The Scoffer And The King
1/11/2026
Turn with me to Proverbs 20:18-19. These are our verses to study and memorize this week.
Proverbs 20:18-19 Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance. 19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, Therefore do not associate with a gossip.
Introduction
In Proverbs 20 we are looking at scoffing mockers and the king (or nation). Here in our section, verses 12-19 deal more broadly with people’s words and actions towards one another within a nation. We have looked at the deceitful dangers of laziness, of manipulative buyers, of undervaluing wisdom, of bad financial investments, and of bad shortcuts to success.
Now in the last two verses we turn to the dangers that scoffing mockers pose to society by their words. People need to make their plans by wise guidance and not through the dangerous guidance of slanderers and gossips.
Have you ever had to make important plans for something, but felt rather inadequate on how to make your decisions? Have you ever felt like everyone had an idea on what needed to be done, yet the ideas contradicted each other? All we have to do is turn on the news and we see lots of problems with competing solutions continually being offered. When it boils down to our lives, we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and people telling us what we should do, what we should pursue, what education we need or don’t need, what to live for, where to live, how to live, what to buy, what to entertain ourselves with, and what political and religious viewpoints we should have. With all of these constantly vying for our attention people and nations all run the risk of listening to the wrong voices. That can lead us right into the dangerous way of life of the scoffing mocker. Others react and decided to listen to no one. Verse 18 gives us the foundational guidance that we need to navigate away from those pitfalls.
Verse 19 then adds to this guidance by detailing a specific kind of person that we need to avoid as we seek to live life wisely and make right plans. Some people will make themselves very friendly, fun, and nice to be around. But the way they use their tongues will get themselves and you into great trouble if you associate with them. God’s wisdom guides us on who and what we need to avoid.
With that background, let’s take a closer look now at Proverbs 20:18-19
18 Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.
Plans are brought about through wise counsel, so do not do anything important without it!
If you make a comparison, you will see that most English translations translate the first part of this verse as something like “plans are established by counsel.” The NASB is an outlier here and seems to be reading back the imperative command in the second half of the verse into the first part to try to communicate an overall meaning of the proverb. That, however, muddies up part of the point. The first part of the verse gives a statement of fact, not a command. It says that plans are brought to successfully being established through following wise advice. That is the principle we are being taught. Because of that we then have the command: something as monumental as making war should only be done with careful, sound guidance. That all being said, it is also very true that the result of plans being established by counsel should be that we each prepare all of our plans by wisdom’s guidance.
The second half of this proverb moves beyond individual, personal plans to national policy and war. That pushes us back to remembering the broader context issue in this chapter of the king and the dangers of the scoffing mocker.
If scoffing mockers are let influence an individual person’s decisions it will have a devastating impact. On the national scale that influence becomes even more catastrophic. To prevent that, wise counsel is what is needed to guide our decisions and plans. This is especially the case in the greatest of decisions when war is under discussion.
War is probably one of the most impactful, if not the most impactful, action that a nation can make. We all understand this. It is why whenever there is a somewhat comparatively huge issue in society with wide-ranging consequences the effort to deal with it often includes “war” language. We sometimes hear about the war on drugs, the war on the unborn baby or our children, the war on gun violence, the war against illegal immigration, the war against human trafficking, the war on cancer, heart disease, etc.
Therefore, what is needed in all of these cases that we face—whether individually or nationally—is wise guidance, the right counsel, and discerning advice. Without this, we are liable to make a massive effort that will fail or cause even more problems than the original situation facing us.
The word for wise guidance here is the same word used at the end of Proverbs 1:5. This verse is part of the introductory section of the book where its overall goals are given. In that context it says that the proverbs of this book are designed to enable an understanding person to acquire this wise counsel. Thus the book of Proverbs, God’s Word, is the source of this wise counsel which is needed for making our decisions and for bringing our plans to completion. Through these proverbs—
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
We see this same word used again in Proverbs 11:14.
Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.
Some people rush into trying to carry out the plans that come into their head without wise guidance. When that is the case their projects often fail. On the other hand, with the wisdom of God’s Word and the experience of others many of those pitfalls can be avoided. That being said, Proverbs 12:5 warns us that the so-called wise guidance of the evil is deceitful.
