TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Date: Feb. 12, 2026. Lesson 29-2026. Title: Pride and the Profits That Vanish

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Proverbs 21:4–6 exposes the inner corruption that often hides behind outward success. A proud heart, haughty eyes, and self-exalting ambition are not neutral traits—they are sin before the Lord. What appears productive or enlightened can still be rooted in arrogance and deceit. The passage then warns that wealth gained through lying tongues is fleeting, driven by vanity, and ultimately leads toward death. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine how pride distorts judgment, why dishonest gain never satisfies, and how God weighs motives long before He weighs results. Lesson 29-2026 Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting MannaNation.com, calling 1-888-519-4935, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961. MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! www.megafire.world Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! www.AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! www.Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! www.books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Welcome to Morning Manor. Welcome to Morning Manor, your teachers, Rick Wiles and Dr. Burkla. Get your Bible and notebook and get ready to here before. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. I'm Rick Wiles. Morning Manor is where souls are nourished. And we are delighted that you came here today to receive some soul food. Our internet home base is manna nation.com. That's where you can find all of our lessons.

If you are unable to finish today's lesson, you can always go to manonation.com and look for the lesson number. Today's lesson number is 29-26. 29-226. Doc Burkhart is here. I'm going to pray, invite the Holy Spirit to lead this class, and then Doc's going to read the word. And we're going to begin our study.

We've got some excellent insight into these verses in the book of Proverbs. Let's pray. Almighty God, Father in heaven. Father, we delight ourselves in you. We love you dearly, Father, and we love your son. We love your spirit. We love your word. So, Father, we humbly request that the Holy Spirit teach us your Word.

and illuminate our hearts and minds so that we better understand you and your kingdom, and that we're better witnesses in this world for your son, Jesus Christ. In his name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to Morning, Man. We're going to get right into our lesson today by reading Proverbs chapter 21 versus 4 through 6. That's Proverbs chapter 21 versus 4 through 6. I'm reading from the King James this morning. Read along with me, if you will. Starting at verse four, a high look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin. Verse five, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but if everyone that is hasty only to want. And then verse six, the getting of

treasures by a lying tongue is a bandit he tossed to and fro of them that seek death. God bless the reading of his word today. Okay, let's get into it. First, 4 chapter 21 verse 4 book of proverbs king james a high look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin the septuagint translation a high-minded man is stout-hearted in his bride and the lamp of the wicked is sin all right this is how are we going to reconcile these two translations let's see what we can find So we'll start with a high-minded man is stout-hearted in his pride. We're going to take a look at body language. Doc's really an amateur expert on body language.

He likes to study body language. I do. He kind of scares me because I don't ever know what I'm doing, you know, what kind of nervous ticks I have and he's reading body language. Okay. but we do send off messages with our body language. We sure do. And this says a high-minded, you know, proud,

a proud, haughty person is stout-hearted in his pride. So the high look, what is high look? Haughty eyes, all right? A physical demeanor of arrogance. It's looking down on others. Okay? It's the first of the seven things that God hates. we go back to the

Proverbs chapter 6 verse 17 God says hey here's the things I hate well guess what proud little corny eyes right there at the top it's the nose in the air

it's the rolling of eyes it's the visible evidence of an internal disease called pride okay now pride is actually just the

symptom, excuse me, let me turn that around. The high look. The high look is the symptom. The proud heart is the disease. That's the cause. Yes. So a proud heart, a proud heart believes it is the center of the universe and it refuses to submit to God's authority or consider the needs of neighbors. Don't know if you're a religious people who have a proud heart. They'll say, of course, I believe in God. Of course, I believe in the Bible, but they've never submitted to Him. See, Jesus isn't your king unless you've submitted to Him. Amen.

He's only a figurehead. He's just some religious figure until you submit. When you submit, he's your king. And when you submit, you obey. So if you don't obey Christ, he's not your king. So the Hebrew word for proud can also mean broad, wide. How do you put this together? It's a heart that's swollen, puffed up, swollen, with self-importance, pushing God out

to make room for the person's ego. And we all know the pride is the original sin. That's the one that got Satan kicked out of heaven. it attacks the very nature of God by claiming independence from God. So, theologically, pride is not merely one sin among many. It's the big one. It's the chief sin.

It's the generator that manufactures other sins because it refuses the right posture before God, which is submission. Now, James tells us, of the book of James chapter 4 verse 6 that God resists a proud. Why? Because the proud matter woman is essentially competing with God for his glory. Yes. And that high look, Rick, is that outward posture of superiority.

It's an embodied theology. It says, I'm above correction. I'm above accountability. I'm above ordinary. limits. And so pride isn't just something that happens inside. It's not just eternal. It manifests as a social stance that trains others how to treat you and trains you how to treat them. So this pride appears first in the eyes and in the thoughts long before it appears in now we're sent. So when that pride is manifest in what we would say body language, it's been festering inside for

a very, very long time. So that proud heart names the inner control center. Pride is not a single emotion, but a governing disposition. It's a spiritual orientation that reorders reality around the self as the final point of reference. And that high look and that proud heart described pride as both a visible performance, something that you can see and others can observe, and also an invisible allegiance as well. The eyes preach what the heart believes. So pride doesn't only break specific commands, Rick, it reshapes your moral perception so that humility looks weak. Repentance looks humiliating and obedience looks beneath you. In a way, if you think of it this way, pride is anti-wisdom because it rejects the first condition of learning, teachability.

Right? A proud person can accumulate information while remaining resistant to the truth. So Methodist theologian Charles Bridges had this to say, The eye is the index of the heart. When the heart is lifted up, the eyes are raised. A high look, lifted, holy eyes, the visible expression of pride and contempt and self-exaltation towards God. towards others. It is the outward face of inward arrogance. It's expressing to the world what's inside the person, this pride. So it comes out with this haughty look. This phrase haughty look is describing the eyes lifted up in arrogance. And that's a classic biblical gesture of pride that refuses to look downward in humility or in the fear of God. So this look is not neutral. It reveals the

hearts posture towards God and people. Pride always looks down on others and up at oneself. So a proud heart is the inner core inflated with self-importance, with self-trust, the seed of ambition that refuses to hope or self before God. Yes. And we can't look at pride as some sort of minor flaw. It's something that's a fundamental posture that sets a person in opposition to God's rule and God's evaluation. It's not just a character flaw that we're talking about.

