Proverbs 10-11 — Chuck Smith

The Purpose and Structure of Proverbs

Let's turn to the book of Proverbs and beginning tonight in chapter 10. Now before we begin in chapter 10 I want you to go back to chapter 1 in which we have a definition for Proverbs and an explanation for the purpose of Proverbs.

We are told that these are the Proverbs of Solomon the son of David. Now we are also told earlier that Solomon wrote some 3 ,000 Proverbs so that what we have in the book of Proverbs is just a very small number of the 3 ,000 Proverbs that he wrote.

But these are the Proverbs of Solomon the son of David the king of Israel and this is the purpose to know wisdom and instruction to perceive words of understanding to receive the instruction of wisdom and justice and judgment and equity to give subtlety to the simple and to the young man knowledge and discretion and so we are told a wise man will hear and will increase learning a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels to understand a proverb and the interpretation the words of the wise and their dark sayings and so that's what Proverbs are all about that is the purpose and that's what they will accomplish.

Now the Proverbs are sort of considered Hebrew poetry and to understand Hebrew poetry it is completely different from poetry in English. In English our poetry is in the rhyming of words. In the Hebrew poetry is the rhyming of thoughts.

The words don't need to rhyme at all. The rhyming is in the thoughts and it can be in parallel thoughts building on a thought or it can also be in contrasting thoughts and so most of the Proverbs are in that antithesis.

They are contrasting thoughts and so as you go through you will find in the first part here wickedness is contrasted with wisdom and righteousness. The wisdom of righteousness and the folly of wickedness.

Now in going through say here in chapter 10 he will give to you the statement concerning righteousness and then he will contrast it with wickedness but just to in English it would read better for us if we just read all of the things that dealt with righteousness or righteous and then read all of the things that dealt with wickedness or with the wicked.

For instance in Proverbs chapter 10 as you read of righteousness or righteous the Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish. The mouth of the righteous is a well of life. The labor of the righteous tends to life.

The lips of the righteous feed many. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. The righteous is an everlasting foundation. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. The righteous shall never be removed.

The lips of the know what is acceptable and so that is what he has to say about the righteous in chapter 10. In contrast to that in chapter 10 as he speaks of the wicked he said the Lord will cast away the substance of the wicked.

Violence covers the mouth of the wicked. The memory of the wicked shall rot. Violence covers the mouth of the wicked again and the fruit of the wicked tends to sin. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.

The fear of the wicked shall come upon him. As a whirlwind passeth so is the wicked no more. The years of the wicked shall be shortened. The expectation of the wicked shall perish. The wicked shall not inhabit the earth and the mouth of the wicked speaks perverseness.

So that we can grasp as it's in the Hebrew poetry form. It's a little more difficult to to grasp because it is in contrasting the wicked versus the righteous and I would recommend that as you go through that maybe you you do like I do and that is just sort of to separate and take all of those that have scriptures that have to do with the wicked and just mark that portion and then all of those that have to do with the righteous just mark that portion and for our western mindset it's a lot easier then to grasp all of the facets of the righteous versus all of the facets of the wicked.

So the first nine chapters dealt with the subject of wisdom as Solomon was instructing basically his son and also his two daughters on the subject of wisdom, goodness and they were his instructions to his children.

His warning to his sons or to his son Rehoboam concerning the women. Many of them were prostitutes at that time and his warning to his son to be wise not to be taken in their snare. Now when we come to chapter 10 we now begin the Proverbs of Solomon as it says right at the head of chapter 10 the Proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a glad father. You know if a son is say very scholarly honor roll student the father loves to go around and tell everybody my son just received his PhD graduated you know with honors or if he's a great athlete the fathers will go around and and brag about their son's athletic abilities for a wise son makes a glad father.

Years ago when I was quite involved in athletics whenever I would score a touchdown and the crowd would be yelling and I could always above the crowd hear my dad and he would be saying that's my son you know and or I hit a home run and so I would hear him that's my son you know and a a wise son makes a father's heart glad.

My dad was my greatest supporter and he was always there at every game I played and always very strong in his support. However in contrast you see the contrast is that a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

When a young man is constantly getting into trouble when he is doing foolish things the father is pretty silent but the mother she seems to suffer the most over the folly of her son. Her heart is broken.

