Reading The Proverbs With Timothy And Kathy KellerSýnishorn

 The Simple

Every sort of fool is out of touch with reality, but each kind in a different way. The next fool in this list is the Hebrew pĕthiy—the simple. This kind of foolishness is gullibility. “The simple believe anything” (14:15). They are too easily led and influenced. Like children, they may be overimpressed by the spectacular and dramatic, or they may need approval too much and so be taken in by forceful personalities who give it to them. They will support dictatorial leaders who promise them peace and prosperity. They can be intellectually lazy, not wanting to ponder and think out a matter. They are also likely to fall for get-rich-quick schemes (12:11).

The simple can change and learn sense (19:25) but they can also “inherit folly” (14:18)—graduate into being full-blown fools. Nevertheless, we should be careful not to equate credulity and naïveté with a lack of sophistication. We once pastored an entire congregation of somewhat unsophisticated people, but they were by no means simple. You can lack sophistication, as the world assesses it, and still be wise. And you can be sophisticated—well-off, well connected, and educated—but still be simple. 

Whom have you met who you thought was rather simple but turned out not to be so? What traits did they reveal?

Prayer: Lord God, while I see the “mocker” in me, I also see the “simple.” I certainly need human approval too much and I am also intellectually impatient, not wanting to think things out. I have often asked you to save me from my sin. Now, Lord, save me from my foolishness. Amen.

Excerpt from God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Book of Proverbs by Timothy Keller and Kathy Keller

Reprinted by arrangement with Viking Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2017 by Timothy and Kathy Keller