THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE WISE
SAYING NUMBER EIGHT
In Proverbs
23:1 we were apprised of how a wise person would eat before the king. In Proverbs 23:6–8 we are given more advice
about banqueting.
6 Do not eat the food
of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is the
kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says
to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the
little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.
Here the Wiseman tells us exactly the character of the
host. He is a “begrudging host”. He is stingy.
“Like the ruler of
23:1, he also has a table of deceptive delicacies (cf. 23:3), for he says, “Eat
and drink,” but does not mean it.”[1] The advice is “do not eat”. We are given the rather gross picture that
what we do eat will become indigestible and we will vomit the meal, wasting any
compliments or gratitude.
Lack of
sincerity in your host will induce regurgitation. “Eating and drinking with him will be
irritating and disgusting.”[2] “Ultimately, you will be sorry you ever
partook of his gifts and will even wish you could vomit up.”[3]
I know
someone who is in a position and role of serving. However many times during the expressions of
their duties I hear reluctance, complaining and a sense of abhorrence for their
task. If I am a recipient of their
responsibilities I want to just “up chuck”.
I actually don’t want their so-called benevolence because I know it’s
not genuine. I’d just like to do it
myself.
This
passage teaches us not to become recipients of begrudging goodness, so to
speak. But it also reminds me that as a
servant of Christ, I am called to serve faithfully and cheerfully – diligently and
joyfully. Nobody wants to be at the
other end of a minister who is doing what he is doing and hates every minute of
it.
Let’s heed
the Wiseman.
[1]
Koptak, P. E. (2003). Proverbs (p.
545). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[2] Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Proverbs/Exposition of
Proverbs/IV. The Sayings of the Wise (22:17-24:34)/A. Thirty Precepts of the
Sages (22:17-24:22), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3]
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1240). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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