Midweek Devotional for September 9th, 2026: Proverbs 9:7–12

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

“Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you.” (Prov. 9:8)

Proverbs 9 presents the great contrast between Wisdom and Folly. After Wisdom’s invitation in verses 1–6, Solomon pauses in verses 7–12 to describe one of the clearest differences between the fool and the wise person: their response to instruction and correction.

Verse 7 warns that correcting a scoffer may bring abuse upon the person offering the correction. Verse 8 sharpens the contrast: the scoffer responds with hatred, while the wise person responds with love. The truly wise person is not someone who has reached the point where he no longer needs correction. His wisdom is demonstrated partly by the fact that he remains teachable.

The Hebrew verb translated “reprove” can mean “to correct, rebuke, reprove, convince,” or “to show someone to be wrong.” The idea is more than simply disagreeing with someone. The person is being confronted with something that needs correction.

The “scoffer” is an important character in Proverbs. He is more than someone who occasionally makes foolish decisions. The scoffer has developed an attitude of arrogant resistance to truth. He mocks what should be taken seriously and resents anyone who challenges him. The problem is not the correction. The problem is the heart receiving it.

“Reprove a wise man and he will love you.” Here Solomon gives us something that initially seems contrary to human nature. Normally we like people who praise us. Solomon says the wise person loves the person who corrects him. Why? Because the wise person values truth more than his pride. He understands that someone who lovingly points out an error is doing him a greater service than someone who simply tells him what he wants to hear.

One of the clearest indications of whether we are growing in wisdom is not how often we are right, but how we respond when we discover that we are wrong. The scoffer resents the person who corrects him because his pride means more to him than truth. The wise person receives correction because truth is more precious to him than pride. A teachable Christian can therefore thank God even for uncomfortable correction, because the Lord may use it to make him wiser and more like Christ.