TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Dec 8, 2025 - Proverbs 17:20-24 - Crooked Hearts and Wise Eyes

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Proverbs 17:20–24 contrasts the inward distortion of the wicked with the steady discernment of the wise. A perverse heart finds no good, and a deceitful tongue falls into trouble. Foolish children become grief to their parents; a merry heart strengthens like good medicine, while a broken spirit dries up the bones. The wicked take bribes in secret, but understanding sets wise eyes toward the right path, while the fool’s gaze wanders to the ends of the earth. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart explore how inner character shapes destiny, how joy nourishes life, and how wisdom fixes its eyes on the way that leads home. Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.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

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna on this beautiful Monday morning. We're glad to have you with us here today. We're working our way through the book of Proverbs, and we're in the 17 chapter. Today, we're going to study verses 17, no, excuse me, verses 20 through 24. Chapter 17, verses 20 to 24. Let's pray. I'll ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in this study, and Doc's going to read the word. Father, our dear wonderful Father in heaven, Father, we give you glory and praise and honor and thanksgiving. Father, we're here to be taught by your Holy Spirit because we desire to know more about your kingdom, more about your son, more about your way. So come Holy Spirit, take charge of this morning matter class and teach all of us in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. And welcome to this Monday edition of Morning Manda. So glad to you here with us today. We're privileged, no matter where you are in the world that you're joining us here for this Bible study where we explore the Word of God together. And so we greet you no matter what

country that you may hail from. We have people that tune in from Russia and from Brazil and from Singapore and Malaysia and the Philippines and Japan and Australia and across the U.S. and Canada. I'm so privileged to have you here today. We are in Provert chapter 17, and we continue our study in this significant chapter here, and we begin in verse 20 today. So follow along with me as I read from the King James. Verse 20, He that hath a forward heart findeth no good, and he that hath the perverse tongue falls into mischief.

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool hath no joy. verse 22 a merry heart does good like a medicine but a broken spirit dried the bones verse 23 a wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment fascinating verse there and verse 24 wisdom is before him that hath understanding but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth god bless the reading of his word today The full can't see wisdom standing in front of him. Yes.

Well, that's later in this study. Verse 20. The Aramaic Peshita translation says, He who has a perverse heart finds no good, and he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil. The Septuagint is almost identical. He that has a perverse heart shall not find good, and he that turns his tongue shall fall into mischief.

Okay, so we're being told, we don't want to be perverse, because you're not going to find any getting good, and you're going to fall into trouble. I mean, that's, we could end this study right now, Doc. There's your, that's it. There it is, okay? Well, let's see what we can dig out of this first. first part, he that has a froward heart, a perverse heart, finds no good. We've talked about this many times in the book of Proverbs, a froward heart, a perverse heart.

Perverse does not mean perverted. It means twisted. Yes. This does not mean sexually, you know, perverted. It means a person who's, thinking and talking is twisted. It's crooked. The image that you should have is that if you are in right standing, all right, here's God and here's you. You're in right standing with the Lord. A person who is pervert, perverse, not perverse, is bent away. Bent away. Bent away from the truth. Here's God, here's the truth. A perverse person is bent, crooked, leaning away from the truth. That's what it means. In their thinking, and they're talking, in their actions, they're twisted, they're crooked, they are bent away from God's truth.

So this is the heart of such a person, right? Not neutral. They are. actively been away from God's truth. Yes. No accident. They choose to be twisted. They choose to go away from truth, from love, from wisdom. So such a person finds no good. No lasting blessing.

No peace. No prosperity of the soul. Just emptiness all the time. Their soul is empty. wrestler. The wicked shall have no rest. Wicked people can't find rest in their soul. And people who are perverse, bent away from God's truth, are restless. Yes. So, Doc, what this means is the man or woman who is perverse, meaning having a crooked heart, is self-cursed. They have cursed themselves.

They can't find good in life. They search for it. They try to fulfill it. They can't obtain it. They have spoken and thought a curse upon themselves by the crooked, twisted way they think and speak and act. So they have nobody else to blame but themselves. You know, it's like their heart has a, like the door of their heart is locked.

Grace is knocking, but pride is on the other side of the door and says, I'm not going to open the door. Yes, that's right. To something that's good. God is trying to get into their life to bring something good, but their pride says, no, I'm going to keep the door shut. Right. I'd rather turn down what you have to offer God than to surrender to you.

Because it's all about surrender. It's about submission. Do you have any thoughts on this? Well, and you touched on this a little bit. When we think of the perversity of this, it's not just a moral perversity, although that's included in it, but it's turning away from,

God completely. That's the point that Solomon's trying to get a point across here in that this isn't just, you know, a casual refusal to hear from God. This is in direct rebellion to God. This is someone who is willingly able to break a covenant with God and, of course, with other men, without it impacting as hard at all. And so the image here is of a man. that is in a garden of blessings, Rick, okay, and has available to him every kind of food that you can imagine, every kind of fruit, vegetable, and yet he's starving to death because he hates the garden. He hates the blessings of the garden. And so because of this, ultimately, this froward heart is going to reap what it sows. And that's the ultimate judgment

in the final day. Matthew Henry said that a froward of hurt is a disconcerted, a discontented heart. It finds fault with God and man. It's that restlessness, that sense of saying nothing meets their standard at all.

You can listen to people if they're, if their conversation, they're discontented. They're not happy. They're griping. They're moaning. They're complaining. They're complaining. and they're complaining of other people

and they're talking bad about other people. That's a sign of a froward heart. Yes. That they're discontinent with life itself. Charles, well, I'll tell you, who did you quote, did you quote Charles Bridges? Matthew Henry. That was Matthew Henry.

