More Hope for a Fool Text: Proverbs 29:20
Introduction: The Hierarchy of Folly
The book of Proverbs is a book of sharp contrasts. It lays out the world in binary terms: wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness, the diligent and the slothful, life and death. There are no shades of grey in the ultimate realities. And within this framework, the book provides a taxonomy of fools. There is the simple fool, the arrogant fool, the scoffing fool, and so on. But here, in this verse, we are presented with a startling hierarchy. We are shown a man who is in a worse state than a plain, ordinary fool. This is a sobering thought. To be a fool in the biblical sense is to be on the path to destruction, to be at odds with the very grain of God's universe. So what could be worse?
What we have here is a diagnostic question. "Do you behold a man who is hasty in his words?" The assumption is that we do. We see this man everywhere. We see him on the television, we see him in the halls of government, we see him on social media, and if we are honest, we see him in the mirror far more often than we would care to admit. The hasty tongue is the native tongue of our fallen race. It is the language of pride, anger, and presumption. It is the engine of gossip, slander, and strife.
And God, through Solomon, gives us a shocking prognosis for this man. "There is more hope for a fool than for him." This is not hyperbole. This is a divine assessment of a spiritual condition. It is meant to arrest our attention. It is meant to make us slam the brakes on our runaway mouths and consider the deep peril of unbridled speech. Why is the man of hasty words in a more precarious position than a fool? Because his problem is not simply a lack of knowledge, but a surfeit of pride. His mouth reveals a heart that is unteachable, a spirit that is incorrigible. And an unteachable spirit is the one thing that walls itself off from the grace of God.
The Text
Do you behold a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
(Proverbs 29:20 LSB)
The Diagnosis of a Runaway Mouth (v. 20a)
The first clause sets the scene with a pointed question:
"Do you behold a man who is hasty in his words?" (Proverbs 29:20a)
The word "behold" invites us to stop and carefully observe. This is not a passing glance. This is a call to recognize a specific character type. The man who is "hasty in his words" is the man who speaks before he thinks. He is the man whose mouth is disconnected from his mind, and whose mind is disconnected from the wisdom of God. His opinions are instant, his judgments are swift, and his retractions are rare. He is the first to speak in a meeting, the quickest to comment online, and the last to listen in a conversation.
This hastiness is not a sign of intelligence or quick-wittedness. In the economy of God, it is the hallmark of foolishness. James, the brother of our Lord, echoes this Proverb perfectly when he instructs the church to be "swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19). The man hasty in his words has inverted this divine command. He is slow to hear, swift to speak, and consequently, swift to anger. His words are not thoughtful contributions; they are verbal projectiles. They are often expressions of raw, un-sanctified emotion. As another proverb says, "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back" (Proverbs 29:11).
The man of hasty words is driven by pride. He believes his first thought is the best thought. He has an inflated view of his own insight. He does not feel the need to weigh his words because he assumes they are all weighty. He is not building anything with his speech; he is merely asserting himself. He is planting his flag. His words are a declaration of his own sovereignty, his own right to define reality. This is why his speech is so often destructive. Words create worlds. God spoke the cosmos into existence. Our words, as creatures made in His image, also have creative, or rather, de-creative power. Hasty words tear down relationships, destroy reputations, and sow discord. They are like sparks in a dry forest. "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" (James 3:5).
The Shocking Prognosis (v. 20b)
The second clause delivers the devastating verdict.
"There is more hope for a fool than for him." (Proverbs 29:20b)
Now, we must understand what the Bible means by a "fool." A fool, or kesil in the Hebrew, is not someone with a low IQ. He is a person who is morally and spiritually dense. He is thick-headed, stubborn, and complacent in his folly. He despises wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7). He takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion (Proverbs 18:2). So, the fool is already in a terrible state. He is on the broad road that leads to destruction.
And yet, this verse tells us there is more hope for him than for the man of hasty words. Why? Because the ordinary fool's problem is, at its root, a lack of sense. He might be brought up short by calamity. A sharp rebuke can sometimes penetrate his thick skull (Proverbs 17:10). He might, through sheer pain and suffering, be made to see the consequences of his foolishness. There is a possibility, however slim, that he can be instructed. He is foolish, but perhaps not yet entirely incorrigible.
The man of hasty words, however, has a different, and deeper, problem. His issue is not just a lack of wisdom, but a hardened refusal to receive it. His quickness to speak is a symptom of a heart that is wise in its own eyes. And this is the most hopeless state of all. "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Proverbs 26:12). The man hasty in his words is a practical manifestation of the man wise in his own eyes. He doesn't listen because he believes he already knows. He doesn't deliberate because he trusts his own impulses implicitly. He has made himself his own god, his own oracle.
This is why there is less hope for him. The gospel comes to us as instruction, as revelation, as a word to be received. It requires us to shut our mouths, humble ourselves, and listen. It demands that we confess our own wisdom to be foolishness and receive the wisdom of God in Christ. The man of hasty words is constitutionally incapable of this posture. His mouth is always open, and therefore his ears are always closed. Grace cannot be poured into a full cup, and wisdom cannot be given to a man who is already talking.
The Way of Wisdom
So what is the alternative? The alternative is the way of the wise man, who fears the Lord and therefore weighs his words. The wise man understands that the tongue is a fire, and he handles it with extreme caution. He knows that "in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise" (Proverbs 10:19).
The cure for a hasty tongue is a humble heart. It begins with the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. When we see God for who He is, high and lifted up, and ourselves for who we are, creatures of the dust, it has a wonderfully silencing effect. We become less impressed with our own opinions and more desperate to hear His.
This humility then cultivates the discipline of listening. The wise man is swift to hear. He gathers information. He seeks counsel. He understands that his first impression is often wrong. He lets his thoughts marinate in the Scriptures before he allows them to come out of his mouth. He speaks not to assert himself, but to build others up. His words are chosen for their fitness, "like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (Proverbs 25:11).
This is ultimately a gospel issue. Our mouths are unruly because our hearts are rebellious. The only true bridle for the tongue is a heart that has been captured by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. When we are saved, God performs a miracle. He gives us a new heart, and out of the abundance of that new heart, the mouth is supposed to speak. The Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, and one of His primary fruits is self-control (Galatians 5:23). This self-control must be applied most rigorously to that little member that boasts great things.
Therefore, let us take this proverb as a severe mercy. Let us behold the man of hasty words and see in him a picture of what we are by nature. Let us repent of our verbal pride, our rash judgments, and our unseasoned speech. And let us plead with God to set a watch over our mouths and keep the door of our lips, so that our words might minister grace to the hearers, and bring glory to the one who is the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord.