TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Jan 5, 2026 - Proverbs 19:1-3 - When Integrity Walks and Folly Blames God 2026-01

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

Proverbs 19:1–3 confronts the heart of human responsibility. Integrity in poverty is better than clever speech rooted in corruption. Acting without knowledge—and rushing ahead without wisdom—leads not just to mistakes, but to sin. Yet when foolish choices distort a person’s path, the heart often turns in frustration against the Lord instead of toward repentance. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart explore how character outweighs circumstance, why haste is spiritually dangerous, and how blaming God reveals the deeper issue of unchecked folly. Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting MannaNation.com, calling 1-888-519-4935, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961. MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! www.megafire.world Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! www.AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! www.Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! www.books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Well, welcome to morning, manna. You've come to the right place to feed your soul. We are working our way through the book of Proverbs, and today we will begin our study of chapter 19. We're going to focus on verses 1 through 3 today. Dr. Raymond Burckhardt will read the Holy Scriptures from the authorized King James version. Yes, Rick, and what a privilege to read the word. Read along with me, if you don't mind. I'm reading from the authorized King James Version. James Version, chapter 19 verses 1 through 3, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Also that the soul be without knowledge it is not good. He that hastest with his feet sinning. The foolishness of man perverteth his way

and his heart fretteth against the Lord. God bless the reading of his word today. All right. So as Dr. Burkhart opens up with the authorized King James, James Version, I will use the English translation of the Greek Septuagint throughout the book of Proverbs. So beginning with verse one, the Septuagint translation reads like this. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his lips. Now I'm going to break it down into two segments. This is the way that we teach. We take each verse and we break the verse into two or three segments. So segment one of verse one says better is a poor man who walks in his integrity. So the first thing that we see is that the great judge of the universe

issues a sovereign verdict that inverts every worldly value system. His ruling is expressed in the word better. God measures people by their character, not by their wealth. He weighs the heart, not their purse. Now, please don't mistake this verse as meaning that the Bible says it's better to be poor than to be rich. That's not what it's saying. King Solomon, who happened to be the richest man who ever lived, did not idealize poverty. Poverty is not romanticized. Poverty is not romanticized. for its own sake. Instead, he said that when poverty is paired with integrity, it becomes a garment of honor that's more valuable than royal robes without integrity. Solomon said that when poverty walks hand in hand with integrity, it becomes a crown, more precious than gold. So the verse rebukes

every low view of poverty. It is not a curse when paired with godliness. Integrity is wholeness before God. Amen. The poor man or woman who walks in his or her integrity lives in wholeness, blamelessness, and a single-hearted devotion to walking God's way. there's no secret life no hidden agendas the heart of a poor man or a poor woman who walks in integrity is undivided their conscience is clear their name is clean a baptist pastor alexander mclaren said the only enduring riches are moral

qualities he said poverty may strip a man of everything else but not of his integrity doc this poor man walks in his integrity. What does that signify? Thanks for asking Rick. That the word walks there is more than just walking around. It indicates a consistent lifelong pattern. So what's being expressed here is that integrity is a daily path, not just an occasional posture that you do. So the poor man's lack of wealth, poverty sometimes can really refine a character. You're stripped of props. You have to learn to lead holy on God. A poor woman's poverty has a refinder.

It's stripped away pretense and has taught her to fear God alone. So the upright man, Rick, is God's prince and rags, if you will. So his lack of silver on one hand is more than compensated by the abundance of grace that he receives. So the poor man or woman who walks in integrity, and that's the key part of it there, possesses what riches can buy. His or her invisible riches include peace with God, a clear conscience, a good name, Rick, and a legacy that will far outlive any earthly treasure or money that we accumulate here.

You're right, talk. The upright poor man, poor woman, the upright, not just because they're poor, they have to be upright. The upright poor man or poor woman is a, living sermon without spoken words, their lives testify to the sufficiency of Christ and declare to the world, the Lord is my portion. I lack nothing. Praise God. God promised to honor those who honor him and the poor in integrity are living proof. God exalts the humble and he brings low the prown. We see that

in James chapter 4 and 1 Peter chapter 5. So the disciples of Christ are challenged to choose integrity over income and status and position. The world calls it foolish. God calls it better. Therefore, the disciples of Christ must prioritize character over comfort and choose the better even when cost them. Ultimately, the poor that walk in integrity is Jesus Christ himself, who became poor that we would become rich. Yes. He became poor and yet walked on this earth perfectly and was exalted forever.

