Proverbs 16 & 17 | A Proverb A Day Challenge

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi you guys, welcome back to the Amani Talks podcast.
You're here with your host Amani on the podcast where
we discuss our Christian based topics and deepening our relationship
with the Lord. And we are continuing on in our
a Proverb a Day series where we are reading one
proverb a day for the month of July thirty one
proverbs thirty one days to get our daily.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Dose of wisdom in the morning.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
I am doubling up on an episode this episode, so
we're gonna read chapters sixteen and seventeen because when I
was in the dr didn't have Wi Fi, I was
not able to upload. So we're gonna do two chapters today.
And what we do is we go through, we read
the chapter, we look at what versus stand out to us,
I discuss the verse, you jump a verse in the comments,
and we are just going to get through proverbs together, okay,

(00:44):
because it's a little hard to tackle. When you're trying
to read it through, it can seem repetitive, it can
get kind of boring, you know, So let's do it
day by day and get through it together. So let's
read chapters fifteen and sixteen or sixteen and seventeen. Sorry
all right, starting in sixteen. The preparations of the heart

(01:05):
belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is
from the Lord. All the ways of a man are
pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.
Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will
be established. The Lord has made all for himself. Yes,
even the wicked, for the day of doom. Everyone proud
in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Though they

(01:28):
join forces, none will go unpunished. In mercy and truth,
atonement is provided for iniquity, and by the fear of
the Lord, one departs from evil. When a man's ways
please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be
at peace with him.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Oh, I like that.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Better is a little with righteousness than vast revenues without justice.
A man's heart plants his way, but the.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Lord directs his steps.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
I've heard that one before divination is on the lips
of the king. His mouth must not transgress in judgment.
Honest weights and scales.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Are the lords.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
All waits in the bag are his work. It is
an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, for a throne
is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
and they love him who speaks what is right. As
messengers of death is the king's wrath, but a wise
man will appease it. And the light of the king's
faces life and his favor is like a cloud of

(02:20):
the latter rain. How much better to get wisdom than gold,
and to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil.
He who keeps his way preserves his soul. Pride goes
before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better
to be of a humble spirit than with the lowly,

(02:42):
than to divide the spoil with the proud. He who
heeds the word wisely will find good. And whoever trust
in the Lord, happy is he The wise in heart
will be called prudence. And sweetness of the lips increases learning.
Understanding is a well spring of life to him who
has it. But the correction of fools is the heart
of the wise teaches his mouth and learns, and adds

(03:05):
learning to his lips. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. There
is a way that seems right to a man, but
its end is the way of death. The person who
labors labors for himself, for his hungry mouth drives him on.
An ungodly man digs up evil, and it is on
his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man soul strife,

(03:28):
and a whisperer separates the best of friends. A violent
man entices his neighbor and leads him in a way
that is not good. He winks his eye to devise
perverse things. He pursues, He purses his lips and brings
about evil. The silver haired head is a crowd of glory.
It is found in the way of righteousness. He who

(03:48):
is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and
he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
The law is cast into the lap, but its every
decision is from the Lord man. Oh my god, gosh,
so many key verses in sixteen. I've there are a
lot of famous verses in Proverbs sixteen, and I didn't
even know.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
But that's why we're reading.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
It together, right, So that we we're reading the Bible together,
we're getting this knowledge. And I'm just reading these verses.
I'm like, I've heard this, I've heard this so many
good verses in sixteen. Where do I even start. Let's
start with verse seven. When a man's ways please the Lord,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
I've heard that one before. It reminds me of the

(04:30):
verse Romans twelve, Romans twelve eighteen. Let me pull it
up really quick, Romans twelve. Well, let's start in seventeen.
Repay no one evil for evil, have regard for good
things in the sight of all men. If it is possible,
as much as as depends on you, live peaceably with
all men. Let's continue on, Beloved, do not avenge yourselves,

(04:50):
but rather give place to wrath. For it has written
vengeance is mine I.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Will repay, says the Lord.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he
is thirsty, give him a dreas in doing so, you
will heap codes of fire on his head. Do not
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. That just
reminded me of that passage in Romans. Because if I
am to live for the Lord, when a man's ways
please the Lord, so I'm living for the Lord. The

