Today the king discusses several matters. He tells us how to avoid personal danger, how to protect our finances, how to be a good neighbor, how to choose a good spouse, how to choose our friends, and how we should be living if we claim to belong to the Lord.
"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty." (Proverbs 27:12) Solomon has made similar statements before. The wise will be led by the Lord and will avoid the path that leads to danger, but those lacking in spiritual discernment are like those who ignore a sign that says "bridge out" and end up walking straight into the ocean. This is why Solomon told us in Chapter 3 to, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
The king has warned us before about not pledging security for others, or in modern terms: we must be careful whose loan we co-sign. Today he talks about what we, as someone's creditor, should do if a person pledges to be security for another. "Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider." (Proverbs 27:13) He tells us to demand some type of collateral from the person pledging to pay the debt. Since he's told us previously in the book of Proverbs that it's foolish to put up security for someone we don't know very well, he's concerned that the person who co-signed lacks good sense and will also default. At least if we have some collateral we won't walk away with nothing.
This next verse is considered by many commentators to be about hypocrisy, "If anyone blesses their neighbor loudly in the morning, it will be taken as a curse." (Proverbs 27:14) The fact that the person doing the blessing is doing it "loudly" leads us to the conclusion that he wants to be heard by the whole neighborhood. This is probably because he intends to ask a favor of the neighbor he's blessing. He's gotten up early for the purpose of buttering up the neighbor in preparation of making his request. He's praising his neighbor loudly for being good and generous, which will make it harder for the neighbor to say no to his request without feeling ashamed. This is why the loud blessing is considered a curse by the neighbor who is being blessed; he knows something is up.
Solomon has made previous observations about the woes of living with a quarrelsome spouse, and he revisits the topic today, "A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand." (Proverbs 27:15-16) He counsels his son and his son's young companions, "Don't marry a woman with a bad attitude. You won't be happy with a person who is angry all the time. Listening to her fuss all day will be as bad as listening to a dripping from the roof. It will be monotonous. It will make you feel like you're going to go crazy. You won't be able to stop her anymore than you could capture the wind." Since Solomon is speaking to a male audience, naturally he uses quarrelsome wives as an example, but his words could apply equally to quarrelsome husbands. We need to carefully investigate the character of the person we are considering marrying, and most of all we need to prayerfully seek the Lord's will in our choice of spouse.
This next verse has application in marriage, in friendships, and in business partnerships. As Christians, our closest alliances should be with people who are on the same spiritual level. "As iron sharpens iron, so one sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17) You can't sharpen iron with a material that's softer than iron. This will only dull the iron and cause the other material to crumble. The same holds true for marriages, business partnerships, and close friendships. If we are not made of the same spiritual material we can't keep each other sharp. The person who is more godly may become dull and discouraged by the faithlessness of the other person. The one who is not as godly might feel guilty and undervalued, causing them to want to avoid the other person. This is why the Apostle Paul sternly warned us not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers". (2 Corinthians 6:14) To be yoked together is to be in a close partnership, and just as it's important for both animals in a yoke to be equally matched, it's important for both people in a partnership to be equally matched. Two oxen in a yoke can't pull together very well if one is weak and the other is strong; neither can a husband and wife pull together very well if one is weak in the faith and the other is strong in the faith.
"The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored." (Proverbs 27:18) We are to be diligent in our work. We will have plenty if we are industrious and responsible in our duties.
The king concludes today's study with this observation, "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart." (Proverbs 27:19) We can't always tell a person's character by what they say, because words are cheap. But we can tell the condition of their heart by how they live. The Lord Jesus said something similar, "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit." (Matthew 7:16-17) The Lord makes this statement in the same chapter where He warns us about judging others. This is not contradictory, for two separate ideas are expressed in Matthew 7. The word "judge" in the original language has to do with maintaining a condemnatory attitude, like that of an earthly judge who has found a person guilty and passes sentence on him. If our fellow man is doing wrong, we aren't to write him off and condemn him to his fate. We're to try and lead him to the truth. The "fruit" inspection has more to do with those who claim to be godly but whose actions don't offer any proof of godliness. When the Lord tells us not to judge, He's not telling us to be ignorant and incapable of recognizing wrong from right. We can't know the word of God and not be able to tell wrong from right. He's simply saying we will know who His followers are by how they live. Solomon is saying the same thing. Our actions reveal the condition of our heart. This should lead us to examine our own lives, to look into a spiritual mirror and see whether our lives reflect who we claim to be in Christ. If our words and deeds aren't matching up, we need to get with the Lord and make some things right with Him.
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