Proverbs 27:1-22
1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
3 A stone is heavy,a and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
4 Wrathb is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
5 Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.c
7 The full soul loathethd an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.
10 Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
13 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
16 Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
19 As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
20 Hell and destruction are nevere full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21 As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
22 Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
“Hearty Counsel”
The keyword in this paragraph is friends, Proverbs 27:6; Proverbs 27:9-10; Proverbs 27:14; Proverbs 27:17; Proverbs 19:1-29.
Friends, according to the original sense of the Hebrew word, are those who delight in each other's companionship. Either they are useful to each other because the one possesses gifts that the other lacks, or they have certain tastes in common.
It is in friendship that we get to know ourselves, as a man sees his face in the mirror of calm water, Proverbs 27:19. We unfold to each other; our friend elicits traits of which we were hardly aware. Our sympathy and tenderness are drawn forth by our friend's troubles, as our laughter flashes out to awaken or to answer his high spirits.
We shudder to think what cold and undeveloped beings we should be without the sharpening of friendship, Proverbs 27:17. How sweet human friendships are! Proverbs 27:9. Why not find equal confidence and sweetness in the greatest Friend of all? Of course, there is a friendship “which is wholly hypocritical and worthless.
” Such a friendship is marked by loud and ostentatious demonstration. See Proverbs 27:14. Ponder Christ's offer, John 15:14-15.