Proverbs 26:8-17

okay so we're good there uh we are at proverbs chapter 26 verses 8 through 17 proverbs 26 verses 8 through 17 tonight let me go ahead and we're just about ready to go all right well good evening good evening welcome to coffee and devotion 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 so glad for you to join me here tonight for proverbs chapter 26 verses 7 through uh verse 18. why don't we go ahead and pray lord we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word we pray that as we read your word that you would teach us and care for us we pray that we would follow after you in jesus name amen just this spoke there proverbs chapter 26 verses 8 through 17. let's go ahead and get into god's word like one who binds a stone in a sling is he who gives honor to a fool like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools the great god who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages as a dog returns to his own vomit so a fool repeats his falling do you see a man wise in his own eyes there is more hope for a fool than for him so let's go ahead look at those first four verses in front of us at first verse eight like one who binds a stone and a sling is he who gives honor to the fool if you're one who's given over to you know honoring a fool you're like one who ties up a stone inside of a sling in his swing swing swing swing it's not gonna go anywhere you're just gonna hurt people with it don't give honor to a fool like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard there's a proverb in the mouth of fools i'm gonna uh drunkard walks around and they have uh thorn in their in their hand what does it say like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a pro is a proverb in the mouth of a fool so drunkard stumbles along and puts their hand into a into a bush and they don't know what to do about they don't have any wisdom to people get it out or feel that that hurts them or whatever and it's just it it's not actually any good for them the same thing like a proverb in their mouth they don't know what to do with it it's not any good for them it just hurts them the great god who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages we might look at a fool and think how does he get what he gets don't worry the lord's going to give him what he's going to get oh this one's hard verse 11 as a dog returns to his own vomit so a fool repeats his falling i don't know about you but this is convicting to me when i think about sin as foolishness and i think about how often i look and i'm like man lord i have prayed that you would help me with gluttony i know that i shouldn't eat so much nutella i know that i shouldn't go back for seconds of the church potluck and i do it again this is what a fool does it's like a dog returning to its vomit this gross picture right this is what a fool does going back to their sin again and again and again and again the lord says but it's not until we recognize that that's us that we realize we need to wise up turn away from sin and walk in righteousness verse 12 do you see a man a man wise in his own eyes there's more hope for a fool than for him if you see somebody who thinks they're wise and they think they're wise because they're so smart and they got it all together and you know everything is all about them uh i'd rather actually be the friend of a fool and that's the that's the shocking part verses three through 11 have all been about the foolishness and and the uh of a fool what they're like but verse 12 says if you think you're wise in your own eyes it's better be friends with a fool than with him uh don't be wise in your own eyes don't be wise in your own understanding but trust in the lord listen to him verse 13. the lazy man says oh i love this one the lazy man says there's a lion in the road a fierce lion in the streets all right this is these next few few proverbs are about the sluggard and so the sluggard uh doesn't want to go out you know and then make this crazy excuse oh there's a lion out there i i love this uh there's always an excuse for the sluggard and i won't say i say it's any one particular child but i've noticed this pattern with children children have to learn how to work and i it is like the second you try to teach a child how to do a chore all of a sudden they have to go to the bathroom you notice kids rarely ever have to go to the bathroom when they're watching a television show or they're doing something fun that they like but the moment you try to tell them to go you know hey sit down we're gonna do this chore together all of a sudden it's i really gotta go potty it's like come on all these all these crazy excuses uh this next one as a door turns on its hinges so does the lazy man on his bed the sluggard just likes to keep his bed warm just stay in bed all day turn to this side turn to that side and just lazes around throughout the day as i was talking to one of my friends down in topeka kansas at presbyterian we were talking about some of the difficulties it is to be an elder in the church and this is a hard-working man and he was saying you know sometimes sometimes you just gotta dig down deep and just gotta do what you gotta do that's true verse 15 the lazy man buries his hand in the bowl it wears him to bring it back to his mouth right he's the lazy man so lazy just he's not he won't he won't actually bring it to his mouth the lazy man is wiser in his own eyes and seven men who can be answered sensibly the lazy person thinks that they're just gonna get all the wisdom in the world they're just gonna they're just gonna be able to do whatever they want and and but they're not actually willing to go listen to the seven wise men this is the way a lot of people treat the scriptures as a way a lot of people treat their knowledge of religion and things like that they don't want to actually mine the depths of the scriptures they don't actually want to get to the heart of of being pious by being on their knees in prayer they don't actually want to know the things of god by by searching out understanding god's word but take shortcuts or just assume that they know it already this is one of the things that god's word humbles us by is saying we're not all that wise actually we're the fool in the proverbs verse 17 is our last verse for the night he who passes by and medals in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears it's a pretty smart thing that parents teach their kids right wait our kids love to ask people when they walk by with their dogs oh can we pet your puppy can we put your puppy but i've had to tell my kids multiple times don't put your face right in that dog's face but you know if you're if you're scratching their ears and your face is right in their face and all of a sudden you just you know if if it thinks you're going to grab them by the ears what's it going to do it's going to bite you you got to be careful what does this say it says he who passes by and meddles in a coral not his own if you're not minding your own business if you're not taking care of your own house but you want to go meddle in your neighbor's affairs you might as well go put your face you know nose to snout with a dog and grab it by the ears and see how much it likes it as you get bit it was benjamin franklin always dropping his little tidbits of wisdom he said three things always stink after or two things always stink after three days fish and houseguests right when people start meddling in your business and sticking around too long in your stuff they start to stink be busy about your own house let other people's houses be their own well let's go ahead and pray father we thank you so much that you have given us your wisdom lord we pray that you would give us fear and reverence of you that we might sit and hear from you and learn from you lord we pray that you would turn us from our foolish ways our busybody meddling and other people's affairs our laziness as well as our pride thinking that we know have and know all the answers please lord let us learn from christ in jesus name amen well may you have a great night's sleep tonight may you enjoy the rest of the lord gifts psalm 127 says the lord gives his loved ones sleep may you sleep well tonight and make you may you wake in the morning and be ready for all the work he gives your hands to do i'll see you tomorrow bye