So the unjust man is one who lives contrary to God's righteousness. Pride is the engine that is driving that injustice inside of him. So that haughty look, Rick, is a sign of an unjust man or a woman. Pride, if you will, is the visible flag that notifies you that injustice and corruption are either present or are they on their way. Let's look at the second part of this verse. And the plowing of the ungodly is sin. That's the King James translation. The Septuagin translation says, and the lamp of the wicked is sin.

and I'm going to throw a third translation in, that guides of the wicked are sin. That's the Berean Bible translation. Right. So we've got different translations of the second part of this proverb. The King James uses the word plowing. The Septuagint uses the word lamp.

The Berean Bible uses the word guides. How do we reconcile these differences? It's really not hard, once you dig into it. Lamp means the inner light that's in us. And what is that inner light? You can say it's a guiding principle. So the Berean says the guides.

The situogen says the lamp. The King James says the plowing. We're going to get to the plowing and bring this all together. So what's the guiding principle of a person? their conscience, the plans, the things that they seek to do, the things that shine and they're inside of them. These things represent the guiding principle. So on this reading, even what enlightens and guides the wicked, now listen to this, the things that guide the wicked

and the wicked we're saying are people who reject Jesus Christ reject Almighty God what this is teaching is that their very light is itself sin their judgment their values their moral compass are warped

at the root doesn't matter what they're trying to do because at the core of their being is pride. So the Berean Bible translation note, it's summarizing that haughty eyes and a proud heart are the guides of the wicked. It's what's guiding them. Their whole inner guidance system is corrupt.

Imagine, Doc, if, your GPS in your car or truck was corrupted. Yes. It doesn't matter what coordinates you ask it to give you, it's going to be wrong. Because the system itself is corrupt.

So whether you're using the word plowing, which is the outward work, or lamp, which is the inner light, the guides, it all means the same thing. Pride so pervades the wicked that both their path in life and their power,

both of them are perverted into sin before Almighty God. That's the way he sees it, that their entire lives are sent. So, Rick, so even, that would mean that even the common neutral actions of a wicked man, just everyday activities like farming and plowing, just whatever he's about are sinful. Think about that. just the ordinary things he's doing. Why? Because he's doing them for himself. He's doing them without gratitude to God and in service of his own pride. So that lamp that we're talking about here, and that can be translated prosperity, joy, that lamp of the wicked is sin. Think about that.

Everything that the wicked does is sin, even the good things that the wicked does. The very success and happiness are tainted by their origins and rebellion. So this is a very hard theological truth. Your motives pollute all your actions. If a rebel plows a field to feed himself so he can continue to rebel against the king, the act of plowing is part of his rebellion, right? So without faith is impossible to please God. That's what we read in Hebrews 116.

therefore even the virtues or supposed virtues or industry of the wicked fall short of God to Lord. That's a tough word, isn't it, Rick? That is very tough because what we're saying is that even with when the motive, excuse me, when the action is good or it's neutral, if the motive that drives a person is, sinful and they're in rebellion against God, even their good actions are sinful because they're tainted by their rebellion against God. Yes. What's in the core of the person?

What's there? What's in their heart? Let's look at this proverb from the viewpoint of the Septuagint translation that says, And the lamp of the wicked is sin. The lamp means the inner light, the guiding principle, as I said earlier, which is where the Bereans get the guide. It's their conscience. It's everything that they need. Okay, so, Doc, let's look at it from, let's look at the proverb from the viewpoint of the Septuagint translation that says,

And the lamp of the wicked is sin. The lamp is the inner light, the guiding principle, their conscience, their plans, their prosperity, that shines for them. Okay, so with this reading, even what enlightens and guides the wicked, which is their light, is itself sin. Their judgment, their values, their moral compass are warped at the root, and God sees everything that they do is sin. So the Berean Bible says the guides of the wicked are sin. so haughty eyes in a proud heart the guides of the wicked are sin the whole inner guidance system is corrupt no matter what they do god looks at it as sin because he's looking at the motives that's in their heart so again whether they're plowing which is the outward work or their lamp everything is corrupted here

their pride pervades their entire being. And so it taints everything in the eyes of God. So I'll examine this proverb from the viewpoint of the King James, Rick, and the plowing of the ungodly is sin. So let's look at that phrase, the plowing of the ungodly. Excuse me, the plowing of the wicked. Literally, their tillage, the sewing or common labor by extension, their ordinary activities and outward work,

so everything that they do. So on this reading, even what appears to be most innocent and natural, like the verse says, plying a field, just daily work. Once again, it's counted as sin when it's done by one whose heart and look are proud and who is alienated by God.

So one explanatory note here, even their civil or natural actions, which are lawful in themselves, are made sinful as they're done without any regard for God or the glory of God, which ought to be the end of all our actions. So what does this mean, theoretically? Well, theoretically, this reflects a doctrine of total depravity at the level of moral evaluation, that not that every act, not that every act is as evil as possible,

but that nothing is truly righteous when it's divorced from faith, humility and the fear of God. So in the wicked, what happens is pride poisons not only obviously evil deeds, those are easy to spot, but even their most ordinary, culturally approved activities

have been tainted by this. So picture a man behind a plow, like we have in this verse, doing good, necessary work. There's nothing evil about plowing a field. Yet because he does it under a proud heart, Rick, does it for himself, doesn't without reference to God. The whole furrow is tracked as sin in the eyes of God.

That's a tough word there. So followers of Jesus, disciples of Christ are challenged to ask themselves, are my most routine task? Maybe it's work, maybe it's study, maybe it's business. Are they submitted to God's glory? or do I live as if it's morally neutral. It's a morally neutral space that God doesn't care what I do, that that space exists where he is not Lord.

He's not concerned about the day-to-day stuff that we do. This verse tells me, Rick, he's concerned with every activity that we're involved in, and he wants to be the God of it. That's right. All right, so Doc, move over. I'm going to go at this. from the King James viewpoint, all right? Plowing.

As you said, it's a basic foundational work of life. It's preparing the ground. It's sowing, earning, a living, the most innocent human activity. Okay, farming. How can it be sinful? It becomes sinful when it's done

by the ungodly. the work itself becomes ungodly. I know there are people going, I had never heard this before. This is traditional church doctrine, by the way. This isn't something new that we're springing up on you. We're teaching you what people, what men of God have been teaching in the church.

I would say for about 1,900 years. And then in the 20th century, it started just to disappear and it wasn't taught anymore in the Western churches. So we haven't invented something new. We're just bringing back something home. So the

ungodly man or woman lacks the fear of the Lord. And therefore, everything he or she does, even good lawful work is tainted by their wrong motives. Their wrong end.

Their objectives of what they're trying to do or their wrong heart. Everything that they touch is tainted. Even the good things that they do are tainted. So sin is not only in outward acts, but it's in the very state of alienation from God. If somebody is ungodly, what does that mean?

