 Here we are in chapter 16. Let's begin reading together at verse one, Proverbs 16 verse one, and we'll get into our study. Proverbs chapter 16, beginning at verse one, reading to verse three, the preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. And so as we enter into chapter 16, Solomon is continuing his instruction concerning wisdom and its blessings. And here as we look at chapter 16, he speaks of a man's part and God's part when it comes actually to speaking. Notice again in verse one how it says the preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. So he's speaking of man's part and God's part when it comes to speaking, especially as it would relate to sharing our faith with other people. When he says the preparations, the word preparation is, can be translated the arrangements. It could speak of the plans or the councils. It refers to in this context how you speak to or you reply to someone. So the thought that he's given to us is it's good to be quick to hear and slow to respond when you're provoked. In Proverbs 15 we saw in verse 28 the heart of the righteous studies how to answer but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil. And so there are different ways in different situations that we prepare our hearts. There are times that we prepare our hearts to respond when somebody is saying something to us that may be provoking us and I know that nobody in this room is ever provoked by somebody else, but theoretically if somebody should be saying something that bothers you well that's one of the aspects. How do you respond when somebody says something to you that is getting under your skin? And so you have to be aware of the plans of your own heart, how you speak or how you reply. So again it's good to to be quick to hear and slow to speak. So how we respond should be done thoughtfully. In Proverbs 15 verse 2 the tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly but the mouth of fools pours out foolishness. Now in matters of sharing our faith we are to prepare to answer questions and and everyone who's in this room who's a believer undoubtedly experiences those who have no relationship with Christ asking you questions. Everybody if you're open with your faith is going to ultimately be asked a question. And so a second aspect of this is that in the sharing of our faith we need to be prepared. Now how do you prepare yourself to be able to answer questions? In my in my case kind of early in my spiritual life I came to believe that I probably should learn what I believe and I began to believe that I should be able to give a biblical answer to questions. That was before I became pastor David that was Christian David because I still remember I was in the military for example and I was on my way to a Christian event and seated next to me in the back seat of the car we were driving in was a man who was a quote unquote backslidden Jehovah's Witness which is interesting because Jehovah's Witnesses don't go in the military but this guy was in that shows you how far backslidden he was and yet he still said he believed in the theology that he had been taught as a witness. I'm a new believer I'm less than a year old I've never really had discussions with Jehovah's Witnesses in all and and he begins to bring up the things that he believes and so I'm unable to answer those things so I began to be aware if I'm gonna if I'm gonna be a Christian I probably ought to know what I believe and that's one of the things the Lord used to provoke me to try and learn things about him and how to answer questions that would be posed to me and so you can't give what you don't have and so it's important for us to to learn to respond to questions and and to be able to give answers first Peter 3 15 says sanctify the Lord God in your hearts always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear so again you can't give what you don't have so patiently so into your lives the things of the Lord spend time reading the word spend time meditating on scripture and spend time studying it and you'll be prepared so that when somebody begins to speak to you and ask concerning the hope that lies within you you're going to be able to give them an answer and you'll do so with meekness and with respect it's interesting how he makes it clear that the preparations of the heart belong to man that's something that belongs to you and it belongs to me it's my responsibility but it's also interesting to note that in the same verse he says the answer the Lord is of the of the tongue is from the Lord the answer of the tongue is from the Lord so we prepare but the Lord gives us proper words and he directs our speech have you ever had the opportunity when you were sharing with somebody that you just knew God was present as you were doing that you just knew it it's kind of like you're saying oh this is good this is good stuff you know how to record it put on the radio and charge people to listen no this is good stuff my own pastor Chuck Smith once said that he knew when the Holy Spirit was moving in his teaching because he could hear the recording of his message and be blessed by it and that wasn't arrogance on his part at all that's true the Holy Spirit was flowing through the word and he himself though he was giving it was being blessed by it when he heard it and so the answer of the tongue is from the Lord we prepare but the Lord gives us the words and he directs our speech in Jeremiah 1 verse 9 it reads the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth the Lord said to me behold I have put my words in your mouth and Luke 12 verses 11 and 12 it says when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities you're not worried about how or what you should answer or what you should say for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you want to say so it's a magnificent thing when you're sharing and the Lord is inspiring those words you've prepared you spent your time in the word you spent your time meditating in scripture you spent your time in prayer you've spent your time being taught you've done those things you've prepared the preparation of your heart is there but then God gives you opportunity and he gives you the words that that you speak verse 2 all the ways of man are pure in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the spirits when it says all the ways of a man that the word weighs speaks of a man's manner of life it speaks of your course of life or your habits so all the habits or the course of your life all the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes seldom do we honestly weigh our own motives is what he's saying and self-deception and rationalization can occur when we're trying to make excuses for the things that we know that we're doing that are wrong and so all the ways of a of a man are pure in his own eyes unless the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin it's pretty difficult for my wife to the Holy Spirit does though and sometimes his name is Marie now the Holy Spirit does bring conviction because I already have five reasons why I did that and so this is obviously very true all the ways of man are pure in his own eyes but the Lord weighs the spirits in Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10 it reads the heart is deceitful above all things desperately wicked who can know it I the Lord search the heart I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways according to the fruit of his doings I may be able to make excuses but I can't excuse myself before the Lord verse 3 commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established the word commit it's an interesting word I looked it up today I wanted to see what does that really mean when it says commit commit your works to the Lord and literally that means to roll to roll them upon the Lord and you commit your works to the Lord because they're too heavy for you to bear so he's saying roll upon the Lord all that you are to do because you need his strength to do it so Father I want to be a good husband I I roll my concern I commit this to you Lord I want to be a good father I commit the I roll these things upon you I I want to be a godly individual Lord I I roll this concern upon you it's too heavy for me to bear but with your help I I can do it and so I roll upon the Lord all that I that I am to do because I need his strength to perform that and he says if you roll or commit your works to the Lording he says your thoughts will be established the word thoughts is another way of saying your plans if you commit your works to the Lord your plans will succeed why because he inspired them and will bring them to pass for our plans to succeed we rely on the Lord through faith through prayer through humility in James 4 verses 13 through 16 James said come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city spend a year there buy and sell make a profit whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow for what is your life it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that but now you boast in your air against all boasting is evil you know I was watching the news as many of you watched the news I'm assuming and a woman's on her way and on a flight and an engine and the plane explodes she's looking out the window apparently shrapnel hits her in an instant she's gone in an instant she's gone I can't tell you how many flights I've taken how many times I've been near that window and I'm telling you in an instant it can be all or what is your life it is a vapor what is your life your life is like it's a cool winter you went into the shower you turn on the hot water the mirror gets misted you turn the water off within a few minutes all of that vapor that was clinging to the mirror is gone that's your life and so we need to understand that I need to commit all these things to the Lord and I need to realize that unless he's part of them and making them happen they simply won't so I have to trust in him and I need to make sure my plans line up with the things he would lay on my heart in verse four the Lord has made all for himself yes even the wicked for the day of doom what an interesting scripture the Lord has made all things for himself all things in other words are created to serve his own purpose and his own glory and the things that are created are able to give visible incentive to you and me to praise him the Lord has made all things for himself the world that we live in gives evidence of God and it inspires man to know that like a house is built by some man he who built all things is God and you can go out in the morning especially here in California and you can if you get up early enough you can see the sunrise and sometimes isn't it sometimes my wife Marie and I will just look at one another and we'll say what a beautiful morning isn't this beautiful California is a beautiful state we'll say that go to the beach and you see the beauty of that beach and you can't help but say man this is amazing we went to the Red Sea crossed the Red Sea went into Egypt as I stepped into it it split apart it was amazing no but we um but we were there in Egypt and we spent some an overnight in an area and then returned and as we were returning to Israel to the southern portion of Israel we were on a road that went through sand I have never seen in my entire life anything as beautiful as that I just have it the sand the sand that went to the beach was it was a large expanse and miles of this was kind of like purple it was a purple gold the beach the water was turquoise blue I have never seen anything as beautiful as that and we happened to turn on worship and praise and the whole bus began to just all of us began to worship and praise the Lord because we were inspired so much by the beauty of what God has created every house is built by some man but he who built all things is God and the Lord's creation can inspire you to worship and and creation itself those things that he has created the world gives evidence it gives evidence of God it inspires us and and it helps us realize that he's the the builder of all things so creation serves the purpose of bringing glory to the Lord what's interesting is even the evil can serve the purpose of bringing glory to God and part of the way that that is seen is the fact that they receive proper punishment for their sin and that's the point that he's making you see the Lord receives all glory he's the king of the universe and he is the ultimate judge of all men in Job 21 verse 30 it says the wicked are reserved for the day of doom they shall be brought out on the day of wrath and second Peter 2 verse 9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment verse 5 everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord though they join forces none will go unpunished God deals with the arrogantly proud and and the majority vote doesn't matter in Psalm 2 verses 1 through 4 the question is asked why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision it's like an ant standing up there and making a an ant fist and shaking it in your face and then you step on it's all over and so everyone who is proud in hearts an abomination to the Lord even if they join forces in verse 6 in mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil mercy and truth in mercy and truth atonement that is best demonstrated at the cross mercy and truth is demonstrated in the atonement Hebrews 9 verses 26 through 28 speaking of Christ says he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and as it is appointed for men to die once but after this judgment so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation verse 7 when a man's ways please the Lord he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him well obviously this is not a universal law Jesus made it very clear that believers were going to suffer for righteousness sake and John 15 verse 19 Jesus said if you were of the world the world would love its own yet because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you bottom line is this is a general truth we'll look at it in a second but Jesus did prepare us for rejection Jesus did make it very clear that those who serve the Lord are going to go through tough times the apostle Peter in 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 said it like this he said you have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy their immorality and lust their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties their terrible worship of idols of course your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do and they say evil things about you some of you have friends that you were very close to who thought you were great as long as you were buying or you provided the ride or whatever it may have been whatever it was in your relationship yeah you were great but when you gave your heart to the Lord no more no more I had a cousin his name is Ray and Ray and I were fairly close and I came to faith in Christ and started sharing with the family and I still remember on one occasion Ray was speaking to me and he said something like this to me he said what happened to you you used to be so much fun and and to him I had changed so much that I wasn't appealing anymore I wasn't any fun anymore and that happened with my friends there are friends who thought there's something wrong with you you went off the deep end you used to be a lot of fun and in fact what I was was their clown and that's why they thought I was a lot of fun and I did crazy outlandish things to make people loud I would do things like go to a party and they'd be a dance and I go into the dance floor by myself and I dance all by myself a weird dance just to be weird and people would crack up and they say oh man Rosaless you're so funny I was an idiot and I was being silly because I wanted attention it was really that simple you know I climbed on the hood of a car one time drove down the street I stood with my hands out my on one foot drove down the street went driving past my house my friends driving me and I'm the living hood ornament and my mother got so mad I didn't know she was home and she hits the window you could hear her hit the window and it was a big old pane of glass and I walked into the house and she called me every name that she could think of she invented some phrases I'd never heard before because I used to be so much fun right and then I give my heart to the Lord and those who used to be quote-unquote my friends suddenly think that I'm messed up and weird when in fact I was now like that man of the Gadarene seated at the feet of Christ in my right mind and they didn't see that they didn't respect that and so on the one hand it's obviously a generalization that is being made here when it says when a man's ways please the Lord he makes even his enemies to be at peace with them but under ordinary circumstances people appreciate God fearing neighbors and that's basically what that would give us insight into verse eight better is a little with righteousness than vast revenues without justice now he had said something similar in the previous chapter remember in chapter 15 he had said at verse 16 better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble so the point he's making is simple to live an honest life loving the Lord brings satisfaction with what you possess the the millionaire is asked how much is enough and he responds a little more because the eyes of men are never satisfied a little more a little more a little more you see some of the very richest men on the face of the earth they have they have a amount of money revenue that is credited to them that goes so far beyond anything