Proverbs 26:3
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the backs of fools!
What do all three have in common? They need physical force to do what is needed. It is of no good to reason with a horse or a donkey about the direction it should take. Likewise, a fool does not listen to reason. He needs to be prodded. In particular, he needs to be disciplined in order to act the right way.
The fool is not necessarily wicked, nor even rebellious. He is, well…foolish. He does not recognize the signals that everyone else sees, and so he acts foolishly in front of others. He thinks he is being suave when he is really making a monkey of himself. He thinks he is especially discerning when he is most delusional. Subtle suggestions do not register with him. Even direct statements have little effect because he thinks you are the one who doesn’t get it. Thus, discipline comes in. He is rewarded when he does right, and punished when he does wrong. Hopefully in time he will, through enforcing right behavior, learn to do what is right.
And so God patiently disciplines us. Each day we act foolishly. Each day he disciplines. Each day we go our own way. Each day he pushes us in the right way or cuts off our stray paths to get us back on the right one. “Why, why?” we keep asking, like the fool who does not understand why he must be disciplined. “Can’t God see?” we ask, like the fool who wonders why no one sees what he can so easily see.
Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to[a] those he loves.3 Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.