Charles Bridges said, the froward heart is its own tormentor. It turns honey into gall. How tragic, yes. Charles Bergen said a crooked heart makes a crooked life. No good can dwell where perversity rains. Wow. And then Adam Clark said,

The Froerat Heart is a fountain of bitterness. It poisons every stream. Yes. Now, folks, we all have these kind of people in our lives. And depending on, their relationship with you. It's not always easy to avoid them. Right.

So how do we identify these people besides their countenance, Rick? Well, first of all, their words are out of alignment with God's work. Right. There's the first thing. If their constant way of speaking is constantly, contrary to the Word of God, then they have a perverse mouth. Right. I'm talking about the continual regular conversation throughout the day.

I mean, we all slip up. I'm not, you know, we make mistakes. We all slip up. I'm talking about the normal way that this person speaks. If it's contrary to the Word of God, they have a perverse mouth. Right. and if they have a perverse mouth they have a perverse heart

because the words that are coming out of their mouth come out of the heart if they have a perverse heart it means that they have a crooked spirit they have a spirit that is bent away from truth and you need to put distance between you and that person or you will get that poison

that gall you will get that stuff for you and in in over time it will bring you down it will wear you down and you may not see it and detect it right away but over if it goes on for years it can erode your light you can erode your your walk with god and you're changing and don't even know it right because you're being you're being affected and infected by this perverse person. Now, the second part says, and he that has a perverse tongue falls in a mischief. Once again, perverse, perverse tongue.

Speech that is twisted. It twists truth. It slanders people. It's just not used for God. God's glory. It is used to condemn people, to criticize people, to criticize good things. It's slander, it's gossip. You see, all those things are signs of a perverse heart. Right. A slander, a gossiper. Those people have perverse hearts. And you've got to cut it off in your life. When somebody comes to you and says, can you keep a secret? I just, that's what you should say is, no, I can't. Don't tell me. Sorry.

That's the, that's the politest way to get out of it. No, I can't keep a secret. Whatever you're going to say, don't say it. That's a polite way of saying, I don't want to participate in your gossip. Yeah, the more direct way you say, you're gossiping about somebody. As a Christian, I can't, I just can't sit here and listen to it. I'm sorry, I've got to get up and leave. that gets to be a little bit more sticky but don't participate in it this is a perverse tongue

they have a forward mouthpiece what is inside their heart inevitably comes out and it comes out twisted it's twisted and bent away from God's truth amen Again, the criteria is, is it in alignment with the Word of God? Well, the only way you can discern whether something is in alignment with the Word of God is that you have to know the Word of God. Amen. You know, Doc, I was just thinking about this, with modern, oh, wow, this would be a really good idea. Tested them myself on everybody.

take a recording record yourself throughout today record other people get a transcript of it right and then feed it to AI and ask AI if the words in this conversation are in alignment with the Holy Bible wow oh doc I've never thought about doing something like that would be scary, wouldn't it? Yes, it would. You know, one day, every, you know, we're going to get them a count a very idle word. Yeah, one day. That's right. How's that any different? Every, it's been recorded anyhow. Right. And it's going to be compared to the word of God. Yeah. Is it in alignment with the word of God or is it twisted and bent away?

Yeah. So it says this person falls in the middle. It says that they plunge into trouble, into calamity. It's like their tongue becomes a shovel and digs their own grave. So they fall into mischief. They fall into trouble. Their words become boomerangs. And their words return on them and bring ruin. But they don't understand where it's coming from.

from. They don't understand it's coming from their own words. According to this verse, their fall is certain that no lie escape God's truth. You will be held accountable at some point, right? This mischief is public. Meaning, the slanderer is eventually slandered. Yes. The liar is eventually lied about. Whatever they're spewing with their mouth comes back on them. And they find people lying about them.

Well, they've been lying about others. They find people gossiping, slandering them. That's because they're gossiping and slandering others. Right. And so their own words are boomer. ringing on them, and they're falling into mischief, they're falling into trouble, and they can't figure it out. They don't know why.

So the bottom line, Doc, is either crucify your tongue or your tongue's going to crucify you. Amen. Yes. So, well, that echoes what Matthew Henry said. Matthew Henry said that his own tongue falls upon him. he is beaten with his own stand beaten with his own stand

yes self-punishment um Charles Bergen said the perverse tongue is a sword that cuts the hand that welds it I like that Charles Bridges said the tongue that twist truth will itself be twisted by trouble

kind of picture that so yeah and Adam Clark said the perverse tongue is the fool's own executioner. Right. So, go ahead. What I'm getting from this particular verse, and, you know, obviously believers and disciples, followers of Christ, we shouldn't have perverse hearts or perverse words. That's the obvious lesson there.

But there's a deeper lesson here in that we shouldn't associate with those or we shouldn't seek out those. that have perverse hearts and perverse tongues. You know, people are so fascinated these days with social media influencers. And I tell you what, Rick, you know, going on social media nowadays, it's like walking through a minefield. There's so much. And it doesn't matter what side of the political spectrum you're on. There's just so much vileness out there, so much anger, so much.

hate. And you can tell by the hearts of people, their hearts are perverse because it echoes in their tongue, doesn't it? Yes. Yes. Another quote, John Gill, Baptist, said, he that hath a froward heart findeth no good because he is displeased with everything. In other words, he's a graper, a complainer, a fault finder. So, people, I mean, you just listen to their normal talking all day. Right. Okay. I mean, I'm trying to think of, you know, you could have two people together.

