TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Dec 9, 2025 - Proverbs 17:25-28 - Silence, Sense, and Sorrow of Folly

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

Proverbs 17:25–28 highlights the grief that foolishness brings and the dignity that wisdom preserves. A foolish child becomes heartache to his parents, robbing them of joy. A wicked person distorts justice by accepting bribes, yet wise people restrain their words and govern their spirits. Even a fool seems wise when he keeps silent, for measured speech reveals understanding. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine how restraint, righteousness, and thoughtful silence reflect true wisdom—and how unchecked folly wounds families and corrupts justice. 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 Man. We're delighted that you're here today with us and with brothers and sisters from all over the world to study the Word of God. We've been in the book of Proverbs almost the entire year, 2025, and we're coming up to the close of December. We have this week and next week, and then we will take a short break and be back in January 3rd, 2020. 26. For today, we're looking at chapter 17, Proverbs 17, verses 25 through 28. Now, I want to I want to remind you, okay, we're going to be making some changes at the end of the month. And morning manna, what you're going to see is faith and values is going to be, it's going to transition into manna nation and so there's going to be a new website that's going to appear later this month

manna nation.com and and it's going to be a temporary website for morning manna when i say temporary we're building a more extensive platform that we will not have ready probably until the end of january but we will have a a new home for morning manna that's manna nation dot com manna nation.com. Right now, there's only a landing page there. But in a few weeks, faith and values will flip over and become man a nation. Now, be patient with us. We're not going to have everything ready that we would desire to have. I'm not even sure if we're going to have the chat ready in a few weeks, but we're working on a lot of things. So we ask for your patience and your prayers, and we need all the grace that we can get.

and life will go on, and we will continue to teach the Word of God every day. Now, we're going to get to Proverbs 17, verses 25 through 28. Let's invite the Holy Spirit. Then Doc Burkhard is going to read the word. Almighty God, our Father in heaven, we praise you, we glorify you, we exalt you, and we gather to be taught by your Holy Spirit, the truth that is in your Word, Come Holy Spirit and feed us this day as we gather around the Lord's table for nourishment of our souls. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.

Amen. And we are privileged to have you here with us today as we say the Word of God together. And we're going to finish up chapter 17 today. And reading verses 25 through 28. So if you've got your Bibles, I want you to go ahead and turn there to chapter 17 in Proverbs. We say hello to no matter where you are in the world. today and that includes Russia, Switzerland, Southeast Asia, South America, Japan, Australia, and all points across the U.S. and Canada. Welcome today. We are privileged to have you here.

Chapter 17, verse 25, let's read together. A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her that bear him. Also, to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. He that hath knowledge spares his words and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise and he that shutteth his lips as esteemed a man of understanding. God bless the reading of his word. We're going to start today by revisiting some of the topics that we actually talked about yesterday about foolish children. And so we're starting off with that today. Rick? Okay, King James

King James says This is verse 25 A foolish son is a grief to his father Bitterness to her that bear him The Septuagint says A foolish son is a grief to his father And a pain to her that bore him Yes

And the other translations Almost identical Saying a foolish son is a grief to the father and bitterness to her, the mother who bore him. So we'll begin with the first part of the proverb. A foolish son is a grief to his father. Let's identify the foolish son. We're not talking about somebody that's merely immature.

These are two different things. Immaturity and foolishness are two different things. We all did stupid things when we were young and immature. Right. but you don't necessarily have to do foolish things. So a fool here is defined as someone who is morally perverse, meaning bent, twisted, contrary to the nature and the laws of God, somebody who is godless, somebody who is self-destructive.

This foolish son brings grief to his father. Grief is deep ongoing vexation. It's anger mixed with sorrow, a wound that never closes, a wound that never goes away, a wound that is ever present gnawing away inside the father. Right. And that grief that we're talking about here is sharper than bereavement. believe it would be one thing if you lost a child you could deal with that grief eventually but this is a grief that continues the son lives on yet to the father to the mother he's

spiritually dead and so this the pain is derived from that broken covenant that exists he feels that he's filled God's trust to raise a godly son so this is an ongoing grief that continues because of that truly son. Doc, you know why it's worse than the grief that a parent would experience from the loss of a son or daughter? Because

with a physical death, in time, you have closure. You can come to the place my son or my daughter died. She's buried. He's buried. It's over. Okay? You still miss them, but there's

closure with this type of grief it's an ongoing death process right the son is dying day by day his soul is dying it is slowly dying and so the father has continuous grief and sorrow and can never get closure it never goes away and and the father is constantly crying out to God what did I do wrong how did I where did I where did I make a mistake in all of this. Yeah, you got it. I'm going to you know, we're going to mix

in, as we teach, we're going to mix in some of the commentaries from the old Bible scholars of the 1700s and 1800s. Matthew Henry said a foolish son is a sword in his father's

heart. He lives and yet kills his father daily. Yes. Charles Bridges said the father's sorrow was doubled. He mourns the child he loves and also the shame he cannot hide because this is public. Everybody knows about it, Rick. Yes. Charles Spurgeon said, a foolish son is a father's crucifixion, slow, public, and unrelenting. Right. John Gill said this about this verse. The grief is continual. Every new act of folly reopens the wound. now I'll give you one more Adam Clark a foolish child is a heavier burden than any poverty why is this because the grief is public the father's name and the father's legacy

are tied to the son's foolishness and so the image that we have here is a man the father transporting and carrying like on his back a living corpse his own child that is dead to godliness dead to righteousness and so the father has to go through life carrying this corpse on his back in public and everybody says that's his foolish son who has brought sorrow and shame to the father so it's it's a deep wound it's a deep pain and you know