Proverbs 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
That distinction more closely matches the larger context of our passage here in Proverbs 20. Guidance is needed for life. That is understood. The problem is that scoffing mockers are also giving their counsel and advice. Thus, we need to be careful that it is the wise counsel, the wise guidance, the godly wisdom of God’s Word that we are actually pursuing and listening to. Thankfully, the proverbs of this book were designed to give us this wise guidance. That is the wise counsel that will lead to our plans being established. That is what will protect us from the scoffing mocker’s dangerous way of life and deceitful advice. May that be the wisdom which we all seek as we make our plans.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see a number of examples of our proverb in the first six chapters of Joshua. As he took over leading Israel after Moses’ death Joshua took every step following God’s perfect guidance. In chapter 1 he listened to God’s encouraging commands to meditate on God’s Word. Then, as instructed, he got the people ready to cross over the Jordan. In chapter 3 he carefully had the people follow God’s guidance on exactly how they were to miraculously cross the Jordan river on dry ground. In chapter 4, at God’s direction, Joshua set up 12 memorial stones in the middle of the Jordan where the Ark of the Covenant had waited while Israel crossed, and another 12 memorial stones where they camped that night. This was to be a permanent reminder of God’s work on their behalf.
In chapter 5 Joshua followed God’s commands and guidance to have all the men circumcised (since that command had been neglected during the wilderness wandering). In Chapter 6 Joshua minutely followed God’s commands on how they were to lay siege to Jericho, march around it over 7 days, and then conquer it. Through carefully following God’s detailed commands Joshua’s plans were firmly established and brought to pass. He made war by God’s wise guidance and was utterly victorious.
However, we also have an example of the negative side of this proverb in the very next chapter. In Joshua 7, right after the battle for Jericho, Israel did not seek God on how best to attack the next much smaller city of Ai. Because they did not, they missed the fact that Achan had secretly violated God’s command about not taking any of the loot from Jericho. Since they did not follow God’s guidance and commands to remain free from the contamination of Jericho God allowed them to be defeated at Ai.
In the case of Ai, Joshua did follow careful counsel, but it was not God’s counsel. He had wrongly followed the seemingly good advice of the spies which had been sent out into the land. They counseled to just use part of their army to conquer this small town. While it looked like good advice, the problem was that they did not know the full picture of what was going on. They needed God’s wisdom for that. They did not have it, and they failed in their battle. They needed God’s wisdom and guidance to deal with the sin in their own midst before going out and dealing God’s judgment on the wicked Canaanites. When they did things God’s way, they again had victory.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we find that Jesus also emphasized the importance of kings only going to war with wise guidance when He discussed discipleship. Who we follow and listen to as we make plans ultimately reflects who we are a disciple of.
Luke 14:26-33 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him. 30 They will say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.
Jesus is quite direct and strong here. The very first thing we need to know of His wise guidance for life is that we must surrender everything of our own to follow Jesus. That is how our plans will be established. We must give up our plans in favor of His plans. We must learn His way and purpose for our lives. We must learn His way of doing things. As we do this, He will guide us in His perfect, infallible plans which none can topple.
Whether we are a king, a president, or a child we all make plans. This teaching of Jesus and this proverb both leave us with the same question. Will we make plans for our lives by wise counsel? Will we use wise guidance before going to war? Before we start making decisions for our lives, our church, our community, or our nation we need to know who we are going to listen to. Will we listen to ourselves, following our own heart and desires? Will we listen to the changing voices of our friends, family, acquaintances, or political party? Or, will we decide to listen to the infallible wise guidance of Jesus through what He has given us in the Bible? Count the cost. Understand the consequences of each choice. Do not be the foolish builder and make it halfway through before you realize that you have made a ruinous mistake. Do not be like a foolish king and find yourself fighting against God Himself.
On the other hand, realize that going to God for wisdom means that we need to totally surrender everything we have, want, and desire to completely follow Jesus.
That is Jesus’ foundational requirement that He wants us to maintain throughout life and in every circumstance. If He calls you or I to sell everything and go to a foreign land and make disciples we need to be willing to do that. If He calls you or I to sell everything and make disciples here in America, we need to be willing to do that. Mentally that needs to be our willingness, and physically, if it is His will, that is what we need to do. When He calls us to do what is right and best according to Him then we need to be committed to following Jesus—even if it means the ridicule of other, or if it means a financial loss, or a big daily sacrifice of our time. We need to die to ourselves like carrying a cross represents. Daily follow Jesus in whatever that means. This is the cost and discipleship that Jesus calls us to.
