Verse of the Day for August 17

Verse 28 has a gentle humour in it. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise. Proverbs is almost smiling. If you cannot be wise yet, you can at least be quiet.

But the verse before it is the real lesson: He that hath knowledge spareth his words. Spareth is a money word. You spare what is valuable. The person who knows much does not spend his words freely, because he understands what they are worth.

An open door tempts us to speak. The new job, the first visit to the in laws, the chance to lead a group. We want to prove we belong, so we fill every silence.

Wisdom walks through the door more slowly. It watches how the place works. It learns names. It asks questions before offering opinions. And it is marked by an excellent spirit, which the Hebrew pictures as a cool spirit, calm rather than anxious to impress.

If a door has opened for you, thank God for it. Then spend your first weeks spending words carefully. Let people discover what you know over time. You will be trusted with more because you did not rush to show it all.

The words you save today are not wasted. They are stored.

Ask one more question than you planned before giving your view.