Doc, we have to stop and think that each one of us before we were saved we were foolish sons and daughters to our heavenly father right what did Isaiah say about Jesus what did he bear

all right he bears our sorrows and our grief we shamed we shamed our father we took up residence living in the devil's house right and the evidence that we're children

of God is that we are not causing grief to our father that we are not being foolish children that's the evidence of the change that's taken place in our life If we're, you know, if we say that we're followers of Christ, if we say that we're Christians, and yet we're living like the devil, as Grandma used to say, it's just, the reality just doesn't match up. This verse says, a foolish son dishonors his father. Are we dishonoring our heavenly father by our actions and by our attitudes in our own life? And so disciples and followers of Christ, this is, you know, this is self-diagnosis for us as well.

It is. So, Doc, we start with the first part of the verse is telling us that a foolish child, and this is an adult child, okay? A foolish child brings grief to the father. Well, what about the mother? What does the foolish son or daughter bring to the mother, according to Proverbs? And Proverbs says, and bitterness to her that bear him. Bitterness to the mother that gave him birth. So the father gets grief, but the mother develops bitterness.

The bitterness here, the meaning of this word, is gall. Like the bile. in your liver gall yes it's sharp that awful taste that comes up in your mouth when you feel sick yes yeah that's it's sharp it's lingering it's a foul taste it says her that bear him the mother the mother who carried him in her womb the mother who gave birth the mother who nursed a child and now this mother is reaping only bitterness you know doc she the mother experienced physical pain to bring birth to this child and now the child is living an adult and bringing pain to her heart that's right and so you start maybe this is the connection to the bitterness you know maybe the mother is not

rationally you know processing why am I bitter but deep inside her soul she's thinking I paid a price I had labor pains you have no idea the pain I went through to bring you into this world and now what are you doing you're just giving me more pain right and instead of grief like the father the mother has has bitterness And think about how far a child has to go to make their mother better. I mean, you and I both know Mamas and grandmamas are pretty forgiving. They'll put up with a lot. They extend a lot of grace.

But to make them bitter? Wow. You know why, Doc? The bitterness is intimate. She carried the child in her body, but now she's carrying his pain in her soul. Oh, yes. And it makes her bitter.

Charles Spurgeon said a foolish son is bitterness to the mother that child she bore is the sword that pierces her. Yes. Charles Bridges, mother's wound is the deepest. She gave life and now received death on a daily basis. Baptist pastor John Gill. He was back there in the 1700s. He said, the mother's bitterness is greater. She feels every folly as it were her own.

Right. And Adam Clark adds this, the mother's heart is broken by the child she once carried. So now you understand where the bitterness comes from. Yeah. So what this proverb is giving us is the image of gall, as Doc said, that foul, awful taste that comes up out of your, your digestive system when you're sick and the gall is is the you know the bile that's in in the liver and so think of liver this liver bile coming up on your tongue and and so now every memory of this child's birth and childhood has now become bitterness to the mother that carried him gave birth through pain

nursed him, raised him. So, in essence, the fool poisons the womb that gave him life. Oh, wow. I never thought about that, yes. And then we think about Mary, the mother of Jesus, a sword will pierce your own soul also.

Because her son took on our shame took on our sin he bore our grief he was he was humiliated on a cross and and the word of God says a sword

shall pierce your own soul also this is the prophecy that was given to Mary about the child that she bore you know in a lot of proverbs Rick it talks about the relationship with the father and son but this one talks about father, mother, and son.

Why do you think that's important here? I don't know. I hadn't thought about that. Do you have any thoughts on it? Well, it could be that Solomon's really trying to get across that idea of that double sorrow, which is common in Hebrew. This isn't just an emotional thing of the father.

For the mother, it's physical. okay so you got both emotional you got physical so this is total emotional devastation that this individual has broken a covenant god promised joy in children to those who are obedient and this foolishness reverses the blessing to a curse so and this sorrow is not god's will it's never it's the fruit of rebellion against god's established order. Shadok, we go back to the cross. Our heavenly father, the only father

who never knew this sorrow was Almighty God until his son was numbered with the transgressors because of our sins. Remember, when Jesus was on the cross, God turned away and wouldn't look at him.

Right. And Jesus himself cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Father forsook the Son of God. Because all the foolishness of mankind, all the sin, all the rebellion was placed on his son. And God, the father

had to turn his head. He couldn't look at him because of the shame, the sorrow, the grief. The grief of the sins of the human race. Well, let's, we'll go on and we'll move down here to the next verse. First 26, King James, also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. Yes. It's going to be an interesting to want to study. The Pashita, Aramaic Pashita says also, to punish the righteous is not good, nor to strike the noble for their righteousness.

