Solomon begins today with a verse that may be familiar to many of us, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." (Proverbs 27:1) The Lord's brother James devotes five verses to this subject in James 4:13-17 where he discusses the foolishness of making plans without the Lord's input. Neither Solomon nor James is telling us not to be responsible and plan ahead, but they are warning us that we can't count on tomorrow to be like today. This is why we should seek the Lord's will in all of our plans, since only He knows the future. James considers it prideful to boast about all the big things we will do tomorrow, and I suspect Solomon feels the same since our next verse deals with pride.
"Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips." (Proverbs 27:2) He says, "Nobody likes a braggart! Don't go around pridefully boasting about your talents and accomplishments. If you do, people will start avoiding you. It's so much better to have someone else praise you! It's a true compliment when it comes from someone else's lips and not your own."
"Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool's provocation is heavier than both." (Proverbs 27:3) The king discloses his feelings about this, "I'd rather carry large stones or lift sand bags all day than to listen to the babbling of a spiritually and morally corrupt person. Twelve hours of hard manual labor would be preferable to sitting at ease while enduring foolish chatter."
"Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" (Proverbs 27:4) I would venture to guess that more people have been murdered during a fit of jealousy than during an episode of regular anger. Everyone has been infuriated by something or someone. There is even a type of anger known as righteous anger, which is anger at injustice perpetrated against ourselves or against another innocent person or creature. But jealousy burns white hot. Jealousy wipes away reasoning and leads to crimes of passion. It's a vicious emotion that robs us of intelligent reasoning and reduces us to our most primitive instincts. Jealousy says, "This is mine! No one else can have it! I will kill anyone who stands in my way!"
"Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." (Proverbs 27:5-6) True friends will be honest with us. They will feel concerned when they see us going down the wrong path and they will express their concern to us. Their love for us won't allow them to turn a blind eye to the mistakes we're making. But an enemy won't care about the direction our life is going. An enemy will flatter us and say, "You're fine! There's nothing wrong with how you're living your life and it's nobody's business anyway. You don't owe anyone an explanation. Do what you want! You have the right to live however you please."
The Lord condemned this cavalier attitude in the prophets and priests of Jeremiah's time who refused to tell people the truth. The priests and prophets themselves had gone astray and were unable to be spiritual examples to the nation. "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of My people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:13-14) Not telling our friend the truth is like trying to put a small band-aid on a deep hemorrhaging wound. It's like saying, "There, there! Everything is okay now! You don't need to repent. You don't need to turn around and go back in the right direction. Run along now and don't worry about anything."
In the book of Ezekiel we find the Lord condemning the false prophets and vowing to wipe their names off the roll of the children of Israel, "Because they lead My people astray, saying, 'Peace', when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall." (Ezekiel 13:10-11a) The Lord is warning the false prophets, saying something like, "You are deceivers, like workmen who cover the cracks in a weak wall with plaster. You should be faithfully delivering My word to My people so they can be healed, but instead you are merely sweeping sins under the rug. You bear some of the responsibility for My people's sins because it's your job to provide godly spiritual counseling. They looked to you for guidance onto the right path and you led them straight off a cliff. You will not go unpunished for your part in My people's downfall."
It's hard to go to a friend and tell him or her we're worried about the direction their life is going, but God's word points out that we have a responsibility to do so. And I would hope my own friends would do the same for me. If a loving and godly friend whose character and opinion we admire comes to us privately and expresses concern, we should take it to heart. It will hurt to have them point out our sins, but this is why Solomon refers to this situation as a wounding, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted." It will wound us but it will also heal us if it turns our life around. After all, the Lord Himself, that friend who sticks closer than a brother, sometimes has to wound us to heal us, "For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." (Job 5:18) It is said that shepherds in ancient Israel would break the leg of a wayward lamb that keeps wandering from the flock. This wound necessitate that the shepherd must carry the lamb until the leg heals. The shepherd must hand feed the lamb and carry water for it to drink. By the time the leg heals, the lamb is so in love with the shepherd that it never occurs to him to ever again leave the shepherd's side. This is why the author of Psalm 119 thanks the Lord for wounding him, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word." (Psalm 119:67) On several occasions the Lord has had to wound me in order to heal me. He's had to afflict me so that I would fall so in love with my Shepherd that I would never dream of leaving His side. Jesus is our friend, and the wounds of a friend can be trusted.
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