Proverbs 14:22-35

I want, of course, the book you want is always at the bottom. The Proverbs are full of wisdom. Sometimes it's difficult to understand because it's really pithy statements. You don't have a lot of context. This is something I use quite a bit. So it's a Today's Parallel Bible. You can get it with a whole bunch of different translations. This one is NIV, New American Standard, King James and New Living Translation. I really like it because even though I can read the Hebrew, it's helpful to figure out how have other people chewed through this as they translate. So that's something I just wanted to share with you this morning.
I'm going to jump back over here and make sure everybody is live over there. Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. Today we are at Proverbs chapter 14, verses 22 through 35. It's so good to have you this morning. 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 congratulations, once you finish this chapter, you are almost halfway through the Proverbs.
We're so close. We're in for a treat today. 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 what a blessing it is to sit at your feet, to hear from you, and to learn from you. Father, we pray that you would be our teacher. Please bless us this day in Jesus' name. Amen. Here we go.
Proverbs chapter 14 beginning at verse 22. They do not go astray, do they not go astray who devise evil, but mercy and truth to those who devise good. Conspirators always lose out, but if you want to have truth and mercy and friendship and faithfulness follow after you, be someone who goes after the truth, not a conspirator, not someone who devises evil. Verse 23, and all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads to poverty.
Whatever you find your hands to do, do it with all your might. Work with your hands. Work with your mind. Whatever God's given you to do, whether it's working on the farm or changing baby's diapers or whether you're running a daycare or you're working You know, in a factory line, whatever it is, work, right? Work hard with all your might.
Don't just be a person who's all talk, but no work. I had a friend who ran a business, and Bart would tell me, he would tell his guy who was supposed to go out and get sales, he's like, well, I have all these leads, and Bart would say, families can't eat leads. You need to stop talking, and you need to actually convert leads to clients, right? You can have all the talk you want, but it doesn't feed you. here we go verse 23 or verse 24 the crown of the wise is their riches but the foolishness of fools is folly wise wisdom makes wealth but fools what do they make folly it's it's in the general sense this is true but it's especially true in a spiritual sense What is the crown of the wise?
It's the fear of the Lord. And as they fear the Lord, they heap up riches for themselves. They heap up understanding and insight, and they know how to go forward. But fools, fools just, the garland around their neck is falling. It just shows more and more.
Verse 25, a true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies. Oh, is this true? The ninth commandment, it must be kept, right? That we are not to bear false testimony, but we're supposed to speak the truth. And in all circumstances, it's best to speak the truth. It is always wise to speak the truth. It might hurt, but it's going to preserve life. Even though it might hurt, we must be those who are radically about the truth.
Verse 26, the fear of the Lord. In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence and his children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to turn one away from the snares of death. Do you want confidence? Do you want to have a refuge for your soul? Fear the Lord. Do you want to go to a well that could give you living water? Go to Jesus Christ. Go to the Lord. Fear the Lord. Revere the Lord. Love the Lord. That's where you'll find satisfaction for your soul. and him and his children will have a place of refuge.
Verse 28, and a multitude of people is a king's honor, but the lack of people is a downfall of a prince. There's a reality there, right? If a king doesn't have any subjects, is he much of a king? No, not at all. If a prince doesn't have anyone following him, is he much of a leader? No. But when there's many people who willingly, lovingly serve their leader, it's their honor.
Verse 29, he who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly. We often think of the person who's zealous and going for things, and yet they're impulsive. The Lord says that impulsiveness is foolishness. If we are quick to run into things, if we're quick to make judgments, if we're quick to fight, it's foolishness. It hurts people. It's not godliness.
But he who is slow to wrath has great understanding. It's the Lord himself who says he is slow to anger and abounding in mercy. And even though His mercy might seem like it's always there, His wrath is coming because He is slow to anger. People presume upon His mercy all the time. But if we're wise, we'll be like Him. We don't need to make our anger known right that moment. But we can be slow. We can be gracious.
Verse 30, a sound heart is life to the body. But envy is rottenness to the bones." Piety will keep you physically, right? But sinfulness, guilt, and it's like Psalm 51 that tells us that it's the Lord who crushes our spirit, right? When we have guilt and we heap up upon ourselves, it's rottenness to our bones. It's like the marrow inside of our bones is poison in and of itself. Envy is rottenness to the bones.
Don't envy others. Be content. Love the Lord. Go after Him. That'll bring health to your soul and to your body. Verse 31, he who oppresses the poor reproaches his maker, but he who honors him has mercy on the needy. What's the second greatest commandment? To love your neighbor as yourself. We bring honor to our maker when we don't despise the poor.
Jesus became poor. Did you realize that? When Jesus was human, he's human now, right? He still has a flesh, but when Jesus walked upon this earth, God didn't put him in a palace to live with princes, but he gave him into a poor family. A family so poor they couldn't afford a ram or a sheep, but they had to bring a pigeon, a dove, to give to the Lord as an offering.
The second person of the Trinity, God himself humbled himself into the likeness of a poor human. He doesn't despise the poor, but he loves the poor. So if we want to be like him, if we want to go after him, we must not be like those who James says shows preference to the rich, but we show love to all.
The wicked is banished in his wickedness, verse 32. The wicked is banished in his wickedness, but the righteous has a refuge in death. The New American Standard Bible says, the wicked is thrust down by his wrongdoing. The wicked is thrust down by his wrongdoing, but even in death, the righteous have a refuge. Even in death the righteous have a refuge. Because where do we go? What's the worst that can happen? Somebody kills us? Okay, so we go to be with the Lord. There's a mansion for us, and Jesus has gone and prepared a room for it.
So for even the righteous has a refuge in his death. Verse 33, wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known. So wisdom is enshrined in the hearts of the understanding. When we know the Lord, when we meditate on His Word, when we think our thoughts after Him, we have understanding, we have wisdom in our hearts. But for the wicked, for the fool, everybody knows what sin is hard. And what's there? Folly. Going after the things of this world, going after the desires of their own heart, not after the Lord.
Verse 34, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. There is a correlation between the righteousness of a people and the prosperity of that nation and the longevity of that nation. There might be a blip on the radar of a country that is immoral and prospers, but in the grand scheme of things, those nations come up and fall, come up and die. They might be glorious in their wealth and short in their lifespan. But a nation who seeks after the Lord, who loves righteousness, who follow after Him, who don't pervert justice, whose leaders aren't given over to corruption and bribery, those nations are established. The nations that love truth are prosperous. God exalts those nations. But sin is a reproach to any people, and indeed, the nations that revel in sin will be reproached by those nations. Let's go to verse 35.
The king's favor is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him who causes shame. The king shows favor to a wise servant. The king knows his servants who follow him, who love him, who do his bidding, but a servant who brings him shame, who the king sends out and is supposed to do good work for the king and causes shame, the king's like, dude, I despise him. That guy just won't follow me.
He doesn't bring glory to my name. What type of servant are you? He sent us out into the world to be a light into the world. Do we show that light? Are we good servants? Again, this is not saying that we earn that favor. No, God has already shown us that favor if we are in Christ. But do we give a faithful testimony to the righteousness and wisdom of our King?
I pray that you go to the fount. I pray that you walk your life. in the light of Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the love that you have shown us in Jesus Christ that we can go to the well and drink deeply. We thank you that you are our King. And we pray that we would love as you have loved and walk as you teach us to walk. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may you walk in the love of Jesus Christ. May you love like Jesus Christ loved. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.