Same thing with Septuagint. It is not good to punish a righteous man, nor is it holy to plot against righteous princess. Yeah, the Preshita and the Septuagint really provide clarity on this verse because King James really doesn't do this verse justice here. Yeah. Okay, so it has the word also. So it's linking this sin to a long list of things that are in an ugly family, a dysfunctional, sinful family.

I mean, this is, God said, Solomon's not changing topics here. Yes. He's still flowing. That's right. He's still flowing with the same theme, okay? to punish a just man or woman is to declare war on God's own verdict. The righteous man or woman is a man or woman whom God has already cleared of their sins. Yes.

So for you to punish the just is for you to take on God in a battle. And to say, I'm going to undo what you've already. done. So it's not a miscarriage of justice. It's a deliberate inversion of justice. The good is treated as evil. The phrase is not good. That's the Hebrew understatement. It is wickedness of the deepest type. Okay. It says it is not good. Any thoughts, Doc? Well, it's just that punishing the just protects predators and silences the men and women of God, the prophets. And so it's flipping society upside down.

God loves order. He wants order in society. But when you start punishing the righteous, start punishing the just, that's flipping everything around. And so you have to understand that you and I, if we're righteous people, the righteous man, the righteous man, Righteous woman is God's ambassador. And when you attack God's man, when you attack God's woman, you're attacking heaven. You're striking against heaven itself. If you go back into the gospels here, Rick, this sin is the spirit of the Sanhedron that sought to condemn Christ through mob, through a mob rule. And every mob that lynches the innocent is a reflection of that. So

this verse here, Rick, is a diagnostic tool. Any culture that punishes righteousness is a culture already under judgment. Okay, so are we there now, Doc, as a modern society? Are we there now? Well, I give you an example, like in the UK, you can be praying silently, silently, mind you, outside an abortion clinic, and they can arrest you. We're praying silently outside. an abortion clinic you're praying to a righteous god for a righteous cause silently to yourself not even disturbing anybody but okay i'll give you another in about the uk i just read this a day or two ago a court in great britain ruled that people who criticize illegal immigration are now banned from having contact with children yes and i'll get it

Yeah. In other words, they can't be school coaches. They can't be school teachers. They can't participate in any sports or any activities where children are involved. According to a court in Great Britain, because that person has criticized illegal immigration. I saw an article today, Rick, that a gentleman was sentenced today. I think you remember his name. It was that school teacher. that he they're taking him off to jail because he refused to acknowledge the they-them pronouns of students in his class he refused he said they're not a they-them and so and he's going to be spending years in jail because of that because of that very simple thing he could have given in I mean he could have he could have said all right I'll play along

they them but he'd be lying wouldn't he he'd be reinforcing a lie and so disciples are warned you know we can't remain silent in the face of injustice that makes us accomplices and I know this is a hard saying to say and it pricks at me as well in that we cannot allow this kind of disorder to continue it's not right and especially when we have the opportunity to say something about it Dr. Just yesterday, I was online completing some application. I don't know what it was, I don't recall, but it asked me, what are your pronouns? I'm like, oh dear.

And so, you know, ordinarily I would just completely ignore, you know. But I just typed in, saved in Christ. Good for you. You want pronouns? That's what I want you to call me, saved in Christ. Okay, call me forgiven. Call me blessed. Call me a child of God.

You want some pronouns? I'll give you a bunch of them, okay? I wonder how Charles Spurgeon would respond to a question like, sir, what are your pronouns? What are my, what? What do you mean? Saved in Christ. I mean, if you play their game, they are legally required to address you by your pronouns.

that's right doc maybe we should use it call me rick child of god and if you don't do it i'm going to take you to court maybe we should play that game boy they'd change that rule really fast wouldn't they right um so the second part says nor to strike princess for equity I mean, what did the king, I mean, the Septuagin says, it is not good to punish a righteous man, nor is it holy to plot against righteous princes. Yes. So a prince, you know, son of a king,

a noble, upright leader. Now this is, when it says prince, it's not just male, okay? It is, it refers to anyone, a male or female, who is noble, an upright leader, who governs with integrity and justice and fairness. It says to strike them for equity, that's how the King James puts it. The Septuagint and the Aramaic Pashida said, for righteousness, for uprightness. In other words, they are hit, they're struck, they're attacked. precisely because they do what is right.

It's not just that you attack somebody and you later find out that's a righteous man or woman. No, this is about the reason that you attack them is because they are righteous. Because they're good. Because they're good. To strike a righteous man or woman, and that doesn't mean only physically with your fist, it could be done at work with unjust rules demotions it could be done by a bank where they debank you could be done by a social media company where they de-platform you right right great it is to yeah it is to decapitate justice it's removing the very man or woman who upholds god's divine order

and dot this is a theme i here we are now at the end of chapter 17 there's a theme that runs through all of the chapters of proverbs it's it's a it's like a thread that's interwoven through every chapter of proverbs it's not necessarily standing there in black and white and hear the words but it's it's a It's a principle that's in Proverbs. God has a divine order. Yes. And the righteous, the righteous understand that divine order, and they uphold it. And favor comes upon them.

