Reading Proverbs – 26:20 Poisonous Whispers

August 26th, 2009 by Steve

For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.– Prov 26:20

There are times when justice should be demanded – when we should shout out for wrongs to be righted. Prophesying of the coming Day of the Lord, Amos spoke those glorious words:

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. – Amos 5:24

But there are times when we must just let something go. Sometimes it is a small hurt; sometimes it is an unintentional slight. The context for this particular verse is that of a quarrel: v 17 speaks of the passer-by meddling in someone else’s quarrel; vv 18-19 speaks of the person who says something hurtful or hateful and then claims to be ‘only joking’; v 21 speaks of the quarrelsome man who enjoys stirring up trouble, and v 22 of the whisperer whose gossiped poison incites like a wildfire.

And in the middle of all this is our verse 20. If we don’t let the whispering start, then the hate and hurt shut down. This is plain common sense, for all that it is contrary to human nature. Stop the whispering campaign. Why is it a ‘whisper’ in the first place? So that no one who knows the truth can hear the spreader of lies, rumors and innuendoes.

Get it all out in the open. Get everything on the up-and-up. Get it all explained.

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