(05:18):
Lord makes even my enemies to be at peace with me.
Because how could they not When I go to Romans,
and Romans is telling me, if my enemy is hungry,
feed him, if he is thirsty, give him a drink.
Proverbs tells us when we do these things, the Lord
makes our enemies to be at peace with us. And
I think there's also a verse that talks about the

(05:39):
Lord making our enemies our footstool. I'll look it up
a little bit later, but it just reminds me. Number One,
when you think about your enemy, you think about all
the bad things they've done against you, right, and you're
counting all these things in your head. You're keeping track.
The Lord does not keep track with us. We were
enemies against God at one point before we were. When

(06:01):
we are willfully committing sin, which all of us do
at some point in our lives, we are living against God.
When we repent, God does not keep track, and if
we are to follow his example, we should not be
keeping track of what our enemies do either. The Word
tells us feed our enemies, clothe our enemies, give them
a drink when they're thirsty.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Vengeance is the Lord's he will repay. I just love that.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
All I gotta do is commit myself to the Lord,
and I don't even got to worry about my enemies
are they are minuscule problems. They're not even a problem
for me. I got ninety nine problems, and my enemies
are not one because the Lord gives them. You know,
vengeance is his. I don't got to repay e. I
don't got to seek out ways to get my enemy back.

(06:46):
Ain't no get back. Vengeance is the Lord's, okay, I
just got to.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Commit my way to him.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
I know a lot easier said than done, and theory
is a lot better than the practice of it. But
there are a lot of principles and Christianity that go
against our nature. Our nature is vengeance. Our nature is revenge.
But we are to go against that, and when we do,
the Lord makes it so that even our enemies serve us.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Even our enemies are.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
At peace with us. Like I said, how could they
not be when you return?

Speaker 2 (07:18):
They're evil? For love? Love breaks through evil nothing else.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
I also love Verse nine. A man's heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps. It just reaffirms to
me that there are desires that the Lord has placed
in my heart and in my mind, and when I
live them out, I just have to pray and ask
God for the wisdom and the strength to submit and

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obey him, and he'll direct my steps. He'll make sure
that I get there. I don't have to worry about
what my future is going to look like. I don't
have to worry about my future success. I don't have
to worry about my future spouse, my future children, my
future ministry. The Lord is directing my steps. He has
given me these desires, he's given me these talents. I
just have to submit my way to him and he'll

(08:03):
reveal it all. The Lord closes doors and he opens doors,
and when doors are opened, I acknowledge him. And when
doors are closed, I think him because obviously that wasn't
what I was supposed to have. And I thank God
for every closed opportunity. When doors are closing in your
face at the time of something that you think you
want or even something that you will get, but just

(08:25):
not right now. During the time of the door's closing,
it feels horrible. It feels like, God, why are you
not opening these doors for me? Why am I not
finding favor in this? And then a year later goes
by and you're like, oh.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
That's why that was happening.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
That's why those doors were closing, so that this opportunity.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
Could be available to me.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
You ever stop and think about all the things that
you wanted when you were younger, if you would have
gotten them, Oh, whoa nelly?

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Whoa nelly? Like? Sometimes I think about that.

Speaker 1 (08:55):
There are a lot of things that I thought I
wanted in my life, and I'm so glad God did
not give it to me when I thought I wanted them.
I would not have known what to do with them.
You can get what you want out of life. If
it's the wrong timing, you'll lose it just as quickly
as you got it. We'll do a lot of scheming,
a lot of planning to get the things that we
want out of life, and all we got to do
is submit our ways to the Lord and he will

(09:16):
direct our steps. And the last verse that really stuck
out to me was the last verse thirty three. The
lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision
is from the Lord. And this stuck out to me
because this is something that I've actually been studying recently
about how God is God even over the superstition, God

(09:36):
is God over us. Thinking that things are by chance
there is no chance. There is no coincidence with God.
When you go back to Exodus, when Moses is showing
Pharaoh the miracles right before the plagues happened to convince
him to release his people, we know he didn't and
the plagues happen. But when you go through Exodus seven,
we're in Exodus seven, and let's start in verse Let's

(09:58):
start in verse ten. J and Aaron went into Pharaoh,
and they did so just as the Lord commanded. And
Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants,
and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh also called the
wise man men and the sorcerers. So the magicians of
Egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

