Pro 27:10 | KingComments | STEP | “Oil and perfume” are pleasing to the body ( ). If someone has used them for his body so that he looks beautiful and smells good, it has a rejoicing effect on the heart. Beauty aids do something to a person. A similar beneficial effect has “a man’s counsel“ that someone gives his friend because of the affection he has for him. The “soul’s counsel”, as it also can be translated, that is the heartfelt counsel of a friend is pleasant if it is a friend who puts God first and enjoys the same fellowship with the Savior that you yourself enjoy. We see a wonderful example in the counsel Jonathan gave his friend David ( ). The Lord Jesus always gives heartfelt advice. In doing so, He gladdens the hearts of those whom He calls His friends. One of His Names is “Counselor” ( ). Connected to , in Solomon speaks of the value of a friend, specifically the value of a “family friend”. Solomon himself maintained a friendship with Hiram who was already his father David’s friend ( ). It is a friend who has proven his trustworthiness for a generation. He warns his son not to forsake that friend, not to abandon him, but to cherish that friendship as something special. A family friend is always close, both in literal and spiritual distance. He knows the family. If one day the son has an accident and needs help, he does not have to go to a brother who lives far away or with whom there is no spiritual contact, but can ask the family friend for help. He lives nearby and has known the son since childhood. True friendship does not change. A true friend is a neighbor to whom you can always turn. For true friends there is no barrier due to a generational difference. This is especially true of the Lord Jesus Who in all generations is the reliable Friend of everyone who knows Him.

‏ Proverbs 27:10

The Affection and Help of a Friend

“Oil and perfume” are pleasing to the body (Pro 27:9). If someone has used them for his body so that he looks beautiful and smells good, it has a rejoicing effect on the heart. Beauty aids do something to a person. A similar beneficial effect has “a man’s counsel“ that someone gives his friend because of the affection he has for him.

The “soul’s counsel”, as it also can be translated, that is the heartfelt counsel of a friend is pleasant if it is a friend who puts God first and enjoys the same fellowship with the Savior that you yourself enjoy. We see a wonderful example in the counsel Jonathan gave his friend David (1Sam 20:9-23). The Lord Jesus always gives heartfelt advice. In doing so, He gladdens the hearts of those whom He calls His friends. One of His Names is “Counselor” (Isa 9:5).

Connected to Pro 27:9, in Pro 27:10 Solomon speaks of the value of a friend, specifically the value of a “family friend”. Solomon himself maintained a friendship with Hiram who was already his father David’s friend (1Kgs 5:1-10). It is a friend who has proven his trustworthiness for a generation. He warns his son not to forsake that friend, not to abandon him, but to cherish that friendship as something special.

A family friend is always close, both in literal and spiritual distance. He knows the family. If one day the son has an accident and needs help, he does not have to go to a brother who lives far away or with whom there is no spiritual contact, but can ask the family friend for help. He lives nearby and has known the son since childhood.

True friendship does not change. A true friend is a neighbor to whom you can always turn. For true friends there is no barrier due to a generational difference. This is especially true of the Lord Jesus Who in all generations is the reliable Friend of everyone who knows Him.