Wisdom, Wealth, and the Limits of Material Possessions

Now in these proverbs there is very little connection between the verses. Each verse stands alone by itself and oftentimes is introducing a totally different thought. So it's hard for us to follow because you have to change gears at every verse and each verse has to be considered isolated by itself.

You're not really tying them together unless you do as I did and just go down and take all of the verses with wisdom and then you can tie the thoughts together. But treasures of wickedness profit nothing.

It's interesting to read of those who have won the lottery and how many of them have told how much misery it has brought into their lives. Now I know that all of us think if we could just win the lottery it would be nothing but total joy and happiness but such is not the case.

The treasures of wickedness profit nothing. But in contrast the righteous delivereth from death. No eternal value to the treasures of wickedness. You may store up a vast wealth to leave to someone else because you don't take it with you.

As Greg Laurie says, you'll never see a U-Haul trailer behind the hearse heading towards the burial grounds. It just doesn't happen. You can't take it with you. But yet the righteous they are delivered from death.

The Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish. God will take care of those that are righteous and surely this is something that comes out when Jesus is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.

Telling us not to worry about what we're going to eat, what we're going to drink, what we're going to wear. All of these things the heathen worry about. But you, if you will just seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, God will take care of these other things.

Consider the birds of the air. They don't plant or gather into barns, but your father takes care of them. Consider the lilies of the field. Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they.

If God will take care of the birds, which are not his children, if he will clothe the field with such beauty, they're not his children, they're his creation. How much more will he then clothe you and see that you are fed?

And so the Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish. But in contrast, he will cast away the substance of the wicked. And so we see these sharp contrasts between righteousness and wicked.

The Lord will not allow the righteous to famish, but yet he will cast away the substance of the wicked in a moment. They're brought down to the ground, Asaph tells us. He becomes poor that deals with a slack hand.

Diligence, Laziness, and the Wise Use of Time

That is the lazy person. The person that isn't willing to go out and work. He will become poor. But the hand of the diligent, in contrast, will make one rich. So the contrast between a lazy person and a diligent person, the one ends in poverty and the other ends in riches.

He that gathers in the summer is a wise son, but he that sleeps in the harvest is a son that causes shame. Again, the idea is the diligent versus the lazy. The diligent son, the wise son, he will gather during the harvest season, whereas the lazy son will surf during the harvest season.

But it's a good time for surfing, you see. And thus, he sleeps in the harvest or he surfs in the harvest and he is a son that causes shame. Blessings are upon the head of the just, but the violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

So the contrast here is between the just or the righteous and the wicked. Blessings will be upon the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked shall be covered. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot.

Again, vast contrast between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous, their memory is blessed. You think of them and it's a blessing. There are some people, though, you think of them and it's rot.

The memory of them is rotten. The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a pratting fool shall fall. The Bible tells us that the fool hates instruction. The wise man instruct him, he will appreciate it and be wiser still.

Instruct a fool and he will hate it and he becomes more foolish. He that walks uprightly, walks surely or with positive, but he that perverted his ways, he shall be known. The perversion will be seen.

He that winks with his eye causes sorrow, but the pratting fool shall fall. That is, the idea is when a person is telling you a story. They turn to their friend and they wink, you know, like, you know, putting him on.

And that's the idea of he who winks with his eye. It isn't in a flirtatious manner. It's to actually sort of, you know, say that I'm not really speaking the truth. I'm seeking to deceive or fool the person.

And he causes sorrow, but the pratting fool, and this is not now a contrast. This is one of those that is carrying on in the same idea, only compounding the idea, the pratting fool shall fall. The mouth of the righteous man is a well of life, springing forth truth, springing forth blessings.

The Power of Words, Love, and Self-Control

You know, it's interesting, the power of words. And we'll be getting a lot more of this in the Proverbs. The power of words, they have the power to build up, to encourage, to strengthen, to help a person.

But also the power of words are used often to destroy, to tear down. And so our words are so important that we recognize there's power in our words to heal. There are power in our words to kill. So the mouth of the righteous man is as a well of life.