(10:18):
For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents.
But Aaron's rods swallowed up their rods, and Pharaoh's heart
grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the
Lord had said. So even when we do our own
our own sorcery, our own our own witchcraft, because the lords
told Aarons to cast down his rod, and they'll become
a serpent, and that'll be a sign to show Pharaoh

(10:39):
that God is behind them, right. But then Pharaoh's priests
also threw down their rods, and with their own sorcery
and with their own witchcrafts, their rods turned.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Into snakes, just like Aaron's.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
They're trying to say, hey, like your God is not
bigger than us, We're doing the same thing as you.
But what happens Aaron snakes swallowed their snake up. God
is in control even over witchcrafts. Chapter one, verse twenty four.
It says, and they prayed and said, you, O, Lord,
who know the hearts of all, show which of these
two who you have chosen to take part in this

(11:09):
ministry and apostleship, from which Judas, by transgression, fell that
he might go to his own place. And they cast
their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he
was numbered with the eleven apostles, another example of us
casting lots. The Lord is over chance, the Lord is
over a coincidence. Mattheus is not a coincidence that the
lot fell on him and he became He replaced Judas

(11:30):
with the twelve disciples. The Lord was over that he
still had control of that. It also reminds me of
the story of Jonas, how when he was in that boat,
and because he was disobeying the Lord, the Lord brought
a storm on that boat. And the people were like,
why is this happening? Who on this ship has brought
this calamity upon us? Because these are very superstitious people,
They're like, if there's a storm, it's because somebody on

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this boat is bringing that bad juju, you know. So
they are casting lots or they're drawing sticks, something like that,
and it lands on and that's how they knew it
was because Jonas was on that boat disobeying the Lord,
that the Lord brought that storm on that boat. And
Jonas is like, okay, whatever, cast me overboard, Like he
don't even care, Like he's like kill me.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
I don't want to go to Nina but to preach.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
So they cast him overboard and then the storm ceases,
and then it says that those men came to realize
that the God of Jonah was the true God.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
It says that they ended up praying to him. So
it's just there's so many.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
Examples of the Lord being over our superstition. He's so sovereign.
When we think that things are by chance, by coincidence.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
The Lord is over all of that.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
He's over rolling dice, he is overcasting lots, he's overdrawing
sticks to see. Oh, let's just you know, what's the handgame, rock, paper, scissors, shoe.
What we count as coincidence and chance, the Lord is
still over that. He's sovereign over every little thing. He's
sovereign over our devices. When we think that we're in control,

(12:56):
God in so many ways shows us no, he's actually
in control. The lot is cast into the lat but
it's every decision is from the Lord. He is in
control over it all. There is no coincidence with God.
Stop saying, oh, this just happened to happen. Every time
something good happens in your life. Stop putting it's a chance.

(13:18):
Stop saying, oh, that was gonna happen anyway. The Bible
tells us every good gift is from above, So if
there is anything good in your life, you have to
give that credit to God. And that's something that I
do that versus in my head. Let me actually find
that verse James one point seventeen. Every good and perfect
gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

(13:41):
Whenever I feel like, oh, coincidence, Oh that was gonna happen.
And I do that a lot because I'm such a
I tend to be a little skeptical, and I tend
to rely a lot on logic and putting reason into
a box. When the Lord is Lord over all, he
cannot be put into a box. And I tend to think, oh,
that was gonna happen anyway. Oh, you know that was

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just things working itself out. No, if it was good,
it came from above. Everything good that you experience in
your life comes from God. You need to return it
back to praise every single time. And I'm learning that.
That's why I memorize that verse. I need to memorize
where it comes from James one seventeen. For every good gift,
or every good and perfect gift, is from above, coming

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down from the Father of the heavenly lights. Anything that
good that happens in my life, when I travel and
I get there safe and I come home safe, When
I make some money, when I ate that day, when
I have good health, when I'm able to take a walk,
when I have good shoes on my feet, that came
from God. Every single thing it helps keep you humble.
It helps keep some perspective, and it helps you understand

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that God is in control of every single thing. Let's
continue on reading Proverbs seventeen. Better is a dry more
soul with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.
A wise servant will rule, or a son who causes
shame and will share an inheritance among the brothers. The
refining pot is for silver, in the furnace for gold,

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but the lord tests the hearts. An evil doer gives
heed to false lips. A liar listens eagerly to a
spiteful tongue. He who mocks the poor reproaches his maker.
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Children's children are the crown of old men, and the
glory of children is their father. Excellent speech is not

