Today’s verse(s) for the #DailyWisdomChallenge use the imagery of eating, just like it did in the one from Proverbs 25. Maybe it is because I have been having to work to get back on my healthy eating patterns, or maybe it is just a holdover from my lifetime as an adult allowing eating to set my course and rule much of my life, but these passages resonate with me.
Psalm 25:16 and 27 dealt with gorging ourselves on good things. Proverbs 26:22 (which is the same exact proverb as 18:8) deals with dining on things that are not good, namely the “words of a whisperer”.
The “words of a whisperer” is referencing the giddy joy people get when they are talking about something they know they shouldn’t be. In some cases, it is the whispers of gossip, sharing some piece of news of something bad that happened or something bad that has befallen someone. That type of news makes people feel good at the expense of others and takes advantage of them looking bad to make oneself look better. In other cases, it could be inappropriate humor or speaking bad/making fun of someone else – things that are bad enough by themselves but made worse by sharing that wicked talk with others.
The very nature of this having to be whispered shows that we know it is bad but decide to do it anyway. Well, we may think we are keeping quiet except to the one with whom we are whispering, but God hears and knows. And here in Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22 we see what he thinks of it; he thinks it is pretty crappy.
That may seem crass (it is definitely pushing Bible study pun boundaries), but look at the end of the verse. When you dine on the whisperer’s words, they go “down into the inner parts of the body”. They get digested. The honey of Proverbs 25:16 gets regurgitated, but the whisperer’s words linger. In the end, they end up becoming waste; however, in the meantime they work their way into our minds and our hearts.
One thing that I remember hearing from teachers and parents growing up – one that I find myself saying to my kiddos at home and school, too – is that, if you have to whisper it, it must not be good. We see that as an example of godly wisdom – not that we should never whisper, but we should not participate in wicked speech, loud, quiet, or otherwise.
Next time you find yourself about to dine on some juicy gossip or listen to someone whisperingly run down someone to you, remember what you are dining on. If you find listening to that crap as appetizing, chew on this analogy and decide if it’s worth it!
For the month of October (and November for lollygaggers like me), we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.
This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.
Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?
Just Keith Harris 