Dumb Dads & Wise Kids?

Decided to take just a little bit of break from coffee and devotions, but don't worry We're right back on until the end of the year One of the ways we're going to catch up is we're going to take Proverbs chapter 31, and it's a pretty self-contained unit. So we'll be looking through the Proverbs 31 woman in one week, or sorry, in one day together rather than splitting it up over multiple days. But tonight we're at Proverbs chapter 29, 9 through 16.
Let me jump online here on the computer and make sure everybody's able to be on for that. Okay, let's see. All right. Well, good evening, good evening, good evening. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It's so good to have you here tonight. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Well, why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word.
Before we pray, I wanted to ask this. We have these different traditions in our family for what we do for Thanksgiving, one of them being we always have a Nerf gun war after we have our big meal and then we play a board game in the evening. What's some of the traditions you have in your house? Whether they're really traditional or whether they're a little bit quirky like ours, let me know down in the comments.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your word. We pray now that as we read your word, that you would be our teacher. We pray that you would build us up in our faith. Let us love you and follow after you all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Proverbs chapter 29, verses 9 through 16. Let's go to gospel together. Oh, that's a Jeremiah where I was earlier. Here we go.
If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace." If you're going to fight with a fool, it doesn't matter. You're not going to have peace. Why? Because the fool doesn't want to listen. And so, even if you're wise, what's it saying? Whether the fool rages or laughs, it doesn't matter if he laughs in your face or he screams at you, you're not going to have peace because he doesn't want wisdom.
Verse 10, the bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being. So there are people who are hell-bent on hurting others. You know, our kids and I were just watching Fiddler on the Roof the other night. And they couldn't understand why there would be a pogrom, why there would be this suffering that the Jewish people didn't deserve, nothing of themselves, but they just, why? They asked me just why, and the answer was, they're just bloodthirsty. They're gonna persecute them no matter what. Verse 11. Oh, this is one that will hit close to home for some of us.
A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back. It is not wise to say whatever you want. It is not wise to do whatever you want. It is not wise to vent all your feelings. It's a good way to end up in trouble. It's a good way to lose the promotion that you are working on. It's a good way to hurt your family. When you vent all your feelings, You're like a city broken down without walls. You got no brakes on that car. Just headlong into destruction.
It's one of the things we have to teach our kids. You're not supposed to be governed by your emotions. Don't be controlled by your emotions, but you need to control your own emotions. Self-control is the fruit of the spirit. We can control ourselves.
Sure can. I know especially when angry people, you know, they'll be screaming at their family and really mad at everybody. And then all of a sudden what happens? Oh, hello. It's like all their anger, they're able to control it. You are able to control yourself. Sometimes we just don't want to. But God has called us to. If we're to be wise, we must control ourselves.
If a ruler, verse 12, if a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. When the ruler listens, leans in to those people who are whispering the things in his ears that he wants to hear, and he's giving credence to lies and false reports, people who serve him are going to do the same thing, and the whole nation underneath them crumbles. Verse 13, the poor man and the oppressor have this in common, the Lord gives light to the eyes of both. The poor man and the oppressor, the lowest in society and the highest in society, what do they have in common?
It's God alone who gives them life. This is one of the great things that people don't like in the church. And actually James has to remind the first early church about it. There's no preferentiality with God. Whether rich or poor, God made them both. When you bring people into the church, whether they are the wealthiest of the wealthy or the poorest of the poor, they are ones created in imago Dei, in the image of God. He made them, he gives them their lives. It's God who made us, who created us.
Interestingly, this is a side story. This is one of the reasons why in the American South, many slave owners stopped their slaves from being baptized. Why? Because if they had been baptized, they would have been equal. But the reality was they were equal no matter what. Whether poor or the oppressor, God gave light to both of their eyes. Verse 14, the king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.
Thank the Lord we don't have to settle for eternal security or comfort with any court of our land today. Remember, the king at that time was like the head of the Supreme Court. He was the one who was going to make the final yes and no. And here it's saying, the king who is able to judge with perfect righteousness, his throne's going to be established forever.
His throne is established forever. This is speaking of our King. This is the King of Kings. This is the Lord of Lords. This is the one who will come and rule and who will judge the living and the dead. His name is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who is the King whose throne has been established forever, a throne in righteousness and justice. We can rejoice that our King is good.
Verse 15, the rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. This is one of the things I don't get about modern movies. If you watch most modern children's movies, it's the child who's wise and the parents who are dumb, especially the father. It's the children who have the secret wisdom. It's the children who have the insight. It's the children who are able to know what's really good for the family. And it's the parents who are the idiots. And again, I'm going to just say, especially the father. The father's a dodo brain. He doesn't know how to think. He doesn't have wisdom. He doesn't lead his family. He doesn't serve his family. but he's all for himself and and that the reality is here is no hold on In the biblical family, the parents teach their children wisdom because a child left to themselves brings shame to their mother.
We need to pour ourselves into our children. We need to shepherd our children. We need to love our children. We need to teach our children. We need to disciple our children. We need to discipline our children. We need to pass on the wisdom of God's word to our children. That only happens by spending lots of time with your children.
I hope you're doing it. I know that this is convicting for me. Verse 16, when the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous will see their fall. At the end of the day, when the final trumpet blasts, all the iniquity we see, all the hardships that we see, all the things that we think are wrong in our society, at that last great day, our Lord's gonna make it all right. going to come together.
We need not have any fear. Let's pray. Father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. Father we pray that as we think about you our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords we pray that we would have peace in our hearts and we rejoice in who you are and what you have done. Lord, please give us a good night's sleep tonight. Let us rest in your final work. Let us love you and follow your ways. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may you cling to Jesus Christ. May you love him with all your heart. And may you have a great night's sleep. The Lord gives his loved ones sleep. I pray you rest in him tonight. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.