As we wind down the final chapter of Ecclesiastes – and the epilogue, The Word once again establishes Solomon’s bonafides and gives us important insight on wisdom:

Ecc 12:9  Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.

Ecc 12:10  The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.

Ecc 12:11  The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.

The Proverbs and God’s Word in general is not sugar coated, because it is meant to correct us and put us on the right path.  A lot of folks tend to reject what the Bible tells us, because they don’t like what it says.  There is a myriad of current social issues we can ascribe this to today.  

However, while God’s Word is painful in that it tells us what we shouldn’t do, and the lifestyles that we should abandon, it is also His revelation of Himself to us, and just how merciful God is through His divine plan of redemption when He sent His Son into the World.   

As Solomon says, The Word corrects us, it’s like a shepherd that drives the sheep, while it may seem painful, it is also helpful and keeps us on the path to obedience and more importantly fellowship with His Son.  As The Scripture says, the only way to the Father is through The Son.