Proverbs 15:14-23

Well, good morning, good morning. 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. Oh, Daniel's tired. 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. What a blessing it is. What a privilege it is to be your children and to read your word. to sit at your feet. We pray, Holy Spirit, that you would be our teacher in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, we'll close out of that over there and grab our Bible.
And we are at Proverbs chapter 15, verses 14 through 23. Proverbs 15, verses 14 through 23. I'm gonna go ahead and grab the microphone here so it's a little bit closer so you all can hear us well. All right, 15, 14. You guys ready? All right. The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness. I'm going to read you guys a paraphrase of that, okay? So here we go. Here's it said another way. A wise person is hungry for knowledge while the fool feeds on trash.
What do you think that's teaching us? Well, okay, so wise people are good, bad people are bad, yeah, but what do wise people like? They get to, like, ask other people, like, what do you think? Yeah, right, they want to get understanding, right? And match that with their own worldview. Okay, yeah, but foolish people, what do foolish people do? People just feed, feed, feed on trash. Feed, feed, feed on trash, but more specifically, like, foolishness. Okay, Nathan, can you read verse 15? All the days of the afflicted are evil. But he who is of merry heart has a continual feast.
Alright. Do you guys remember the movie we watched the other day about Winnie the Pooh? It was Winnie the Pooh and he had a friend named Eeyore. Do you remember Eeyore the donkey? Thanks for remembering me. It's nice to be remembered. it's probably going to rain.
Right? Was he a very happy person? No. No, right? So verse 15, all the days of the afflicted are evil, right? Every day for them is like an Eeyore day. Right? But, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast. Right? So emotions can color how we view the world. How we feel about things can change how we see things. All right, Debra, can you read verses 16 and 17? Right here.
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble. Better is the dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted calf with hatred. What do you guys think that's talking about? Is it better to fear the Lord or to have a whole bunch of stuff? It's better to fear the Lord. Yeah. Are you out of tea?
Okay, you can sit right here with me, okay All right So yeah It's better to fear the Lord than to have a whole bunch of stuff because you know what often comes with a whole bunch of stuff a whole bunch of trouble Yeah, right And it's better to have a dinner of herbs where love is right? It's better to just eat salads all day long and It's better to have a dinner of herbs with love than to have a feast where people don't actually like each other. Is it fun when when there's like a whole bunch of tension in our house and even though mommy might have made an amazing meal? Or would you rather when we just have like a salad for dinner, but everybody's in a happy mood and loving each other?
Yeah. Okay, Nathan, can you read verse 18? Okay, you can put it on the table if you're all done. A laze contention. Yeah, right. So a hot-tempered person always causes fights. Yeah, right. But somebody who's slow to anger, they know how to make peace. Yeah, right. So a person patient A patient person knows how to calm a fight. Alright, so what do you guys think? Should we be a hot-tempered person or should we be a patient person? Patient person. That's right, patients. We should be like God, right? Is God long-suffering? I'll be reading. Where are we? To verse 23. We're almost done.
Okay, the way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, but the way of the upright is like a highway. So if you're going to live your life as a sluggard, be ready to have a whole bunch of thorns in your life. It's going to be painful and difficult. If you don't like to work, life is going to be painful and difficult. But, if your life is righteous, if you're following the ways of the Lord and working hard to go His paths, It's like a highway.
Do you think it's easier to drive through the corn field when the corn is still standing, or do you think it's easier to drive on the asphalt? Asphalt. Yeah, right. It's easier to drive on the asphalt, right? That's what this is saying here. Okay, Nathan, you want to read verse 20? A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother. Oh, you tell me what you think that means. Uh, like a good child makes the father glad, but a bad child is like the grief of his battle. But he doesn't even honor his mommy. Yeah. Right. Daniel, do you think that daddy rejoices when you're doing well? Yeah. Yeah. Does it make daddy very glad when I see you dishonoring your mama? No way, Jose. Right, Debra, what about verse 21? Yeah, no way, Jose. You want to read verse 21?
Right here. Folly is a joy to him who is destitute. So, folly is a joy to him who is destitute of discernment. But a man of understanding walks uprightly. Alright, so folly is a joy. So, somebody who doesn't know anything, guess what they like? Folly. Folly. But a man who loves understanding, what do they like? To walk uprightly. Okay, almost done. Verse 22. Without counsel, plans go awry. But in the multitude of counselors, they are established. What do you think that's teaching us? If there's no counselors, what's the point?
Well, things can go wrong. Right, this is why we need to make sure we get other opinions and we get other people to second-check our work and we want to make sure that we're doing things the right way and we have the right plan. Okay, this is one of the things that Daddy loves about having elders in the church because sometimes I might think, oh we should do something such-and-such a way and you know what Mr. Smith and Mr. Poling do? No, that's not it. We think there's a better idea. And then they come up with an idea that I'm like, whoa, I never would have thought about that.
It's a good thing to have a multitude of counselors. All right, what about verse 23? Nathan, can you read that? Right here, a man. A man had joy by the answer of his mouth and a word spoken. Sorry. and a word spoken. A man has joy by the answer of his own mouth. When you guys are doing your schoolwork, is it nice when you know the answer? Or maybe when you're trying to help a friend and you're able to tell them the right thing at the right time? Is that like, Oh, I'm so glad I was able to help that person. Yeah, right. So when we when we have joy in the answer of our mouths, because a word spoken in due season, how good it is, it's good to know the right thing to say at the right time in the right way. Right. Okay. Well, why don't we pray?
Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the wisdom that you've given us in your word by your spirit. We pray now that we would have wisdom in our hearts, that we would walk in your ways. We need your spirit to do this in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may you walk. We're almost there. May you walk in the joy of Jesus Christ. May you love God's wisdom and follow His ways. May you always rejoice in your Savior. Have a word fitly spoken for those you come into contact with today. We'll see you tomorrow. Or no, we'll see you on Monday. Bye. You guys want to say bye? Bye.