PROVERBS 9-15 SOLOMONS TWEETS2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Proverbs 9-15 Solomons Tweets

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013.

And as we're in the book of Proverbs, the format that we're using as we're going through Proverbs on Wednesday evenings is a little bit different than kind of a normal service. We changed it up for Psalms. We've changed it up here again for Proverbs. And so what we'll be doing is going chapter by chapter from chapter 9 through 15 this evening. I'll share a few points from each chapter, pulling out a couple of the verses, but I

But then also, after I finish sharing a couple points for each chapter, we want to give you an opportunity to share. If God maybe showed you some wisdom in that chapter, there's a verse that, you know, really spoke to your heart. We want to give you an opportunity to share that. We can't have everybody share, but give, you know, opportunities after each chapter. And so if the Lord's put something upon your heart you want to share, we do have the microphones up here. You don't have to come up here, but they're

set up to be able to pick up your voice and so the people online will be able to hear you and benefit from that as well. But also maybe it's not that you have some wisdom to share but maybe you're trying to gain some wisdom and so maybe there was a question or something that perplexed you in the chapter then at that time you could ask the question or bring up the subject that's concerning you for that passage.

As we begin this evening looking at the Proverbs, just a quick reminder. Proverbs are general principles for life. They're principles that we might be blessed and fulfilled as we live according to these wisdoms or these truths that Solomon will share.

The Hebrew word proverb, it means to be like. And what we see in the proverbs or the individual proverbs is a lot of comparison or contrast. And so they're putting these subjects alongside of each other to help us analyze and consider them or putting them opposite of each other to help us consider and understand the differences between two things. And so doing this helps breathe life really into these proverbs

And there's so much depth here. I mean, we could spend a whole lot of time just on one verse. But of course, we have been reading it throughout the week. And I trust that you have been. And so we're not going to spend, you know, time looking at every verse. But just pulling out some of the highlights from the chapters. I like the way that Warren Wiersbe describes it. He says, a proverb has been defined as a short statement based on long experience.

So there's a lot of experience, a lot of wisdom that is packed into a short statement. And that kind of, you know, in my mind, I put it together as, I title this evening's message as Solomon's Tweets. This is what Solomon would post on Twitter, you know, condensing it all down, 140 characters. It's short, meaningful, thought-provoking, general truths that he has to share with us.

So we pick it up now in Proverbs chapter 9, and I'll start out by looking at verses 4, 5, and 6. It says, whoever is simple, let him turn in here. Now this is speaking about wisdom as wisdom is calling out, saying, whoever is simple, let him turn in here. As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.

forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding. Here we see this picture of wisdom calling out. This invitation is going out and she's saying, if you're simple, if you lack understanding, if you need wisdom, turn in here. It's an invitation from wisdom to come and partake. The point is, and we saw this last week as well, if you don't have wisdom,

You can get it. This wisdom that we're studying here in the book of Proverbs is not something that you're just born with. It's not, you know, some people have book smarts and some people have street smarts. It's not something that you just have naturally. This wisdom is accessible to every one of us. So that wisdom is calling out and saying, come on, learn of me. Receive the wisdom that I have for you.

Then in verse 10 it says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now this was kind of the primary theme of what we looked at last week. The fear of the Lord is where it begins. If you want to turn in and receive the wisdom that is being offered, this invitation begins with fearing God. It begins with fear.

God. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding, it says. We saw Proverbs chapter 2 verse 6. This is kind of a key verse, so make sure you mark that one down. Proverbs 2 verse 6. For the Lord gives wisdom. From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. If you want wisdom, you have to go to God.

But that's where it is. He's the one who gives it out. You can't learn it from some type of class or some type of education. Not even from a book unless of course it's the Bible and you're spending time with God in the Bible. Because you can spend time in the Bible without God and not get any wisdom at all. But connecting with God through His Word.

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He's the one who gives wisdom. And so if you want wisdom, the announcement here is that it is accessible to you. Fear God. Know Him. Talk with Him. Learn of Him. Obey Him. Connect with the Lord. And He will give you wisdom.

