Scripture Daily

Context No. 4289 of 4322 · Sirach

Context · Reflection

Sirach 22:1-17: in context

1A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled. Everyone will hiss at him in his disgrace. 2A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill. Anyone who picks it up will shake it out of his hand. 3An undisciplined child is a disgrace to his father, and a foolish daughter is born to his loss. 4A prudent daughter will inherit a husband of her own. She who brings shame is the grief of her father. 5She who is arrogant brings shame on father and husband. She will be despised by both of them. 6Ill-timed conversation is like music in mourning, but stripes and correction are wisdom in every season. 7He who teaches a fool is like one who glues potsherds together, even like one who wakes a sleeper out of a deep sleep. 8He who teaches a fool is as one who teaches a man who slumbers. In the end he will say, “What is it?” 11Weep for the dead, for he lacks light. Weep for a fool, for he lacks understanding. Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he has found rest, but the life of the fool is worse than death. 12Mourning for the dead lasts seven days, but for a fool and an ungodly man, it lasts all the days of his life. 13Don’t talk much with a foolish man, and don’t go to one who has no understanding. Beware of him, lest you have trouble and be defiled in his onslaught. Turn away from him, and you will find rest, and you won’t be wearied in his madness. 14What would be heavier than lead? What is its name, but “Fool”? 15Sand, salt, and a mass of iron is easier to bear than a man without understanding. 16Timber girded and bound into a building will not be released with shaking. So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel will not be afraid. 17A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding is as an ornament of plaster on a polished wall.

Amid its warnings about folly and sloth, this passage offers a memorable image of a steady heart. Like timber bound and fastened into a building, which no shaking will loosen, so a heart established on well-considered counsel will not be afraid. A heart settled on thoughtful understanding stands firm, like a beam braced securely into a structure that cannot be rattled loose.

What stands out is the picture of stability. A heart that has been grounded on sound, well-considered counsel is like well-fitted timber in a building: braced, secured, not easily shaken. When storms and pressures come, such a heart does not panic or give way, because it rests on something solid. Its steadiness comes not from the absence of trouble but from the firmness of its foundation.

Hearts that rest on nothing solid, on whims, on shifting opinions, on the mood of the moment, are easily shaken when trouble comes. But a heart established on sound counsel, and ultimately on the truth of God, is like timber braced into a building, standing firm when everything shakes. The way to a soul that will not be rattled is to ground it now, in settled times, on what is solid and true, so that it holds when the shaking comes.

Is my heart grounded on something solid, on sound counsel and the truth of God, like timber braced firmly into a building, so that it will stand unshaken when trouble comes, or does it rest on shifting whims and moods that any storm can rattle loose?

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