Proverbs 27:13 Commentary and Bible Study

Again Scripture uses a proverb that has been used before, in Proverbs 20:16, and like the previous verse it teaches that a large part of our comfort in this world comes from avoiding the evil which others fall into. This may be evil that involves us in personal sin, or it may be evil that results from the behaviour of others from whom we fail to keep our distance. Sin brings its own suffering and although the full payment is in the world to come, much sorrow in this life is also linked to sin. As in Proverbs 20:16 the warning is against making rash friendships and being too hasty to trust those we do not yet know well. We had better secure ourselves against loss if we are foolish enough to do business with someone who rashly aligns himself with a stranger, for he is bound to suffer loss on account of his pledge when it goes wrong.The wise are generally better at reading character. Christianity is not about being gullible and easily taken in by every charlatan. The Christian certainly needs to grow in wisdom, but he is taught in Scripture that the world is spit into those who know God and those who do not. His discernment grows with use and he learns to read character, much of which lies hidden, by reading what cannot be hidden. Of course undue suspicion is no substitute for discernment, since it is a crude weapon which throws the baby out also, but discernment is a protection and avoid alliances which are bound to let us down.