you can imagine because frankly I get lost in numbers anyway so a million that's still a lot to me and I guess it is a lot the word billion doesn't mean anything to me it's a thousand million that doesn't that doesn't mean anything to me and when you have wealth like men like bill gates of 60 70 billion dollars that doesn't mean anything to me the number is so huge it doesn't make sense to me he can spend a million dollars a day for the rest of his life and never spend that much because the interest is accruing every day so he can spend a million two million three million me ten dollars a day I'll go broke in a month so I don't get it right so it's hard for me to get my mind around numbers and great wealth but I do understand simple things I do understand that if you live an honest life loving the Lord that that will give you satisfaction in the things that you have it will you'll be pleased with what you have you'll be grateful for what you have and you may have the opportunity because the Lord has blessed you financially to experience a lot of things you may grow up and become an adult will say and now you can travel and you can eat at the best restaurants and have some of the finest meals and all some of you remember when it was like going out and you were going out on the town when you went to sizzling I went out and got a steak or when you when you go to pinnacle peak or something like that which I happen to like pinnacle but but somebody takes you to Fleming's or Ruth's Chris I was given as a gift a meal at Ruth's Chris I grew up in Norwalk the city over was Downey there was a Chris in pits there I don't even know if you've even heard of christen pits it's a real cheap barbecue play really cheap and I was given this and I was like all right christen pits I thought man says no it's called Ruth's Chris I had no clue what that was but we went and ate there and I'm going I should have put on some shoes and it was a nice place you know but I don't know if this will make sense to you I think it will I think those steaks are great they're very good but they're nothing like what my wife makes for me I like her Giso I like to think she makes this little stews and little meat with potatoes she made that for me yesterday I love it you know and it's not as expensive as Ruth's Chris so I I think we can get it that you can possess a lot of money but that lot of money can also possess you and when you have a relationship with the Lord better is a little with him than great revenue without him and that's a fact and we understand that very well in Philippians chapter 4 in verses 11 and 12 Paul said it like this he said not that I speak in regard to need for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content I know how to be abased and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need and he ultimately says therefore I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and verse 9 sounds similar to a verse we've already gone through a man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps only plans that are inspired by the Lord will be blessed and endure there are a lot of guys and I can use this from a ministry perspective there are a lot of guys who spend a lot of time trying to figure out ways to do something new and novel to try and make the place that they're at they're building that they're occupying a place of we'll say of thrills and chills and entertainment and excitement and and and I was taught a long time ago by my own pastor that ministry very often can be likened to the 4th of July and on the 4th of July you might go to one of the fireworks shows and you see these skyrockets and they go off in the air and and they're thrilling they're loud they're bright and and it's really entertaining and there may it's really entertaining and there may be a full moon but the full moon is is lost behind all of that artificial light but the fireworks end and the full moon remains and my pastor chuck taught us a long time ago he said make sure that your ministry is not a fireworks ministry because it may be here and it may have a lot of flash and noise and smoke but it evaporates and the people are left starving so make sure that you have something that reflects the sun like the moon reflects the s you win make sure your ministry reflects the s on so that people can see what life really is and so only the plans that are inspired by the Lord will be blessed and endure Psalm 37 23 the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord he delights in his way Romans 8 14 as many as are led by the spirit of God these are sons of God verse 10 divination is on the lips of the king his mouth must not transgress in judgment the word divination in the Old Testament is very often used to describe something that's occultic but not in this passage the word divination here speaks of divine direction and it is referring to a king's wisdom or a king's discernment as he makes judgment and so when he says divination is on the lips of the king he's saying that a king's wisdom or discernment or judgment is something that people will trust and therefore the kings are to speak with integrity and with righteousness verse 11 honest weights and scales are the lords all the weights in the bag are his work very basic thing for businessmen and business women do not keep two sets of books don't have a heavy and light set of weights for your scales is what he's saying the Lord uses righteous and just balances when he judges and so should we that's the point that he's making there now i'm getting used to using this thing and i just touched it and it moved on me i rebuke you in jesus verse 12 it is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness for a throne is established by righteousness so god is a righteous ruler and kings should also be there's a beautiful proverb we'll get to eventually proverbs 29 verse 2 when the righteous