Well then, finishing up chapter 9, in verse 16, 17, and 18, it says, Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell. It's interesting, verse 4 and verse 16 are identical.

Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. And as for him who lacks understanding, she's calling out. Now, here in verse 16, 17, and 18, we have not wisdom calling out, but folly. There's an invitation being given from both wisdom and foolishness. And the point is, you have to choose. Which one will you be? Wise or foolish? Wisdom says, come eat of my bread and drink of the wine that I have mixed.

Foolishness says stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Foolishness does not have as much to offer as wisdom does. But the invitation is given. And those who respond don't recognize that the dead are there. Her guests, the guests of foolishness are in the depths of hell. Both wisdom and folly are calling out and you must choose. Which one will you respond to?

Fearing the Lord and drawing near to Him. Or ignoring Him. And responding to foolishness. And the result of that is death. And that's Proverbs chapter 9. Now I want to just open it up and just give you an opportunity. So anybody have something from Proverbs chapter 9 that really ministered to them you want to share? Or maybe something you want to ask about? Maybe we could talk about a little bit. Here in Proverbs chapter 9. I'll give you a couple minutes. A couple seconds.

Go in once. Yeah, Kelly. On 8 and 9. I'm a little confused right now. Alright, so verse 8 and 9 says, Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be wiser still. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

Is there something specific you want to ask about it? Or you want me to just talk about it in general? Okay. So what it's talking about here is a scoffer, if you correct him, he will hate you. It will not be good for you because, well, he does not want to receive instruction. So if you correct him, then he's going to hate you. But a wise person, if you correct him, he will love you. And so it's not so much really about the person doing the correcting. It's about the person receiving the correcting. And it's a good thing.

thing for us to consider. Do you receive instruction? Do you love correction? Do you love to be instructed? And whether or not we're teachable, whether or not we receive instruction gives an indication of whether we are wise or foolish or a scoffer. And so if you give instruction to the wise man in verse 9, he's going to grow in wisdom. If you teach him, he will increase in learning. So there's...

The wise who will grow, who will increase, who will love you when you correct them. And then there's the foolish who will hate you when they are corrected. All right. Proverbs chapter... Oh, Robert. In verse 1 of chapter 9, Wittem had built her house. She had honed out her seven pillars. I couldn't understand that analogy when I read it.

It's talking about wisdom, of course, as a woman. And so it's the personification of wisdom. And the picture that's being painted here is wisdom is far superior. So wisdom has built her house. So it's solid. It's established. Seven pillars. That was something that would be noteworthy, that would be strong. It's not a weak house.

And then going on in verse 2, she's slaughtered her meat, she's mixed her wine, she's furnished her table. That wisdom just has a wealth of resources in contrast to foolishness, which is, you know, here's stolen water, here's, you know, crusty bread, you know, that kind of thing. And so it's that contrast of what wisdom has to offer versus foolishness. Good? Yeah, Zelda.

Yes. It's referring to wisdom. Wisdom is speaking there in that verse. All right. Chapter 10.

Now as we move on into chapter 10, here's where we kind of move into the short sayings, the more traditional things that you think of whenever you think of the book of Proverbs. It's, you know, one line sayings. Every verse is a different subject pretty much. And so there's a wide variety of things that are being talked about.

In the chapters we're looking at tonight, what I've been doing is I'll be highlighting certain subjects. And so here in chapter 10, I'm going to be highlighting a couple of verses that talk about our words. And the book of Proverbs has a lot to say about our words, our tongues, our mouths, and the way that those things are used. And so the first one we see here in verse 11 says, "...the mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked."

Here Solomon is highlighting for us the power of words. Reminding us that words are powerful. It's interesting to consider because although words are powerful, sometimes we use them very carelessly.

