Today, I am reading and commenting on Proverbs 25-28.

The passage begins with a series of proverbs attributed to Solomon by courtiers of King Hezekiah.  They give advice on good government.  I really like this one:
“Remove the dross from the silver,
    and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
 remove wicked officials from the king’s presence,
    and his throne will be established through righteousness.”
As a Christian, I do not feel that I should be involved in the government.  However, this proverb should be thought about carefully by those who seek good government.  All too often people who desire to address a problem created by corrupt government officials seek new laws, when instead they should seek to remove corrupt people from the government.  The lesson which applies here also applies to our personal life.  If you seek to find a loophole in God’s law you will not find the benefits of doing His will.  Actually, we have an example of this lesson in a pair of proverbs later in this lesson.  If you take each of them at face value, they contradict each other.
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.” 
It both says that you should not answer a fool according to his folly and that you should answer a fool according to his folly.  The first part tells us that we should not allow a fool to frame the discussion, do not allow them to set the definitions of terms in ways with which you disagree.  On the other hand, if you point out how you view the situation, they may realize the merit of your position.  There are so many more sayings in today’s passage which we should take to heart with lessons we should strive to live by.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.