
    
16. It's easier to catch the wind or hold olive oil in your hand than to stop a nagging wife.
    
17. Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other.
    
18. Take care of a tree, and you will eat its fruit; look after your master, and you will be praised.
    
19. You see your face in a mirror and your thoughts in the minds of others.
    
20. Death and the grave are never satisfied, and neither are we.
    
21. Gold and silver are tested in a red-hot furnace, but we are tested by praise.
    
22. No matter how hard you beat a fool, you can't pound out the foolishness.
    
23. You should take good care of your sheep and goats,
    
24. because wealth and honor don't last forever.
    
25. After the hay is cut and the new growth appears and the harvest is over,
    
26. you can sell lambs and goats to buy clothes and land.
    
27. From the milk of the goats, you can make enough cheese to feed your family and all your servants.
    

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This chapter leads off with a proverb not yet mentioned among the proverbs, one that is also reflected in the book of James (4:13-15) in the New Testament. It says, "Don't boast about tomorrow, for you don't know what a day might bring."  The boast is not about what you will do, but about presuming to know what tomorrow will hold. James counsels us instead to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." It is in the Lord's hands and we should acknowledge that fact and submit ourselves to His will. From that opening proverb in this chapter I will concentrate on those in the chapter that deal with relationships.

Solomon speaks of praise. We should let others praise us rather than praising ourselves, which does not enhance our relationships with others. None of us enjoy being with someone whose main topic of conversation is themselves. Also concerning praise, Solomon says a man is tested by praise as gold is tested in a smelter. How do we respond to praise? That is the question. Do we become proud, maybe even arrogant? Does it cause us to think too highly of ourselves? Or are we humbled by it and appreciative of those who give it? Does it encourage us to expand ourselves even further? This is the test of praise. It causes us to either become proud and stop growing, since we esteem ourselves to have "arrived," or it causes us to thankfully acknowledge the gifts God has given us and want to use them even more diligently. How do we come out in this test?

Also concerning relationships we learn that jealousy is hard to withstand. A number of things can trigger anger and even fury within us, but none of them are quite so lasting as jealousy. Fury and anger are likened here to a flood which comes up and may be destructive, but then it goes back down. But jealousy, we are told, is worse. It continually gnaws at us and the flood of anger and fury it causes do not go away.

Then Solomon tells us about the love of another that is strong enough to give constructive criticism. He says it is better to have an open reprimand than a concealed love. Then he continues by saying, "The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive." The lesson I see in this proverb is that no one benefits from a love that is never acknowledged and is unwilling to point out a failing. Though we may be wounded by the criticism and we may think of our friend as an enemy, he is more genuine a friend than the one who feigns friendship with many kisses. The question is, are we wise enough and mature enough to swallow our pride and recognize the trustworthiness of the friend who is willing to risk a criticism? Furthermore, are we willing to accept the criticism and learn from it? Such counsel of a friend is likened to the pleasantness of ointment and perfume - it is sweet, and it is to be more preferred than self-counsel. To reject the counsel of a friend and resort to self-counsel puts us in the category of the fool. This brings us to another proverb, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (verse 17) So the friend can sharpen us through his criticism if we will allow him to, and so we sharpen him as well if we are willing to have more than a concealed love and will risk enough to offer a criticism as well. Not to be critical, but to be helpful.