The Testing of People's Approval

I cannot get past this Proverb as I read through Proverbs 27. 

Proverbs 27:21 (ESV) The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

What a thought on which to meditate. Praise, not problems alone is a test of character. And like problems, the test of praise does not produce character, it reveals it. 

What happens to you when people approve of you? That is what praise expresses. Someone or some group thinks you've done well, you're a stand-up person, you're on the top of your game. You've just entered a testing ground of character. 

One textual note. In the original text, the word "tested" is not there. It is inferred and translated into "tested" by the ESV and "valued" by the NKJV. The point? You know yourself in relation to the consideration you place on others' opinions of you.

And therein lies the danger. 

Now if you know anything at all about people it is the temporary nature of their praise. You see, this is why it is a test. For today they can love you and tomorrow... you get the idea. The chase of praise is what drives lonely children from broken homes to Hollywood, drives lonely spouses into the arms of adultery, or single people into the hook-up scene or obsessive career chase. We want, we even think we need, people's praise. That's the trap.

Perhaps we get a little praise here and suddenly removed to show ourselves what needs to be burned away. When the praise is gone or someone else gets the spotlight, our true motivations for what we do are revealed. Do we do it for the sake of its implicit good or do we do it to be seen or noticed? In basic terms, doing anything to be seen makes us actors of the saddest sort. 

Which brings us to the wisdom of worship: Do what you do not to be seen but do it for the glory of God.

 

Which brings us to the starting place of wisdom - the fear of the Lord. 

Which brings us back to the ultimate aim of all wisdom. Live responsively to God's opinion and declarations of your life and not what other people think. 

This is so hard. Because people are everywhere and talking about everyone all the time. They will even talk behind our backs. Yet God's voice is found when we silence the voices around us, open His Word and internalize it intentionally.

The question then becomes, what are you filling yourself with? A proverb a few verses back states:

Proverbs 27:7 (ESV) One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

Fill yourself with the Word of God which reminds you that God declares you righteous in Him by faith in Christ and let the crowds opine as they will. 

Proverbs 27:17 (ESV) Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Let God use people to sharpen you, not enslave you.

Proverbs 27:23–24 (ESV) Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, 24 for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

Give your life to the things God has given you. Invest your time in them so that when the fading crowns of this life disappear, you will have a rich inheritance through the favor of God.