There are just too many specifically interesting verses in Proverbs 26 to deal with them all in this space. So read through it, pick out a couple and do some basic study on those that really pique your curiosity. You’ll be blessed by even a brief study.
Take a look at verses 4 and 5, for instance, here I have it in the KJV, similar in the NIV:
“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.”
So, do you answer a fool according to his folly, or not?
Anyway, one that I delved further into was verse 9, “Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.” (NASB)
This chapter deals quite a bit with the term fool, with an obvious contrast to the wise. Very basically, the fool here is one who hears and knows the teachings, the right things to do, and chooses foolishness instead of wisdom. I realize that might still be a bit general, but read this chapter with that big picture in mind.
Thorns in the hand of a drunkard? My initial question was “Why would it be a waste to have thorns there? After all, what good are thorns in the hand of ANYONE?” Then it hit me. A drunkard’s senses are going to be diminished. He would be holding something which should feel painful, but yet he has no idea. That’s the idea here.
A proverb is to be a wise saying, something taken to heart and then used in application to live wisely according to God’s instruction. When we ignore His teaching, and behave as the fool does, we become like the drunkard. We make choices that can and will hurt us, and yet we have no idea, because we are not completely tuned into the Lord and His ways. Such is wise living, recognizing the thorns, those elements of this world which are so dangerous and harmful to our spiritual walks.
I pray today that we “sober up” about the choices we make.
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