One is perverse and the other one is God-centered and they could look at the same thing and talk about the same thing and have completely different words. You know, the righteous person could look out the window and go, oh, look at the beautiful rain. Oh, we need this rain. This is awesome. Thank you, Jesus. And the perverse person says, for heaven, it's raining again. Are you serious?

I had things to do today. Why is God punishing me with rain? Yeah. This is messing up my schedule. I had things to do today. The other person is saying, thank you, God. We needed this rain. Our garden was dry.

The flowers. are dry. Thank you so much. All right. The other person is griping saying, I had plans for today. See, if you listen to those two people throughout the day, you'll find a pattern throughout the day in their speech. Yes. The perverse person will find fault with everything. Right. Every single thing in their life. There'll be something wrong with it. Albert Barnes said, Heart and Tongue are linked in ruin. Yes. Alexander McLaren said

heart and speech are inseparable in character and consequences. Right. Gee Campbell Morgan said The crooked heart speaks crooked words and reaps crooked results. And William R.Nod, Scotland said the heart is the fountain,

the tongue, the stream, and both are poisoned. So for the believer, the disciple, Rick, we have to be discerning noly on our heart in our words, but those that we associate with, those that we gravitate to, those that attract our attention, and we need to weigh out those hearts. Because like you said, it's poison, Rick. Why would I stand around wait for the opportunity to be poisoned by someone? That's right

That's why I can't watch news channels anymore I can't listen to very many news podcasts anymore I just can't listen to it I like silence By the way Doc I was cleaning out my office going through Oh

boxes of notes and folders Going back to Moses days And I found my Myers-Briggs psychological profile somebody Susan I went through the

Myers-Briggs psychological profile about oh let's see probably 12, 13 years ago and you know I a very strong introvert really

Yeah, very strong introvert Folks, just so you know Rick really is an introvert I know he's out in public all the time publicly speaking, but really he's an introvert I mean, he really is Yeah, and it said in the description you know, would prefer to be

quiet in a quiet setting doesn't lay social gatherings, but but prefers one-on-one gatherings. Okay. Exactly, yeah, you know. And Susan's the opposite. She's a total opposite.

She's the extravert. And in a way, Rick, I think that's why the morning man of the Bible study is suited for you because it's as if you're speaking one-on-one with someone just across the kitchen table. You know, you're not, you know, it's not a big credit. And we know there are a lot of people that watch and listen, the way we've structured this is it's hey you come over here you sit down at the table with me let's break bread together let's break the word of God together so and that's why we created these new backgrounds you know we're currently using you know beach beach houses beach cabins all right

to have that homie, folksy environment, I can just think that, I can just pretend, you're sitting on the other side of the table and I'm talking to you about the Word of God. Right. That I can handle. I hate being on television. I hate being rude.

He doesn't. I don't like it. All right. But I do like talking to somebody, because Doc, it's like I'm looking at you in my screen, all right? In my, you know, I've got, Doc is, we're not in the same room.

we're not in the same building we're not even close to each other right now we're miles apart but I'm looking at you and you're looking at me and that's just like hey I'm talking one of one right and so but anyhow get to know the people that you're

start listening to their speech when you discern that somebody that you're around a lot has a froward perverse mouth that you're going to have to put some distance between you and that person. Amen.

And if they live in the same house, you're going to need some grace. You better be asking for grace, too, wisdom. All right, verse 21. King James says, he that begetteth a fool, doeth it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool hath no joy. The Aramaic Peshita says, who begets a fool, does it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.

Okay, so almost identical. Pretty straightforward here. Yep. If you give birth to an idiot, to a fool, you're going to have a lot of sorrow in your life. That's what it says. So the verb begett, begetteth. It means that the, you know, the father's or the mother's own child.

Right. The flesh of their flesh. And therefore, a child who is foolish becomes a wound to your own flesh. But it means more than just someone acting silly, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, this is at another level. There's silliness and stupidity. I want to say stupidity, you know.

But we all go through the silly, stupid stage early in life. You know, I could show you some photographs. I'll know I won't show you. I'll never show them, right? But there are all of us, you know, at some point, you know. We're not using our full brain. But you grow out of it. You grow up, you grow out of it, you know,

and you become a mature adult. What we're talking about here is a son or daughter that never becomes a mature, responsible adult. Right. Okay. And so because they come from your flesh, their foolishness becomes a wound to your flesh. The word fool here in this context, the Hebrew word is Nabal, Nebel. What's the right one, dog? You close enough.

They bail? Yeah. It means immoral, godless, self-destructive, rebellious. It's not just, it's not silliness, and that's not what we're talking about. It's borders on wickedness. Right. To an evil. The word sorrow means grief, vexation.

a constant gnawing pain in the person's soul that a parent that never lives like I can't imagine what it's like to be a mother-father who has a son or daughter who is a homeless drug addict

and you know that your child is somewhere out there in the United States it's living on the streets. I can't imagine that feeling. This is what we're talking about. It's a pain that doesn't go away. The parent can't get rid of this pain. Right.