That is, it springs forth life, life-giving substance, water. But violence covers the mouth of the wicked or hides really. Covering the mouth of the wicked is the idea of, it is sort of hiding the mouth of the wicked.

Hatred stirs up strifes, but love covers sins. Contrast between hatred and love. Hatred stirs up strifes, love covers sins. We are told in Peter's Gospel or Peter's letters, the epistles, that love covers a multitude of sins.

It isn't that you don't see it, but because you love, you just ignore it. Though you are hurt by it, you pray for them, but you don't make a big to-do over it. Hatred, you'll go in and stir up strife, but love, it'll cover it over, the sin.

In the lips of him that has understanding, there is wisdom found. But the rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. So the contrast is between understanding wisdom and a person who is void of understanding.

One, the lips of him that hath understanding is wisdom is found. Listen to them. But then, on the other hand, the rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding. Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Again, contrast the wise and the foolish. The wise, they lay up knowledge or they build up knowledge. The mouth of the foolish tears down. It seems to me interesting that in this world, there are those who are constantly building and there are those who are constantly seeking to destroy.

And this vast contrast in our world around us, those who are constantly seeking to build up that which is good and those that are seeking to tear down and to destroy that which is good. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, but the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

In other words, there's no blessing in being poor. The contrast, of course, again, the rich man and the poor man. The labor of the righteous leads to life. The fruit of the wicked leads to sin. So contrast righteous and wicked.

One leads to life, the other leads to sin. He is in the way of life that keeps instruction, but he that refuses reproof is in error. And again, now the contrast is one who is keeping instruction versus the one who is refusing reproof.

One is in the way of life, the other in the path of death. He that hides hatred with lying lips. Watch out for this one. There are many people who have a deep-seated hatred in their hearts for others.

And if you say to them, you really hate that person, don't you? And they will usually respond, oh no, I love them. No, you don't. You see, that's lying lips. When you are constantly speaking against someone, when you are constantly seeking to tear them down, when you're constantly pointing out their flaws and their faults, that is a sign of hating them.

You might say you love them, but you're declaring you love them is a lie, an absolute lie, and it is revealed by the things that you're saying about that person. So many people hide their hatred with lying lips.

Because if you ask them directly, if they really hate that person, they'll say, oh no, I love them. That's a lie. You couldn't say the things that you were saying about them if you truly loved them. Because love hides a multitude of sins.

So you don't really love them. Now also he goes on to say, he that utters a slander is a fool. The man who is constantly slandering other people, the Bible says of him that he is a fool. So here you have again sort of this compounding.

Hiding hatred with lying lips and uttering slander, they both of them manifest the folly of an individual. In the multitude of words, there oneth not sin. Now it isn't in the Proverbs, but it maybe should be.

That is one of the Proverbs, and I don't know where this one originated. But it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Let your words be few.

The multitude of words, it never lacks for sin. But he that refrains his lips is wise. There are a lot of times that you could say something that would be a perfect put down, a perfect retort to a person.

But to refrain your lips, it's wise. Better not to say it than to say it and then later regret that you said it. Now that's my proverb. But it is so true. Many times we say things that later we wish we could somehow take it back.

We wish that we had never said it because our words can be very cutting. And thus here he declares that he who refrains his lips is wise. The tongue of the just is as choice silver. If it's rich, it brings richness.

But the heart of the wicked is of little worth. And so the contrast. The tongue of the righteous, it's rich, it blesses. Whereas the heart of the wicked, there's very little value. The lips of the righteous feed many.

But fools die for the want of wisdom. Contrast again between the righteous and fools here who die for the want of wisdom. The blessing of the Lord, and this is one of those that he's adding now. The blessing of the Lord, it makes rich.

And again, don't think of richness in the matter of material possessions, but just think of it in a quality of life. There is a rich life that we have in Christ. And the blessings of the Lord bring to you a rich life.

But in contrast, well actually this is compounding, and he adds no sorrow with it. A lot of times the richness of a person's life who is striving after riches, it brings a lot of sorrow with it. But those riches that come to us from the Lord, it adds no sorrow to it.

It's just plain rich. It is as a sport to a fool to do mischief. It's something that they truly enjoy. I mean, it's like a sport. And you've met these people. I've met these people. In fact, I've been one of those people in the past.