If an individual, a family, a church, a community, or a nation does this it will be established. Its plans will be carried out, because it is surrendered to and in line with God’s perfect plan for their lives. As God’s Word says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, KJV). That of course does not mean we will have ease, have plenty, and avoid hardships. Not at all. Rather, it means we will follow Jesus and trust Him to accomplish what is right and best despite those things and through those things. That will be our plan. Our plan will be to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our plan will be to raise our families in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Our plan will be to work with our hands, provide for our needs, and love others as Jesus loves us. Our plan will be to use our spiritual gifts to build up fellow believers in following Jesus. Our plan will be to make disciples of all nations.
When it boils down to it, our lives as disciples of Jesus is a spiritual war against our own sinful flesh, against the devil himself, and against the sinful ideologies of the world. For that we need God’s guidance in everything. Are you daily pursuing His wise guidance from His Word to fight the spiritual battles you face?
Truth in Connection: Whose guidance are you listening to? If you have not trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are still following your own sin. If you have not surrendered to God’s way, then you are still listening to the world’s way. If you are not a true disciple of Jesus, then you are still following the enticements and lies of Satan. That is a dangerous, destructive, pathway to follow. According to Romans 6:23,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)
No good can come out of defying God. It will only reap our righteous judgment when we stand before Him. As Hebrews 9:27-28 says,
Hebrews 9:27-28 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation. (NET)
The judgment of God is what awaits all of us, unless we look to Jesus in faith. He came the first time to bear our sins upon Himself and pay our penalty. All those who trust in Him are forgiven and made righteous in Jesus. For them, when Jesus comes a second time He will come not to bear sins but to give us the full completion of our salvation. He will judge this world, right all wrongs, and recreate it in perfect holiness and goodness. Then we will forever live and reign with Him.
Are you looking to Jesus in faith? Have you turned from your sin to trusting in Him to be your Lord and Savior? Realize what it means. As Jesus said, it means taking up your cross and following Him. It means surrendering everything to follow Him. It means listening to His wisdom. It means trusting that His righteous redeemed way of living is always right and best. It means that His plan is better than ours.
Who are you going to listen to? Who have you been listening to for your plans and guidance? Even as Christians we can get distracted and deceived. When that is the case, we need to repent and turn back to humbly listening to and being guided by Jesus. He is our Master, our Lord, and our Savior. May we listen to Him in everything.
If our current proverb was not clear enough, our next one gives us a specific warning on who not to listen to. We must not let it be the scornful mockers of this world who reject God, His Word, and His standard of righteousness. Look at Proverb’s 20:19.
19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, Therefore do not associate with a gossip.
Since those who go through life talking about others share things they should not talk about, we must not spend time with them.
One of the dangerous traits of scoffing mockers who disregard God’s righteous way of living is that they use their words in evil ways. They use them in ways opposite to the wise counsel that we should have guiding our plans. They use words to manipulate people. They use them to tear down other people. They use them to hurt people. They use them to promote evil. Thus, while we need to go to others for wisdom, we must be careful who we go to. If we are not careful, we will go to the wrong people and they will sow division and destruction in our relationships. Their counsel will be bad and dangerous. They will turn us against what is right. They will confuse and twist our decision making into wrong directions. On the individual level this can be dangerous, but on the organizational or national level it can be even much more catastrophic.
Because of that God’s Word warns us against a particular kind of person. Beyond the obvious scornful mocker who openly and directly advocates for sinful pursuits, there is also a much more dangerous and deceptive kind of person who needs to be avoided. It is one who uses their words in a much more subtle way to redirect us into a wrong course of action through their gossip and slander.
Back in Proverbs 10:18 we talked about slanderers, and saw that:
Proverbs 10:18 He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.
Someone who is deceptive and tries to hurt others with their words, according to God, is a fool. That is the first thing we need to understand about slander. God has a very negative view on those who participate in it. In Proverbs 11:13 we also saw what our words should instead be like.
Proverbs 11:13 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.
