Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for this day and for your Word. As we read, bless and care for us and help us learn from you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
6 In the house of the righteous there is much treasure,
But in the revenue of the wicked is trouble.
7 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,
But the heart of the fool does not do so.
8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But He loves him who follows righteousness.
10 Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way,
And he who hates correction will die.
11 Hell and Destruction are before the Lord;
So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.
12 A scoffer does not love one who corrects him,
Nor will he go to the wise.
13 A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance,
But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Pr 15:6–13
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
These proverbs contrast righteous treasure and wise speech with wicked gain and foolish words. God rejects outward sacrifice from wicked hearts but delights in upright prayer and righteous paths; he sees every heart, disciplines those who forsake his way, calls scoffers to receive correction, and teaches that inner joy or sorrow affects the whole person.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Proverbs 15:8-9
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. Does God like when we pray? Yeah, the Lord loves when we pray. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows righteousness.
No explicit Best Verse selection occurs. Verses 8-9 distill the devotion's Christ-centered core: religious acts cannot make wicked people acceptable, but Jesus gave the sufficient sacrifice, and those who walk and pray in him delight the Father.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Believe in Christ's sufficient sacrifice, pray as one made upright in him, and walk in his righteous way. Receive correction rather than choosing the dead-end school of hard knocks, speak wisely, attend honestly to emotions, and ask God to sanctify you through and through.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Because the barbershop was on the other side. No, why? Because there was a dog bone and meat. Oh, because there was a dog bone. Okay, so there was a dog bone and meat. Okay. Well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. Let's go ahead and shut that down over there. Yep. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word and we're growing our love for the Lord together. Today Peter Parker decided to join me. Is Spider-Man with me today? Well, 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? You want some of my coffee? No? Well, I'll have some coffee. Maybe you will. We'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. You ready to pray? Father, thank you so much for this day and thank you for your word. We pray that as we read your word this morning, you would bless us. We pray that you would care for us and let us learn from you. In Jesus' name, amen. Oh, yawns, yawns. Are you tired? Yeah, okay.
Well, we're at Proverbs chapter 15, verses 6 through 13. Okay, Proverbs 15, beginning at verse 6. Can you sit right there, please? Thank you. All right. Well, if you squeeze down, then you're going to be like right in front of my face. So let's stay right there. How's that? Is that better? Okay. Well, here's what God says for us. You ready? In the house of the righteous, there is much treasure, but in the revenue of the wicked is trouble. Right? Yeah. Right. So the wicked, what do they store up? They store up trouble. Even when they do get good things, do you think that it could be bad? Yeah, here, let's keep our hands down. Yeah, it can be bad.
Have you ever heard of the story of Achan before? Well, I think I've told you the story, but when Jericho fell, God had told the people, don't take anything. But Achan decided that he was going to steal something. He took some gold and a garment and he hid them under the tent of his house.
Do you think that it was, even though it was gold and a nice piece of clothing, do you think it was good for him? No, right? He had stored up a wicked thing. All right. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool does not do so. So the lips of the wise disperse knowledge. Yeah, that's a good thing, right? Yeah, but fools, do they speak good things? No. No, right? They do not speak wisdom. Well, verse 8 and 9.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Yeah, right? Does the Lord like the sacrifices of the wicked? Oh, he says, hold on here, right? He wants, he wants obedience. Yeah, but the problem is, are you bad? Yeah. Sometimes do you do sinful things?
So how, how, what sacrifice does God accept for us then? Well, it's not thumbs up or thumbs down, but you wanna know what it is? It's Jesus sacrificed himself for us. Yeah, we couldn't make a good enough sacrifice, but Jesus sacrificed himself for us. How great is that? Is that a good deal? Did Jesus do what we couldn't? Yeah, Jesus did what we couldn't.
Alright, so the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. Does God like when we pray? Yeah, the Lord loves when we pray. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows righteousness. So, prayer of the upright is a delight to God.
We must preach to... That's right. Yeah, so we need to walk in Christ and believe in Christ. Okay. Oh, here's one. Harsh discipline. Verse 10. Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way and he who hates correction will die. Right? So if you walk away from the Lord's ways, is it going to be easy with you or hard with you? Keep your feet down. Yeah, yeah. Can you sit up so everybody can see you, please? Yeah, it's going to be hard, right?
One translation puts it this way. Not a translation, it's a paraphrase. Okay, so one paraphrase said it like this. School of hard knocks. There's a school of hard knocks for those who leave God's path. And it's a dead end street for those who hate hearing God's rebukes. It's like a thumbs down.
Well, what do you think we should live in response to that? You think we should forsake God's way? Forsake it? Should we forsake God's way? No way. We should stay on the narrow path that leads to righteousness, right? Okay, let's keep going. A few more verses. Three more verses. Verse 11.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord. So how much more the hearts of the sons of men? Does God see everything? Yeah, God sees everything. Does God see your heart? Yeah. Yeah, right. If God sees everything, even in the pits of hell, how much more, Daniel? How much more does he know your heart and my heart? Right? He knows everything about us. Yeah, we can't hide it. He knows everyone in the world. He does. All right, verse 12, you ready? A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, nor will he go to the wise.
Do you know what your middle name is? My middle name? Yeah, what's your middle name? So your first name, you don't remember your middle name? So your first name is Daniel. Your last name is Schneider. What's your middle name? Me. Oh, you know your middle name. Daniel. Daniel. Daniel. Micaiah. That's right. Well, do you know why we named you Micaiah?
Well, there was a king. He was a bad king. His name was Ahab, and he wouldn't listen to God. But do you know who came and told him the truth? The prophet Micaiah. And guess what? The prophet Micaiah told the king what was going to happen. And do you know what the king did? He still didn't believe Micaiah. Can you believe that? That's right. That's what this says.
A scoffer does not love one who corrects him. You know what Ahab said about Micaiah? He said, there is one prophet of the Lord, but I hate him. He never says anything nice about me, even though the prophet was telling him the truth. He won't go to the wise. Okay, verse 13.
A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by the sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. Do our attitudes matter? What do you think? Do our attitudes matter? Yeah. Yeah. When you're happy, can it make, can it be like giving other people happiness too? Yes. Right. That's good. That's what it's telling us here, right?
A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart, but by the sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken, right? We need to be aware that our emotions, are real. Did God give you your emotions? Did he make your heart? Yeah. And your happiness and your emotions are real. But only if you're having a dream and you think it's real. Well, we're not talking about dreams right now. We're talking about when you're awake. Yeah. Okay. All right.
Well, I pray that you walk in the wisdom of Christ. I pray that you follow His ways. I pray that you'll heed a rebuke. I pray that you'll be sanctified through and through. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for the wisdom you have given us now. We pray that we would have wise words and that we would have believing hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, may you work hard with all your might. May you listen to the Lord and may you love Him and His ways. What's up, bud? Can I press the cancel button? You want to press the red button? All right, we'll see you tomorrow. Bye.