Proverbs 17:21-25 – Delighting our parents

Children are the pride of their parents. When they are obedient and receptive to good parental counsel they bring joy and delight to them. But when a child refuses to obey and instead walk in ways that are contrary to godly instruction, he will bring disappointment and sadness to the heart of his parents. Proverbs 17:21-28 are words of appeal to children to take the words of their parents to heart.  Every parent wishes to raise up wise children. But when a son chooses to live foolishly, he will be the source of his parent’s sorrow. In this verse 21 alone, the word fool appears twice. There are two types of fools. The first type will act blatantly in his folly and has no qualm in doing anything stupid. The second type of fools lacks mental prowess, he is senseless and dull. Both kinds of fool will be the cause of sorrow and grief to their parents.

Thinking of children who would bring sorrow, could have triggered Solomon to give a word of advice on the outcome of a broken spirit. A merry heart is good medicine for the soul. It increases the overall health of a person. On the other hand, when one is overwhelmed by sadness and the spirit is crushed, his overall health will be negatively affected. The word “bones” refers to the whole body. When children bring delight and cheer to the parents, they help their parents to increase in their overall health. But when what they do depress them, they will experience negative health. It is needful for children to seek to bring joy to their parents instead of sorrow and sadness.   

Verse 23 deals with bribe again. Without a doubt bribe will always pervert justice. This could be referring to the first type of fool who blatantly act contrary to sound words. He would give bribe to gain favours. But one who is sensible keeps his focus on acting wisely. They are those who concentrate and stay focused. Whereas “the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” They can’t concentrate and their eyes are roving all over all the time. Hence, they chase after ‘a thousand and one thing’ aimlessly and miss the important issue of life.   

Verse 25 reiterates verse 21 by saying how vexing it could be for parents to have children who are foolish. The father will experience a broken heart and the mother a bitter spirit. It is needful for every child to be obedient to their parents and live righteously.  

These verses underscore for us the importance of godly parenting. Every wise parent must seek to inculcate godly values in their children while they are young. Remember to help them to factor God into their lives. So that when they grow up they will not depart from those godly ways.