I was kind of thinking about it. I always get kind of freaked out whenever I'm using power tools. You know, like I use my hedge trimmer that I just got a while back. And every time I just have these visions of like cutting off some kind of digit or limb or something, you know, of my own. And I just, and it kind of terrifies me a little bit. And so I'm very careful when I'm using that. And I was thinking about the power of our words. If I was as careless

with power tools as I am with my words, I would be missing digits and limbs. There would be those accidents that would happen. And yet words are so much more powerful than just trimming a hedge or drilling a hole. And yet, many times, we're so careless with them and yet they have so much power. And so here, the mouth of the righteous is a well of life. And I would ask you to consider, what do your words bring to people? Life?

Or, he says, violence covers the mouth of the wicked. So do we bring life to people with our words? Or do we bring hurt and harm to people with our words? The mouth of the righteous is a well of life. And that's what we need to be striving for. Verse 19. In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking. But he who restrains his lips is wise.

In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking. Kim and I have this little joke we say to one another. When we know the other is saying something that really they probably shouldn't be saying, we just go, yeah, we shush each other, but nicely and lovingly. Because in the multitude of words, when we're talking a lot, sin is not lacking. So, that's something to keep in mind. Verse 31. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out.

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. You'll see throughout the Proverbs, wisdom and righteousness are inseparable. And so the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom. Because those who are wise, remember how wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Righteousness and wisdom go hand in hand. And so the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom.

But the perverse tongue will be cut out. And so if your mouth does not bring forth wisdom, understand where that puts you. It's not in the camp of righteousness. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked know what is perverse. Our lips...

Our tongues, our mouths, our words, they are trained by us. We teach ourselves what to say and how to speak. And so I would ask you to consider, do you know what is acceptable or do your lips know what is acceptable? Do you know, are you experienced in, are you capable of swearing quite well? Some people are masters at it.

That's the mouth of the wicked. What is perverse? Are you able to insult people just really well? Like you're really just really good at it. Is that what you've trained your mouth? Is that what you are able to share? Or some people go flip to the other side. Are you able to say I love you to the people that you love? Some people have a hard time with that. Have you trained your lips to say what is acceptable? The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. Do you know how to ask for forgiveness and to say I'm sorry?

Are you able to share the right words or are you more skilled in sharing the wrong words? So our mouths, our tongues, our words are powerful.

And we need to be mindful of them. But the root matter is the heart, as Jesus talks about. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so it's not so much that we work really hard on biting our tongue, but that we work really hard on changing our heart. Because when we are righteous, then what is acceptable and what is right is what comes forth. And that's Proverbs chapter 10. Any wisdom to share or wisdom to gain here in Proverbs chapter 10 that you want to add?

Alright, Proverbs chapter 11, verse 2. When pride comes, then comes shame, but with the humble is wisdom. We'll see a lot about pride as well in the book of Proverbs. Of course, the famous one is, pride comes before a fall, which is not an actual quote. It's pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Here we see when pride comes, then comes shame. And we saw this a couple weeks ago on a Sunday morning when Jesus taught that when we exalt ourselves, we will be brought low. And when we bring ourselves low and we humble ourselves, then God will exalt us. And so this is echoing the same thing that Jesus was teaching. When pride comes, then comes shame. That humbling will come when we exalt ourselves. But with the humble...

is wisdom. The wise thing to be is humble and not prideful. Humility, as we talked about a few weeks back, is an accurate view of yourself.

It's looking at and having the perspective of yourself that God has of you. Not that you beat yourself down or you think too little of yourself. No, you're special to the Lord. You have an important part in His plan and His kingdom. And so you need to have His perspective on you. And that is what humility is all about. Verse 4. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

This is a reminder to look to eternity because riches don't do you any good when you stand before God. All the things of this life that we pursue, they do not profit in the day of wrath. Whether it be riches or relationships or power or anything else. There's a lot of things that we can pursue that do not profit us in the day of wrath. They're only concerning the things of this life.

But righteousness does profit in the day of wrath. Righteousness delivers from death. And so we have the option to pursue the temporary or to pursue the eternal. And we get to choose. Verse 30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Again, looking forward at what is beneficial, what is beneficial.

