In this verse, the two most mentioned characters in Proverbs – “a wise person” and “the fool” – interact once again. Here they meet in legal proceedings – “court.”
The way our verse is constructed, it appears the wise person initiated these activities.
During the proceedings, the fool “rages and scoffs” and, in fact, “there is no peace” in the courtroom. It is also reasonable to assume that the real issues probably get lost in all the ruckus.
Trying to resolve problems with a fool is a most difficult situation. Whether deliberate or not, the fool always manages to keep drama and trauma front and center.
So, the wise person should really think hard before taking his or her case against a fool to court. Sometimes it just has to be done. And, if so, this verse just lets us know what we might be in for.
It’s certainly not wrong to do this. God can step in and handle everything – and many times He does. But sometimes it might be better if we just decide to not take this case to court.
In everyday life, such choices are probably not in a courtroom. But we just might find ourselves deciding it’s probably best to let this one go – that it’s a battle not worth fighting right now.
These aren’t easy decisions, but that’s what the wisdom of Proverbs is for – to help us “see life from God’s point of view” (our definition of wisdom) and then make good choices.
As someone once said, “You’ve got the know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em. Know when to walk away, know when to run.”
It was either the Prophet Isaiah or Kenny Rogers…sometimes I get those two guys confused! Either way, it’s pretty good advice!