are in authority people rejoice when a wicked man rules what do people do they groan we understand that don't we verse 13 righteous lips are the delight of kings and they love him who speaks what is right the best government leaders will value honesty over flattery and they the people should value those who have integrity and are faithful and just because it is good for the people and brings honor to them verse 14 as messengers of death is the king's wrath a wise man will appease it um here's very simple don't provoke political leaders to your own hurt i know of a minister an american he used to pastor a church in hacienda heights he decided that the best thing he could do is to go into a communist country and stand on a street corner in opposition to the laws of that particular land and preach in such a way that he would find himself arrested be careful that you don't go out of your way to cause problems be careful you know i think that sometimes and i could go off on this i have to be real careful um i'll say something very briefly about this because i really feel really strong strongly about this um we have to be careful i have to be careful as a minister to not incite you through incendiary language and what's the word um inflammatory speech because the wrath of man doesn't produce the righteousness of god there are things that i ask an individual feel very strongly about and many of you do not know this and again i'm saying this briefly and i have an eye on the clock because we're gonna have communion tonight i have strong political opinions very strong but very seldom will you ever hear any of them and there's a reason for that it's because righteousness exalts a nation and so if i want to start a problem in this church it's not hard to do all i have to do is say build the wall oh so or don't build it you know i'm saying divisive issues get people angry and before you know it you're going to take one side or you're going to take the other side and i can divide an entire church in one message no i can clean out people that don't agree with me that's not hard to do just give your opinion every week those who like what you say will show up those who don't will find some place else to go you can clean out a church within a very short time if you want to but see i really believe that the gospel of jesus christ transforms lives and i believe that individual lives working together transform cities and states and nations and i am not looking for a political salvation i'm looking for a transformation that comes through a message that hits the heart and transforms the person and thus will transform a home which can begin to transform a neighborhood which can transform a city so yeah i have strong opinions and i do believe some things very strongly that you'll never hear me say and it's not because i don't have courage to say it it's because at the end of the day i want you to walk out of our church knowing one thing jesus christ changes lives he transforms people now when he transforms you then you begin to vote as a transformed individual so you'll look at the people who most closely line up to your beliefs as to what is right and wrong and then you make a decision who you cast your vote for based on things that matter i don't want to be the person to tell you what matters i want to tell you what matters scriptually so that you'll be able to say this lines up with what god's word says here's the problem sometimes people don't read their bibles and so they're not going to vote their conscience because they've got their own set of opinions and so if they are countered or something is said they don't like they get upset and they flee out of door and i've lost the opportunity to help them to see jesus christ so i'm real careful with that i'm real careful with what i believe in and how to teach and and i want you to be instructed in biblical principles so that you might be able to make proper choices in every area of your life and i could stand up here and and and i can say and i might as well go one step further why not um i have five minutes and i only have to go through verse 33 um i really do believe that the church needs to wake up in this time because there are laws being passed that are impinging on your right to raise your own children and we ought to have our voices made known we ought to do what we need to do whether it's sign petitions whether it's call our senators congress people of course i really believe that we should be involved in the political system but at the same time i don't think that politics is going to be the salvation of this nation so that's where i have to find a balance and that's why i don't stand up and get you marching somewhere and get you doing certain things and provoke you because at the end of the day very little has changed and very little happens and what i did is i got you excited about something but didn't give you a direction to go to solve the problem and it's not hard to get people agitated if you know how when i was in the army had a friend his name was rich rich and i shared a room his bunk was next to mine i was in north carolina in north carolina they have cockroaches that are so big you can put a saddle on them and ride them around they're huge so my friend rich is laying down talking to me and i see this two inch cockroach right near him and i said rich there's a cockroach next to you and he where is it right there oh yeah i see it i see it i said rich you got to get it because i will he takes off his zory flip flop we used to call them thongs not anymore so he he took off he would not have been my roommate so he took off his flip flop and he had it over his head and i said kill that he says i am no kill that i'm going to kill it rich kill that kill that wacky hits it on his pillow gots everywhere david he gets all mad at me david why'd you tell me to do that man why'd you tell