Well, what is that which has eternal value? The fruit of the righteous. What the righteous produce is a tree of life. I began to think of this today like a family tree. What is your spiritual tree, your family tree, your spiritual heritage look like if you were to draw it out? Who are the people in your life that poured into you

To bring you to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. To substantially impact your life and your relationship. Who discipled you and built you up and encouraged you? I began to think about my parents and the influence that they had on my life. Pastor Tom, Pastor Cisco. All these different influences and people who made a huge impact in my life. And then looking from there, then out beyond that. So who are the people...

that I've impacted? Who are the people that I'm pouring into? Where's the fruit? The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. There's this family tree, you know, of all those that have been impacted and influenced and encouraged and built up and benefited from the work that God is doing. I would encourage you to take some time maybe later on and just kind of draw a simple family tree for yourself, a spiritual tree that

Who is those who poured into you? Maybe go back and thank them and encourage them in that. But then also take some time to consider, where's my fruit? Who am I pouring into? Who am I discipling? Who am I helping to draw near to God? Because the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he who wins souls is wise. And that's Proverbs chapter 11. Any wisdom you'd like to share or maybe wisdom to gain here in chapter 11 of Proverbs? Hector. Hector.

Verse 13. That's a good one. Yeah.

Pastor Steve Mays talked about how he was in a plane with Pastor Chuck. Pastor Chuck told him something and somehow ends up going around in circles and came back to Pastor Chuck. And he calls Steve Mays and he's like, remember that thing that I told you about? It's supposed to be to go somewhere else? Well, you told someone else and they say not going anywhere.

And it really spoke to me because a lot of times, you know, you have certain things and you want to ask to see the body or anything like that. And sometimes things tend to go around and come back to you and hurt. That's one of those things that I'm always trying to make sure that those people have.

Good stuff. Thanks, Hector. All right. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 1.

Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. I love how Solomon just says it right out, right? Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge. So, show of hands, who really enjoys being rebuked? Anybody really enjoy it? Who loves instruction?

That person loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. It's something to consider. And this is something, you know, real serious for me because I hate to be corrected. It drives me, it's so irritating, it drives me insane. And, uh...

It's something that I think I'm going to have to struggle with for the rest of my life. I don't think I'm going to raise my hand and say, I love to be rebuked. I love to be corrected. No, I love it when I'm right. I love it when I get to take your words and throw them right back in your face and say, see, you know, I told you so. I like that. But that is not wisdom. It's not righteousness. And so we need to be careful to love instruction well.

and to not hate correction. Warren Wiersbe says, The way you respond to criticism and rebuke reveals the kind of person you are. Scoffers will not listen to rebuke or love those who rebuke them.

The wise person knows that rebuke is evidence of love and will value it and gain understanding from it. So that's the kind of wisdom we need to have. To value correction, to love those who will bring correction to us and to gain understanding from it. Verse 15, The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.

Think about it this way. Are you ever surprised when people think differently than you? Are you ever surprised when someone has a different opinion? You know, when your favorite person on The Voice went home and the rest of America is wrong? Are you surprised when... Silly example, I know, but that's okay. I'm surprised a lot of times. Like, really, you think that? Really? That's what you think? That's how you see it? Sometimes it's surprising. Why is it so surprising? Why is it so surprising?

Because the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. Because we're very convinced that we're right. When I was going to Bible college, I had a class with Pastor David Hawking. And he would often say this. He would say, of course you think you're right. If you didn't, you would change your mind. If you thought you were wrong, you would change your mind. Of course you think you're right.

And it's so hard for us to really kind of expand our understanding or expand our vision a little bit to say, maybe I don't have the full understanding. Maybe I'm not the final authority. But that's exactly what we need to do. The fool is convinced I'm right and will not be swayed from that. Doesn't matter what you say, what arguments you bring. But wisdom understands there's a lot more to life than we know about. And wisdom

Yeah, it's very easily possible. It's maybe even likely I'm wrong. And so we need to have that heart and that attitude. Again, to love instruction, to recognize our own frailty. Verse 26. The righteous should choose his friends carefully for the way of the wicked leads them astray. The righteous should choose his friends carefully. This is important for us to consider. We need to be careful.

