Like an archer who wounds everyone,
so is he who hires a fool
or who hires those who pass by.

Proverbs 26:10

Trusting a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison! [NLT]Proverbs 26:6

A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg. [NLT] Proverbs 26:7

Our verses for today are very descriptive! I chose to bundle them together because of their visual acuity and because they are basically describing the same sad and hopeless trait of fools. In a few words; Fools cannot be trusted! Let’s look at each visual given.

A. “An archer who wounds everyone.” Yikes! Keep me off that battlefield! Just imagine an archer standing in a tower of a castle. He is supposed to be targeting the marauders trying to besiege said castle, but while he is doing that he is also wounding his fellow troops and even innocent bystanders! And so it is for the person who hires a fool. The fool may do some good, but he does a lot more damage than the good justifies. 

B. “Cutting off one’s feet.” Another, Yikes! I cannot grasp this one at all. Who would do such a gross and senseless thing?  “Drinking poison.” This is not so gross, but just as deadly. do it?Fools do not delivery messages accurately either by design or just by being foolish. The end result may be so bad that the person or organization who commissioned the message may be ruined beyond repair or meaningful existence.

C. “Useless as a paralyzed leg.” Even if this is not our own personal experience, we get the picture. The leg is there. Blood flows through it. The muscles and bone and skin are still there, but the nerves refuse to do their job leaving the leg unusable. A fool’s advice about many things just isn’t helpful. They think they are so smart and so clever, but their foundational narcissism and pride and selfishness simply get in the way of saying things that actually benefit others. 

I know we don’t want to be fools and we probably aren’t. We can, however, use these vivid descriptions to remind us to guard against being foolish, even now and then. Because even the occasional foolish word or action or inaction can cause so much damage. Even, sometimes, damage that cannot be undone. In this way, Let’s be more like Solomon.

Ecclesiastes 7:25

I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.