He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge (Proverbs 18:13-15.) He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. This relates closely to v. 2, A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself because what the fool does to discover his or her own heart is interrupt others. The fool is notorious for not actually listening to people--too much risk of being contradicted or, worse, hearing something that proves the fool is D-E-D dead wrong. I know this because I have done this much too often. The fools difficulty is one of faith: listening quietly to the other person, remembering what the other person will say, trusting one will then be able to speak--later. However, doing this, when one speaks, one speaks to what the other actually said, what the other actually thinks, which makes ones own words more likely to be heard and remembered. This is what the fool really wants, but by lacking faith in other people, lacks the method of getting that level of attention from other people. Like all fools, this fool is stuck with the mere illusion of having what he or she wants, but theres no reality behind it (like a rainbow that is a pretty accident of light refraction but which never actually touches the ground.) There is definite shame in believing such an illusion is reality. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? The tragedy here is how many people get a wounded spirit by hearing something that contradicts them. Part of the reason the fool doesnt listen would be that when the fool listened, the fool heard some unpleasant things. Who can bear hearing this? Indeed, Jesus own disciples told Him, Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (John 6:60.) Even as Jesus explained these words (v. 63), all but the twelve walked away from him instead of with Him. How much worse is it when the spirit of a human being is really wounded; its one thing to have a physical wound or disability, but what heals the sprit? Only God thru His Holy Spirit. Thus, Paul, when he realized what he had been doing, And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink (Acts 9:9.) The horror in his spirit at the condemnation he realizes he had ben earning has him afraid to take one more step, afraid to even drink water to prolong his life that he realizes he had wasted on defying the God he thought he was serving. Only the encouraging word of a disciple of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit could get him to stand up and eat again. The connection between v. 13 and v. 14 is that the fool does not begin to be wise until the fool is wounded in the spirit. Only then will the fool think to go to God exactly when the fool realizes that only God can heal this pain. Too many fools carry that pain with them into death, thinking death will somehow be an improvement (as if death is ever an improvement over life.) But some few who have lived the fool and feel the pain of friendlessness have called to God and God answers. Heh, Saul of Tarsus didnt even think to ask God about this--God had to throw him off his horse and blind him to get his attention. I dont read that he ever complained about that. Conversely, The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. The heart of the prudent LISTENS and gets knowledge. The ear of the wise LISTENS and by listening, seeks knowledge. Ive no idea the number of students Ive had in a classroom who were there only for v. 2 and v. 13 and were deeply offended when the teacher told them to stop saying anything (because what they were saying was oh-so-important and had to be said right now.) This is half the reason we have failing students: the parents dont send them to listen and learn (because the parents themselves dont listen.) So the student goes to school to find someone--anyone--who will listen . . . even if its only pretend to listen. They arent there for knowledge nor for wisdom because they have a stronger lust: for attention. And these lil kiddies will be paying our social security. Let us not be like them: let us listen to others who speak, hear and remember what they say, and respond to that, not to whats in our own heads.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 18:44:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015