25:11 A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver
Picture: golden jewels offset by a silver surround. They look very attractive.
This verse exemplifies its own desideratum. Kings often have to give speeches. We all have to speak to an audience at times. Eloquence and rhetoric are often despised today but we ought not to underestimate the power of attractively spoken and fitting words. Sometimes even a very few words are fondly remembered long after the event. Think of some of the sermons you have heard or words of counsel you have received. I remember someone once saying that it is important in a depression not to do too much thinking. What a help that little gem has been. We trust that similar gems will be found in the settings of silver we have sought to create for them on this blog. Recognise the beauty of Scripture. Endeavour yourself both to be winning in the way you speak and to speak the right word at the right time.
Picture: golden jewels offset by a silver surround. They look very attractive.
This verse exemplifies its own desideratum. Kings often have to give speeches. We all have to speak to an audience at times. Eloquence and rhetoric are often despised today but we ought not to underestimate the power of attractively spoken and fitting words. Sometimes even a very few words are fondly remembered long after the event. Think of some of the sermons you have heard or words of counsel you have received. I remember someone once saying that it is important in a depression not to do too much thinking. What a help that little gem has been. We trust that similar gems will be found in the settings of silver we have sought to create for them on this blog. Recognise the beauty of Scripture. Endeavour yourself both to be winning in the way you speak and to speak the right word at the right time.
John Kitto wants us to understand citrons rather than apples here and like others sees them as golden fruits in a silver basket. He draws attention to the apples of gold found in the writings of the Puritan Thomas Brooks. He refers to a volume of Brooks’ sayings produced under that title. He urges us to place them in the silver baskets of our minds. Here are two for you ‘Now is an atom that will puzzle the wisdom of a philosopher, the skill of an angel, to divide.’ ‘Two things make good Christians: good actions and good aims; and though a good aim does not make a bad action good (as in Uzzah), yet a bad aim makes a good action bad (as in Jehu).’
This proverb acts as an introduction to the six that follow, also on speech.
This proverb acts as an introduction to the six that follow, also on speech.
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