- It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. -
Music is a wonderful gift. It was thanks to my brother that I gained an amateur’s proficiency with a few instruments.
Like many of you, singing and listening to music when I was younger was a way to cope. It allowed me to express emotions I didn’t understand at the time.
The music industry feeds off this desire in both children and adults (though possibly through nostalgia for the latter).
Pop music is essentially a hack for this, an attempt to create a song that becomes the zeitgeist.
Is that bad? Not inherently. Sometimes, in a weird culmination of talent, will, and capitalism, we all get the chance to listen to a great song that connects us with humanity.
Other times, its just a song filled with perverse language about perverse topics. Seems we try to use music to convince other people to make bad decisions.
Music isn’t bad, and Solomon isn’t saying so. Frankly, he is not even saying that perverse songs are bad, though I know he would agree.
He’s saying that hearing the song of fools is worthless. Listening to them sing, anything, is a sincere waste of time.
Why? Well, even if it’s a good song, they may not treat it with the respect or dignity it deserves.
Music speaks of something deep in us, a rhythm. To have that tainted by the foolishness of others is a danger to its meaning and our own souls.
Don’t believe me? Just sing a “bad” song for a week. I’ll even let you pick the song you find morally abhorrent.
What is good to listen to?
Answering that question centers on a common goal, an ideal, for our lives. A center point that we know is worth aiming at.
What do we want to seek? What do we want to accomplish? The answer is simple and radically complex.
More than we are.
Now, the highest ideal that we can conceptualize is Christ. Want to be perfect? Good luck buttercup.
That doesn’t mean it’s not worth striving for. Every inch you remove of yourself and look more like Jesus is a victory for the kingdom.
But how do you get closer to the thing you cannot know? God is beyond you, so how could you hope to get closer to Him?
Imagine you’re in a dark room, looking for a door. How would you find it seeing as you can only see dimly?
Perhaps you stretch out your hands into the darkness, hoping to feel a piece of trim, the wooden face of a door, or a brass doorknob to guide you.
Talk about an arduous process. Perhaps though someone who has already walked the path guides you to the door with their words?
Even if they speak harshly to you, the correction will reduce the time you spend stumbling. It may even protect you from an injury.
Therefore, a wise man loves rebuke, because he knows he is going on an unknown journey, one that only others can guide him by their corrections.
Why rebuke? Why not a simple list of do’s? Why not a list to enlightenment? Why do you have to figure everything out on your own? Where’s the map?
Wise men know that to lay the path out before you is to steal the work. The journey is your own, and to truly complete it, you must labor for it.
Love Jesus? Then, love rebuke.
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