me to do that i said you know i don't know i i just wanted to see if you would see so you can you can exhort people to action it's not hard to do that but you have to be careful how you use your influence because you can get them agitated to no effect so it's good to have a sense of purpose and need and drive for the right things that is something each here in this room excuse me is independently responsible to know i can stand up and say look at these issues i'll say one more thing might as well i might have to do two parts of this one be very careful that you don't get caught up making judgment on people elected officials and i'll even go so far as to say you're president trump and yes he's your president because you don't like his personality because his personality for many is so over the top and offensive they just don't like him but if you were to look at what's going on right now in your nation 91 percent of the news articles concerning trump from abc cbs and nbc 91 percent of the information you're getting from those three stations alone is negative 91 percent nine out of ten statements is negative that's been going on since before he took office what do you think is going on right now and what has been going on for a year and a half a campaign to get him out waged by news sources that's a fact look at his policies the job rates the economy the military look at them and try and just see what's actually happening versus things that matter not here we go i i obviously i'm going to have to do a second installment because i think it's that important because i'm old enough to remember a president who actually did with proof and was impeached for behavior that trump is being accused of right now and guess what the press was behind clinton all the way all the way and i used to come up in the in the 90s and i'd say this concerns me this man has made the office of the president a laughing stock throughout the world but people now know the economy is strong you gotta have eyes to see and what's going on is men like trump like him or dislike him brought in a conservative supreme court justice which i've i thank god for because the values you and i hold are upheld in courts because if you want to change a nation's morals change their laws because what becomes legal eventually becomes moral and that's why we have to be aware of what's taking place we have to be aware and so i really believe very much that it's wise for us to seek the lord in matters that relate to our life here in the united states and i ought to finish this verse verse 14 as messengers of death is the king's wrath a wise man will appease it i'm not about to stand up and begin to provoke authorities get myself arrested just to prove a point am i willing to be arrested for righteous's sake of course but am i going to stand up and say come and arrest me no i'm not why because i am more value in this pulpit than i would be in a jail cell at least at the moment i would assume that unless the lord says no i want you in a jail cell and if you puts me in a jail cell then that's where i'm supposed to be but it isn't going to be because i started a fight with the governor or i started a fight with the president or i started a fight with a police officer for my rights we have to be careful with that we have to be careful i'm going to do one more because we're gonna have communion and i'm going to stop in the light of the king's face is life and his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain it's a blessing to have a righteous ruler that was easy i'll go to verse 16 how much better to get wisdom than gold to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver wisdom has more ultimate value than material wealth the highway of the upright is to depart from evil he who keeps his way preserves his soul a highway is the path that is normally taken the highway is speaking of a manner of life so that would say that we need to develop a life that habitually avoids evil righteous living safeguards you from a life of sinful living and the results of living sinfully like proverbs 10 verse nine said he who walks with integrity walks securely pride verse 18 goes before destruction a haughty spirit before a fall pride goes before destruction the word destruction speaks of a crash if you want to crash like the apostle peter did when he boasted that he would never deny the lord and ultimately did all you need to do is give yourself over to pride because ultimately you're going to reap the results of that verse 19 i might be able to finish i'm keeping on better to be of a humble spirit with a lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud humility has its own reward to share the wealth of ungodly people is to be avoided when he speaks about it being better to be of a humble spirit with a lowly avoid using people to climb towards your goals there are those who make friends with somebody not because they want to be that person's friend but because that person will get them closer to somebody who will get them closer to somebody who will help them ultimately get where they want to go so have the wisdom to develop relationships with just regular people and to be of a humble spirit verse 20 he who heeds the words he heeds the word wisely will find good whoever trusts in the lord happy is he jesus and john 663 said it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing and he went on to say the words that i speak to you are spirit and they are life so he who heeds the word wisely will find good when you pursue the lord and receive his word your life is blessed verse 21 the wise in heart will be called prudent sweetness and sweetness of the lips increases learning the ability to communicate in graceful language helps people to learn you can say the same thing in different ways you can say the same thing in a harsh way in an abusive way in an arrogant way and