One of my heroes of the faith reformed Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon said a good character is better than a large estate in a pure conscience. conscience is better than untold gold. Now, the, Doc, the second part of this verse is, then he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool. What does this mean? Well, let's look at the whole verse and context again. The entire proverb says, better is a poor man who walks in his integrity

than a rich man who is perverse in his lips. So the question we need to ask is the thing we need to end up is we need to examine the rich man or woman who is perverse in their lips, right? We have to define that. And our morning man and classmates that have been with us for a while know that the biblical meaning of perverse, it is, and there's nothing really sexual connected with it or anything. It's not perverted life we have in the modern sense of the term, but rather that it means to be bent away from, twisted, crooked.

generally a rejection of God in their lives. Perverse means to be crooked in this sense, Rick. Been away from God's standards. Yes. So to be perverse in his lips literally means twisted in his two lips. Yes. Habitually lying, slandering, flattering, distorting truth. It's a way of life.

the person is twisted in his two lips. We have a comment saying today, well, how do you know if somebody's lying while their lips are moving? It's looking what Solomon is saying here that a perverse person is twisted in his two lips, that every time they talk, there's something perverse coming out.

So the perversity flows from a perverse heart, which means that the heart is twisted, crooked, bent away from God's truth. And the tongue is simply the overflow of what's in the heart. So the rich fool trust his money and his mouth to save him, but both failed. He is doubly cursed, riches without wisdom, speech without truth. So this phrase is teaching that the tongue is the real measure of wealth, a lying mouth, bankrupt's person's soul. Amen.

Mosting, gossip, manipulation, only reveal the fool, regardless of his or her bank account. So in the end, the rich fool's life is a tragedy. He has nothing external, nothing, excuse me, he has everything external and nothing internal. It's all in the outside, Doc, inside they're bankrupt. So picture this. Picture an image of a golden vessel, a beautiful golden vessel. You know, just imagine it in your mind right now. But inside that vessel is poison. It's beautiful and ornade on the outside, but deadly on the inside. So this perversity that we're talking about is a self-destructive perversity. It's the tongue digging, the pitch that not only their riches fall into, but they're fall into as well. And so the richer the man, the more dangerous a perverse tongue becomes. So think about that. The richer a man, the more dangerous a perverse tongue becomes. So wealth oftentimes breeds an arrogance about itself, an arrogance of attitude and in speech. I can say what I want. I have carte blanche to say what I wants. But the rich fool's end is pretty

uncertain, Rick, because the Bible says that God resists a proud talker. So ultimately, those perverse lips, crown the fool with shame. His wealth becomes his witness against it. And remember this truth, Rick, poverty will test your integrity, wealth will test your humility. Both of them reveal your heart. Amen. Doug, I like to study The commentary is written by a great men and women of God centuries ago. John Calvin said nothing is more precious in the sight of God than the integrity of a person's life. Martin Luther said a poor man with a good conscience

is richer than a king with a troubled heart. A congregationalist pastor, G. Campbell Morgan said the final test of life is not what a man possesses, but what he is. and Free Church of Scotland theologian, William Arnott, said honesty is the wealth of the poor without it. Ritches are but splendid poverty. Let's take a quick look at what some of the other Bible commentators said from the old days about proverb 191. Well, we'll start out with a classic of Matthew Henry here said poverty is a calamity,

but wickedness is greater. Therefore, better be poor and honest than rich and dishonest. John Gill said the poor man that walks in his integrity is happier than a rich man that is a liar and a fool. Yes, and Comptitor Joseph Vince said this. Poverty is not a man's disgrace, but dishonesty is. Therefore, an honest poor man is better than a rich knave. Let's go on to verse two.

This verse says, Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good, and he that haste with his feet sineth. That's the King James. The Septuagin says, It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, and he that is hasty with his feet shall stumble. All right, so we'll begin the study of verse two with the first segment.