Some mischievous thing. It's sort of a sport. When I was in college, the guys used to come around the house at evening and say, what are we going to do for fun tonight? And I was the one that was to dream up some wild thing to do for fun.

And because we were going to college in Los Angeles, we would often go out to Hollywood to have our fun. And we would have one of the fellows walk down the street and we would all run up and say, hey, I want your autograph.

You know, we'd call him by name and we'd all get his autograph. And soon people were gathering all over having him sign his autograph. And we'd be back there just laughing, you know, a bit of mischievousness.

And it's sport to the fool. But a man of understanding has wisdom. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him. Interesting. David said, the thing that I feared came upon me. Now, David wasn't wicked, but the fear of the wicked will come upon him.

But the desire of the righteous shall be granted. The wicked, they have fears. They come upon them. The righteous, they have desires. The desires for a close walk with God. The desires for a better understanding of God's love and purpose for my life.

The desires will be granted. As the whirlwind passes, so is the wicked no more. One day the wicked are going to be wiped out in a moment, like when a whirlwind passes and carries away the trash, lifts it up in the air and distributes it.

So the wicked one day will just perish in a whirlwind. But the righteous is an everlasting foundation. There is a sureness. There's a strong foundation. You're not moved by the wind that blows. And of course, I think in a Christian concept here, how important it is for us to have a strong foundation in the word that we are not carried away with every wind of doctrine that comes blowing through television.

If you have a strong foundation, you can immediately see the folly of a lot of the things that are being taught and the practices that you see that are not truly representing Christianity. And it's really sort of, to me, a travesty that most of the television programs that I've observed that are on the Christian channels are not what I would call representative Christianity.

If you would get your idea of what Christianity is about from watching these programs, you would have a very contorted view of Christianity. And so the whirlwind will carry away the wicked, but the righteous has a strong foundation.

The Sluggard, Reverence for God, and the Hope of the Righteous

As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, now I know what smoke does to the eyes. I'm not sure what vinegar does to the teeth. Maybe you've drunk vinegar or something, but I don't know what it does to the teeth.

But I know that smoke can cause your eyes to burn. It can cause them to tear up. And I know it's very uncomfortable. And so I would assume that this is something that is just very uncomfortable, but so is the sluggard to those that send him.

You say, when is he going to get back? We sent him to get hamburgers two hours ago. You know, and it's just the guy who is just sloven, a sluggard. Send him on an errand and your eyes will be burning and tearing.

The fear of the Lord prolongs a person's days. It's healthy. The fear of the Lord, the reverence of God, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. The hope that we have, it's going to bring to us gladness of heart.

Oh, how happy I am for the hope that I have in Christ Jesus. But the expectation of the wicked will perish. The things that they are expecting, they won't come to pass. The hope of the righteous, it will be fulfilled and it will produce gladness in your heart.

Whereas the expectation of the wicked will fail, it will perish. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. So the contrast is between a person who is upright and a person who works iniquity.

The way of the Lord is strength to the upright. But in contrast, there is destruction to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed, solid, stable, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

Contrast between the righteous and the wicked. And one day when his kingdom comes, we will see the fulfillment and the wicked will not inhabit the earth. The mouth of the just brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be cut off.

And so the mouth of the just versus the perverse tongue, which will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perversely. So the righteous, they know what is acceptable, what is the acceptable practice, the acceptable thing.

But there is the perversity in contrast in the mouth of the wicked. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but the just weight is his delight. There is a warning in the Proverbs, we'll get to it later on, concerning diverse weights.

Now in those days, everything was done with balanced scales. And quite often, a crooked merchant would have two sets of weights, one by which he would buy things and the other by which he would sell things, diverse weights.

And it's spoken of as an abomination to the Lord to be dishonest in your business practices. Here a false balance, and that would be diverse weights. The balances are not true. I read of a farmer who was taken to court by the baker, because the farmer would sell the butter to the baker for the baking of his goods.

And he was taken to court by the baker, and the baker made charges that when the farmer first started selling him butter, he sold him a full pound of butter. But gradually as time went by, the pound of butter that the farmer was selling to the baker became less than a pound.