you lose your listener or you can speak the that that same truth in a gentle graceful way and you'll win the hearer so we need to learn how to speak to one another that's been something that that's been a challenge for me for the longest time because to be honest i was i was raised in an environment where you just spoke your mind and there was never a thought whether it was plight impolite it just was true and that's the way my mom was and my mom and i would speak to each other very and it wasn't rudely it was just openly so when i began pastoring this church i just brought the same style into the pulpit so if i was thinking something i would say it and i didn't think i was being mean i honestly didn't i thought i was being real so i would say things that sometimes were cutting in my wife would say honey that's cutting and i'd say i'm just telling the truth it didn't sound nice shout out woman no i i so i've been trying to learn this lesson a long time you can feel passionately about something to the point where you're not understood because the passion overwhelms your words so learn to speak with sweetness pastor chuck used to say put a little put a little sugar in it and that's basically the same thing that is being said right here put a little sugar in it david i okay i'll try verse 22 okay understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it but their correction of fools is folly if you live by wisdom your opportunities in life will be greater very little can ever be done for a fool because a fool refuses to be corrected verse 23 the heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds learning to his lips wisdom pours out of the heart of the one who studies and gives him more information to give to others when he teaches verse 24 pleasant words are like a honeycomb sweetness to the soul health to the bones proper speech especially when teaching brings healing to those in need verse 25 there's a way that seems right to a man it its end is the way of death and that's true there are many people who on their on what we used to call the highway to hell and and it seems the right direction for them but in fact they're going in the opposite direction of heaven and so there is a way that seems right to a man it then is a way of death verse 26 the person who labors labors for himself for his hungry mouth drives him on hunger is a great incentive he's saying it motivates him to work verse 27 an ungodly man digs up evil it's on his lips like a burning fire a perverse man so strive a whisperer separates the best of friends so an ungodly man digs up evil there are some people who are always looking for something evil so once they find it they want to go out and share it with everyone sometimes they're called reporters in verse 28 when he says a perverse man so strive whisperer separates the best of friends that's true too when somebody gossips behind your back and all it can develop it can it can ruin friendships verses 29 and 30 a violent man entices his neighbor leads him in a way that is not good he winks his eye to devise perverse things he purses his lips and brings about evil in other words a violent people entice others to violence be very careful that you don't follow that example proverbs 22 24 says it like this make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man do not go proverbs 29 22 says that angry man stirs up strife a furious man abounds in transgression be careful not to make friendship with an angry man lest you learn his ways verse 31 the silver haired head is a crown of glory if it's found in the way of righteousness gray hair gray gray hair is a symbol of wisdom and is intended to command respect but not all with gray hair are respected so just because you're old doesn't make you respectable so if you're going to make a choice to respect respect the older man or the older woman who's following the lord verse 32 he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city keep your emotions under control and you can do that through the power of the holy spirit and then finally the lot is cast into the lap but it's every decision is from the lord the lot is a way of determining an answer a yes or no there I won't go into a lot of detail with this but it was an Old Testament a way of ascertaining certain things they would cast a lot they might have a container and they might have a piece of wood two pieces of wood and it would say yes or no they put it inside the container shake it up pull it out and that was called casting the lot you see that on a few occasions in the Old Testament in the New Testament the last time something like that happens is actually found in the book of Acts and it was used when the apostles were looking to replace Judas who had fallen and they had the conditions that whoever was going to replace them had to meet and they cast their lot and the lot fell on a man named Matthias there was another man that we don't even remember at all I actually had to write his name down because he was not the one that the lot found fell on his name was Joseph and also called justice his the lot didn't fall on him the lot fell on Matthias and what they were doing at that time were selecting someone to take the place of Judas that's the last time you see a lot cast for anything because on the dead Pentecost in Acts chapter two the Holy Spirit fell upon the church no longer were they seeking the will of the Lord through casting lots now they simply sought the Lord to lead by a spirit and he did so through the prophets and by giving the prophetic utterances that helped to direct the church and so the last time a lot was cast was in Acts chapter one but the point that is being made here and we'll close with this thought is we are responsible to seek the answer but it's God who gives that answer because he is sovereign the lot is cast into the lap but it's every decision is from the Lord