It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge. Knowledge in this verse refers not to information, but to moral and spiritual understanding grounded in the fear of the Lord. That's what this refers to as knowledge. of the fear of the Lord, the beginning, the sinner, the crown of all true wisdom. Solomon teaches us that Nerns is not morally neutral. He's declaring plainly that a soul without knowledge is not good in God's sight. Solomon is teaching us that a knowledgeable soul is formed by instruction, humility,

submission to God's will. Matthew Henry said, A soul without knowledge is not good. It is the greatest evil under the sun. And Charles Bridges said, ignorance of God is the mother of all misery. So, Doc, a soul lacking knowledge lacks the internal compass. It's necessary to make righteous decisions

and to be faithfully obedient to God. So in this verse, as we see throughout the Bible, biblical verses consistently present knowledge of God in His Word as a safeguard for our soul, protecting our soul from deception, confusion, and self-harm. Right. Well, if we can expand on that a little bit, Rick, the Septuagint that you quoted emphasizes the goodness of the goodness of God. of the soul itself, showing that ignorance of God damages the inner life, not merely the outward behavior. So this verse is affirming that moral goodness requires illumination by God before action. Solomon, therefore, is establishing that knowledge, he's speaking specifically about godly or spiritual knowledge, as an essential component of holiness. A soul devoid of this kind of knowledge, really, Rick, is a living tragedy.

He's capable of God, yet completely empty of him. And so this ignorance, though, they don't get a pass, Rick. It's not innocent. It's the willful rejection of the light that God himself is. So when you get right down to spiritual ignorance is the root of every other sin, pride, lust, anger, all these sins flourish in the dark so this ignorance is covenant-breaking God's revealed himself

and for us to remain ignorant is to despise the revelation of God now the heart without knowledge is like a garden without water everything that's good about the garden will weather Charles Spurgeon said an ignorant soul is a soul of darkness and darkness is hell began

John Gill said the soul without knowledge is dead while it lives and Annap Clark said to be without knowledge is to be without God the worst kind of poverty so this emptiness that this individual has Rick is self-perpetuating the long that someone chooses to remain spiritually ignorant but less desires to know and so ultimately Rick a soul that's without that spiritual knowledge

is a soul without Christ himself, a light that no darkness can overcome. Very heavy concept, Doc. Yes. Pergin saying a person ignorant of God's ways, his law is already in hell. And John Gill saying to be ignorant of the ways of God means that you're already dead while you're living. Yes. That means there's a lot of walking dead on the earth today, Doc. The second part of this verse says,

And he, that is hasty with his feet, shall stumble. So Solomon directly connects the lack of knowledge of God in his word with haste, showing that ignorance produces reckless movement rather than patient obedience. This phrase, he is hasty with his feet, describes a life driven by impulse instead of discernment. Amen. Now, haste here is not efficiency. It's moral failure that leads directly to sin.

The Septuagint translation sharpens the warning by declaring that haste results in stumbling, not progress, that a soul without knowledge rushes because it cannot see clearly. And therefore, it makes mistakes in its speed for direction. The scripture is, and this is all throughout the Bible, warning us that impatience leads to regret, to mistakes, to error, to brokenness.

So I've got to ask the question here. So why does hastiness lead to disaster? Well, I think, Doc, because hasty actions bypass counsel and advice and wisdom and reflection and prayer and correction. These are the appointed way that God guides us. And when we're hasty, it means that we don't stop to pray. We don't ask God for his direction. we don't ask God for we don't we don't ask God to speak to other people to speak to us we're just quick to make a decision so the sin here is not accidental but it's a predictable outcome of movement without understanding it's teaching us that wisdom restrains our feet until a heart has received divine instruction

Right. Well, what Solomon's trying to get across here, Rick, is that a disciplined pace is a mark of spiritual maturity. And I'm sure you can relate to that as well as I can that some of the most painful episodes in our lives oftentimes come from getting impatient and trying to force a decision. So when Solomon's talking about taste here, he's not talking about speed or efficiency. What he's talking about is acting without understanding, movement, without God's direction, without divine direction. So the picture here in the Hebrew is an idea of this reckless charging that's taken place, running headlong into error because the heart refuses to wait. And every major disaster in scripture,

when you really start to think about it, had haste at its root, think about it, Pharaoh's army. Saul's sacrifice, Peter's sword in the garden. So all of these have been the result of impatience and haste. So really haste is pride in disguise. I don't need to wait on God or man. I'm charging a head on this. But I'm telling you that that haste is a fool's trademark.