About who we spend time with. About who our friends are. Who are we receiving counsel from or instruction from. Choose your friends carefully. Why? Well, because the way of the wicked leads them astray. Every one of us is vulnerable to being led astray. There's not a single one of us who is not vulnerable to this. We can all be led astray. And so we need to be very careful about who we receive from and who our friends are.

Because if our friends are wicked, then very likely we will be led astray. And so we kind of need to have a distinction in our minds. That there are those who are our friends, that are believers in Jesus, that love the Lord, that will provide us good counsel when we talk to them, and remind us of what the Word of God says. And those are the people that need to be our friends.

That doesn't mean we disconnect from the world. And that's a mistake that some people make. Like, I'm only going to be around. I'm only going to talk to you. I'm only going to have lunch with those who are of the same persuasion. No, no. Those need to be your friends, fellow believers. When you come in contact outside of that circle, then you need to be conscious of, I'm on the mission field. And my job is not to receive from the wicked.

but to share with the wicked, to minister to the wicked, and to recognize the different sources that are coming into your life and distinguishing between the righteous and the wicked. And that's what I have for Proverbs chapter 12. Any wisdom to share or wisdom to gain here in Proverbs chapter 12? Yeah. Harvey. I liken that verse 26 with being unequally yoked. Hmm.

That's it. Good. Being unequally yoked. That's how you know Harvey is a man of wisdom. He just says one line. If you don't get it, you're a fool. Great. Thanks Harvey for sharing. Anything else from Proverbs chapter 12 before we move on? So don't be unequally yoked. Alright, chapter 13 now. Verse 7.

This is an interesting verse to consider. And you can look at it really from several different angles. Remember how Jesus said, Here Solomon says,

And there are those who fill their lives with things of this life. Now, you can substitute riches here again for relationships, power, all kinds of different things that we pursue in this life. And we might attain those things. And you might become very wealthy and that's what your pursuit is. Or you might get that relationship or you might achieve that position. You might get what it is that you're longing for and striving for. And even though you obtained that,

you'll find out that you actually have nothing. You might be wealthy, but then you lose what has the most value, and that is your own soul. That's what Jesus said. There's another angle to look at this and consider though, and that is that life is unpredictable. There are those who work really hard to attain riches, to attain wealth, and they end up with nothing. And then there are those who, well, they're foolish, and they make themselves poor. They waste money.

And yet somehow they attain riches. Life is unpredictable. People are so convinced that they can achieve what they want. So then they write books about it, right? Hey, if you want to be rich, follow these 12 steps that I did. And then you can be rich too. And there's this great motivation and push to, yeah, you can do it. Just believe in yourself. But life is actually unpredictable. And so you can work real hard and you can follow all those 12 steps and still end up with nothing.

So don't be putting your hope on the things of this life. Jesus taught us that you have to lose your life in order to find it. We need to really just surrender to Him. If He wants us to have riches, well, that's up to Him. If He wants us to be poor, that's up to Him. We really need to just surrender to Him. Verse 11, Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase.

This is a great verse because, well, I used to work at a company called First Financial Funding. I was an underwriter for second mortgages. And I dealt with, fought with, wrestled with sales guys. Yeah, those sales people selling those loans. And, well, I would print out this verse really big and I would post it around the wall in different rooms of the office because wealth gained by dishonesty...

will be diminished. But he who gathers by labor will increase. There was a lot of sneaky underhanded things that they would do or try to do. And there's a lot of things that you could probably try to do in your life too. All it requires is just, you know, a little bit of dishonesty. All you got to do is just, you know, modify the numbers a little bit here or cut some corners there or do this or do that. Dishonesty, well, it will not result in great increase, Solomon says.

