Proverbs 29:17-27

Good morning, 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. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Today we are at Proverbs chapter 29, verses 17 through 27. Let's 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. We thank you for your word and we pray that as we read your word this morning that you would care for us, that you would watch over us and bless us.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I told you yesterday, our family has this odd tradition where on Thanksgiving we always have a Nerf gun warrant as I was reaching over there to grab my coffee. I have been picking up Nerf bullets off my floor and desk all morning. keep finding them in odd places, tucked between books and things like that, so we had fun. Alright, Proverbs chapter 29 verses 17 to the end of the chapter. Correct your son and he will give you rest. Yes, he will give delight to your soul.
Don't let your kids do whatever they want. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child. Just the reality of what it is. Correct them. Our children need taught. Our children need corrected. Our children need approved. And the goal is that when they're older, that we'll rejoice in them. Now that doesn't mean we don't get to have joy in our children now, but it does mean that, you know, I love my six year old, but my six year old is not my best friend. He's my son. I love my little buddy. And yet, he needs corrected. We need to correct our children. We need to be able to tell them, son, don't go this way. Indeed, that's what this entire book of Proverbs is about, hasn't it? It's been about teaching that son, giving him wisdom, correcting him.
Verse 18, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. But happy is he who keeps the law. Where people do not have God's Word, the prophetic vision, the prophetic voice, people will go astray. But where will people find blessing? Where will people find happiness? Where will people find contentment and joy and comfort?
When they go to God's Word. That's where we find it. That's where we find happiness. It's hard. It's really hard, but true happiness is fought for. It's given as a gift in Jesus Christ. And out of love, we follow him. And it's hard. Christianity is hard. It's not easy. It's easy in the sense that we don't have to earn our salvation, but it's not easy in the sense that we have to fight our old nature. We have to run. There's activity to be done. Verse 19, a servant will not be corrected by mere words, for though he understands, he will not respond. You just can't use words to correct.
Sometimes there needs to be incentives. If you're going to want people to do things, incentivize things. Bad incentives and good incentives. give them a pay raise, but also, hey, if you keep doing this, you're going to dock, we're going to dock your pay.
We're going to have to have these things that happen. I'm going to mute my computer. Oh boy. Text messages like crazy. And so we have to, we have to have the incentivization. It's not bribing people, but it's just saying words only go so far. Verse 20, do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Don't be so quick to use your words. Somebody who is just, blah, blah, blah. They're just diarrhea out of the mouth. They're just, whatever's in their eye, just going to say it. The perfect man is the one who's able to tame this tone.
We need to be careful what we say. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for necessary edification, that you might impart grace to those who hear." Do we build people up with our words, or do we just say whatever's come to our...
I even find this in the Reformed world. I'm part of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Reformed Theology. I love Reformed Theology. I think it's just biblical theology, but Reformed Theology, there's people who pride themselves on being bold and just saying whatever they without any thought to how it's going to affect those who are hearing. They take pride in being bold, but they don't take pride in being loving.
A man who says whatever comes out of his mouth, whatever's in his heart, whatever's in his mind, whatever just comes out, there's more hope for a fool than for that one. 21. He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end.
Solomon's son should have listened to this. Take care of your servants. Take care of them. Pamper them. Let me just say, this isn't just for servants, but who are the, if you're an employer, do you take care of people who work for you or do you treat them like a slave driver?
You want company loyalty? Take care of your workers. and they'll be good to you. I have this image always stuck in my head that my father shared with me one time of a CFO, his chief financial officer talking to a CEO, the chief executive officer of a company and the CFO comes to the CEO and he says, what if we invest in all these people and they don't stay? And the CEO says, what if we invest, what if we don't invest in them and they do stay?
Invest in the people, care for the people, treat them well. Now that doesn't mean that there won't be people who will still grumble and complain and try to steal and work one over, but the point is, if you want to have a culture of people who love the company, love the people.
Verse 22, an angry man stirs up strife and a furious man abounds in transgression. Put anger to death. of sinful anger. The book of Ephesians tells us, be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give the devil, or lest you give the devil, a foothold. You gotta be careful about your anger. God is angry all the time at the wicked. Anger in and of itself is not bad, but sinful anger, when we are angry about something that is not unrighteous, is a sin. And how we express our anger can be sinful.
Be careful. Don't just spew out all your anger. This is something I actively have to work on in my own heart. I cannot be angry with my children just because they annoy me. I know that might sound silly, but it's true. Our children can be annoying. Your coworkers can be annoying. Maybe even your parents, maybe your spouse. But are we long-suffering? Are we patient? Are we tender? Are we communicating with our mouths? Are we building them up? Or are we just angry and ready to brawl?
Verse 23, a man's pride will bring him low, but the humble spirit will retain honor. Don't puff up your chest. Blessed are the humble. Blessed are the meek. Verse 24, whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life. He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.
Do not steal. And yet there's larceny and extortion and fraud and oppression and shoplifting and hijacking and all sorts of other ways in which people steal. They steal time. They steal from their employers. They steal from their children. They steal from their parents. People steal off their taxes. They steal, steal, steal, steal, steal.
The reality is, is if you're, what is this proverb saying to us? Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life. Punishment is going to come. The day of judgment is going to come. Do not steal. But there's also hope. Remember it was Jesus Christ who was hung between two thieves. But if you're given to stealing, may him who steals, steal no longer. But may you labor with your hands that you might have to give to those who are in need. Put away stealing and put on generosity and hard work.
Verse 25, the fear of a man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be safe. You might fear people. You might fear the reality of the things of this life, of the overreaches of different powers in our world, but where will you find comfort? Where will you find safety? It's in the Lord. We can go to him and we can find safety. We can go to him and we can find eternal rest.
Verse 26, many seek the ruler's favor, but justice For man comes from the Lord. In the Old Testament, during this time, Solomon's writing his son, and he's just letting him know, you know, there's gonna be all these different people who are gonna come to you, and they're gonna seek your favor.
But just remember, justice comes from Yahweh. Justice comes from Jehovah. Justice comes from the Lord, the one who is truly righteous. And so we know, even when our judges might fail us, we know where true justice comes from, the one who sits upon his throne of righteousness.
And so we look to Him. And again, this is where we find our comfort. This is where we pray that our justices, our lawmakers, our rulers would look as well. All right, the final verse, verse 27. An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.
You know, I didn't really anticipate this when I became a pastor. I love serving people. I love telling people the good news about Jesus Christ. I love, I love trying to point people the right direction. And I've had people call me an idiot. I've had people snarl at me. I've had people turn away from me. And the reality is it's because I'm a sinner. It's because I'm also a person, but the reality is that it's oil and water. We might exist in the same world, like oil and water might exist in the same cup, but at the end of the day, we might try to mix together all we want.
But Jesus specifically says, do not be surprised when they hate you and revive you and persecute you. Servant's not greater than his master. Don't be surprised when the wicked hate the righteous. It's the way it is. It's not going to be that way forever.
But in this life, we can take comfort that if we're following after Him and people don't like it, if we're doing it in love, you know, persecuted for righteousness sake, not just because you're a jerk, but if you're being persecuted for righteousness sake, there's comfort, right?
Because yours is the kingdom of heaven. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We pray that you would watch over us and care for us. We pray that we would follow after your ways. Thank you that you are our king, you are righteous, and you make everything good. In Jesus' name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you go about the work that you have to do with joy, resting in the Lord. And I'll see you tomorrow, bye.