But the foolish opposed the divine order of God and fight it. And judgment comes on them. Right. And keep in mind, too, Rick, that why Proverbs was even written in the first place. It wasn't just for, I think I'll put a whole bunch of my favorite sayings together and see if anyone reads it. No, this was a training manual for the kingdom. This was a training manual to train princes, to train royalty on how to behave. Yes, yes.

It was Solomon's, yeah, it was his leadership manual. That's right. Here's the way I, what? This is the way Solomon wanted. order in his kingdom. How did he maintain order? There was peace in his kingdom. God gave Israel peace during the reign of Solomon.

Solomon maintained divine order. So the sin is like, it's like political crucifixion. It kills the good ruler to protect the corrupt and particularly the corrupt system we see this so much now in America

it is it is sickening where judges judges are issuing contemptible decrees to protect corruption like when you everybody can see

the corruption and then a judge will issue a decree that just exonerates to people who did the corruption. Right. That's a corrupt society. And this is striking a righteous person.

It's the essence of what this proverb is teaching us. That God anoints and protects righteous authority. And to strike them is to strike his scepter. To strike at the very throne of God, the authority of God. He appoints righteous men and women. women to rule not only in government, but in all levels of society. And when you come against that man or woman, you're striking at God's divine order. And you're inviting the disfavored. I'll put that mildly. That's the mild version, disfavor. You're inviting the disfavor of God to

come into your life. You know, Doc, it's. There's an image, you know, a mob beating the judge. Imagine a mob beating up a judge who issued a fair verdict. A mob attacking a judge who ruled fairly. And then the judge being beat up by the mob. I mean, that's how crazy this is. But this is where our society is at today. criticizing righteous authority for being righteous is sharing in the sin

that's right you're participating in it um so doc both sins are one yes corruption that protects evil and attacks good they're both the same sin and allowing it continues the same sin too but this is the last days that we're living in and that inversion of justice was talked about it both in the old testament and the new testament about the last days is that spirit good called evil evil called good and the reason why this is such an abomination to God so really Solomon here is doing a master class on abominations right now he's basically saying God's throne is founded on justice. And when you thwart justice, you are attacking heaven itself. You're shaking

heaven itself. And so Rick, any society that punishes the just, it's a society that God has probably given over to a corrupt mind. And the only cure is the gospel. But even at that point, Rick, it may be so far gone that the gospel cannot penetrate it. yeah and when a society when anything becomes that rotten the only thing you can do with it is burn it it has to be burned out and I am very very concerned that modern Western society has reached that point

and yet at the same time Rick this verse points to Christ doesn't it yes it points to Christ because was he innocent yes he was was justice perverted yes he was and yet even in the midst of that abomination that took place and that perversion of justice that took place god redeemed me yes he redeemed to me even in the midst of that and so his justice prevails rick his justice prevails I'll go back to what I was saying a few minutes ago I really emphasize this to our morning manna classmates

as we go into 2026 I and write it down write it down somewhere write these words God's divine order put it on your mirror put it on your windshield visor put it put this everywhere you go every place you look god's divine order i'm encouraging you to make those three words the centerpiece of your thinking in 2026 right everything that you face every decision you have to make everything is going on around you stop and ask

is this God's divine order or is it contrary to God's divine order? Right. I mean, think about every newscast you watch, every podcast you listen to, whatever it might be, or in your home, at work, what's happening in the political environment, ask that question, is this God's divine order? Yes. So if you uphold, if you do everything you can in your life, to uphold God's divine order, his face will shine upon you. His favor will be upon you. Goodness and mercy shall pursue you, overtake you,

because you are upholding God's divine order. However, if you are contrary to God's divine order, what's contrary? Wind that's blowing against you. you know if a sailor that's facing contrary winds means they're sailing into the wind it's difficult if you're contrary to god's divine order if you're argumentative if you're divisive if you are opposed to god's divine order if you if you are doing things and saying things and promoting things that are absolutely contrary to god's divine order not only is his

favor not going to shine upon you, but his active disfavor is going to shine on you. That's right. You're going to get a wave of energy coming from heaven that's not good. Get your life in divine order with God. Be in right standing. Right standing? Hey, here's the Lord standing. Here's you standing beside the Lord.

You're in right standing. A perverse person, here's the Lord, a perverse person's over here. They're bent away. They're crooked. They're twisted. This is God's divine order. This is the perverse order. It's bent.

It's twisted. Get in God's divine order in 2026. And watch favor come upon you. You don't have to do anything. It just comes on you, Doc. Goodness and mercy. just, they just, goodness and mercy just hunt you down, jump on you. They come up behind and jump on you.

