Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver

Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

Saying the right word to the right person at the right time, is such a lovely thing to do. In that moment, it’s so fitting, so right, so uplifting and encouraging, and such a blessing to the recipient.  Jesus was a master at doing this. Think of the many times He had the right word for the right person at just the right time. To the adulterous woman who was thrown at His feet to be condemned: “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” To the woman of ill reputation who washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair: “Your sins are forgiven.” To Nathaniel: “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.” To Jairus, whose little daughter had just died: “Be not afraid, only believe.” To blind Bartimaeus: “Go your way, your faith has made you whole.” To Zacchaeus the Tax collector, up a tree: “Come down; for today I must abide at your house.”

Joseph Webster walked wearily into the little Chemist shop in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. It was a lovely day in the late Autumn of 1867, but Webster looked as though he had lost his best friend. His problems had gotten the better of him, and his mood was heavy.  The proprietor of the little shop was Samuel Bennet, a thirty-one-year-old, who not only filled prescriptions – he sometimes wrote them. On this particular day he had just the right prescription for his discouraged friend.  After listening carefully to Webster’s accumulated burdens, he picked up his pen and began writing on a 5X7 piece of paper. In a few minutes he handed his friend a poem, one he had composed on the spot.  Webster read the poem, picked up his fiddle, and began improvising a simple melody. “Hand me some paper,” he said, “so I can jot down the notes before I forget them.” He played the tune two or three times, then, recruiting a couple of customers who had walked into the shop, they formed a makeshift quartet and sang it. Thus, the world was given the popular and much-loved song: “There is a land that is fairer than day, And by faith we can see it afar, For the Father waits over the way, To prepare us a dwelling place there. In the sweet by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore, In the sweet by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore.”

Truly, ‘A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.’

- Pastor David Goudy