THIRTY SAYINGS OF THE WISE
SAYING NUMBER TWELVE
“My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be
glad indeed; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.”
(Proverbs 23:15–16, NIV)
Ask any parent what brings them the greatest joy and if they
are worthy in their calling as parents it will have something to do with the
success of their children. From the
little leaguer that hits a home-run, to the gargantuan fish on the line –
parents love to see their children achieve. Godly parents receive the most joy,
the most exhilaration when their children act in godliness. Or stated in the words of the Apostle John: “I
have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth”
(3 John 4, NIV).
“The quatrain is arranged in a chiastic pattern, using
"if your heart is wise" and "when your lips speak what is
right" to bracket the verses.”[1] So the inspired author notes that a “wise
heart” will “speak what is right”. If
the child’s heart is wise then the heart of the parent rejoices. To speak what is right is from the Hebrew
word, מֵישָׁרִים [meyshar
/may·shawr/][2]
which refers to direct, honest speech –
speech that is not deceptive.
As Solomon had noted earlier: “… A wise son brings joy to
his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother” (Proverbs 10:1,
NIV). The Targum, the Aramaic
paraphrase or interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, translates the latter clause
of verse 16: “when my lips speak right things.” If this interpretation is correct then the
author is not just rejoicing in the congruent speech of the child but further
that the child speaks what is right. In
other words, “speaking truth, truthfully”.
Where can that truth be found? John Gill writes, “When the heart is wise;
things agreeably to right reason, to the Scriptures of truth, the oracles of
God; to the law and to the testimony; to the Gospel of Christ, and the
doctrines of it.”[3] It then proves proportionally that when
parents teach the truths of the Bible and the wonder of the Gospel to their
children, it may in God’s grace, resound back to them with great joy when they
hear their children communicate the great wonders of God’s Word.
So we are left with a poignant question: As parents will
your greatest joy come from seeing your child succeed in athletics or
academics; or will it come from hearing them “speak what is right”?
[1] 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
[2] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s
Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
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