Can't believe we are already at chapter 29 ... we are closing in on the end of this book. I am so glad you are still with us!
There is another admonition about our speech that is helpful and meaningful to me in Chapter 29. It is verse 5. "Whoever flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his feet." Interesting. Flattering someone is like trying to trip them ... make them fall. I was interested in understanding better what it means to "flatter" someone. Here is what I found about that word in Hebrew ...
From the Dictionary of Biblical Languages: 1. creamy, slippery, i.e., pertaining to a state or condition of a moist, viscus food, so easy to swallow. 2. to give misleading opinions or thoughts about what is true, often encouraging wrong behavior.
Wow. That's why flattery is so dangerous. We want to believe it ... it's easy to swallow. And it most generally puffs us up. You know of many celebrities and sports figures who begin to believe their own press. Such things are truly slippery. The apostle Paul told us to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. He was not into poor self esteem or poor self evaluation. Just be honest ... about self ... about others. I don't want to trip someone up in their life walk. Do you? So flattery is out of place.
Another thing about flattery is found in Psalm 5. Psalm 5 is one of David's Psalms and it is a plea for mercy from God. In the Psalm, David writes about persons who cannot be with God ... they are called wicked, arrogant, wrong-doers, liars, bloodthirsty, deceitful men. Now ... listen to the way David describes them (from the NASB translation) "There is nothing reliable in what they say; their inward part is destruction itself; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue."
OK ... we must be sure that this thing is far from our lips. So what is the difference between flattery and complimenting? I think it must have to do with intent and degree. Flattery is more often about the person doing the speaking. It is self-serving. It is offered as a way to gain advantage ... or to get in with someone considered important. It does not concern itself with truth. A compliment, on the other hand, is more often about the person receiving the words. It is to encourage.
May we be women who look for ways to compliment and encourage those around us ... never resorting to flattery to get our way or to gain an advantage.
Wisdom Lord ... to know the difference!
Interesting observation, Gail. I always thought of the flatterer as somehow spreading a net for his own feet, but this seems to make more sense... and it sounds much more ominous. I hope I never require any "millstone therapy"(a lá Matthew 18:6) - yikes!
ReplyDeleteVerses 25 and 26 caught my attention:
25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
26 Many seek an audience with a ruler,but it is from the LORD that man gets justice.
I'm not what anybody would consider a political activist, but when things go awry or my sense of injustice is provoked I start mentally searching my list of friends for anyone who might have enough authority or influence to put things right again. This isn't always a bad thing, but I don't want to fall into the trap of relying more on my "connections" than on God, against whom "no wisdom, no insight, no plan" can succeed. (Proverbs 21:30) Pharaoh had plenty of connections... but the dusty Israelite leader who had removed his sandals before God came out on top in that exchange. Lord, forgive us for those times when we turn to prayer as anything later than a first resort!