Proverbs 10:22-32

Okay. Well, good evening, good evening. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. 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. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. 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, you would care for us, bless us, watch over us, and teach us. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, Proverbs chapter 10, beginning at verse 22. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. And the Lord blesses, we are rich, we are rich indeed.
Not just monetarily, but spiritually, and our family, and our consciences. I mean, this is one of the beautiful things about, I love when I actually meet wealthy Christians. not because they're wealthy, but the sense of peace they have about the wealth the Lord has given them and how generous they are with it. It's not a sorrow to them, but they are eager to do good things with it.
To do evil is like sport to a fool, but a man of understanding has wisdom. The fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted. When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation."
Right? Fools love evil, right? That's what verse 22 is saying. To do evil is like sport to the fool. right? The foolish person loves to get in trouble, loves to be the bad boy, loves to play the bad girl, right? Just heaps trouble upon themselves. But a man of understanding has wisdom, right? And what is wisdom? Wisdom, the beginning of wisdom, is the fear of the Lord to walk in his path to turn neither to the right nor to the left. This is what wisdom is. And so the wise man has understanding to know, I ain't gonna go that way. I know that way leads to death. I know that way leads to pain. That way might look good, but its end is wrong. And that's when the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more. The wicked are going to be gone.
But the righteous, what does verse 25 say? But the righteous has an everlasting foundation. Praise God we have a rock to stand upon when the trials and tribulations of this life come, that we have a sure foundation. And as the scriptures tell us, Jesus is that cornerstone by which we are able to stand with a foundation being laid by the apostles and the prophets. We have a sure foundation. We can have courage. We can have strength. We can have hope. if we are wise, if we fear the Lord. Verse 26, oh I love this one.
As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a lazy man to those who send him, right? As vinegar to the teeth, you know, and smoke to the eyes. Just go away, right? That's what it's, it's annoying. The same way a lazy person is to the person who sends them to go do work. The manager is always worried about the lazy person. Where'd they go? What are they doing? They're just annoying to me. Why won't they just do what they're supposed to do? That's what the fool does. Just doesn't actually listen.
Whatever you find to do, do with all your might as unto the Lord. Verse 27, the fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. This is both true in this life and eternally. First, let's start with this life. In our denomination, we've had this problem where pastors overpay for life insurance. Pastors overpay for life insurance. And as one elder said, the problem is these pastors, they just live way out of the actuarial tables. And so the denomination is taken to task. Why? Because, well, righteous living comes with it, and again this is a principle not a promise, but typically prolongs life. So working hard, not being lazy, getting enough sleep, not being a drunkard or a glutton. These things prolong your life.
But the years of the wicked will be shortened. I was kind of amazed when I looked at my own family history and people who kind of weren't walking with the Lord, not kind of weren't, they weren't walking with the Lord and treated their bodies not as a temple of the living God, but however they wanted to, they died young. But I was amazed when I was looking at my family tree, the generations before that who hadn't lived so wild of lives, they had much longer lives. I mean, by a big margin, by like 15, 20 years more on their life.
But see, even in this life, when we look at the righteous versus the wicked, we need to remember that our life is an eternal life. A life where we spend forever with God. Versus the lifespan of the wicked is relatively short, right? They might enjoy the pleasures of this life now, but their lives are going to be short. So have that eternal perspective.
Verse 28, the hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The hope of the righteous is gladness, right? We find gladness in the Lord, strength in the Lord, hope in the Lord, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The wicked think, if I do these things, I'll be happy. If I live my life this way, I'm going to have all the pleasures that I could want. Brothers and sisters, it is us who find our hope and our joy in the Lord who will be satisfied forever. Our hope will be gladness, but the way of the wicked It will perish.
The way of the Lord is the strength of the upright, verse 29, but destruction will come upon the workers of iniquity. Again, the way of the Lord is strength for the upright. When we walk in his ways and follow his paths, he strengthens our hands. He tells us, do not grow weary of doing good. There's long life that is the goal of the end for the Christian. We can enjoy God forever.
But the destruction will come to the workers of iniquity. For it is appointed for every man to die once, and after this the judgment. The wicked will die. The righteous will live forever. Do we find our righteousness in Jesus Christ? Find our life hidden in Him? If we are in Him, then we also have life everlasting. The last section, 30 through 32.
The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not inhabit the earth. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. Isn't that a beautiful principle? This reality that the righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not inhabit the earth.
This is what the Lord was showing with removing of the Canaanites from the land. He wasn't going to allow them to be removed quite yet because their iniquity had not yet been fulfilled, but eventually they were going to be driven off and his people were going to get the land. But what happened when his people were not faithful to the covenant? They were taken away from the land.
This is the reality that we needed the righteous one to come, that we might inhabit the heavenly places forever. We have the righteousness of Jesus Christ and will never be removed. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. Thank the Lord every foolish tongue will be stopped. Every mouth will be closed. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse."
It never ceases to amaze me when I hang out with people who are not Christians, the things that will come out of their mouth. I have to sit there and just kind of shake my head and just walk away. Sometimes I'll say something. this you could tell that they have this joke that they shouldn't tell and this perverse thing that they want to say it gives them delight in their heart like oh I can't wait to say this this joke do this say this thing that's going to that's going to be inappropriate in this situation they know it and yet they'll still do it. delight in that perverseness. But yet what does God tell the Christian to do?
To impart grace to those who hear. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. We know this in our conscience. You know it. You have the power in your tongue to give life or death. How will you use it? Well, lots of things for us to think about today.
Let's pray. Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit might teach us to live out these things. Lord, we pray that we would use our tongues for your glory. We pray that we would hope for eternal glory. We pray that we would rest in Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that we would be busy about the work you give us to do. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May you fear the Lord. May you walk in His paths. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.