They're without God. And what this verse is saying is, When a person who is without God does anything, whatever they're doing becomes sin in the eyes of God. I know that's... There are people having trouble to swallow on this one, Doc. As you said, this is a really tough, spiritual lesson to digest. The ungodly man plows his field to enrich himself, to exalt... to exalt himself, to serve his idols.

His work is not offered to God, and therefore it is sin. See, what makes it sin is their refusal to offer it to God. Their refusal to submit. Their refusal to be in submission to the Creator. Romans 14, verse 23, Paul said, whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Excuse me, what? Paul, what did you just say?

anything done apart from faith is sin? Yes. Yes. It's sin. Why? Because there's no faith in God. In contrast, the righteous man or the righteous one, their work, they're plowing. We're using the word plowing, agricultural, a term that everybody understands.

The righteous person's plowing is holy. It is done independence on God. They're depending on God. And they're doing it with gratitude. They're doing it for His glory. Everything you do should be done for the glory of God. That is your purpose for living. Your purpose for waking up today was to bring glory to God.

That's it. That is the whole purpose of man to bring glory to God. So the proverb is teaching us that no amount of, hard work or moral effort can make up for a heart that is strange from God, separated from God, alienated from God, that makes you ungodly. And if you are ungodly, all of your works are ungodly. Even the good works you do are ungodly in the eyes of God. So the ungodly man's plowing, it may produce a harvest, but it's a harvest of just.

judgment. His labor store up wrath. And God's not going to accept it, Doc. Yes. How we get some quotations from some of the great preachers of centuries ago. Yes, I'm starting off with Alexander McLeary in here. He said that the plowing is the whole activity of life, like we've been discussing here so far in the lesson. The whole life of a godless man is sin, not because the actions are wrong in themselves, but because the

motive is wrong. G. Campbell Morgan said, the word lamp is better, the splendor, the brilliance, the success of the wicked is sin. It is a light that leads astray. William and on had this to say, the plow is a good instrument, and industry is a virtue. But here the whole stream of life is polluted by the bitter fountainhead. And Charles Pergin said, to the impure, All things are impure. The very industry of the wicked is a service to self and therefore a treason against God. Praise God.

He calls a treason. Yes. Why is it treason? Because it's done in rebellion. Even the good things that the wicked does. Yes. Because it's done in a spirit of rebellion. Right.

We're going to move on to verse five. way, if we run out of time, you're watching on Face TV, you can go to manorination.com. This is Lesson 29-26. You can watch the rest of this lesson at manonation.com. Proverbs 21, verse 5, the King James says, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteous, plentiness, but of everyone that is hasty only to want. The Septuagin says the plans of the diligent bring plenty as surely as haste leads to poverty. All right. So let's begin with the first part.

The plans of the diligent bring plenty. The thoughts. King James says the thoughts. The thoughts of the diligent. Subtugent says the plans of the diligent. It's the same thing. Thoughts, plans. Okay, where do you create your plans in your mind, in your thoughts, okay?

So the thoughts refer to careful plans, deliberate intentions, wise for thoughts, not daydreaming, but purposeful mental labor that precedes actions. Remember what this says, the thoughts, the plans of the diligence. bring plenty, bring success. The diligent person, the word the diligent describes a person who works steadily, thoughtfully, persistently, with a combination of physical effort and mental discipline

that is rooted in the fear of the Lord. Amen. Yes? See, the ungodly that we were talking about in the previous verse, They're ungodly. They don't have the fear of the Lord. And that's why everything that they do is tainted. And God says, it's sin. Now we're talking about the diligent. And the diligent are godly. And they have the fear of the Lord.

So diligence is never aimless busyness. Just because you're busy doesn't mean you're productive. It is intelligent, patient, God-honoring labor. that aligns your effort with divine wisdom and the divine order in the universe. You are in alignment with God. The outcome, the outcome is abundance, plenty profit. It's not always measured in monetary riches, but it is a steady accumulation of blessings. Whether material or character or spiritual, the fruit just keeps coming into your life. Yes.

So I'm going to change pace here and focus on that phrase, the thoughts, and the diligent here. We're not talking about just passing thoughts here or something that just popped into your head. These are well-thought-out plans and deliberate purposes that are formed by someone who is steady and hard-working. They've got a plan, right? So diligent Disguides a person who's thorough, persevering, and attentive. He thinks ahead, he counts the cost,

he orders his steps, and then follows through with steady effort. That's what a diligent person does. And that phrase tend only to plenteousness. Plentiousness is not a word that you find commonly in the English language today. So as a general rule, well-formed plants plus faithful work,

move in the direction of abundance, profit, and fuller provision, even if not instant well. So diligent people can still suffer loss in a fallen world. But ordinarily, their way leads to better outcomes than someone who is slothful, someone who lives in a life of chaos. So the image is a craftsman or farmer who thinks through his work, prepares tools, plans a season, and then labors. Over time, that pattern tends toward plenteousness rather than want. And so disciples of Christ are challenged in this. Do you approach your calling, or let's say your

finances, or your ministry, or your own spiritual growth? Do you approach it with thoughtful, prayerful planning, and steady effort, or just mostly with wishes and last minute scrambles. Spiritually, the same principle applies. Believers who give all diligence to growing grace tend toward spiritual richness, while careless souls drifted to poverty of soul. Doc, I want to look at this,

the Hebrew word here for diligent. Okay? It is carutes. And it means pointed, sharp, like a threshing instrument. Okay? How do we apply it to this proverb?

What does this have to do a sharp, pointed farming implement? What does this have to do with this proverb? It means this. that deliberate, well-thought-out plans of a diligent man or woman are pointed and sharp. What do we say about somebody?

They get a sharp mind. What does that mean? They get a sharp mind. They get right to the point. It's the way that they think. They don't have a lot of clutter in their head. They get right to the point, all right? they're diligent.

They don't do busy work. Their activity is highly focused. They execute plans with sharp intensity. There is sharpness in their thinking processes. They are decisive. They actively cut through obstacles, roadblocks, and diversions to get to their goals. Doc, I've had

the honor and a pleasure working for several high-level Christian leaders in my younger days. I worked for Pat Robertson at CBN and I worked for Paul Crouch at TBN. And I'm going to tell you, these two guys, Doc, they had incredibly sharp minds and they were very decisive.

You just didn't have, Well, I'll tell you, with Dr. Pat Robertson, you didn't have small talk with him. You were told as a young employee, don't waste his time. Okay. Don't talk to him unless he talks to you. Okay. And if he talks to you, he's going to ask you a question. You better have the answer.