But he who gathers by labor. That is, you earn what you rightfully deserve. What you rightfully earn. You gain or gather by labor. And that will increase. Then verse 22. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

I think this is a good one for us to consider because we live in a whole different era than what Solomon is living in. We don't think a whole lot about our children's children. At least I don't. It's not popular in our culture. It's not prominent in our culture to think about leaving an inheritance to your children's children. It's really more about right now and what you can enjoy and what you can have. And it's all about right now.

But the Bible really does call us to be prudent and wise. And to look ahead and to consider ahead and to, well, use wisdom in your finances. Are you a good man? Are you a good woman? Will you leave an inheritance to your children's children?

Not only because, well, you've been wise and stored up some finances for them, but then also the idea here is that your children's children will benefit because you've been righteous. And so they'll be able to receive that because you've walked with God. You've been walking uprightly. As opposed to the wicked or the sinner, the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. Someone else is going to receive it, even though they did try to save it up for their kids' kids.

their children's children's, but because they were sinful, they will not see that. And so there's a spiritual benefit here and there's a financial benefit. Both are important for us to consider. And I would say if you need help with that, you know, Dave and Jackie have been teaching that financial class off and on and I know they would love to do it again if there's interest. And so definitely talk to them to prepare for your children's children that they might be provided for. And that's Proverbs chapter 13.

Any wisdom to share or wisdom to gain here in Proverbs chapter 13? Alright, chapter 14. Verse 2. He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him. This is a good verse to consider because often times if we are practicing sin, we have ways of justifying it in our own hearts and minds so that we...

Well, we'll say things like, well, I love the Lord. I really do love God. But I just have this issue. I have this lifestyle. I have this thing in my life. But that doesn't mean I don't love God. I love God. But here's what Solomon says. If you walk in uprightness, then you fear the Lord. But if you're perverse in your ways, you despise the Lord. You really can't say, yeah, I love God, but I just live in sin. Right?

That's not an accurate statement. If you live in sin, if you continue on in that rebellion against God, well, it's the evidence that you actually despise the Lord. You can't say that you love Him. Verse 27, The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to turn one away from the snares of death. Again, that fear of the Lord, that loving the Lord, turns you away from those things. That's what the fear of the Lord is all about. Repentance.

Turning from sin, stopping, ceasing. So fear the Lord, love Him, and turn away from sin. Verse 4 is also a great verse. Where no oxen are, the trough is clean. But much increase comes by the strength of an ox. There's this balance that you're going to have to wrestle with. Now this is, of course, you know, in their culture, very...

clear in their minds because they all had experience with this. I've never had to clean the trough of an oxen or an ox. So, you know, it's not, I get what he's saying, but it's not, I don't have that experience. But if there's no oxen there, the trough is clean. So piece of cake. I don't have to maintain it. Not much work needs to be done. But if I don't have an ox, then there will also not be much increase.

And so I won't have that much increase. I won't have that much growth. And so then I get an ox so that I can have more increase. But then when I get that ox, then now the trough isn't clean no more. Now I got to clean the trough because I have an ox because I wanted some increase. And there's this balance that, well, we're going to have to wrestle with. In order to increase, it's going to cost.

There's going to be work involved. There's going to be labor involved. We want the increase without the cost. And again, that's where the dishonesty comes in. That's where all kinds of things come in that are not of the Lord. The balance is there is increase and there is the labor that goes along with it. So you could think of it perhaps, you know, hey, if you don't have a car, then you don't have to spend a lot of money on gas. So you're like, woo, you know, gas is high, but hey, that's no problem to me because I don't,

I don't have to spend any money on gas. But then if you don't have a car, then you can't get very far. So there's this balance. So I get a car so I can get far, but now I've got to spend money on gas. They kind of pull at each other. And so there's this balance to life that with the increase comes the cost. And so we need to recognize that and acknowledge that. Verse 7. Go from the presence of a foolish man when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge. Here Solomon instructs us to depart from the foolish.