And they'll just cover you with goodness and mercy, all right, you know. So Matthew Henry said, to punish the justice not good, it is a great wickedness an abomination to the Lord. Yes. John Gill said. Go ahead, yeah. I was going to say that John Gill said, and also to punish the justice

got good. It's evil. It's contrary to God's law. Both are an abomination to the Lord. Amen. Alexander McLaren said, to punish the just is not good. It is the worst injustice.

Right. And Charles Spurgeon said to strike princes for equity is to beat the good for being good. It's one thing to beat the bad for being bad, but to beat the good for being good. Yeah, it's a twisted society. Verse 27, King James, he that hath knowledge spares his words,

and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Hallelujah. The Septuagint, he that spares his words, possessive knowledge, and a man of understanding is of a precious spirit. spirit. I like the Prashita. Prashita says that he has knowledge spears his words

and a man I understanding is of a cool spirit. I like that. You're cool. All right. I like that. It's a cool spirit. Praise God. You know why? Because he's not hot-tempered. Amen. He's cool-tempered.

Okay. that's where we desire to go let's be cool tempered you know for most of us the biggest battle with temper is not our normal you know our normal temperament throughout the day it's when you come in contact with a difficult person

who is attempting to provoke you to being angry. Yes. There's where you've got to work at it. You know, you can go through the whole day being fine, and then that one person shows up. You're like, oh, here it goes. Oh, this verse tested me on Saturday, Rick.

Did it? Yeah, sure. There's a, I had an hour and a half visit from a lawn care guy that we both know and love oh okay and so uh and i i'm not saying that sarcasticity i do love him but you cannot get in a word edgewise and i was restraining myself but i kept coming back you know all this week the lord's been teaching me this this uh response and so i put it in the practice Rick. I didn't shoot my mouth off. I didn't say anything sarcastic. Didn't. I was a good boy. I have you. I'll have you know. I checked in. But it was all because of this study in Morning Manna.

So I completely forgot about that man. Man, he was a non-stop talker. Oh, my goodness. And he hasn't stopped yet. So I haven't seen him for about five years. So you're telling me he hasn't stopped talking? No, no, he came over here and bent my ear for an hour and a half. But you know what? That's just, really, in his heart, he's a good guy. Yes. But sometimes he says things that, you know, you want to respond to.

But, you know, I sat there and I said, you know what? The Holy Spirit's been dealing with me about my mouth. And I put this into practice. So true knowledge, Rick, according to this verse, is proven by restraint. the wise man's tongue is on a leash and I had mine on a tight leash Saturday morning I would just say this people who are non-stop talkers

and do not give anybody else an opportunity to say one word and they go on and on and on I mean literally can go on for an hour or two such people are selfish they're selfish they're stealing your time they are they're stealing your time they're selfish okay enough of that one that's for

another proverb yeah another proverb another day yes so um well let me go back and look at okay uh he who has knowledge he who has knowledge who spares his word okay uh subtugent he that spares his word possess of knowledge So, knowledge is proven by restraint, which is what you did, Doc, on Saturday. You restrained your tongue. So a wise man or woman puts his or her tongue on a leash. Yes. See, somebody nonstop talking that, that tongue is not on leash.

That's a dog that's running up and down the fence and barking. that dog's free to run okay so it says spare of his words okay it means he or she withhold speech when silence is better than talking yes he or she speaks only when it only when and what is necessary and beneficial if it's not beneficial if it's not profitable what's the point in saying it just hold it in yeah you know so doc it's being quiet is not being timid it's actually very strong right and you know where the most the most practical application of this is rick where in the home oh yeah i mean how many times has a husband or wife or a son or a daughter desire to say something, it comes out of their mouth, and then it's out there, right?

Yes. Instead of considering their words. And I'll be honest with you, Rick, the Holy Spirit has really been dealing with me on this particular issue about the things that I say, you know, not just to people outside, but in my home and to my family. And there are times where I would make a comment or something like that, usually in jest. But now the Holy Spirit is saying, no, no, you. you have a needle inside of that joke.

And, you know, he's really been getting on to me lately about this. And so he's really been restraining me. So, you know, the Bible is teaching here that silence really is the wise man's ornament. It's like a medal. It magnifies the value of what he says. So we can jab and cut people as we joke. Yeah. what's the motive what's really in the heart

see the tongue is supposed to be governed govern not the tongue is not supposed to be the one that's governing in charge the tongue is supposed to be mastered it's supposed to be governed it is a wild creature that's a good word

it's a wild creature you can't trust your tongue no when you You get a picture of your lips as gates. You open the gates and let that critter out. It's just going to run up and down the fence line and bark. It's going to run all over the yard, okay? It's just going to do whatever it wants because it's not been disciplined.

Right. Your tongue has to go to obedience school. And think about this, Rick. sparing words is being like Christ. Here, Jesus himself, he spoke the universe into existence. His very words, you know, spoke it into existence. And yet, there are many times, according to the Gospels, that he was silent before men.