Why? They're short. They're moving. They've got plans. Okay. Doc, there were times I would receive phone calls. This is back in the 90s, okay? I would receive phone calls from Paul Crouch

when he was on the TV and jet flying over the Atlantic. And it would be, you know, I'd answer the phone and it would be Paul Crouch saying, Rick. And I would immediately go into, oh, Dr. Crouch, how are you? I wanted to chat. He would say, I'm fine, Rick, I'm fine. Listen, I've got a question. And I knew right away, Doc, he's busy.

He has a reason to call me. And he was polite, but he wasn't interested in chit-chat. Okay? You find that people that are highly successful are extremely focused. And they don't waste time. They are pointed. They're focused. They're going after their well-thought-out plan.

and they're successful. And so what do they get? They get plenty. They are successful. You find that in every area of life, in business, and ministry, leadership, whatever. These people that are successful are very focused. So, as you know, Doc, success starts in the mind.

Yes. That's where it begins. Yeah. And so those thoughts there that we're talking about, We're talking about strategic planning, foresight, calculation. But ultimately, God is the master planner. You know, he didn't create the world in some sort of chaotic explosion, but in an order to sequence of days.

Okay. There are those that teach today that God made this world out of chaos. That is not true at all. He made the universe and everything in it in an order. orderly fashion. God blesses the plans of the righteous when they diligently pursue them in faith. So Christian stewardship requires using your mind. Faith is not some sort of excuse for failing to plan. Haven't you heard that before, Rick, that people just launch out by faith without thinking about it, without having any plan in place? The thing is, we trust God, but we also count the cause.

just like Jesus said in Luke chapter 14, count the cost. So this proverb says that the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plentiousness, to abundance. Tens only refers to God's natural law of the universe. Just as gravity pulls things down toward the earth, diligence, hard work pulls down success and prosperity in the individual's life. Yeah, right. I'll tell you, Doc, in my younger days as a Christian, there were things. And I had plans, good ideas, good plans. And people would say, just go for it, do it, okay?

And I would just jump out there. Hey, I wouldn't do it about faith. I didn't have any plans. See, now I'm older, and I look back and I go, hey, I should have planned. I should have had the plan. But there was a mindset in some church circles that plans were sinful. Right, that it showed a lack of faith. It showed a lack of faith if you had plans.

And the Bible's teaching you that if you don't have plans, you have a lack of sense. You have a lack of wisdom. You don't start something without plans. So if you're in a church environment that tells you it's wrong to have plans, they're not reading the Bible. They're not seeking. They haven't spent any time in the book of Proverbs, okay? because Solomon, I guarantee you Solomon had plans.

He built a lot of things. He ran Israel for 40 years. He had a lot of public works projects. And you read what he says, I had libraries and gardens. I had everything, you know. He was always building something. You think he didn't have plans? He had plans.

And the Bible says he was the wisest man who ever lived. Okay. So here are six key points to, understand this proverb. I'm going to go through them very quickly. Number one, projects and goals begin in the mind, as doctor said, they are nurtured by careful, deliberate, prayerful forethought. Number two, the diligent person's inner reasoning is purified by prayer in the word of God and is always in alignment with God's will. Number three, the successful man or woman is decisive. His or her mind is sharp. Before the successful man or woman is diligent,

they pursue their goals with dull get determination. Number five, God establishes, directs, and increases the diligent labor of the person who plans wisely and works faithfully and dedicates their work unto the Lord and is in submission to God. So then God gets involved and he directs their diligent labor. And then number six, diligence is moral and spiritual stewardship. It reflects the fear of the Lord and the person's integrity and patience

and dependence on God and on his will and his timing. I had a lot of trouble with the timing thing, dog. It sucked to me a long time to understand time. Yeah. It took a long time to understand time. So where I said, how I matured in this is, was by coming to the place of trusting God's plan. And if you trust, first of all, you have to trust God.

Then you trust his plan. And if you trust God and you trust his plan, you naturally have to trust his timing. Right. And so you can relax. You can be busy. diligently working, and yet you're in a state of spiritual rest waiting on his timing. Right. Because eventually it will come to pass.

Yes. So Rick, I'm going to go back in time here and review some of the thoughts of Bible scholars and theologians from centuries ago. I'm going to go way back to St. John Christosum first, Golden Mouth, as he was known as, taught that the diligent believer imitates God's own faith. for work in creation through steady, thoughtful labor that results in divine abundance. Theodore of Cyrus, a notable theologian of the School of Antioch, viewed diligence as a mark of the wise steward. He said that God multiplies what is offered to him in thoughtful obedience.

Matthew Henry, bringing us a little bit closer to modern age, stresses that the diligent man's thoughts have directed toward honest, lawful gain, and God blesses such labor with increase. John Gill explains that the diligent believer considers his ways, plans prudently, and commits his work to the Lord who establishes his thoughts, as we learn back in Proverbs chapter 16.

Adam Clark said that the diligent man's mind is fixed on useful ends. His careful forethought prevents waste and multiplies results. And then Charles Bridges, highlights that diligence and thought leads to diligence in action. The mind that plans wisely produces hands at work fruitfully. All right, I'll give you a few. Terrell Spurgeon,

frequently taught that God multiplies the labor of the diligent, even small, consistent effort under God becomes great gain eventually. Alexander McLaren emphasized that the diligent heart waits on God, thinks long term, and trusts God for the harvest. And he said, this is the path for true prosperity. G. Campbell Morgan saw diligence his stewardship. He said, the man who thinks carefully about his responsibilities receives God's increase in due season. And William Arnott said that God honors the man. or woman who plans with integrity and that their thoughts are like seeds sowed in good soil.

Okay, so let's go to the part two of this verse. But everyone that is hasty is only to want, poverty, relax, okay? So, but everyone. It says, but everyone. Okay, so you've got the conjunction, but it draws a sharp contrast with the success given to the diligent man or woman. Diligent man gets success. Now, Solomon says, but, but everyone, okay, everyone means all.

Everyone who is hasty for wealth. Everybody that's in a hurry to get rich ends up broke. The hasty man or woman is the opposite of the diligent man. This type of person is addicted to speed and shortcuts. And so they covet the plentiness, the prosperity of the first group, but they're unwilling to apply the deliberate planning in the mind and the physical labor to achieve the success of the people that they're jealous of. If there's something I've observed in life, you likely have to,

rick, just haste is often a sign of unbelief. The hasty man cannot wait for God's time, or God's methods. I let that sink in. He forces the door open and so wait for the key to show up. Saul, we remember back in 1 Samuel chapter 13, King Saul was hasty to offer the sacrifice from the spoils he kept back

because Samuel was late and it cost him his kingdom. You know, it's ironic, Rick. The man hurries because he wants to be rich now, but his hurry leads him to poverty. Right? Why? Because haste leads to mistakes. We have to learn this sometimes the hard way. A house built in a hurry collapses, a deal signed in a hurry, sometimes fails, oftentimes fails. And hasty spirituality, hasty spirituality, which I could define as religious emotionalism without sound doctrine. It leads to spiritual poverty. root withering the sun, Rick. You're right, Doc.

