Context No. 2643 of 4322 · Proverbs

Proverbs 27:17-27: in context

17Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance. 18Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored. 19Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. 20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied. 21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise. 22Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him. 23Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds, 24for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations. 25The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in. 26The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field. 27There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

Among the proverbs in this chapter is a searching line about how character is exposed: the crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, but a person is tested by the praise they receive. The image is of metal in the fire, purified and proven by heat; and praise, the proverb says, tests a person the way fire tests metal.

We usually think of hardship as the test of character, and it is. But this proverb points to a subtler test: praise. How a person handles being admired, flattered, celebrated, reveals what they are made of as surely as any furnace. Praise can go to the head, breed vanity, make us crave more, or it can be received with humility and gratitude and passed on to God. Many who stand firm under criticism are undone by applause. The way I respond when I am praised, whether it puffs me up or keeps me humble, exposes the real state of my heart. Praise is a furnace, and it shows what the metal is.

What does the way I handle praise reveal about me, whether it puffs me up and makes me crave more, or keeps me humble and grateful to God?

Sources

Proverbs 27:21: The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.
Proverbs 27:19: Like water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.
Proverbs 27:2: Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.