Proverbs 26:9
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As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
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A parable is a dark and obscure saying, like Solomon's proverbs, which requires careful interpretation and application to be profitable. Because a fool has no understanding, he ends up using a parable to his own hurt, much like a drunkard too intoxicated to handle thorns properly and ends up piercing his hand with one! Wisdom is only for wise men!
The lesson is simple. Fools are unfit teachers of God's wisdom: they will only hurt themselves trying to interpret dark sayings of wise men. Peter warned about unlearned men wresting Scripture to their own destruction; he admitted Paul wrote things hard to be understood (II Pet 3:15-16). A fool lacks mental ability, or patience of character, or humility of spirit, or revelation of God, or rules of interpretation, or all five necessities.
The purpose of the proverb is less obvious. Truth and wisdom are wonderful things - the principal things to seek and obtain in life (3:15-18; 4:5-9; 8:11; 16:16; 23:23). But a fool has no right to them: they are high out of his reach (17:16; 18:2; 26:5). Solomon ridiculed a fool attempting to teach truth or wisdom to exalt the glory of both to wise men. They are treasures to wise men, because they know the fools of this world will never find them.
The words of wisdom are plain to those that understand and right to them that have knowledge (8:8-9). But fools have neither understanding nor knowledge. They take the words of the wise and pierce themselves by misinterpreting and misapplying them. They study lazily and miss the right divisions in sense and application to be approved workmen in God's word of truth (18:1; II Tim 2:15). They are shamed in doctrine and practice!
Building committees use Proverbs 29:18 to justify new construction, when the text means they have lost the word of God! The thorn pierces their hand! Pitiful preachers use the Parable of the Sower to explain how Jesus used parables to make His lessons simple, but the purpose for parables was to hide truth from the people (Matt 13:1-18)! The thorn pierces their hand! Similar examples of parables and thorns could go on forever, especially with the modern Bible versions and their corruption of Solomon's proverbs.
If you wish to be wise and understand the dark sayings of God, you must humble yourself before Him, which is the beginning of wisdom and understanding (1:7; 9:10). You then must tremble before His word and believe every word is pure (30:5; Is 66:2). Beg Him for the wisdom you do not have (2:1-9; Jas 1:5). With total confidence in God's revelation, you can see the great darkness that covers the minds of most men (Is 8:20; I Tim 6:3-5,20-21). Learn to despise the words of fools (Ps 119:113,128; II Cor 2:17).
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