It's telling us that no amount of earthly success compensate for your child's foolishness. Material riches mean nothing when your son or daughter is living a foolish life. And we see it in celebrities, young celebrities. You know, Doc, are embarrassing their parents. You know, their lifestyle, their behavior, their style of dress, you know, is embarrassing their parents can't what are they going to do about it I'll tell you when I it just comes in mind Miley Cyrus yeah can you imagine being her father or mother I mean how

vulgar can your child become very in Miley Cyrus's case so yeah so anyhow it's talking about the pain that a wayward child will cause mother or father. Right. Okay. So, Doc, it's like a man or woman who plants a vineyard. And the only thing that grows are thorns. They're where the grapes. Where's the grapes?

It's just thorns. And that's all your heart. harvesting. You're getting thorns. Your child is giving you a harvest of thorns. You know, so Charles Bridges said the father's sorrow is doubled. He mourns the child he loves and the shame he cannot hide. Wow. Charles Spurgeon echoes something similar here. Says better a thousand times to have no child than to have a child that is a fool that's strong

next part of this verse and the father of a fool hath no joy seems obvious because he has sorrow but doesn't have an opportunity for joy does he? That's right and doctor the the Hebrew word

here, it's very clear, it doesn't mean he or she, the parent has little joy. It's absolutely no joy. Right. There is a total absence of joy in this person's life. It's saying that the parent's crown has turned to ashes. Yes. that a child is bringing, the child should be, should bring pride to a parent, but the child is now bringing shame. And so the crown of that parent just erodes and becomes ashes.

And we talked about that. We talked about that cream just last week. That's right. We were, there are six. That grandchildren are the crown of the grandparents. Right. So the no joy in the child is public. The father's public reputation is connected to his son or daughter's public foolishness.

So the father has to bear the shame of the son or daughter's behavior. And again, the pain goes down its bone deep. It affects them, affects the parents. It's bone-deep pain. Doc, what this is teaching is that foolishness robs the parent of the one reward God promised for bringing children into this world. Yes. Yep.

Which is joy. They take the parents' joy away. By the way that they're living, the rebellion, the disgrace, okay? And this loss is generational because the fool cuts off his father's legacy. Yes, that's true. What do I want to say here? A foolish child's life is slow death to the parents.

Right. Not it's slow death. The parents will age and this will actually, the foolishness will actually accelerate their aging. And they'll go to their grace. Graves, unhappy, no joy, full of sorrow because of the behavior of one or two children. Charles Spurgeon said, the child that should be the father's crown becomes his cross.

Wow. And John Gill said, there's no comfort in a foolish child, only heaviness. And Adam Clark said, the father of a fool is a father in name only. his child is his torment. Wow. Charles Bridges said the heaviest burden a parent can bear is a foolish child. Alexander McLaren,

folly in the home is the worst calamity. Right. And Charles Burden, another quote from him, The father of a fool hath to no joy. His house is a house of mourning. It's like a funeral parlor, Rick. Yeah. Verse 22.

King James, A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. So we're talking about sorrow and no joy. And now we're talking about a merry heart. Notice the contrast here. That's right. The Pashita translation says,

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. All the translations are almost identical. Mary Heart, the Hebrew words here for Mary Heart means a deep, settled, God-given joy. It's a God-given joy. It's God-given joy. It's a Mary-heart. It's just not, you know, happiness, but it's joy. There's a difference between happiness and joy.

The joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's the strength of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. It's His joy, that's your strength, not your joy. joy. So a person with a merry heart is a person who's allowing the Lord's joy to dwell in them. I mean, Doc, in a twisted, perverted way, sorrow is Satan's joy. Yes. Because his happiness is that you're miserable. That's right. folks if you're miserable

Satan is winning in your life right you've got to get the joy of the Lord back I'm talking to myself I've gone through battles with depression I've gone through battles all kinds of mental emotional anguish

I know what this is like okay don't give the devil any victory don't give him a foothold the joy of the Lord is your turn. Praise God. The joy. He says it does good like a medicine.

This literally means it heals, it restores, it cures. In other words, joy is, joy comes from God's pharmacy. That's right. It's God's health care plan. when you go to heaven's pharmacy they give you joy hey you look depressed here's some joy you look

sad here's some joy you look defeated here here's some joy see the joy of the Lord is your strength it's the joy of the Lord that heaven's pharmacy prescribed The joy. What you need is Dr. Jesus's joy.

Okay. If you can imagine it on a bottle, Dr. Jesus's joy. That's the prescription. And it says it will heal. It will restore. It will cure you. You have to have the joy of the Lord. Okay. This is not an option. Dog, it's life and death. Not an option. option. It's health to the soul. It's health to the body. Gloom with, you know, as Christians, we should not allow gloom and sadness and sorrow. Or isn't that the truth? To have a foothold in our life.

How many gloomy Christian do you know? A lot. And I've been there. Always with a cloud hanging over their head. Yes. I know what it's like. I'm not condemning anybody. You know, if you go through spiritual warfare, you can be pulled into that state of gloominess.

Sure. Don't make it a lifestyle. Don't stay there. Fight to get out. Fight to get out of it. Don't be satisfied with it. You've got to get out of it. You've got to break free.

Heaven's medicine is free. Costs no money. And yet it's priceless. it's free and yet you can't afford it doc that's right but it's free someone else paid for it's already paid for and it's available to everybody rich and poor black and white it's available to everybody it's not income based hallelujah that's right um it turns it turns your trials into triumphs It laughs, chains. Sing in prison.

It sings in prison. Just think about Paul and Silas in prison. Or Peter, I said Paul. Peter in prison, he's singing. Right. What else was he got a day? Well, you could have sat there and said, I'm done.

They're going to kill me in the morning. I'm finished. I can't get out of this. But no, he was singing. He chose to sing. He couldn't, Rick, because he knew a guy who rose from the dead. That's right. That should just tipple your funny bone.