Everyone that is hasty. This refers to the impulsive rash person who acts without reflection, without advice and counsel, without waiting on God. They don't look in the Word of God for illumination. They don't pray and seek God's will. They don't seek advice from Godly

men and women, they rush into things first, building, without building, a wise foundation. Then later, when things fall apart, maybe then they seek God. Maybe then they go to people and say, I don't understand what happened. But they should have done it in the beginning. So, haste is not merely speed. It is speed without wisdom. It is driven by grace. It is driven by by impatience, emotion, presumption. As Doc said, they're just not willing to wait on God. God's too slow. That's the way they see it, Doc.

He's too slow. Right. Okay? They wanted it now. They want to get it now. So, haste is the enemy of discernment. The sermon is built up in the stillness of your soul, listening to God's quiet voice inside your spirit.

Hasty people are tripped up by their own passion-driven impulsiveness. The hasty man or woman is ruled by their passions instead of being ruled by reason and grace and wisdom and peace. So what's a certain result? The guarantee result is want. Want means lack. They suffer poverty not only in financial ruin, but also. in emptiness in their character, in their relationships, in their spiritual life.

So failure is not a possibility. It is a guaranteed result that is going to happen. Right. And so when it talks about everyone that is hasty there, we're talking about that impulsive person, who's rash and impatient, one who acts without reflection, who wants results without any planning or any process. The Hebrew term here conveys the, idea of being pressed or rushed or crowded in. It is impatient and inconsiderate

rationalist, constantly in a hurry but rarely in true order. You know anybody like that? Off the top of your head? You probably do. Speed is not the same as progress. Now that phrase only to want there, you know, that road to haste points toward lack, loss, and poverty. Shortcuts, get rich, quick schemes, gambling, unthought decisions usually end in deficiency and not in abundance. So the hasty man or woman is always seeking a shortcut to bring them to wealth and leisure time,

but despises the boring, steady work that success requires. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. Let me say that again. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. Their haste also makes them careless, resulting in waste and loss rather than gain. And that hastiness, Rick, leads to

financial and moral recklessness too. Signing a document quickly, spending impulsively, shooting from the hip, jumping into ventures without counsel, or worse off without prayer. These are behaviors that often produce long-term wanton poverty rate. is. I want to give you some final thoughts on Proverbs 21, verse 5. There is a link between a hasty person and a lazy person that the Bible calls a slugger.

The hasty person, it doesn't make sense. Haste, you see somebody in a hurry. But actually, a hasty person is a lazy person. How do we come to that conclusion? The sluggard will not get out of bed and go to work. He makes excuses. But the hasty man or woman, the problem is not that they sleep in or make excuses. The hasty person shares with the sluggard their distaste for long hours, steady progress, discipline,

doing the mundane things necessary to achieve success. In that case, both the hasty person. and the sluggard share the same thing. They don't like the long hours of work. The hasty person is willing to work, but let's get it done now. Let's get our money as quick as possible. So in that sense, they're like the sluggard. So the hasty man or the woman is too lazy to do the work of planning and patience.

they rush because they refuse to endure the discipline of time. So haste is a form of sloth. It is the refusal to suffer the delay. They don't want the delay. We go back to this thing, God's too slow. We've got to get ahead of God. God's taking, he's taking too much time. I don't have that much time.

I want it now. And so that makes them hasty. Doc talked about St. John, Chrystrand, his golden throat, he believed that anything gained instantly, whether wealth or fame, reputation, he said it was suspicious. Doc, he was suspicious of anybody that got rich or famous quickly or political power. And he was something not right here, okay? Now, that was nearly 2,000 years ago, and he noticed that in human behavior.

true virtue is the result of spiritual exercise over a lifetime right he warned that the hasty person in prayer is the one who demands answers immediately and quits when god is silent but sometimes god is quiet and god is testing us and the hasty person is not willing to put up with that, Doc. They wouldn't go. Hey, I prayed. I want my answer. You know, let's get the show on the road. I pray three times. Let's go. And there's a lot of religious people with that mindset. Hey, I prayed a couple times and nothing happened. So I started doing things myself. Wow.

So we see this. We see this in spiritual matters as people shun doing the hard work of studying the Word of God. Now, the morning matter class, that's not you. You're coming here five days a week for 60 to 90 minutes a day. You're not lazy and you're not hasty. But hasty people, they shun the discipline of studying the Word of God. They shun praying. They shy away from seeking God.

Now, here's what they do. I've seen this for years in churches. They run from preacher to preacher, from teacher to teacher, from prophet to prophet, from church to church. They're seeking instant spiritual illumination, some instant emotional feeling, some instant manufactured religious experience. Right, right. Hey, if I don't get it here, I've been going here for a month and nothing's happened. I'm going to another church. Wow.

I never really considered a hasty spiritual life before we're in. Wow. Yes. They're unsettled. They're going from preacher to preacher, prophet to profit. I need a word from God. Hey, I've been here for two months and he hasn't given me a word from God. I've got to go, got to get somebody else, okay? A lot of people live like that. Wow. You know, we can gain insight. This isn't a new phenomenon at all. Christian leaders and teachers in the past have observed this as well.

one of the teachers from the past, we love to quote, St. John Christosom, once again, golden mouth, as he was known, warned that the haste is a child of unchecked desire. It outruns wisdom and leads to spiritual and mature poverty. St. Basil, the Great, taught that the hasty soul is unstable. That true abundance comes to the one who waits on the Lord in stillness and in prayer. Matthew Henry warned that the hasty, man leaps before he looks. He waste opportunities and squanders what he has. John Gill observed that the haste often arises from distrust in God's timing. Hello, the man who rushes ahead of Providence falls into need. Adam Clark notes the hasty schemes

collapse under their own weight. The man who hurries to be rich falls into temptation and a snare. Charles Bridges stressed, the haste is the opposite. opposite waiting on God, it produces confusion and loss rather than order and gain. And then the teacher Albert Barnes said that the hasty person is often deceived by short-term gains. His lack is long-term and severe. Charles Spurgeon frequently preached that the hasty man is like the one who runs in the dark. He stumbles and loses everything he pursues. Alexander McLaren warned that impatience is a form of unbelief.

