Proverbs 18:7 Commentary and Bible Study

With such elegant language Solomon describes the fool. How can anyone be so foolish as to let his own bodily members work such evil towards him that they become his own slayer? Are they not the members of his own body, and do not all the members of the body serve the body? Certainly, this is the rule and any deviation from it is both remarkable and unnatural, and yet the fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. How can this be? This destruction comes about because the fool does not take account of the warnings of God’s word, and proceeds to speak evil when his own conscience tells him he should stop. From the perspective of immediate earthly advantage he says what serves his purpose, but in saying it he transgresses the commandments of God. This is a very common evil. A man speaks words that he knows are not true; they contain a deliberate distortion of the truth that is designed to hide his own failure or to exaggerate his own achievement. In the short term this seems to work for others believe the lie and he succeeds in winning applause, but he has spoken before the Lord also, and his words will not be forgotten. His mouth has uttered words that cannot be taken back again and they will be the cause of God’s sentence against him in the Day of Judgment. The fool’s mouth may destroy him in many different ways. He may lie and at first no one is aware, but when the lie is exposed he is covered in shame. He may boast, and so propel himself into a situation where his boast is put to the test and found wanting. He may burst out in anger against those who are stronger than him and threaten those who take revenge against him. He may stubbornly refuse to do what he is under obligation to do and so suffer punishment from the authorities. So by lies, exaggerations, false promises, angry outbursts, expressions of hatred, and insincere words he traps himself in situations where his words return upon him. Even men hold each other to their word, and how much more does God do so, ‘for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned’ (Matthew 12:37). The speaking of rash words must be guarded against, and the believer must learn to keep silent until he has found what is the right thing to say before the Lord. ‘We all stumble in many things’, says James, and therefore we must treat the tongue as a potential source of great danger. Though it can also be a source of much good, it must be tamed and disciplined, for to let it go loose will allow the old nature to control it and bring the soul into a snare.