Yes. I mean, wow. You know, Doc, I'll tell you what's sobering is that you can have a track record of years of wisdom where you've been working at taming your tongue and becoming wiser and then in one careless moment you can say one sentence that undoes years of your of your life just one sentence you know in the wrong circumstances and you can call you can call damage to your life by being careless with something that you say even though you have a track record of being wise so you got to see silence as it's the ornament that the wise man or woman wears it it magnifies the value of what a wise person person says um One way to know who is wise is this, who says the least, brevity.

Brevity is, is wisdom signature. Even, Doc, I don't know if there's such a thing as a wise fool. Let's say a smart fool. A smart fool knows sometimes it's best to shut up and not let everybody know that he or she is a fool. Know that you're a fool, yeah. Yeah. But ordinarily, we look at people who say little and we think, you know what, they're wise. They're in a room and a lot of people are saying things and that one person is just being quiet, not saying anything.

Not being unsociable, but just being dignified in how he or she responds to all the other comments. Because they don't want to sin with their tongue. Right. Okay, all right, Doc, I got an image, a mental picture of a treasury, all right. A wise man keeps his gold locked inside the treasury, but the fool throws his gold into the street. There's your difference. the wise person says I'm going to put my gold in my treasury

the fool says I'm going to go into the treasury and pull my gold out and put it in the streets okay there's the there is the mental picture of the difference between a wise person and a fool you know sometimes sometimes the less you speak the more you heard

and that was a comment I got sad day from our friend, Rick. He said, Doc, you're an awful good listener. All I had to do is not say anything. Well, you couldn't. I know what another situation. You're right. But the same, but the, he did say that. And so, uh, well, you know, I know that gentleman, and, and had you put a cardboard cut out of yourself there, you could have walked away and gone in the house. and got an iced tea. He fixed breakfast. He just kept talking

to the cardboard cutout. But you know what? The Lord convicted me about his situation in the sense. I know the Holy Spirit's dealing with him. And there was one of those times

where maybe I just need to sit back and not say nothing. Just let him talk and let him vent because he probably doesn't have anyone else in his life that will sit there and listen to him.

and he said, you're one of the best preachers I know, Doc. And he's never heard me preach a message. He's never heard me quote the Bible or anything. And so, but if I can be a witness just by keeping my fool mouth shut, then I've won for the kingdom, haven't I? I would say this. One reason people highly talkative people don't have anybody to talk to is because everybody runs away when they see them.

Right. Okay, you create your own prison. All right. Because you don't listen. You don't take time to listen to somebody else. The second part of this verse is, and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. The Pashita, as Doc said, says,

a cool spirit. I like that. I want to have a cool spirit. Meaning, calm, composed self-mastered unshaken it's

cool all right when I think of cool I think of Dean Martin all right there's Dean Martin was cool he was cool okay

he didn't get upset about anything but it's somebody that does not get upset all right keeps it under control they have a cool temper not a hot temper right you know doc we never say we say to well boy she's got a hot temper

but we never say hey she has a cool temper yeah why because they're rare yeah that's right okay coolness is not coldness there's a difference

between being having coolness and coldness right the coldness is cutting somebody off but the coolness is like okay let's deal with the situation not every conversation has to be a verbal knife fight yeah coldness is I'm not interested in you I'm better than you you're beneath me that's coldness you know you're I'm indifferent to you that's coldness you know coolness is I'm going to treat you with respect and dignity. I'm going to listen to you,

but I'm not going to let my tongue get out and run in the streets. Nor let my emotions guide my decisions about our conversation. And that's the trap we often find ourselves in. And so where we let the emotions of the situation or the conversation take us down pathways that we can't come back from so doc can a hot tempered person coexist with a cool tempered person well I can't see how they the two can you know it's like mixing

oil and water a hot temper and a deep understanding can't coexist one cancels out the other yeah it if you have a calm cool temper and you are content continuously exposed to a person who is hot-tempered, it's going to wear you down. Right. Right? For some reason, Doc, coolness does not affect hot-tempered people,

but hot-tempered people affect cool-tempered people. I don't understand why. But that hot temper is, it's so domineering. it takes control of a room it's it's it just has an evil spirit to it okay you know because it's contrary to god the bible says that god himself is slow to anger you know when a lot of people talk about the god of the old testament well that's an angry god that's a god that's always punishing people that's a god that's always doing the old testament completely the opposite i see nothing but nothing but grace in the old testament with occasional

opportunities judgment and anger patience yes incredible patience tremendous patience until he couldn't be provoked anymore that's right and often it was over centuries he was sending prophets to israel over centuries and then he finally said okay you're not responding you're going to have to you're You're going to have to go to the room to be panel. Yeah. Yeah. So, be a thermostat.

Don't be a thermometer. Amen. Set the temperature. Set to temperature. Don't react to the temperature. Thermometers react to temperatures. Thermostat set to temperature. Amen.

That's a good image to have in your head. You know, be a thermostat, not a thermometer, okay? And just keep that in your head, that image of that wild dog getting out of the yard and just running up and down the streets. Barking at clouds, barking at weeds, barking at everything, up and down the street. I had a dog like that one time. Oh, my. that dog she was so beautiful she was a oh

what am I thinking of the breed Irish Sutter she was a beautiful red Irish Sutter but Doc she was as stupid and crazy as she could get Those were her good points She was really good points She was crazy

I had her when we first got married And, Doc, I remember, she would, you know, this is back in the 70s when, you know, when before the days of throwaway diapers, when people, you know, washed out the baby's diapers, all right? And, and you had a diaper service that would come and pick up your buckets of dirty diapers. Do you remember those days? Oh, yes. It really wasn't a long ago, honestly. Yeah, and anyhow, one night, one night I woke up, and it was full moon, and I looked out the window, and as far as I could see, I saw dirty diapers going down the neighborhood in all the neighbor's yards. And not only the dirty diapers, but trash bags had been pulled out into the yards and ripped apart.

Yard after yard after yard, okay? That dog was crazy. And I... Did it have the dogs like that at one point or another? Wow. Okay, so this is before I was saved. Okay, I was not saved. Okay.

I actually, one night, was so upset with this dog. Oh, people are going to really not like me if I say it, tell this story. I wasn't safe, okay? You're qualifying this. I remember you telling me the story before. I took this dog out, out in the field, and I laid his head down on a rock, and I had a hammer. And I was going to beat his brains out. And something stopped me and said, you can't do this.

This is wrong, you know. And so I put an ad in the newspaper, I had an Irish setter for sale, and this man came and bought the dog. And he had a camper on his truck, the back of his pickup truck. And so he put the dog in the back of his pickup truck in the camper. And we're standing there beside the pickup truck, and I'm waiting on him to leave, and he's still talking to me. And I can hear this commotion inside this camper, and kind of like looking over his camper, say, wrong with her? And I go, I said, sir, that dog and I are so close. I don't know how we're going to be separated. I wish you'd just get in your truck. Get on the road now. Drive away as fast as you can.

And I hope you don't have a hammer in your truck. Oh my. That poor dog. But that's what I'm thinking about. That people just, they let their tongues out. And they just, That unrestrained spirit, that unrestrained speech that destroys everything. And it's like, and just like the dog was dealing with all the dirty diapers, all they're doing is just distributing waste all over the place. And so, what a picture. Yeah. William Arnaud said, he that hath knowledge spareeth his words,

he speaks little, and that little is weighty. Arnaud also said, man of understanding is of an excellent spirit, patient and serene. One more from William or not. Wisdom keeps the mouth and the heart in harmony. Yes.

Okay. Last verse. Verse 28. Even a fool when he holdeth his peace is counted wise and he that shetteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. The Septuagin says

even a fool when he is silent is reckoned wise and he that closes his lips a man of understanding so we'll begin with the first part even a fool when he holds his peace his count it wise so here this is what we were saying a few minutes ago doc that even sometimes fools know that there's a time to be quiet all right and and and for a moment what other people think that fool is wise. Solomon's certainly not saying that the fool is wise. He's doing this to shock the, you know, the listener to the reader. Yes.

Yes. Even the lowest can appear the highest by just one simple act, keeping their fool mouth shut, silence. That's a lesson, isn't it? Yeah. You can appear, the lowest person can appear, to be the highest by simply keeping their mouth shut. Now, says even a fool when he holds his peace,

there's deliberate restraint. The fool is fighting his or her own nature, which is to say something dumb and foolish. So the fool is holding his peace, fighting his own nature to keep quiet. and then is count it wise. And so the world judges people by appearance. And so silence is clothing the fool in borrowed robes of wisdom.

Right. They're borrowed. It's like the fool goes down to the clothing store and says, I'd like to rent this suit and wear it for a brief time, because it's going to make me look wild. but they don't own the suit they're borrowing the suit because their nature is foolishness what is teaching us is that there are times that a fool can actually pretend to be wise yes and you've got to watch you have to have the discernment

that's right so doc what I see here is a silence Silence is the fool's best disguise. It hides the fool's emptiness that his or her speech would expose. Right. But you can't stand in disguise forever. Right. You wait long enough. They'll reveal themselves.

They'll expose themselves as a fool. I've said for many years that people can only put on an act for about 90 days. When you meet somebody new, give them about three months. Yeah. Okay. In about three or four months, they'll stop. The disguise will come off. All right.

The mask will drop. Yeah. The mask will come off. They'll eventually start revealing themselves for who and what they are. Okay. Boy, Rick. Wow. I just think of all the times where I've had encounters with,

people where I ended up having trouble with them and everything. Man, I wish I had kept that principle in my life. And because you're right. I mean, for a while, everything can look good, but the mask always comes off, doesn't it? Yes. You and I have witnesses and employees where, you know, during the interview, man, they look fantastic. Yeah. First couple months at work, they're wonderful. Oh, yeah. The boy, somewhere around the four, fifth, six months, they start showing themselves for who and what they are. Then you're like, okay, this is not what we thought we hired. Okay.

So you can use that principle in friendships, relationships, business associations, and and so forth, just give someone 90 days to show who they are. And you might be saying, well, I won't make any friends. Folks, there's 8 billion people in the world. There's plenty of opportunities for friendship. But take your time. Yeah. Take your time.