The man or woman who cannot wait on God cannot prosper in God's way. Gee Campbell Morgan saw haste as the mark of an unrenewed heart. It seeks quick satisfaction instead of lasting fruit. And William or not observed that the hasty person burns the candle of both ends he or she consumes tomorrow's resources today and finds himself empty. All right, let's move on to verse 6. Proverbs 21, verse 6, King James, The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.

The Septuagint says, He that gathers treasures with a lying tongue, pursues vanity on the snares of death. Rick, I have to say, I've never heard that I've preached on this verse before. I've been a Christian. It says 1978, Doug, and I have never heard a sermon or a Bible teaching on this verse.

Why is that? Because it's hard, Rick. It's hard. And you've got to study. That's right. You've got to be diligent. You've got to dig and hoe and look, right? So let's start with the first part.

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue. So Solomon takes it to another level in Proverbs 21, verse 6. In verse 5, he talked about the hasty person getting wealth. In verse 6, he talks about the crook who gathers wealth by lying. So the getting of treasures, refers to the accumulation of significant wealth, not merely your sufficient daily supply of necessities. The lying tongue covers a broad spectrum of commercial sins.

Listen up, we're talking commercial sins, business sins, false advertising, cooked books, forgery, perjury, perjury, Doc, at some point in my lifetime, I have bumped into all these things with people I've done business with. Yes. Okay. It's amazing. Yeah, in every category, false weights, you know, unjust measurements. Everything that the Bible talks about that God says, this is wrong.

It also, this includes the flattery of advisors and consultants. Oh, my. I'm not disrespecting advisors and consultants. I hire them from time to time. But I've learned that not all of them are serious. Yes. Some of them are just, they're just fast talkers to get in in your wallet.

And so this verse covers them too, right? It covers false witnesses in court to steal land. I've dealt with that one too, Doc. Yeah. I've had that problem where people tried to steal our church land. There are just so many things. I'm thinking of a contract I had with a so-called Christian broadcaster. And when we had some disagreements about what the contract meant,

one of the executives told me well our owner wrote the contract he's a lawyer and he can make it mean anything he wants it to mean and I said I don't think a court would see it that way you know I mean I've bumped into this kind of stuff

all over the world I'm just trying to serve God and I've had to deal with crooked business people right all right so what is telling us is there is a dangerous

reality if you've been in the business world you know what I'm talking about right so lying often works in the short term yeah the liar gets away with things and makes money in the short term the text acknowledges

that treasures can be accumulated through lying it's not denying that you can accumulate vast treasures through lying. However, you may be able to cheat your way to a full bank account,

but you can't cheat your way into eternity. That's right. There's a payday. You may get ahead in this world lying and cheating, but it's not going to work on the day you stand before God. Yes. You know, Rick, truthfulness is necessary really for any society, any functioning society,

to have a stable foundation. Therefore, a lying tongue for profit is an act of treason, not only against yourself, but against others in society, and ultimately against God himself, who is the ultimate form of truth. Throughout Proverbs, we've learned that God hates a lying tongue because it abuses the gift of speech, turning a tool meant for praising God into a tool for robbing men.

And dishonest people may tell their skills and their shrewdness for their wealth, but God labels it as lying. He doesn't hold back. The sinner calls it business strategy. God calls it fraud. So the wealthy liar believes his money will protect him from the consequences of his lie, forgetting that the foundation of his house is rotten. Dr. Tucker, one thing you said was really profound.

That God hates a lying tongue because it abuses the gift of speech. Our ability to talk is a gift from God. If you don't think so, let him take it away from you and you can't talk. You'll understand it's a gift. And so a person, who lies takes a gift from God and abuses it and uses a divinely given gift to rob other people. The gift of speech was given to us to glorify God. Remember, I said the purpose of manners to glorify God. And so when you're using your tongue, your ability to speak and you're using

it to lie, you're misusing a divinely given gift that was supposed to be used to glorify God and to bless people made in his image. That's the first time I really ever thought about it that way, Doc. The Greek text implies this is an active gathering. It's not a one-time gathering. This is an ongoing frantic, obsessive grabbing, piling up of wealth through dishonest means. The getting of treasures. It's talking about the acquisition of wealth and gain and advantage over others. A lot of people are driven by the need to have an advantage over somebody else. else. It's the primary aim

in their life. They're not just looking for some extra income. They are driven by this need to have the advantage over other people. A lying tongue means deceit and speech, false promises, fraud, perjury,

flattery, misrepresentation. You know, fine print and contracts. A lot of lying is in fine print, Doc. Yes. Oh my. Lawyers can lie in fine print. And they know they're lying. They know that they're putting something deceptive in the contract. And what they put in there are clauses that make it impossible for you to get justice because you sign off and you give up your rights when you find out that they're crooked. That's right. That's right. Okay. They put that in fine print. If you discover that we're crooked, you give up your right to sue us.

This covers all ways of enriching yourself through dishonest contracts and false weights and measures and cheating and bearing false witness, whatever the person is doing. But the Bible consistently warns that wealth acquired unjustly is under a curse. And that what looks like gain is in God's accounting books marked for judgment. Yes. So the root is number. He always balances his bookstock. Yes. So the root sin here is not really that individual lie that we're talking about,

but covetousness, that greed that values treasure about the truth and God's glory. So let's consider the hardness of the conscience involved. For financial gain, the liar sells both his neighbor and his own soul for cash. So the image is here of a person that spend clever words, contracts, pitches, testimonies, slide decks, that's the term today, to pull treasure toward himself using the tongue as a hook baited with lies. You know, Rick, wealth isn't evil. But when it's acquired through lies, it becomes a liar's path to.

spiritual damnation. I mean, this proverb was written by the richest man who ever lived. Right. We calculated, recently doubt that Solomon was being paid through taxes and tribute. He was being paid 25 tons of gold per year. Yes. It's just some gold. That's not counting all the other things he got.

25 tons of gold. He was a well, man. The Bible says the wealthiest has ever lived. And yet he's telling you here, hey, if your wealth has achieved through lying and cheating, it's under a curse. He links it with death. The phrase, he that gathers treasures with a lying tongue stresses that this is a continuous practice. It's not a single one-time mistake. It's a settled way. of doing business. You know, Doc, like I mentioned,

the old guy that I used to know, businessman, and when I, I'd call him out on his shenanigans in business, he'd just shrug his shoulders go, well, Rick, that's business. That's business. No, it's crookedness. That's cheating.

It's not business. This kind of cheating, lying like this, it is a violation of the Ten Commandments, the Commandment against false witness and the love of neighbor. It's binding the sinner not only to their guilt, but it's binding this person to the father of lies who is Satan. Yes. If you are a liar, you are inspired by Satan. And I have met people who are the chronic liars.

