Their Fill Of Trouble

Proverbs 12:21-26 – No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly. Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor. Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Proverbs 1:30-31 – Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

Proverbs 10:4 – Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Proverbs 13:20 – Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Application:

• ·         To refuse wisdom’s “advice” is to suffer the consequences of one’s own foolish “schemes”.
• ·         Many proverbs praise diligence and the profit it brings, and they condemn laziness as a cause of hunger and poverty.
• ·         Choose your friends with care.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Deceit Is In The Hearts

Proverbs 12:19-20 – Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

Proverbs 1:30-31 – Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

Genesis 6:5 – The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Psalm 4:7 – Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

James 3:18 – Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Application:

• ·         To refuse wisdom’s “advice” is to suffer the consequences of one’s own foolish “schemes”.
• ·         And because human nature remained unchanged, things were no better after the flood.
• ·         “Heart” is in Biblical language for the center of the human spirit, from which spring emotions, thoughts, motivations, courage and action—“everything you do flows from it”.
• ·         Discord cannot produce conduct pleasing to God.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Desire The Stronghold Of Evildoers

Proverbs 12:10-18 – The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures. Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble. From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward. The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult. An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies. The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 1:11-16,30-31 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood…Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

Psalm 5:9 – Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.

Application:

• ·         Wisdom brings the greatest riches people could ever gain.
• ·         To refuse wisdom’s “advice” is to suffer the consequences of one’s own foolish “schemes”.
• ·         The tongue is as deadly as swords and arrows.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Lie In Wait For Blood

Proverbs 12:6-9 – The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them. The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm. A person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despised. Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

Proverbs 1:11-16 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Titus 3:11 – You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Judges 6:15 – “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Application:

• ·         The goal of sinful men is personal enrichment by theft or oppression, even if they have to commit murder.
• ·         Stubborn refusal to listen to correction reveals inner perversion.
• ·         The Lord usually calls the lowly rather than the mighty to act for Him.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Advice Of The Wicked Is Deceitful

Proverbs 12:1-5 – Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid. Good people obtain favor from the Lord, but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes. No one can be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted. A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

Proverbs 1:7,11-16 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction…If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Proverbs 31:31 – Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Psalm 1:1-2 – Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

Application:

• ·         Fear of the Lord is a loving reverence for God that includes submission to his lordship and to the commands of His word. “Fools” are those who “hate knowledge” and correction of any kind, who are “quick to quarrel” and “give full vent” to their anger, who are complacent and who trust in themselves rather than in God.
• ·         Honor comes through “humility” and “the fear of the Lord”.
• ·         The goal of sinful men is personal enrichment by theft or oppression, even if they have to commit murder.
• ·         Wisdom brings the greatest riches people could ever gain.
• ·         “Walk in step with the wicked” means order one’s life according to the deliberations and advice of the wicked.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Righteous Receive Their Due

Proverbs 11:31 – If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

Jeremiah 49:12 – This is what the Lord says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it.

Numbers 20:11 – Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

Proverbs 1:30-31 – Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

Application:

• ·         Though they are God’s chosen ones, the people of Judah will be punished because of their sin.
• ·         In his rage Moses disobeyed the Lord’s instruction to speak to the rock. Moses’ rash action brought a stern rebuke from the Lord. These other factors were also involved: (1) Moses’ action was a lack of trust in God, as though he believed that a word alone would not suffice. (2) God’s holiness was offended by Moses’ rash action, for he had not shown proper deference to God’s presence.
• ·         To refuse wisdom’s “advice” is to suffer the consequences of one’s own foolish “schemes”.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Whoever Seeks God Finds Favor

Proverbs 11:25-30 – A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. People curse the one who hoards grain, but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell. Whoever seeks good finds favor, but evil comes to one who searches for it. Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives.

Psalm 62:10 – Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Genesis 2:9 – The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

1 Corinthians 9:21 – To those not having the law I became like one not having the law(though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.

Application:

• ·         “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously”.
• ·         Those who trust in their own devices to get what they want rather than trusting in God to sustain them are warned.
• ·         “Tree of life” was signifying and giving life, without death, to those who eat its fruit. Adam and Eve’s access to the fruit of the tree of life showed that God’s will and intention for them was life.
• ·         Paul accommodated himself to Gentile culture when it did not violate his allegiance to Christ, though he still reckoned that he was under God’s law and Christ’s law.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV