Pro 15:23 | KingComments | STEP | There is an answer here without reading about a question. The question at issue here and to which the answer comes could be about anything. It can be a verbal question, the request for an opinion, but also a situation with which someone is embarrassed. The second line of verse makes it clear that it is not about a direct and formally correct answer. It is about an answer that does address the content of the question, but that is also given timely, at the right time, not sooner and not later. Therefore, the joy such an answer brings is not so much the result of its correctness, but of its right timing. We speak wise when we speak at the right time, when there is a need for what we say at that time. “For a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure” ( ). Saying the right things at the right time gives deep satisfaction; it requires knowledge and wisdom and self-denial. Saying the right thing, but at the wrong time, is counterproductive, that is, it leads to the opposite of what is sought. If Paul had told the jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus before throwing him in jail, Paul would have been right, but would have had no result. It was not the time for the right word then. That time came when the jailer was about to kill himself ( ). We can learn this way of speaking only from the Lord Jesus ( ).

‏ Proverbs 15:23

How Delightful Is a Timely Word

There is an answer here without reading about a question. The question at issue here and to which the answer comes could be about anything. It can be a verbal question, the request for an opinion, but also a situation with which someone is embarrassed. The second line of verse makes it clear that it is not about a direct and formally correct answer. It is about an answer that does address the content of the question, but that is also given timely, at the right time, not sooner and not later.

Therefore, the joy such an answer brings is not so much the result of its correctness, but of its right timing. We speak wise when we speak at the right time, when there is a need for what we say at that time. “For a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure” (Ecc 8:5b). Saying the right things at the right time gives deep satisfaction; it requires knowledge and wisdom and self-denial. Saying the right thing, but at the wrong time, is counterproductive, that is, it leads to the opposite of what is sought.

If Paul had told the jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus before throwing him in jail, Paul would have been right, but would have had no result. It was not the time for the right word then. That time came when the jailer was about to kill himself (Acts 16:27-32). We can learn this way of speaking only from the Lord Jesus (Isa 50:4).