Lips of the Wise Versus the Rod of Pride

2016-01-17

In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. (Proverbs 14:3)

In a classic usage of Hebrew parallelism, we see the comparison of the words of the foolish and the words of the wise. What the foolish wants to do, the wise actually accomplishes. Let us look at this together.

The Foolish Man’s Agenda

The foolish man’s mouth, according to this verse, is a vehicle for his pride. He wants to promote himself. He has no interest in serving God, loving people, or anything else. He wants to feel good about himself, and will do anything to achieve this at other people’s expense.

The Rod of Pride

In the Bible, the rod is associated with discipline. The foolish man, as we see here, is actually trying to put someone else down to exalt himself. This is how pride works. You want to be the best, most worshipped god there is, and you will beat down anyone into submission to yourself. This is the ugliness of pride.

The Wise Man

On the contrary, the wise man does not promote himself and hurt other people to advance his agenda. A wise man is one whose heart belongs to God, and seeks to serve Him. If we seek God first, the words we use will be His Words, with His love, kindness, gentleness, and truth.

Ironically, the wise man is the one who actually preserves himself, which is exactly what the foolish man was trying to do.