You're depressed? I know a guy who rose from the dead. They were personal friends. That's right. They knew each other. Okay. Matthew Henry says, A merry heart is a perpetual feast and a continual medicine.

Charles Bridges chimes in with joy in God is the soul's health and the body's stream. John Gill says a cheerful heart promotes digestion and lengthens life. All right. You got stomach trouble? Guess what? Become joyful. That's right.

and this is from Adam Clark the mind at ease is the best physician don't you just feel healthier when you're at peace with what's going on in the world around you and you'll look better and people will see it they'll see the countenance on your face

and they'll say I see you're looking better you're happy now the next part says I broken spirit dry off the bones broken spirit means crushed, shattered, despondent, depressed. The inner man has collapsed.

It's a broken spirit. I know what this is like. I have experienced it in my life. It's devastating to have a broken spirit where your inner man has collapsed. But what you need, times like that is somebody that has resurrected themselves from the dead.

That's right. Who has no dry bones? I mean, when your best friend is somebody who got himself out of the grave, you want to hang around him a lot. Right. All right?

Because when you find yourself in a grave, fiercely, emotionally, you want to call him your friend and say, hey, can you get me out of here? I don't know how I got in this mess, but I feel like I'm in a grave. Can you get me out? He knows how to do it.

He knows how to get you out of a tomb, out of a grave. The devil works night and day to get you there. The devil will spend years to get you into a grave. Right. If you find yourself in a grave right now, an emotional grave, a spiritual grave, a financial grave, call upon the man who got himself out of a grave, amen, and he'll walk you out.

Let's say, watch, I'll show you how to do it. We're just going to walk out of this grave. So it says, A broken spirit dryeth the bones. It means that the bones dehydrate, wither, weaken. Life begins to ebb from the very frame of, other person and this is this is not this is not a metaphor this is literal right they're physically drying up yes and this is a real thing

back a few years ago rick i heard a message uh this was when i was in korea i heard a korean pastor say there is medical research that says that depression destroys your bones. And that fascinated me. I knew the scripture, but I never heard the reference. But Rick, there really is in medical journal nature reviews endocrinology. And it says that cytokines, which are produced when you're depressed, It said that inflammatory cytokines stimulate bone loss.

So there's truth to this. There's medical truth to this in the real world today. Your depression produces hormones and produces chemicals in your body that do what? That destroy your bones. It's amazing that Solomon knew this. David knew it too. He cried out how my bones are drying up with. within me. So it's, you know, it's that sense there, Rick, that these wounds sometimes that we go through

are worse than physical wounds. A broken spirit, a depressed spirit, kills while you're still alive. Yes. You're dying hour by hour, day by day. From the inside out. From the inside out. And it's usually linked to somebody in your life. who's trying to get you to die on the inside, okay? Now, now, Natalie is me talking about narcissists. You could be connected to a narcissist somewhere in your life, okay? And they literally are draining your life. That's what a narcissist does.

They suck the energy out of your life. And if the energy is sucked out of your body, Okay, your bones are drying up. This is very biblical. They're drying you up. They're bringing you to a place of collapse. Your inner man will collapse. They want you to dry up.

They need... Narcissists are vampires. Where a vampire is a blood sucker, narcissists are soul suckers. They're sucking the energy out of your soul. and sucking the joy right out of the atmosphere. They're getting the joy out. That's why you've got to break free

and cut off the spiritual, mental, emotional change that they have on you. Right. Right. They are codependent. A codependent is not somebody who says, I can't make any decision.

I don't even know if I want a hot dog for lunch. That's not a codependent. A codependent is somebody that depends on removing your energy so that they can function. Right. It's a codependent. They have to suck the energy out of your life. They're depending on you to give them energy. That's a codependent.

Most people have told, and I did too, I total misconception of what codependency was. Until I really started the study and found out a really, they have to have a person, they have to be connected to a person, they can't function, they can't think, they don't know who they are, they have to have another person to suck their life out of them, drain their identity, all right, that's the codependency, okay? They can't function without such a person. If you are such a person, they're drying up your bones they're taking the energy out of you they're taking your joy out of you you're drying up on the inside right they're getting energized you're drying up from inside your bones

the narcissist is getting energized from your energy but with the energy i mean it's a twisted mindset but they're getting energized by draining you which is drying your bones and and taking away your joy. Amen. That's why you have to cut it all. And I believe that I know psychology and all this story, it helps, but at the end of the day,

you need the blood of Jesus to get involved. Amen. You need the blood of Jesus to get involved in order to break that satanic hold on your life. And Jesus said, come to me all you who are burdened

and heavy laden, I will give you what? rest, peace. And when you're at peace, boy, are he joyful. Yes. So, Dr. This was talking about a wound and a broken spirit, a wounded spirit. You can be a broken, wounded spirit because of betrayal, prolonged grief, unanswered prayer. They can be something going on in your life that you can't fix.

You can't change it. And it's just rotting you out from the inside. You've got a broken spirit. And it's like a tree. You know, when it's dying, the branches crack. The roots start to die. The leaves fall off. And that tree might be several years in that condition before it dies.

