Appearing wise or confirming your foolishness

Ricky Ketchum

May 19, 2026

Silent Wisdom

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Even a fool who remains silent is considered wise, and the one who holds his tongue is deemed discerning.

Proverbs 17:28 (NET)

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Here’s a fun little verse we can all use:

Stay silent and you’ll at least look wise.

It’s only when we open our mouths that we remove all doubt!

🤣

(I don’t know what that says about a person who writes daily emails … I guess that’s another reason to rely on the Holy Spirit.)

Perhaps the biggest Biblical example of this is Peter.

He was constantly speaking up as a disciple and looking foolish.

Which is a little bit unfair because he also spoke up and said some amazing things. Like when he declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God…

…followed by saying something else foolish and getting rebuked by Jesus!

I hate getting rebuked by anyone, I can’t imagine what getting rebuked by Jesus would be like.

Probably not a fun day.

But it does serve as an ongoing example for us.

And an encouragement because even though Peter went through many such mistakes, he was still the leader of the early church. He wrote a couple of exceptional letters of Scripture. He lived a life -- and died a death -- worthy of God’s service.

So, yes, we should take this proverb to heart and do our best to appear wise.

But there’s nothing wrong with a little action in the wrong direction. God can steer a moving car, but it’s hard to move a parked car.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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