You know, I've told the story before. I tell it real quick. Many years ago, it was in Panama. And a Panama lawyer gave me some advice and said, Rick, if you ever moved to Panama, have you ever started business here? Let me give you an idea of the Panamanian way, the way we do business. He said, we don't rush into business friendships, business deals, business relationships, we take our time.

And he said, you will be invited over to the other, the Panamanian business person's home. And you'll have dinner. And he or she will be observing you and your wife, your kids. And then you'll be asked back, you'll be asked back again. And now there'll be more family members there. all right they'll have

you know a room full people and hey I want to introduce you to my son and my daughter my uncle I want to introduce you

you know and so now they're expanding the number of people to use discernment on your character and he said this process will continue

until the family and friends come to a judgment you know a verdict hey this person is trustworthy or

you want to run as fast as you can and get away from this person. And he said, that's the way they do business. So why are they doing that? Because they know people can put on a mask in the beginning. They can conceal their hearts. They can conceal their identity. So the second part of this first says, and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

It literally means zips his lips, seals his lips intentional shedding of the mouth doesn't say word now a wise person doesn't do this occasionally a wise person this is a habit

a man of understanding a man or woman of understanding is discerning is you know using the wisest level of discernment and understanding about people and things. Okay, so the phrase is teaching us that self-control over the tongue is the crown of wisdom. Maybe crown should be shaped like a tongue, you know, with a spirit.

through it. You know? Maybe that's what we ought to have on our heads as a crown. A tongue with a spear or a chain on it. You know, a chain and a lock. Maybe that's what our crown should look like, okay? But what is telling us is the world assumes that a person with a closed mouth

has a full mind. Yes. You know, and so And so, like I said, even a fool can fool people for a while by being quiet. By wearing that mask and being quiet, all right? Now, that doesn't mean that wise man has to be silent all the time, but he needs to be silent with wisdom. And so Ephesians 429 tells us,

let no corruptive speech come out of your mouth none whatsoever and he said but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace to the hearers do when we speak are we ministering grace to those that hear us really are we i mean i just this convicts me i've got to really watch my mouth and so um you know i've got to watch the things things I say to others, especially those that I love. The ones I love, I should be saying the kindest words to, the most encouraging words too. Do I do that?

That's the question. So, Doc, it's more than saying that you refrain from saying the wrong things. You have to go beyond that. Yes. You have to say the right things. the first step is just get control of your tongue to not say the wrong things and then train your tongue to only say the right thing

who is our role model the Lord Jesus Christ yes he only spoke what the father gave him to say yeah that's it he spoke what the Lord's what his father in heaven said That's what. Okay, we'll wrap it up here. Let's take a look at the commentators. Matthew Henry said, if fools would but hold their tongues,

they would pass for wise men. John Gill said, He that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding, though he may not be so. Albert Barnes said Even a fool When he holds his pieces

Count of wise The world judges by appearance And he also said Talkative men are rarely wise We are not said The less some men speak The wiser they seem And that's absolutely true

I can think people talk in my life. He just assumed that they were wise because they were quiet people. Alexander McLarence said the chatter proclaims his folly, the silent man may pass for a philosopher. And G. Camel Morgan, I like what he says here. The wise man's silence is often more eloquent than the fool's speech. Amen. Amen. Okay. Well, Well, it's a lot to think about today. Amen. A lot to ponder.

Praise God. And we're, we've got another week. We've got the rest of this week. And next week we'll be in the Book of Proverbs. Then we're going to take a two-week break. We'll be back on January 3rd. And then on February 3rd, we began on television, on DirecTV in America, and Sky TV in Great Britain and Europe.

DSTV in Africa so there's a lot coming god has some blessings for us in 2026 so keep studying the word keep pursuing wisdom let the Holy Spirit have his way in your life none of us will reach perfection in this life but we just keep we keep moving towards the image of Christ and let let him live more fully inside of us. We're not with him. You are not going to change somebody and you're not going to change yourself, right? Once you come to realize,

we are utterly lost. We are completely utterly lost. The only thing that brings about change is surrender and submission to Christ. The more you surrender, the more you submit, the more he rules inside your life. Praise God. But fools resist surrender because they don't want to give up power and control.

So you're not going to change somebody and you're not going to change yourself. But you can submit more to Christ. You can surrender more to Christ and let him live inside you through you and speak through you. There's where the changes will come. Praise God. All right. Well, we invite you to join us tomorrow on the Wednesday edition of Morning Manna. We're going to start chapter 18 tomorrow.

So I encourage you read ahead, meditate on the scriptures before you come to class. We're going to be focusing on verses 1 through 4 tomorrow. So the first four verses of chapter 18, we're making headway through proverb, but still have a long way to go before we finish this book of wisdom. And there's still many more lessons to be learned. And I think we can all take away today, watch this mouth of ours. It's a fire, it's a flame. It's a wild dog.

That's right. A wild dog. We're going to run up down the street. Cuing up diapers. I can't get that picture on my head. Take care, everybody. We'll see you tomorrow. God bless you.