But if you're paying attention to it, you'll know, hey, that tree's not healthy. That thing's starting to show signs of sickness. And as the tree is dying on the inside. Yes. So the despair is the fool's destination. If you live as a fool or, eventually you're going to break your own spirit what I've been teaching is that

you can have a fool that has a broken spirit let's say a twisted spirit and they're determined to break your spirit they have an unhealthy disordered personality and they are determined to break you right and they rob you of your joy they suck the energy out of your life

your bones dry up and wither and you're in a slow death process you got to get out of it you got to get out of it you got to cry out to God and say deliver me deliver me from this bondage that I'm in set me free

I desire your joy in my life Matthew Henry said a broken spirit dryeth the bones it is a burden no man can bear Right. Charles Burgess said a broken spirit is worse than a broken body. The one can be mended. The other crushes.

Charles Bridges, a wounded spirit is a wounded life. No medicine reaches it but God's medicine. John Gill, a broken spirit consumes the strength and shortens the days. And Adam Clark said mental suffering is more painful, then bodily suffering. Amen. We'll go down to the next verse here. And by the way, I'm going to quote Charles Pergin. He said, cheerfulness is to Christian's duty.

He's like, you don't have an option on this. It's your duty to be cheerful. It's your obligation. verse 23 King James A wicked man takeeth a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment This is a fascinating verse here

The Pashida says A wicked man takes a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice And the Septuagin says A wicked man takes gifts in secret to pervert the ways of justice. All right, so, Doc, a wicked man, obviously is a morally corrupt person,

a person who's not living and operating according to God's justice. They're described as a wicked person. They take a gift. One translation says a gift. King James says a gift. The Peshita says a bribe. The transeptuagin says a gift in secret.

Right. So this is a bribe, right? Yes. That's what I'm speaking about. The wicked man takes a bribe. Not as a prison. This isn't a gift. It's payment for perverting truth.

Yes. You wonder how many news reporters, how many television anchor men and women, how many newspaper editors, how many podcasters have accepted money, have accepted money to tell lies. And they certainly would call it lies. They would say emphasizing a certain factor of truth. yes to promote a narrative right but god calls a bribe yes plains and and and and and they take it in secret doc yes you don't receive gifts in secret why why do you have to hire a gift right but a bribe you take a bribe in secret right now it says out of the bosom What it means is from the fold of the garment,

it's the literal, you open up the garment. They take a gift out of the bosom, a fold in the garment. It's secret, it's hidden, it's under the table, it's how the gift was smuggled in. The gift was concealed, whether it's cash or gold coins or whatever it is. It's concealed. And so the wicked person takes a gift from the fold of the briber's garment. That's where it's hidden.

They know where it's at. You know, maybe, Doc, maybe it's done so. The two have worked it out. I'm going to give you a hug. And when I hug you, I want you to reach into my coat and pull out the bribe. okay the briber could could technically say i never gave that person any cash right right in court that the briber could say i never handed anybody cash because the briber was instructed before he or she went into the meeting the bribe is going to be inside the man's jacket he's

going to give you a hug, reach inside his jacket and pull the money out. Okay? See, it's done in secret. It's pulled out of the fold of the garment. Right. But it's all done in secrecy. No witnesses. No consequences. Under the table. Why are they hiding it? Why hide it? If it's legitimate, it, why hide it? Doc, I remember back in my Maryland days, Maryland was such a corrupt state. I assume it is today.

I've never seen or heard any evidence that they stopped being corrupt. So I'll just assume the politicians are still corrupt. But in my early days in politics in Maryland, and I was in my 20s, I had heard that brides were big

big brides like paper grocery bag paper grocery bags full of cash were slid under under the door of a men's room stall so the person being

bride was inside I had to toilet. And the briber would walk by and slide the bag of money under the toilet door and then just leave. I know for, I mean, I say no for, all right, I know people who were prosecuted for that, okay? The other thing I remember in Maryland was there was always somebody designated the governor's bag man. Wow. and every election year I'd hear these stories

hey the bag man's in town and you wanted to know the bag man well I did but everybody else did but I heard you know I'd hear this chatter I never knew who the bag man was but I knew what the bag man did he handed out money before the election

and I'll say a true story, right? So I can verify this, but I'm not going to give the names, okay? We won't say the names. My first job, my first job when soon as I got married, I was only 20. Susan was 18 when we got married. And Doc, you know, I, when I got married, I was like, hey, I've got to get serious here. I got to get a job.

I mean, I got to get a real job, okay? You can't just smoke fun all day. You have to do something. So I got hired at a financial institution. Now, remember, I was 20 years old. And I thought I thought I was being being trained to be a banker. Actually, what it was was a loan office. Okay.

And so this is back when they had finance companies. And I don't remember. Remember, the state limit was, I don't know, three to $5,000. That's as much as they could loan out, you know. But anyhow, I was trained to, in my first couple of years, I was told, you know, your training is collecting bad debt. That's how you learn to do this job. Collect bad debts.

I've got a lot of stories I could tell a lot, and they're funny. But this one, there was a city councilman. And he later ran for mayor. And I knew him. And we were on first name basis, you know, had known him for years. He's on the city council, elected member of the city council. And he was behind in his payments on the loan company. And so the loan manager knew that I knew him.

And he said, Rick, you've got a relationship. with this man, I'm going to give this account to you, see if you can get him to pay off this debt, okay? I did my best, and he always had a sad story, Doc. I mean, he has sad, sad stories, okay? Well, he couldn't make a payment. I was like, can you just make a half a payment? Can you make a quarter payment?

Can you? I got to take spending back to the old boss back there. in the office. He wants something out of you, okay? Well, Doc, I worked that account for a long time. And then one day I heard that the governor's bag man was in town. In the next day, that city councilman came in and paid the entire debt in cash. It was a Christmas miracle. Wow. It was amazing.

