Sluggishness is not the only fault to be shunned. There may be activity to dread of a still more mischievous sort; and it is graphically set out in the next verses. We have to beware of being meddlesome, or in sympathy with such ways.
“He that passingly vexes himself with strife not [belonging] to him is one that taketh a dog by the ears.
As a madman who casteth fire-brands, arrows and death;
So the man [that] deceiveth his neighbor and saith, Am not I in sport?
Where no wood is, the fire goeth out, and where no whisperer, the strife ceaseth.
[As] coals to hot embers, and wood to fire, so a contentious man to kindle strife.
A whisperer's words [are] as dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (vers. 17-22.).
The N.T. reveals Christ for the lost soul's salvation by faith, for the heavenly privileges of the Christian, and for the communion with God and His Son that we are called to, as well as the walk on earth befitting those who are so blessed. But there is the utmost care to urge vigilance against busybodiness; that working quietly we may eat our own bread, and be diligent too so as to help others also. But to trouble ourselves with other people's quarrels where no duty of ours lies is like taking a dog by the ears, which either threatens a bite when he is loosed, or keeps us indefinitely to avoid it. And who is to blame?
Such uncalled for activity grows, the more it is indulged in, and is likely to end in playing the madman casting combustibles and causes of wound and even death; while he deceives his neighbor by the pretense that he meant no more than jest.
But there is a very insidious form of the evil and if possible more mischievous still, where the harm is done slyly by evilly affecting others. What worse than the whisperer or tale-bearer, here compared to the wood that acts as fuel to the fire? So we are told, where no wood is, the fire goes out, and where is no whisperer, strife ceaseth.
On the other hand, coals to hot embers, and wood to fire, is a contentious man to inflame strife. How often have we not known it to our pain! Happy is he who hates it so as to shun its beginning by dwelling in love!
For such is the flesh even in believers, as to make the whisperer's insinuations too easy and welcome; and once received, instead of being rejected, they go down and take possession of our souls to the innermost. It is a grievous danger when the guard sleeps at wisdom's gate; and our very simplicity exposes us to be misled cruelly.