He must move before he knows and he must speak before he hears. know anybody like, I hope you're not looking in a mirror today. So the phrase teaches that speed without knowledge is not efficiency. It is self-destruction. Several commentators had additional thoughts on this part of the verse. Charles Bridges said, haste is the fool's chariot. It carries him swiftly to ruin. John Gill said, he that haste is with his feet sin him, he errs from the way of God. So this chronic hurry is a symptom of a heart that does not trust God's timing. So really, haste is the enemy of prayer wreck. The hurried man doesn't have time to ask direction from anybody, especially God.

So prayer is not in the process there. So ultimately, he that is hasty with his feet shall stumble is God sending out a warning. God is saying, listen. Slow down. Think about what you're about to do. Talk to me. Well, full. I mean, it's just that plain and simple, Rick. Yeah, dog, you know, I see that divine order principles showing up again. He has this order in the universe in which spiritual understanding must always precede action. Just keep that in your mind. I'm going to jump down to verse three because I want to finish up this segment here. The Septuagin says, the folly of a man perverteth his way and he blames God in his heart. Yes.

This is a great verse. The foolishness of man perverts his way. So this proverb dismantles the illusion that sins outcomes are accidental. or externally imposed. King Solomon is teaching us that the destruction of a person's life path originates not in God's will, but in human foolishness. In other words, we bring on ourselves our own disasters. This word foolishness refers to moral perversity, spiritual blindness.

it says that a man's way is perverted or ruined because his decisions are detached from wisdom and the fear of the Lord. Again, this is throughout the scripture. The scripture consistently presents folly as self-destructive and that it carries consequences over time. So God's law is not the cause of a person's ruin. it's the person's rejection of God's law that brings about their ruin. Men and women often construct the very traps that they later fall into.

So the Septuagint is emphasizing that the spoiling, the ruining of one's ways shows that folly corrupts the person's whole direction of life. Doc, I know you've got a few things you would like to add before we end today, listen. Yes, so just a couple of observations here. What Solomon's revealing here is that the road to collapse is paved by foolish decisions repeated without repentance. People are stuck in that cycle. Some foolishness, but when you get down to it, it's not innocent ignorance. It's willful. It's a moral rebellion that deliberately twists the path of life. You know, it's interesting that that verb there perverts. in Hebrew-Aic means to overturn, to ruin, to make crooked or twisted.

It's the fool's own choices that sabotage his destiny, Rick. So, Rick, here is the meaning of this proverb really in a nutshell. God gives a straight path to walk in life, but the fool chose to walk the crooked one. Charles Bridges said the fool digs his own pit and then falls into it. His ruin is homemade. The second part of this verse says, And his heart fretteth against the Lord. The Septuagin says,

And he blameth God in his heart. Yes. So after ruining his own way, the foolish man turns against the Lord instead of repenting of his own choices. The King James uses the word frets. The Septuagent uses the word blames. The Hebrew word is Zhaaf.

means to be wroth, enraged, angry, boiled up. So what is saying is the fool's heart boils up with anger at God and blames the Lord for his own mess created by his own foolish haste. Yes, you got it, Rick. And this is the ultimate inversion, the guilty man shaking his fist at the judge who only enforced justice. so what we see here doc is classic blame shifting yes the fool never admits i did this it's always god why did you do this to me why did you let this happen to me

so the the heart is fretting raging blaming god and and and revealing the resentment instead of humility it exposes their pride they refuse to accept responsibility. They seek a scapegoat. And it's a pattern that we see throughout the Bible dot, people blaming God for their mess. Yeah. Yeah, it's like a prisoner cursing the warden for locking the cell. He chose. Okay. And so, I mean, just so, you know, crazy on that. I know we're limited on the time, but Adam Clark had this to say, Rick, this is the height folly to sin and then be angry with God for the consequences. So I'll say to our folks that are watching and listening today, do you know anyone that's angry at God? Do you know someone? There might

be a reason they're angry. Maybe this verse will give you some insight in how you could best deal with that person in your life. I'll close today's morning manna lesson on 19 verses 1 through 3. Charles Spurgeon said, many a man has talked himself into hell and then cursed God for sending him there. Amen. Well, let that be the final word for today. Thank you for watching Morning Manna. God bless. Tell your friends and family about Morning Manna. You can find us online at manna Nation.com. Amen. God bless you.