It was absolutely amazing. he paid off that debt with cash he'd write a check he had cash wow and I told the old general manager of that loan company I said hey the governor's bag man was in town

and he's a brick I don't I don't want to know about it oh I know is you got you got the account paid off just drop it okay don't bring up the subject again it's paid that is what I'm telling you

is this goes on all the time this kind of bribery goes on every time in every city even the small towns and god sees it yes and what's the purpose of it to pervert justice yeah to pervert justice okay and god hates it he hates it okay It could be a lawyer being paid off. It could be a judge paid off, a prosecutor paid off, a witness paid off. So that justice is not done in a court of law, in man's court. But I'll tell you, justice is going to be done in God's court on Justice, on Judgment Day. Amen.

All of them, every bribe, everything is all going to be dealt with on Judgment Day. because for God bribery is an abomination he really does not like it at all why is that duck he considers it equal to murder pride why we learned about this over in Proverbs chapter 6 he is the author

justice and for someone to try and pervert right and wrong for money or a gift, God does not look kindly on that at all. And he will judge it. The scales are going to be balanced. He keeps accurate books, Rick.

Doug, are there examples in the Bible of bribes and judgment, perverted justice? Let's see. You've got Aiken. Aiken. take a bribe uh you have uh the elisha hayseye okay he was trying to get uh uh navan to give him seven suits you know you know and avenge has got to have a nice suit reg he wanted seven of them and then best

example is judas betrayed jesus for 30 pieces of sword yeah so there's all sorts of different examples, you know, in the scripture, but, and in the real world today, there's so many examples that, you know, they wouldn't call it a bribe, but they would call it money for social influencing. It's the same, you know, big controversy earlier this year was about all the money going to NGOs and how that money was being split up and, and goes to different organizations and different individuals. It's the same. Yes. And then the story about out of Israel that American podcasters were paid $7,000 every time they said something good about Israel. Right. And I noticed that when that story came out, all these different podcasters started talking about how Cutter was financing certain social media people in the U.S. I was just like, they probably are. I have to give it.

It's happening on both sides, but why can't the truth just be the truth? Yes. Why do you have to finance it? Why can't truth be truth? And so this is a sin of our generation. Doc, Dr. Alexander McLaurene said, A wicked man taketh a gift in secret, the bribe is the price of his soul.

Yes. It really is. God's eyes on that hidden gift. That's heavy. A person is selling their soul for a financial gift. Verse 24, this is our last one here for this morning. King James, wisdom is before him that hath understanding, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

Yes. Peshita says, Wisdom is in the presence of him who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are all. the ends of the earth, almost identical, and the teptuagint, wisdom shineth in the face of the prudent, but the eyes of fools are on the ends of the earth. Okay, so what possibly could this mean, Doc? Well, first of all, wisdom's not hidden, it's not distant, it is right in front of you. Okay. even though the scriptures say bio-wism, seek wisdom, ask for wisdom, it's not, you know, somewhere else in the world.

It's right here, right now. It stands directly in front of men. In other words, the fool looks to the ends of the earth, to the far corners of there are to try to find that one piece of information, that one golden nugget that's going to change everything. And really wisdom is staring him right in the face. Yes, yes. They'll read philosophy books written a thousand years ago. They'll go to far eastern religious compounds or monasteries in some, you know, some, you know, some esoteric religion. Because they were told because of the, the priest.

priests there are wise. Yes. The gurus are wise. You can go there and give... I mean, how many evangelical preachers do we have in America who go to Israel to be taught by the Kabbalist rabbis? That's right. They go to be taught Kabbalah.

They're proud of it, too. Yes. So their own rabbi. Yes. That wisdom is way over there and some rome. Rabbi's heart, who has studied the Kabbalah. What this says is wisdom is staring you in the face. That's right.

It's right here. It's staring you in the face. And the wise see it and the wise do what's necessary to obtain it. Right. Which does require pursuing it, buying it. There is a process, but it's up front. Yes. It's up front.

It's like a grocery store that's put the very thing that you went in the grocery store, like it's inside the door. And you walk past it and go through the entire grocery store, up and down every aisle, say, why can't I find it? It was there at the door when you came in. Right. See, that's what this message is, that wisdom is standing directly in front of a discerning man or woman.

right, before him, in the face of, is what it means. Face to face. Right in your face, there's wisdom. Say, you're looking for me? There I am. But wisdom's saying it to the fool, and the fool is going right past, I say, no, I'm looking for wisdom. I'm looking for, you know, it can be biblical wisdom.

The fools are looking for some other type of wisdom, okay? But there's only one type of wisdom. So the man or woman of understanding has eyes to see what is already there. What God has already made visible. Okay. So God has set wisdom before the people of the earth, just like the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. There it is.

There's the tree of life. Like there in the center of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve didn't have to go looking for it. There it is, the tree of life. So wisdom is a gift from God, and it's in plain sight. The problem is never the availability of wisdom. It's really the question, does the speaker have any desire for it? It's kind of like,

a treasure chest. It's wide open. The lid is open. The wise man or woman stops. Looked into it and says, there are riches in here. The fool walks past and say, I'm searching for gold and silver. Walked right past the riches.

