Proverbs 10:8 Commentary and Bible Study

Wisdom is not ashamed to be under authority and under instruction, for it makes a sober evaluation of itself and does not think of itself more highly than it ought. It does not say, ‘Why should anyone tell me what to do?’ Notice that we now have the word heart used, as opposed to the word head which was used previously. Before it was to do with outlook and thoughts, now it is to do with a deeper sense within us. The proper situation for a believer is that we should have a very deep inner sense of duty and a very deep sense of conscience about all the commandments of the Lord. This is not just how you think in your mind, this is in you. You might be able to justify some sin, explain away what you are about to do – perhaps, to break the standards of the Lord's Day – but deep within you there is a sense of duty, a deep sense of conscience. What a safeguard! God will give it to us but how easy it is to erode it away by justifying our little sins, explaining away our departures from the standard, finding some reason to believe that in this case or in that case it is all right. If you live like that, then eventually you completely erode away that deep inner sense of duty and conscience. This is what God gives us by grace and we should cultivate it. Every command should go deeply to the core of us and we should be people of intense conscientiousness before God.What is a prating fool? This is not 'a chattering fool' or 'a babbling fool' as some versions render it. The word literally is a 'mouthing fool' or a 'lipping fool' and as you go through Proverbs, the prating person is often a very intelligent person, often saying very sensible things. Then, what makes him a prating fool? What is meant is not just somebody who chatters and chatters or who talks absolute nonsense. It is somebody who may be very intelligent in his talk and very plausible, but it is all words. He never acts on his words.