FOLLY, wisdom, and righteousness, are here compared in their effects on the heart and life of man.
“He that begetteth a fool [doeth it] to his sorrow; and the father of a fool hath no joy.
A joyful heart causeth good healing; but a broken spirit drieth up the bones.
A wicked [person] taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
Wisdom [is] before the face of him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool [are] in the ends of the earth.
A foolish son [is] a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bore him.
Also to punish the righteous [is] not good; [nor] to strike nobles for uprightness.
He that hath knowledge spareth his words; a man of understanding [is] of a cool spirit.
Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is reckoned wise, he that shutteth his lips is prudent” (vers. 21-28).
The inspired writer had seen, without looking far afield or minutely, the humbling truth of which ver. 21 reminds us. It received a manifest verification among his own brethren, especially those two who wrought sin and folly in Israel and came to an end no less violent than disgraceful to themselves and full of anguish to his father and theirs. He was spared the witness of its repetition in his own son and successor, whose folly rent the kingdom, never to be re-united till He comes to reign, who is the repairer of breaches, the bearer of sins upon the tree, whose name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Father of eternity, Prince of peace. For increase of the government and peace shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and uphold it with judgment and with righteousness henceforth and forever. The zeal of Jehovah will perform this.
It is His purpose to glorify the Christ who at all cost glorified Him to His own shame and suffering but moral glory; and this on earth and especially the land where He was put to the death of the cross. It was God's wisdom in Christ, the blessed contrast of sin-stricken man, even in the highest place, who has so often to endure the pain of a fool begotten to his sorrow. But if here the responsibility is traced, and the father knew the reverse of the joy that a man was born into the world, because of his foolish son, the rejected Christ to his faith turns the temporary sorrow into a joy that never ends, though this was not the place or season to speak of it.
On the other hand a joyful (not a vain or thoughtless) heart is an excellent medicine in this world of aches and bruises; as surely as a spirit shattered by affliction and charged with grief and fear dries up the bones, making one a skeleton rather than a human being (22). Man lives not by bread alone, still less bitter herbs, but by God's word that reveals His grace in Christ.
A gift to pervert the ways of judgment blinds the eyes, and betrays as a wicked man him who takes it, no less than him that gives it (23) To take it “out of the bosom” ought to be a signal of danger. No other eye of man sees; but God who abhors the wrong is not mocked.
The wisdom here spoken of is (24) that of a single eye, and is before the face of him that has understanding; for he has God in his thoughts, not persons or things to govern him, but all subjected to divine light. On the contrary, the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth and liable to fluctuation under every breeze of influence. How blessed those to whom Christ is made to us wisdom from God, not the least of Christian privileges for present need, saving, and joy.
Again in ver. 25 is “a foolish son” brought before us; but here it is not only a grief to the father, but a bitterness to her who bore him; the father's authority thwarted and despised, the mother's affection tried and abused. How little such a son feels their anguish!
The next maxim bears on more public matters, and supposes a totally different fault, to which “also” appears to be the link of transition. Those who bear the character of just men must incur obloquy, and should be esteemed. To punish such in any respect is not good, to smite the noble for uprightness exhibits an unworthy spirit; it is a man forsaking his own mercy, and base enough to lower what is above himself. Men, not some only but as a class, are senseless, as we read in 1 Peter 2:15. Sin breeds independence, which chafes and blames, rails and rebels, against excellence, and authority, formal or moral.
The chapter closes with two verses which show the value of that silence which is said to be golden, and even of that which is but leaden, not positive but merely negative or seeming. He that has knowledge spares his words, aware of what is far better; the man of understanding is of a cool spirit, knowing the mischief of inconsiderateness and impetuosity. And this is so true, that even a fool, when by his experience of many a buffet he profits to hold his tongue, gains credit for wisdom he does not deserve; as he that shuts his lips habitually is counted prudent. The day is not yet come for the earth when a king, the King, shall reign in righteousness, and princes rule in judgment. Then a man, for indeed there is but One on whose shoulder the weight of such government rests, shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Then the fool shall no more be called noble, nor the crafty said to be bountiful. But the day is at hand, dark as its dawn must be and terrible for the ungodly, Jews, Gentiles, and above all those that now name the Lord's name in vain.