They lie by everything, Doc. They lie about what they had for breakfast. They lie about things that they didn't have to lie about. Yeah. They just lie all day long. I've met people like this. They have the spirit of Satan in them. They're lying.

And yet they attend church. They're in churches. Sometimes they're deacons. Sometimes they're pastors. But they have a spirit of lying in them. Yeah. So I'll do, let's go back in time once again here

to some of the Christian leaders of the past. I'll start with St. John Christosom again. He taught that the man who lies for gain is chasing wind. He tools hard to obtain what will not satisfy to will soon be taken away, chasing the wind. St. Basil's the Great Warren, that dishonest wealth is a snare. It binds a soul to earthly cares and leads to eternal loss. Matthew Henry taught that riches obtained by fraud are like a bubble.

They seem substantial, but burst and vanished, leaving the owner worse off. John Gill explains that lying for gain is a direct violation of the Eighth and Ninth Commandments. It brings no lasting good and only trouble. Adam Clark warned that dishonest gain is cursed from the beginning. It may increase for a season, but it carries within it the seeds of ruin. And then Charles Bridges stresses that true wealth comes from God's blessing on honest labor, but as gain by deceit is morally empty and practically unstable. Presbyterian Albert Barnes observed that the man who lies from money

builds his house on sand, and the first storm of adversity or exposure sweeps it away. Charles Spurgeon preached that lying for profit is a short road to long sorrow. The treasure may arrive quickly, but it departs even more quickly. Alexander McGlaren emphasized that the dishonest man chases a phantom. He thinks he is gaining, but he is only grasping. at smoke. Gee Campbell Morgan believed that the lying tongue

produced a counterfeit blessing. It mimics abundance but delivers emptiness. And William are not likened dishonest riches to a mirage. They appear real and inviting, but when pursued

they prove to be nothing. All right, now let's go to the next part of this verse, King James says, is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. Septuagin says they pursue vanity onto the snares of death. This is where this gets really serious now. We're talking about death at this point. Okay, not just talking about losing your mind. You're talking about losing your life and your soul.

Oh, they... Hemel is the Hebrew word for vanity. It means vapor, bubble, delusion, a mirage. It looks real, but it's not, okay? It's vanity. It describes something that looks substantial for a moment, like a cloud, like a mirage, but it has no mass, no permanence. A fortune built on lies cannot satisfy a soul.

satisfy a soul. It's vanity. It promises happiness, but it delivers emptiness. It's like drinking salt water. It actually increases your thirst. The thirst you were trying to quench, you drink salt water, you become more thirsty. So this phrase tossed to and fro. This invokes the image of the chaff, of the grain driven by the wind or dust to a storm. It means that ill-gotten gain has no root.

It's flighty. It blows away. It's here today, gone tomorrow. So wealth gained by fraud brings a curse and it's a very unique curse. And that is the constant fear of exposure. The liar is tossed to and fro

by his anxiety, his inability to enjoy what he has stolen, because he's always looking over his shoulder to see if he's going to get caught. That's right. You ever mentioned somebody that just had a sneaky, guilty look? I mean, you meet these people. They just have a guilty look. Like any day they know they're going to get caught. Here's why.

God has built a moral law. into the universe. That says that where money is gained without righteousness, it develops wings. It is easy come, easy go. This is a law of the universe. Right.

If you use dishonest ways to get ridged, you're going to lose it. So just as the wind drives away chaff through winnowing, throwing the grain up in the air, the breath It's the breath of God's judgment that drives away the wealth of a liar. It's got to breathe him, just blowing on somebody's wealth.

You can just, Doc, just see the Lord. He's watched somebody lie and cheat for years. Right. And they become wealthy. And then one day the Lord just goes, oh, my, look what happened. All your wealth is gone. My, my, my, what are you going to do now? And this all it takes for the Lord to do it.

He just blows away their wealth. So wealth gathered by lying is as transient as the breath that they use to tell the lies. Yes. I'm going to focus on the Septuagint version of this, Rick, where it says that it pursues vanity on the snares of death. And this presents a movement. The chase after empty things, to step by step into traps prepared for the greening.

King James puts it this way, it says, of them that seek death. So that snare is a snare of death. A literal reading of the Hebrew is a fleeting breath for those who seek death. Fleeting breaths for those who seek death. It indicates that those who chase dishonest wealth, Rick, are in reality seeking death.

They're death seekers. They are not truly. seeking life, though they think they are. Others see the snares of death as pictured wealth from lies as a net that entangles the owner and drags them into ruin. Either way,

no matter which way you land on this, on the translation, the moral is the same. Fraudulent riches are both empty, like a paper, and fatal. They end in death or the snares of death. They deceive and destroy all at once.

Doctor, you know, it's just, it's just a sad thought that there are people so deceived by Satan that they think that they're pursuing quick money and Satan has them fooled because they're actually seeking death that is tragic and yet I have met these kind of people you know today we call them grifters they just going for one person to the next

one organization to the next, one company to the next, and they go in with a preconceived plan to deceive. And I have encountered people like this. And I know people who have been cheated by these kind of people. It's very difficult for me to even comprehend that people think this way, they act this way, especially when you get a group of them, though. Yes.

When you get like a little cabal, three or four people in conspiracy together to cheat others. And yet, right now, I'm thinking of some people, okay, that doctor you and I have had we, we know about them, okay? And we know that they have a history of going from one organization to the next, cheating the people. Right. Okay. That's hard for me to comprehend. But what is really grievous is that I realize when I'm one. watching, reading this verse, that those people are moving towards death. And you just, you want to

go tell them, stop what you're doing. It's going to end in death. But they're not going to listen to you because they're deceived. And when you encounter people like that, you have to just let them go. Because they're believing what the devil has told them. They made a choice. So this first raise snares of death, it actually carries an eschatological meaning. Meaning, dishonest gain not only destroys people in this life, but it entangles the soul in eternal life unless they repent before they die. This death is not just physical. It's not just financial.

You can have a financial death. You can have a physical death. But the worst death to have is a spiritual death, to be eternally separated from the presence of God for eternity. Right. Doc, how many liars are in heaven? Zero. Where are they, where, what's their address? Well, eventually it's going to be the lake of fire.

Because all liars, the Bible says what? Most liars? All liars will have their place in the lake of fire. They get a place. Yeah. In other words, God's already got a reservation for them. There's a table waiting for them in the lake of fire. All liars have their place in the lake of fire.