The beginning of this verse is almost identical to the beginning of our verse. The second half of this verse, though, shows us how our tongues should be used. Instead of just blabbing about people in ways that hurt them, we should trustworthy with what we know. Yes, we should be dealing with issues that we need to be deal with, as we discussed when we studied that verse, but we should be careful to maintain our trust and not unnecessarily be discussing issues with others that could cause them harm. We should be trustworthy people who work towards what is good and righteous. We should not be slanderers who lie, distort, or hurt other people. We should not misrepresent people and twist what they say and do.
As different proverbs tend to do, our current one adds another facet to this issue of slander for us to apply to our lives. In this verse, instead of the focus being on keeping ourselves from being slanderers, the focus goes one step beyond that. It shows us how we are to deal with others who are slanderers. It tells us that we are not to associate with them. It does this first by highlighting one of the problems of slanderers. They end up saying too much. They ending saying things that they should not say. They tell their secrets. They distort, twist, and use their words to hurt people. The second part of the verse then tells us what we are to do about that when we encounter it. We are to stay away from them.
Interestingly, the second half of the proverb is slightly broader than the first part in who it encompasses. It is not just the ones with malicious tongues who cut others down with their slandering words that we are to stay away from. It is not just the salacious revealers of secrets that we are to avoid. Rather, the word for the “gossip” that we are not to associate with is broader than that. The naïve babblers and the empty talkers are to be avoided as well. Even the person who unintentionally shares secrets or who non-maliciously gossips about others is dangerous with their loose lips. It is not just the slanderer who is to avoided. The NET Bible tries to capture the meaning of the word here when it renders it this way: “do not associate with someone who is always opening his mouth.” The NIV more succinctly puts it this way: “avoid a man who talks too much.” The ESV calls this person a “simple babbler.”
How many of us have fit into that category at different points of our lives…or maybe even this past week! At those points we were not fit to be associated with by those who are wise. Even without intending them to be so, our words could have been destructive arrows which hurt people, destroyed relationships, or brought about great evil.
We must not let ourselves always be opening our mouth and having words to say about everything off the top of our heads. We must not be empty babblers, people who talk to much. When we speak without thinking or without comparing it to God’s wisdom we will end up speaking from and being influenced by our sinful flesh. That will be destructive. Beyond making sure our own words are wise, according to our proverb we must not let ourselves be associated with people who speak like this. We must avoid both those who obviously promote sinful counsel, but also those who end up accidentally promoting it by the abundance of their thoughtless words. We must not let ourselves be influenced and guided by sinful philosophies no matter where it comes from.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see some examples of this proverb in Nehemiah 6. Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem with the blessing of the Persian king Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls of the city. He oversaw the construction himself and was the governor while he was there. As he began to make real progress he began facing opposition from the Ammonites and other groups around. Nehemiah 6 tells us of some of the problems he faced.
His enemies sent letters telling him of what was being said about him: supposedly he was rebuilding the walls in order to rebel against Persia and become king of Israel himself. Because of that, they wanted him to come meet with them and talk. Nehemiah did not take the bait. He recognized that harm was being planned. So he remained insistent that he would not stop his work rebuilding the walls. He would not travel to meet them. In reply to their accusations he simply declared that what they were saying was the invention of their own minds. Then he asked God to strengthen his hands. He refused to associate with those dangerous gossips and slanderers who manipulated the truth and made up lies to accomplish their purposes (Nehemiah 6:1-9).
After that, within Jerusalem itself, some false prophets hired by Nehemiah’s enemies tried to frighten him and get the work to stop in that way (Nehemiah 6:10-14). He was told by a “prophet” named Shemaiah that Nehemiah’s enemies were about to try to kill him. What they needed to do then was enter the temple, shut its doors, and hide there for protection. If Nehemiah had done that, the work would have stopped, and his fear would have spread to everyone else under him. Nehemiah refused, rebuked the man, realized it was not a prophecy from God, and asked God to remember the evil works of these false prophets and his other enemies. He left him and returned to the work on the wall. He refused to be influenced by his lying gossip. He stopped associating with him and focused on the work for God that he was supposed to be accomplishing.