A lot of times we love foolish people and we want to reach them. But Proverbs has a lot to say about the fool. The fool is not someone who is just not educated or uninformed. The fool is someone who knows the truth and has refused it.

And there's no amount of arguing, there's no amount of talking, there's no amount of persuading that really you can do unless God gives you a prophetic word, then that's a whole different thing. But just speaking in general, Solomon says, depart from the foolish man. Leave them to their foolishness. Let the destruction come. Because that's one of the ways that God will reach out.

To the foolish. Is bringing destruction. So if you don't perceive in him. The lips of knowledge. You know you kind of share. You talk. You evaluate. Yeah there's no growth here. There's no receiving of the truth. Solomon says go from the presence. Of that foolish man.

Verse 10, the heart knows its own bitterness and a stranger does not share its joy. Verse 13, even in laughter, the heart may sorrow and the end of mirth may be grief.

I threw these in just as a reminder that we should be cautious and careful. Again, our words are powerful, right? And as we talk to one another, we need to keep in mind that the heart knows its own bitterness. You don't really know the bitterness of the heart of the person that you're speaking with or talking to.

that there's a lot of things that are very personal to us, that we experience personally. And even though someone is laughing, their heart may be in sorrow. There may be great grief there.

And so I think it's a good reminder that there's a lot more than what's happening on the surface. As we talk to people, as we relate to people, or even as maybe God puts something on your heart to share with somebody and you think, well, Lord, they don't need to be encouraged. I mean, they're laughing. They seem like they're having a good time. They don't need this encouragement that you've put on my heart. But don't just be looking at the surface and understand there's a lot more in the depths that is going on.

That's what I have for Proverbs chapter 14. Any thing to add to that? Wisdom to share or wisdom to gain here in Proverbs chapter 14? Hector. Verse 17. Yes, sir.

Good. Thank you, sir, for sharing. A quick-tempered man acts foolishly. It's a good question to ask, right?

How many of the things that you've done in a fit of anger have you been proud of and happy about later on? Yeah, I would have done the same thing, right? No, no, no. Those are the things when we lose our temper. Those are the things that we regret. So, a quick-tempered man acts foolishly. Great. Proverbs chapter 15. Verse 3.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. And then verse 11. Hell and destruction are before the Lord, so how much more the hearts of the sons of men. Again, we just talked about last chapter, right? There's a lot more happening in the heart than what we see on the surface. And here, Solomon lets us know, the Lord sees what's happening on the heart. You and I, we might look at each other, we can't see what's happening within.

But the Lord, well, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. He sees the evil and He sees the good. He's watching. He's paying attention. He sees the great atrocities that are happening around the world. He's not blind to those things. He sees them. He knows exactly what is going on. The evil that perhaps you participate in, He sees that.

He's not clueless. He's not deceived. He sees. He's everywhere. He's watching. He points out there in verse 11, Hell and destruction are before the Lord. So how much more the hearts of us. Our hearts are laid open and bare before the Lord. He sees it all. He knows the thoughts. He knows the plans. He knows the intentions, the motivations, the imaginations.

Whether they be good or bad, He knows it all. And that is what you must keep in mind. And again, it brings us back to the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Because God knew all of that. And He still sent His Son to die upon the cross for us. He's not surprised by our wickedness, our sinfulness. He's not surprised by the wickedness of this world. But it's for that wickedness that He sent us a Savior that we might be forgiven.

And so we must never think that we are fooling God, we're tricking God, or that He doesn't see. He does see, and that's why He offers us forgiveness, because He knows how much we need it. Verse 8, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Now, here's where you can kind of see these things that are laid side by side, these parallels, these contrasts. Here you have the sacrifice. We would think of the sacrifice as something weighty, something impressive, something costly. But the prayer of the upright... Now, prayer, what does that cost you? It doesn't cost you very much. I mean, it's easy to offer it.

So if we, in our earthly minds, were to compare what's better to give to God, prayer or sacrifice. Sacrifice is better. That's the way that we would think. And so using the way that we would think, the way that we categorize this, Solomon leaves them side by side to say, look, if the wicked person offers what we would consider greater to the Lord, it's not viewed the same way by him. It's an abomination to him.