St. John Christchastong taught that the man who lies for gain binds himself with chains, that he can't break, that his sin becomes the rope that hangs himself. St. Basil, the grave warned that, deceitful wealth is a deadly trap. It promises freedom, but it delivers bondage and judgment. Jesus told a parable of a rich fool, which in Luke chapter 12. Man stores of treasures for himself,

and yet God calls him a fool when his soul was required with hell. So his wolf turns out to be a vapor at the door of death. He spent a whole time, Jesus said, look at you, you're spending your entire light building wealth, and then it's all taken from you. You're a fool because your soul is going to be required of you this day. So the sinner thinks he's seeking treasures,

but in God's mind, he's seeking death. His path, if he remains unrepentant, is eternal loss. Yes. So any gain that requires you to wound truth is a deception, is a mirage, it's vanity. You're chasing moving mist.

It's like you're trying to catch mist. Yes. Okay? And you're walking towards the snare of death. You're reaching up from me. and you're not looking down at your feet. Your feet's going to step into a snare and it's death. Yes.

Oh, my. It's frightening, weird. Charles Bridges taught that the way of deceit is the way of death. It hardens the heart and separates the soul from God's blessing. Albert Barnes said that dishonest gain is a deadly sneer. It promises life but delivers death in every sense. And then Charles Spurgeon, who will, We love to quote, preach that the liar for profit is his own executioner.

He hunts for riches and catches death instead. Think about that. A hunter is searching for riches, but what he bags his death for himself. Alexander McLarn warns that the soul that seeks wealth by falsehood is running headlong into a pit. that the chase ends in eternal loss. Gee Campbell Morgan said this is a solemn warning. The man who chooses lying gain chooses suicide, spiritual suicide. And William R. Nott said,

This honest man is like the bird that flies into the fowler's net. His own greed draws him to his own destruction. That's right. And Satan is laughing. Yes. And one more person died in their sin. I know it's been a long lesson. We covered a lot of ground, and I appreciate those of you who stayed with us,

or those of you had to come back later in the day to catch the rest of it. Whichever ways, fine, okay? But I hope this has been a blessing to you. I can tell you, many, many hours go into study and preparation. for each morning manner. A lot of time. Okay. And we're doing our very best to present a sound,

to present sound doctrine to you, something that will bless you, that will change you, that would draw you closer to God. That's something that the Holy Spirit is going to open up your spiritual eyes and ears, that you're going to see and hear things that you've never known about the word.

God. It's happening to me as I study and teach. I don't know about you, Doc. I know you're a lot better than me, but I'm telling you, this is, I can tell you along the way in Proverbs. I've had to stop in my studies and just say, Lord, this is talking about me. I've got to deal with this right now. Oh, every day, Rick, for me, every day. Oh, why? I thought I understood Provert before. No. I was in kindergarten before and maybe if we're around

two or three years from now we teach proverbs again maybe we're going to say hey we thought we knew it back here in 2026 we don't know I think what surprised at most about proverbs Rick is

teaching over this long period of time like we have in past year you begin to see patterns emerge in proverbs you didn't see before how Solomon goes, it kind of goes in series and sequences and that there's, as if thoughtfulness went into this. In other words, Proverbs isn't just some hasty collection of Pithy sayings, but that he planned this out, that he had thoughtfulness in this, even the passages that were

likely added by others, but were still part of the whole book of Proverbs and everything as we get into later chapters. The whole, there's just a congruiting with everything. It's one, it's not just a whole bunch of collection of sayings, but it becomes one coherent piece. That's what I'm noticing more than anything else this time around. So, Doc, are you saying Solomon was a diligent worker that he had well-thought plans for this book?

I absolutely think so, especially after our lesson today, I think that's obvious. Yeah. I'm now, you know, I've published several books, and now I'm thinking, how much work went into the book of Proverbs? How many employees of the kingdom worked with the king to put this book together? Yeah, and what did he leave out? Yeah. You know, because the biggest part about building a book, Rick, is editing, and that's cutting stuff. You've got to take stuff out.

Yeah, so. He's really good. I don't want to take it out. but the book's becoming too big. That's right. That's why I had to write the ecclesiastics later. You know, I've had some thoughts. This is Proverbs too.

Hopefully we'll do a series in the case of time, which is a fascinating book as well. So I hope that our viewers and listeners are really gaining something from this journey through progress. I know I am. Or did Solomon save the outtakes for the not-so-wise book? The Book of fools. Yeah, there you go. Hey, thank you so much, everybody. God bless you. We appreciate your prayers

and your financial support. We walk by faith. We trust God every day. We trust God. Amen. I tell people I haven't had a job since 1998, but I work. I work more hours than I've ever worked when I've worked in jobs, but I've not had a job. I trust the Lord. And Lord has taken care of us. And He meets our knees. And I don't think. about it. I don't get up in the day and go, how are we going to get through this? I used to in the early days. And then the Lord spoke to me and said, this is like, talk somewhere around 2005. I started in 98. This is around 2005. And I used to go, every 30 days saying, oh, how are we going to get through this? We got 30 days. All the bills are due in 30 days. And I'd cry and pace and pray and, oh, go through all this. And then the money

would come in. And then on the first day of the next month, I go, oh, no, I've got 30 days. I got 30 days to get through this again. And I went through that from 1998 to 2005. And one day the Lord said, can I answer you something? He was just, how many months? How many months? Between 98 and now, and I added up how many months it was, you know. And he said, how many of those months did I fail to meet your knees and I said, nod. And he goes, what's the likelihood

I'm going to fail the future? I said, nod. And he goes, then, why do you worry so much? And that was it for me. That was it. I stopped. I stopped at that moment.

I stopped worrying. I trusted the Lord. I went into a place of trust and rest and never left it. I just never left it. Praise God. and I trust him

and I've been through we've been through some lean time doesn't day I don't care I don't care what the bank account says I don't care I don't care what the bank account says my God has never failed me ever

okay and I know as we go forward in the days months and years ahead he's not going to fail me and I'm going to stay faithful to him doing this work as long as he gives me breath and he'll take care of us and he'll take care of you Amen.

And your needs being met are linked to this ministry's needs being met. He's linked you with this ministry. Okay. And so when you're emotionally, spiritually tied to a ministry, then is a sign, there's an indication from God that you're supposed to be part of it financially. God has linked you. He's created a soul tie between you and this ministry.

And so you're supposed to be part of it. And when you do, the blessings that's on us, come on you. Amen. Your needs will be met. Oh, your bills will be paid. And you'll rest. You just enjoy the rest. Okay, I got to go.

Love you so much. We'll see you to. God bless you. Thank you for watching Morning Manor. We hope your soul has been nourished today. We welcome and appreciate your prayers and financial support for our international Bible teaching ministry. Visit Manor-N-N-N-N-A. Manor Nation.com and kindly send a gift of appreciation and encouragement for our work for Christ

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