Proverbs 10:8-10, Taking and Giving Advice

April 23, Proverbs 10:8-10

1 Tim. 5:24-25; 1 John 3:18-22 “They shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all” (2 Tim. 3:9)

Taking and Giving Advice

The wise person takes advice, for wisdom is found in the heart of the teachable (Ps. 119:33-35).

1. The Helpful Receiver: The wise in heart will receive commandments (v.8). He receives God’s Law (Acts 10:33), he respects it (Heb. 11:8), and then he reflects it (v.9; Mt. 5:14,16). A Wise man is a receiver. To take or receive is the most frequent meaning of the Hebrew word. The word doctrine is also from this root. He is a helpful receiver of divine doctrines. What I know not teach thou me, is his attitude. By his obedient reception of the Law, he shows his respect for it, and in his daily walk with God, the world sees a clear reflection of it. Uprightly means with completeness, with integrity. He gives God’s word its fullest measure. Thus, he is not only called a wise man, but also a secure and safe one in the midst of life’s uncertainties. This is the “honour and happiness of the obedient.” Yes, the Upright way is the surest way to succeed, even among godless men. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace (Ps. 37:37).

2. A Harmful Trumpeter: A prating fool shall fall (vs.8, 10). That is a happy rendering of the text, a fool of lips (Perowne). He is a dangerous person, to be sure. Prating fools are lip fools, “full of talk, but full of nonsense, and of all the fools, none is more troublesome” (Henry). Foam lies on the surface of the water, but the pearl is in the depths below. So this trumpeter is ever foaming-out his trivialities. He loves the sound of his own voice. “The smaller and lighter the thoughts the bigger and more plentiful the words” (Thomas). His fate, however, is to fall. This harmful trumpeter falls and fails amid his own foaming folly. The word fall is rare. It means virtually to thrust down. The KJV margin gives be beaten, while the margin in Hos. 4:14 reads be punished. The hurtful talker falls by his sin. He fails to receive God’s Law. He foams at the mouth and comprehends nothing. He is harmful as well as hurtful, but his ways shall be known. In time, however, he is exposed for what he is, a windbag, and a sham.

3. A Hateful Deceiver: He that winketh with his eye causes sorrow (v.10). He who winks (Pr. 6:13-14) is a type of imposter, a deceitful mischief-maker. He uses signs and tricks to carry out his evil designs. A small gesture from him can do great harm. He practices subtle trickery. Thus he is different from the prater who makes noisy trouble with his mouth. This deceiver, with a wink or look or nod, causes deep and lasting distress. His eye becomes an instrument of conscious sin. He sows his seeds of discord. With his eye he causes sorrows for his victims. By hints or innuendoes he snaps the bonds of many a friendship. “The scorner, the plotter of mischief, and the prating fool, shall be involved in equal misery” (Lawson), but the helpful receiver will be blessed.

Thought: “To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.”

Prayer: Help me to keep honest and open in all my dealings.