Searching for something else. searching for something that's not going to satisfy them and there is always a far off it's only way out there somewhere else yeah I've got to go to this seminar I've got to go to that event I've got to read that book I've got to watch this video it's always way out there and then they'll get wisdom

but God says no it's staring you right in your face Matthew Henry said wisdom is before the understanding man he has only to open his eyes to see it yes Charles Bridges said wisdom stands at the door and knocks the wise man hears and opens Charles Spurgeon said wisdom is not in the clouds it is at the feet of the humph right John Gill he says the the understanding man seeks wisdom as plainly as the sun at noon The second part says, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. Always somewhere else.

They're always looking. They're roaming the horizon. Roaming the horizon. Chasing phantoms, chasing novelties. Oh, did you hear about this? This anointed prophet. Oh, Doc, I've seen this for years. people getting they're going to fly to some city and get hotel rooms because they've heard this

this prophet is annoyed it he can tell you all about your life you know so can a mind reader so can god god can tell you all about your life why you have to fly and they find out you know what it is it's spiritual ADHD yeah yeah that's what it is just wandering around unfocused, okay. But the wandering is willful. It's deliberate.

Yes. The fool rejects what is near for what is forever out of his or her reach. They're always looking for something else. What God has to offer them is not enough. There's got to be something more. This is too simple, too easy.

There's got to be something more. And so they're always searching. It's like a man walking past, a man in the desert that walks past a fountain. And he dies of thirst. Chasing a rush. Yeah, chasing a mirage. Oh, I can't drink from this fountain.

There's a beautiful fountain up ahead. Yes. And they end up dying of thirst in the wilderness, in the desert. So don't do what fools do. Wisdom is right here. We've spent this whole year studying wisdom. Amazing, dog. I mean, I don't know what month we started.

Proverbs in early 2025. But we have spent most of 2025 talking about wisdom. And the only, it takes. people have been, if they've stayed with us for this many months, talking about wisdom, then I assure you, God has already blessed you with wisdom. Because you're coming back every day and getting another coin out of the treasure chest. Yeah. Matthew Henry said the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

He is always looking for something new and strange. Charles Pergian says, the fool is like a man staring at the stars, while treasure lies that his feet. That's a very stark picture. Somebody looking up at the stars, thinking, if I could just get some star dust. Yes. They're like diamonds. And at his feet.

The treasure chest is at his feet, and he's dreaming about star dust, wondering how he can catch moonbeams in a jar. You know that song? Yeah. Are you looking at moonbeats home in a job? Okay. You know it. There you go.

So it's about being realistic. God's not making us. He's not like cruel father who says, hey, to a child, look at this ice cream cone. And then just keeps pulling it back. Oh, he's a kind father. He's saying to a child, here's an ice cream code. Just reach out and get it.

Yes. And that's what he's saying to us about wisdom. Here it is. If you will reach out and ask for it, I'll give it to you. You don't have to go dig and search for them. Wisdom is near because God is near. God will work at you straight in the eye and say, you ask for wisdom.

I've got it here for you. Yes. He's not making us go on a scavenger hunt, an Easter egg hunt, you know, trying to find wisdom. He puts it right in front of us. The only thing he desires is that we show interest in it and initiative. We ask for it. We desire it. We reach out for it.

That's all he's asking for. Show me you desire the wisdom. I'll give it to you. you. It's right here. It's right here in front of you. And just ask you, show me, show me that you desire it, that you hunger for it. You just, you want it, you need it. He'll give it to you liberally. Amen. You don't have to go searching around the world and sit with some guru in India to hear about

some ancient religion from thousands of years. You know, God is right here with wisdom. Right. And he's ready to bless you with it. Alexander McGlard said the wise man sees the truth at hand. The fool is always looking for it afar. Yes.

Spurgeon said that the fool's eyes are in the ends of the earth. He's always looking for what he will never find. Where is the end of the earth? Where is it? I don't know. It depends if you're a flat earth or around earther, you know.

Well, if you're flat earth and you're at the edge, guess what? You're going to fall off. Yes. And there's your treasure. William or not says, the wise see the treasure at their feet. The fooled look for it in the clouds. Amen. All right. That's it for today. Thank you so much. We appreciate you being here to learn about wisdom. That's what we're teaching this year in the book of Proverbs.

We're going to carry the Book of Proverbs into 2026. And, you know, we're only, what do we have, another 10 chapters? No, another 12. Yes. Another 12 chapters. We've got 12 more chapters. We're at 17 right now.

We have 12 more chapters of proverbs. Oh, we're all going to be so smart by the time we get to the end of it. We're going to be wise. Let's hope so. You've got to take, the wisdom is here. The treasure is here. each and every day. And that's what's really encouraging is that, and that treasure builds up on itself. It actually continues to grow, doesn't it? Yes. Well, we're going to continue to

go ahead. I believe that by the middle of 2026, a lot of you are going to understand why God put you in this intensive course on wisdom. Because the world situation is going to change a lot in 26. I believe it. And you're going to be making wise decisions, and a lot of your friends and relatives are going to be making stupid decisions. Okay? And you're not going to be able to explain it to them.

You just need to make the wise decisions. Amen. And not be influenced by them. But a lot of them are going to make very stupid decisions as things happen in the world. Right. the economy and geopolitics and everything. So be grateful. The Lord has, he's put you in a very intensive course in 2025 to get you ready for

2026. And we're going to continue this masterclass and wisdom tomorrow on the Tuesday morning manna when we finish up chapter 17. Hopefully we can. Focusing on verses 24 through 28 or 25 through 28, rather. And so just read, read ahead, meditate on what we're going to be talking about tomorrow, and get already in your heart. Get prepared to take from the treasure chest again tomorrow morning. Amen. God bless. See you

tomorrow. God bless you.