(15:28):
becoming to a fool, much less lying lips to a prince.
A presence is a precious stone in the eyes of
its possessor. Wherever he turns, he prospers. He who covers
a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter
separates friends. Rebuke is more effective for a wise man
than a hundred blows on a fool. An evil man

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seeks only rebellion. Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent
against him. Let a man meet a bear robbed of
her cubs, rather than a fool in his folly. Mm
who whatever rewards evil for good evil will not depart
from his house. The beginning of strife is like releasing water. Therefore,
stop contention before a quarrel starts. He who justifies the wicked,

(16:11):
and he who condemns the just both of them are,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
Why is there in the hand of a fool the
purchase price of wisdom, since he has no heart for it?
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is
born for adversity. A man devoid of understanding shakes hands
in a pledge and becomes surety for his friend. He

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who loves transgression loves strife, and he who exalts his
gait seeks destruction. He who has a deceitful heart finds
no good, and he who has a perverse tongue falls
into evil. He who begets a scoffer does so to
his sorrow. And the father of a fool has no joy.
A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken

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spirit dries the bones. A wicked man accepts a bride
behind the back to pervert the ways of justice. Wisdom
is in the sight of him who has understanding, but
the eyes of a fool are on the ends of
the earth. A foolish son is a grief to his father,
in bitterness to her who bore him. Also to punish
the righteous is not good, nor to strike princes for

(17:14):
their uprightness. He who has knowledge spares his words, and
a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even
a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace,
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. Wow,
a lot of these principles in Proverbs seventeen. At this
point we've heard a lot of them. For me, what
really stood out was verses twenty seven through twenty eight.

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He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man
of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool
is counted wise when he holds his peace. When he
shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. I think these
two verses are a good reminder for Christians who have
a passion for debate, who have a passion for speaking up,

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who have a passion for defending the faith. Sometimes it
can be a very slippery slope. It can be a
fine line between defending your faith in arguing. It can
be a fine line between speaking up for God and
speaking too much. And I think that when you let
passion overtake you, you can very easily slip into sin

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and just be ineffective. And when we see that verse
twenty eight is saying even a fool is counted wise
when he holds his peace, when he shuts his lips,
he is considered perceptive. It lets us understand sometimes we
try to play God in other people's lives, and we
think that it's us that imparts wisdom. We think it's
us that gives understanding the situations. We try our best

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to explain when it's not for us to do that.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
That's not our job.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
We talked about that a few times and throughout this
proverb series, because it is definitely a theme that keeps reoccurring.
We are not to convince people of the Lord's goodness.
They are already experiencing it all around them. And when
we are yapping away, it's easy to fall into sin.
We talked about that in a previous episode, and I

(19:07):
just like the reminder that it's.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
Okay to just like shut up.

Speaker 1 (19:10):
Sometimes it is okay to shut up sometimes As a
very zealous Christian myself, someone who is really passionate, like
I said about defending the faith, I take this as
a reminder to me. Let the Lord work on that person.
Let the Lord work on that situation. We will tire

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ourselves out by trying to have control and trying to
speak life or speak sense into situations. Let the Lord
take that over. Even a fool is counted wise when
he holds his peace. Sometimes we gotta fall back. When
you're arguing and going back and forth with a fool

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from a distance, other people can't tell who the fool is.
We show others wisdom when we show restraint, and we
show restraint by not always feeling the need to talk
so much to have control verbally over a conversation or
a situation. Foolish people are constantly talking. We talked about

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that in Let's see what chapter of Proverbs that was
Proverbs ten, verse nineteen, and the multitude of words. Sin
is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips as wise.
So we're seeing a lot of principles come back be
repeated for us to understand. I would like to challenge
all of God's people to be listeners. So that is

(20:39):
all I have for Proverbs sixteen and seventeen. We will
be in verse eighteen for tomorrow. And thank you guys
for being patient with me again and letting me catch
up on these episodes. Y'all was really in my dms,
like girl, get back on your job. You gotta get
back on your zoom. We wait for the YouTube. Yeah,
them dresses are nice for Bali, but where's the proverb today?

Speaker 2 (21:00):
So I really love y'all. I really appreciate y'all.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Will see yall tomorrow and yeah bye