At the end of the chapter, even after the wall was completed, Nehemiah mentions that letters and reports kept going back and forth between some nobles and his enemies. The nobles ended up talking well of his enemies. They whitewashed their evil. Then they began reporting about him back to them. They became spies. That is what happens with gossipers and slanderers. Those who associate with them end up believing their lies and participating with them in their evil designs. They went back and forth talking with each other, revealing the secrets they knew, and making their mischief worse. Thus for Nehemiah, the gossip and slander was relentless. The attempts to frighten and intimidate him continued.
If Nehemiah had given in to their entreaties and designs things would have been quite bad for him. This is why scoffing mockers with their dangerous, slanderous, gossiping tongues must be dealt with and not associated with. Those who do associate with them end up being corrupted by them.
From our part, we need to follow the example of Nehemiah and refuse to participate in gossip or slander with such people. No good will come of our associating with them. We will only get drawn into their sin.
The hard part is that these kinds of situations may not always be openly malicious. Because of that we need to always compare what people say and advise us to do with God’s Word. And, as our proverb tells us, avoid even those who talk too much, who are simple babblers, or who are always opening their mouths.
An important corollary for this, especially if we find ourselves in those categories too much ourselves, is that we need to slow down, think before we speak, and make sure what we say is guided by the truth and righteousness of God’s Word and not by the philosophies of the world, or our flesh. Likewise, we need to encourage our friends and family to guard their tongues and hearts from this tendency.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture Ephesians 5 reiterates these points helpfully about what should and what should not characterize our speech.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Note that this chapter and the following discussion begins with imitating God. As disciples of Jesus who have surrendered all to Him this is how we are to live according to His perfect plan for us. Our actions and words are to be guided by love as Christ loved us. Notice now what that looks like:
Ephesians 5:3-6 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Not only are we not to have sinful speech coming out of our mouths, but we also must not let anyone else deceive us with their empty talk which minimizes the sin that God will judge.
Ephesians 5:7-12 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
That sounds very much like “do not associate with a gossip.” We must not let the wicked words or works of others taint us—even in how we talk (or do not talk) about the things that they do. After telling us what to avoid, the next verses positively wrap up how we should live and what we should pursue.
Ephesians 5:13-21 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” 15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Truth in Connection: While we should avoid gossips, filthy talkers, slanderous attackers, and empty babblers there is also much good that can and should come from our tongues. As we understand what the will of the Lord is from God’s Word we should live it and share it. As we are filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit we should speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We should sing from our hearts to the Lord. We should always give thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we live this way, we will truly have something worth speaking about. Our words will build each other up. We will point each other to the wisdom of God’s Word. We will have advice worth listening to. Our tongues will be carefully used in the fear of Christ for what is good. May that be the kind of mouths that we all develop as we imitate God with His enablement.
On our own, none of us will have these kinds of speech characterize us. Our sin natures see to that. Likewise, on our own, none of us can fix our mouths and become like this. The reality is that all of us are sinners, enslaved to our sin who need a Savior to rescue us, free us, forgive us, and cleanse us. That is what Jesus came to do in His first coming. He went to the cross to bear the penalty for our sin, to pay its consequences, and then to conquer it. As He rose from the dead He did just that. Then, He gives His eternal life and His righteousness to all those who trust in Him as their Lord and Savior. It does not automatically happen to anyone. We must each see our sin and our need for Jesus to be our Savior. Then we need to trust Him and Him alone to do it. We must surrender to Him. Entrust your whole life, all your sin, all your past, and all your future to Him.
As God sparks our hearts to do this, He regenerates us from the dead spiritually, washes us clean, gives us His Holy Spirit to indwell us, and makes us a new creation. He places us “in Christ” and declares us justified and righteous. In Christ and by His resurrection power He enables us to live in His new redeemed way of life. He leads us by His Word in the wise guidance that we need for all of life as we listen to Him. Keep listening to Him. Keep following Him. That is what being a disciple of Jesus means.
If we have trusted in Jesus, then we need to keep checking our hearts and minds and confessing any sin that arises and turn back to following Him. We need to keep picking up our cross daily, die to our fleshly desires, and follow Jesus. As we do, we will walk in wonderful fellowship with Jesus. His peace will guard our hearts and minds. We will know His love which surpasses comprehension. We will be able to give thanks and rejoice without ceasing. May we walk in these realities by God’s grace. May we thus have pure mouths and avoid slanderous gossips as we walk by His wise guidance in all the plans we make.
Conclusion
If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.
© 2026, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
English (US) · 