Pro 26:9 | KingComments | STEP | “One who binds a stone in a sling” ( ) shows that he has no understanding of a sling. A stone should not be bound in a sling, but laid loose in it. If the stone is bound in a sling, you can spin the sling all you want, but the stone will not fly out. When it comes down to it, it can be life-threatening because the defensive weapon does not work by misuse. David would have been killed by Goliath if he had bound his stone in his sling. Because he had put the stone loose in the sling, he killed Goliath with it. So someone “who gives honor to a fool” has no understanding of a fool. A fool cannot handle responsibility. He does not know what he is doing. He who gives a fool a position of responsibility will suffer the consequences to his own detriment. A drunkard is unable to think soberly ( ). Nor can he go a steady course. He utters gibberish and staggers down the street. In his drunken state, he randomly grabs a thorn bush, causing the thorn to penetrate his hand. Because he is drunk, he does not notice it. The thorn is a symbol of sin; after the Fall, thorns came ( ). The hand is a symbol of working, of doing something. Thus, sin clings to everything he does, even though he doesn’t notice it. This picture applies to fools who take “a proverb” in his “mouth”. As a drunkard is without feeling for the thorn in his hand, so are fools without understanding for the proverb they take into their mouth. They are darkened in their understanding, but they think they can say wise words. A fool can read or speak a proverb, but is mentally and spiritually incapable of understanding it. He will misuse and misapply it. People who do not have a living relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus can quote sayings from God’s Word, but sin clings to what they say. This is especially true of liberal theologians who read texts from God’s Word and then add their own sinful explanation to them.

‏ Proverbs 26:9

Dangerous and Painful

“One who binds a stone in a sling” (Pro 26:8) shows that he has no understanding of a sling. A stone should not be bound in a sling, but laid loose in it. If the stone is bound in a sling, you can spin the sling all you want, but the stone will not fly out. When it comes down to it, it can be life-threatening because the defensive weapon does not work by misuse. David would have been killed by Goliath if he had bound his stone in his sling. Because he had put the stone loose in the sling, he killed Goliath with it.

So someone “who gives honor to a fool” has no understanding of a fool. A fool cannot handle responsibility. He does not know what he is doing. He who gives a fool a position of responsibility will suffer the consequences to his own detriment.

A drunkard is unable to think soberly (Pro 26:9). Nor can he go a steady course. He utters gibberish and staggers down the street. In his drunken state, he randomly grabs a thorn bush, causing the thorn to penetrate his hand. Because he is drunk, he does not notice it. The thorn is a symbol of sin; after the Fall, thorns came (Gen 3:18). The hand is a symbol of working, of doing something. Thus, sin clings to everything he does, even though he doesn’t notice it.

This picture applies to fools who take “a proverb” in his “mouth”. As a drunkard is without feeling for the thorn in his hand, so are fools without understanding for the proverb they take into their mouth. They are darkened in their understanding, but they think they can say wise words. A fool can read or speak a proverb, but is mentally and spiritually incapable of understanding it. He will misuse and misapply it.

People who do not have a living relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus can quote sayings from God’s Word, but sin clings to what they say. This is especially true of liberal theologians who read texts from God’s Word and then add their own sinful explanation to them.