Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool (Proverbs 26:8).

When I was maybe nine or ten years old, I asked my parents if I could get a sling-shot.  Just like the one that David used to slay Goliath.  In my head, I was thinking of the classic Y-shaped slingshot -- but when my parents surprisingly agreed to my request, they started talking about stitching together leather straps and pouches, and I started to become a bit confused.  I guess my Mom and Dad were maybe looking at it as a historical / anthropological project, where we could research the evolution of the slingshot all the way back to the days of ancient Hebrew shepherds.  And sure enough, as my parents most likely already knew, we discovered that ancient-Hebrew-shepherd-slingshots were not at all like the slingshots that are most popularly used today.  Instead, they were long slings closer to the kind of device in which a broken arm is hung to heal -- most typically made out of leather -- that were powered by twirling around and around until one of the straps was released and the projectile was slung outward at high velocity.  So with my Mom's help, I actually made my own ancient-Hebrew-shepherd-slingshot out of leather, and thus I set out to practice my slingshooting skills.

It wasn't easy to learn.  I literally could not hit the broad side of a barn, in the beginning.  My release of the strap was clumsy, and I often ended up dinging myself with the rock that I was trying to sling.  But as I continued to practice, I got better and was eventually able to develop some degree of accuracy.  It ended up being a very fun and enriching experience.

But the reason I share all of this about the slingshot is to illustrate the message of Proverbs 26:8.  Even for me, with the whole childhood slingshot experience that I had and everything, I can read this Proverb as being an explanation of the ineffectiveness and inefficiency of giving honor to a fool.  I get the idea of pulling back a slingshot (from a Y-shaped frame) and letting it go, only to see nothing happen; the elastic bands simply return to their relaxed form and the rock goes nowhere because it's tied to the pouch which holds it onto the slingshot.  However, when I think about a stone tied into one of those ancient-Hebrew-shepherd-slingshots, I realize that this Proverb is not only expressing ineffectiveness -- but also actual danger!  If I were to have tied a stone into my childhood slingshot and swung it around and around and around over my head before trying to release the one strap, the rock wouldn't just go nowhere:  It would come back around towards my head!  The centripetal force of the slingshot would bring that stone back at me, assuming I was still holding onto the slingshot (as I normally would be doing).  And instead of hitting my target, I would be hitting myself!

So when Proverbs 26:8 says that it's like tying a stone in a sling when honor is given to a fool, it's saying that it's downright dangerous to do so.  It's not just that you won't get anywhere or accomplish your goals.  You might actually get beaned in the head.  So, it's more than just silly to give honor to a fool; it's self-destructive.  Something that should be avoided at all costs.  We need to be careful when using our words or our relationships to effectively bestow honor upon someone who is morally depraved.  If we make mistakes in these areas, they can come back to bite us (I also know this from personal experience!).  As we're repeatedly warned throughout the Proverbs, we need to be very cautious when dealing with fools.  Unless you want to get a big goose-egg on your forehead, of course.