The Ways of the Fool

Proverbs 18:4-8

When you go to the doctor for your check-up he or she always looks at your tongue because it is an indicator of your physical health. God says that you should listen to what flows from your tongue because it is an indicator of your spiritual health. Unfortunately, apart from salvation in Jesus, who redeems the total person, the tongue runs wild and spews all sorts of poison and venom. James 3:8 says, “No one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Proverbs repeatedly speaks to the importance and power of the tongue, and it does so again in 18:4-8. Here the focus is specifically on the words that come bubbling out of the mouth of the fool.

This verse contrasts the words of the fool with the words of the wise. The idea is that the words of a wise man are a continuous supply of blessing and nourishing counsel (Ross, “Proverbs,” 1023). Deep waters are cool, pure, and refreshing. They bless and do not curse. They build up; they do not tear down. They are like a beautiful “flowing river” or a “fountain of wisdom.” A contrast is implied: a fool’s words are stale, possibly bitter, potentially poisonous. They cater to the wicked (v. 5), stir up strife (v. 6), ruin lives (v. 7), and find a home with those who gossip (v. 8). There is no delight to be seen in the fool’s words.

Verse 5 places us in the context of the courtroom. The fool shows “partiality to the guilty by perverting the justice due the innocent.” He takes the side of the wicked (through his testimony?) against the righteous. Perhaps he thinks the evil person can help him out and further his agenda while the innocent person cannot. His actions and words turn truth upside down and betray the innocent. We cannot help but immediately think of Jesus and the false witnesses who sided with the wicked and powerful Sanhedrin against the innocent and sinless Son of God (Mark 14:55-59). The fool forgets or ignores the wisdom of Proverbs 19:5: “A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.”

“The 10 Commandments of Human Relations” are attributed to Robert G. Lee, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, 1927–60:

As you might expect, a fool values none of this wise counsel. Actually a fool, as verse 6 teaches, is really good at talking himself into trouble. “A fool’s lips lead to strife, and his mouth provokes a beating.” The ESV says, “A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating.” The Message paraphrases it quite colorfully: “The words of a fool start fights; do him a favor and gag him” (cf. 19:29). A fool’s words push people over the edge, and he is the one who pays the price with a tail-whipping!

Verse 7 repeats the idea of verse 6, but it advances the argument. The fool receives a beating in verse 6, but he is destroyed in Verse 7 (Waltke, Proverbs, Chapters 1–15, 73). Solomon tells us, “A fool’s mouth is his devastation [ESV, “ruin”; NIV, “undoing”], and his lips are a trap for his life.” Words are powerful weapons, and sometimes we use them to our own ruin and destruction. The picture is of a man who lays a deadly trap and he does so for himself! And he does this with his own lips, his own words. The fool is the man who cannot keep his mouth shut even though his words will ruin him; they will wreck his life. There is a self-destructive nature to the words of a fool as he reaps what he has sown (Gal 6:6-7). Proverbs 10:14 reinforces the truth of his verse: “The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.” Proverbs 12:13 adds, “By rebellious speech an evil person is trapped, but a righteous person escapes from trouble.”

A wise man will never forget that a lifetime of building a good reputation can come crashing down and be destroyed with one careless word. He will also remember a very simple axiom: if I don’t say it, I won’t have to apologize for it. There are far more regrets in life for what we did say (tweet, post on Facebook) than there are for what we did not say. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 12:36-37,

I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22 are identical. They address the wicked and destructive sin of gossip. People love to gossip. It is virtually a universal human addiction. We just cannot get enough. Like a man strung out on heroin or crack cocaine, we just have to have more. Solomon helps us understand why this sin—and it is sin—is so powerful. He tells us that gossip is like “choice food [ESV, “delicious morsels”] that goes down to one’s innermost being.” The GNT says, “Gossip is so tasty—how we love to swallow it!” Going into the innermost being, the words become a part of who we are. And they always “stimulate the desire for more” (Ross, “Proverbs,” 1025). Waltke says they are “a delectable contagion and so more dangerous” (Waltke, Proverbs, Chapters 1–15, 73). Proverbs 16:28 says, “A contrary person spreads conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” Proverbs 26:20 adds, “Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.” Ray Ortlund summarizes the matter of gossip well:

Let’s all admit it. We love gossip. We love negative information about other people. We love controversy. We find it delicious. It is a delicacy—to our corrupt hearts. We gulp these words down with relish. But the contagion goes down into us and makes a deep impression and leaves us even sicker than we were before. Truly, God is not mocked.

He then goes on to raise some very good questions and, in the process, he puts every one of us on the spot! Ortlund asks,

Do you speak up when others are put down? Or do you just stand there and listen in sinful silence as the blast of gossip and slander hits you in the face? God says, “Open your mouth.” With every unkind word that goes unconfronted a reputation dies. So much is at stake in our words. They matter not just to us but even more, far more, to God. We are always speaking before the face of God. (Proverbs, 134)

Proverbs 18:9

Verse 9 concludes this section with a quick and simple word about our work ethic. Walt Disney said success is “doing something so well that people will pay to see you do it again.” President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing” (“Address to the New York State Agricultural Association”). Unfortunately the Proverbs fool is completely out of touch with these kinds of perspectives. Shoddy workmanship and a poor work ethic is no problem for the fool. He has no problem being a slacker.

A fool is lazy in doing his job, or “slack in his work” (ESV). He is content to do just enough to get by. A poor job performance review is of no concern as long as he keeps his job. He is not known as a hard worker and he does not care. He is not known as an honest worker and he does not care. He is not known as the guy who gives 110 percent and he does not care. He is not known as the guy who will go the extra mile and he does not care. Colossians 3:23-24 calls the devoted follower of King Jesus to a different and higher mindset when it comes to our work. There Paul writes,

Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.

The fool is a slacker and “is brother to a vandal.” Laziness and slothfulness are destructive. Laziness and destruction are twins, two peas in a pod, bedfellows. They are related to one another, similar in nature. Ross says, “The one who is slack may look for shortcuts, and may make things that fall apart. His destruction may be indirect and slow in coming, but it is just as problematic” (“Proverbs,” 1025). Do you cut corners at work? Then you are a fool. Do you take shortcuts to save time and energy? Then you are a fool. You are selling yourself short, neglecting the gifts and abilities God has given you, cheating others, and potentially putting people at great risk. So I don’t tighten the bolt on the car wheel. What’s the big deal?! When you realize that you are always working for a King who knows your name and sees everything that you do, it will make a difference in how hard you work and in the quality of your work. He gave his best for you. Does he not deserve the same from you?

Jesus Christ is the quintessential Proverbs man, the embodiment of the Wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:30). He is also the antithesis of the fool in 18:1-9. The fool lacks wisdom, but Jesus is full of grace and truth ( John 1:14). Jesus was not isolated but surrounded himself with friends and companions with whom he shared life. He was not opinionated but spoke words of truth, healing, and grace. As John 7:46 says, “No man ever spoke like this!” It must be admitted that he was humiliated, but his humiliation was for the benefit of others as “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). He was dishonored and disgraced so that we would not have to be. And slack in his work? Not a chance. Not a hint. John 4:34 nails it: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Praise God, Jesus did finish the work the Father gave him and declared it to be so in John 19:30 when he said, “It is finished.” The Wisdom of God, the Lord Jesus, makes it possible for us to walk in wisdom and to not play the fool. His invitation is to all. How you will respond is up to you.