And so if a wicked person offers a sacrifice, gives to God a great deal, great cost, that doesn't change their standing before God. We're always convinced that we can make up for our wickedness with sacrifice. Man, God, I really blew it. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to lay out our sacrifice. Here's how I'm going to make it up to you. I'm going to compensate you for the wickedness that I've done. But that sacrifice,

Well, Solomon says that's an abomination. You can't pay God back for your sin, for your wickedness. But the prayer of the upright is His delight. And so where's your heart at? If you fear the Lord, He delights in your prayers. You're walking with God. He's not demanding some great cost of you, except for that you surrender your life. That's a whole separate thing. But He's asking for your prayers. Spend time with Him. Talk with Him. He delights in that.

Don't think that you can pay God back for wickedness by some great sacrifice. That's an abomination to the Lord. Because it doesn't come close to what is actually required. And that was why Jesus died. Because that was what was required. Verse 26.

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant. And then verse 29, The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. And so we're seeing this contrast between the righteous and the wicked. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination. Now again, he's contrasting here this idea of thoughts versus words. The words of the pure are pleasant to the Lord, but the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord.

Are you righteous or are you wicked? He says in verse 29 that the Lord is far from the wicked. There's a separation there because of sin, because of wickedness. But if you're righteous, He hears your prayers. He's right there with you. Now again, we don't earn that righteousness. We don't work at it. It's not that we earn favor with God, but it's by faith in Jesus Christ. Fearing the Lord, walking with Him, departing

from evil and then our words are pleasant to the Lord and he hears our prayers and he's right there with us but don't think that you can practice wickedness and be close to God or make up for it by sacrifices that's an abomination to the Lord and that's Proverbs chapter 15 any thoughts to add wisdom to share wisdom to gain as we close up Jake? yeah just on the same kind of pathway that you're on I guess you could say

Verse 8, sacrifice and witness abominations of the Lord with the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. And just growing up, having Catholic family members, this is a verse that my dad made me.

Christian man that he was would throw at my uncle's face around the time of like Lent because they were giving out stuff and he was just like, but you're wicked and you're sacrificing the abomination to the Lord. But then I kind of personalized it as I was thinking about it this morning and kind of thinking about obedience being greater than sacrifice.

It just how, in my life and our Christian walks, how it's easy for us to do that, be religious. To kind of like, oh, I went to church today. Oh, I read my Bible in three years today.

you know, I'm good. You know, I talk nicely to somebody and we kind of build up these little check boxes and we think we're good. But then I think of my own heart and the disobedience that still remains there. The simple things that the Lord has asked me personally, Jake, you need to let go of that. Or Jake, I want you to stop doing that.

But still I hold on to those small things and that disobedience is just, you know, still making my heart just, you know, a wicked before the Lord. And how those things need to be dealt with as well, you know, in our own hearts and our walks with the Lord. You know, before just bringing sacrifice continually thinking, you know, God's going to accept this. But just really focusing on the simple obedience that the Lord's called us to. And so, you know, that's how I kind of personalized it for myself as well.

Awesome. Thank you for sharing. Alright, and I'm going to put her on the spot. Kim, you want to share about verse 16? Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble. That's a good verse. That's the verse that the Lord spoke to me about my job. I was very fearful of quitting and not having any money and the Lord said, it's better to have a little and fear the Lord and trust Him and honor Him than to

have more men who have more luxuries and have a lot of trouble. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Lord, we thank you for this evening, the wisdom that you've shared. I pray, Lord, now that you would help us to receive the instruction, to take heed, and Lord, to think about our lives and live differently as a result of what you have spoken.

So Lord, lead us and guide us, we pray, by the power of your Holy Spirit. And I pray that you'd bless our week, God, that you would help us to be wise with our words, wise with our finances, wise with our relationship with you, and our relationship with others. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.