It was down to about 12 ounces. And thus he was suing the farmer for shorting him on the butter that he was selling to the baker. When the farmer stepped up to the docket to address the charges before the judge, the farmer said, Sir, the only weights I have are balances.

And so I've always taken the pound loaf of bread from the baker on the balances to get the pound of butter. And of course the case was closed. But that is false balances. The U .S. used to have a standard, an agency of the government, which was the Standard Weights and Measures.

And they had the task of always seeing that a pound weighed a pound. When I was in the marketing, they would come in, these men from the government Weights and Measures Department, and they would have little pound weights and five pound weights and so forth, and they would put them on the scales.

As you remember it used to be when you bought your vegetables and all, they would be weighed in the markets there on the scales. And they would always come in about once a year and make sure that the scales were reading properly so that you had standardized weights and measures.

And this was something of course that is very important in any kind of merchandising, that you have a set standards of weights and measures. So a false balance is an abomination to the Lord. He wants you to be honest in your business practices.

But a just weight, one that is correct, that's His delight. He delights in the person who is honest forthright in his business practices. When pride comes, then comes shame. Later on we're going to read pride comes before destruction.

Here we are told that pride brings shame, but with the lowly there is wisdom. So the proud versus the lowly. The proud will bring shame, the lowly will bring wisdom. The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

So the upright versus the transgressor. The upright, it will guide him in the right path. But the transgressor will be destroyed. The perverseness of the transgressor is destructive. Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

There is going to come a day of judgment, and all of the riches in the world will not avail a person when the day of God's judgment comes. Riches will not profit in the day when the wrath of God is going to be poured out upon the world.

However, the righteous will be delivered from death. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. Our path directed by the Lord if we are walking in righteousness.

But the path of the wicked is that of destruction. He'll fall in his own way. The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the transgressors will be taken in their own naughtiness. And so again, righteousness versus the transgressors, the one who is doing right versus the one who is transgressing the law of God.

One is to be delivered, and the other is to be caught up in his own follies. When a wicked man dies, his expectation shall perish. Death brings an end to all of your ambitions, all of your aspirations, all of your plans, all of your expectations.

They die with you. When the wicked man dies, his expectations perish. However, in adding, this is one of those compounds. And the hope of the unjust men perish. The righteous is delivered out of trouble, but the wicked gets what is coming to him.

Basically, it is what the Hebrew is saying. He gets his stead. He gets what's coming to him. The righteous the Lord delivers out of the trouble, but the wicked, God will see to it that you get what's coming to you.

Counsel, Neighborly Wisdom, and Guarding Speech

The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor. And as we talked earlier about the destructive power of the tongue, there is power in the tongue to bless, there's power in the tongue to curse, to build up, to tear down.

The tongue of the hypocrite destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. When the wicked perish, there is shouting.

So this is one of those that is sort of a parallelism. The end result is a joy, a happiness. The city rejoicing when the righteous reign. What a blessing when righteous people are governing over a city, over a state, over a nation.

But when the wicked are in power, when they perish, there is shouting. I've done a lot of shouting, and I hope to do more. By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted. God's blessing upon those that are doing the right thing, seeking to do the right thing.

But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Again, the contrast between the upright and the wicked. He that is void of wisdom despises his neighbor. Now, what do you think about your neighbor? He that is void of understanding despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding will hold his peace.

Living next to a person can be difficult because oftentimes you have different values, a different value system. And quite often it's easy for you to become irritated with that man next door. He plays his radio too loud.

His dog barks too much. His tree is hanging over in your yard. He's obtrusive, and you find it difficult to get along with him. But if you find yourself hating him, you are void of wisdom. If you're a man of real understanding, you'll just hold your peace.

You'll let it go. What does it matter in the long run? A talebearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit will conceal the matter. Now, I have no trouble keeping a secret. My only problem is those that I tell have a problem keeping it.

Isn't it interesting how when we have learned something about a person that is sort of of a negative nature, we like to tell it. Did you hear what Pastor Don did? Suddenly your ears pick up. What did he do, you know?

And what is it that we get some kind of satisfaction by giving out information that is of a negative nature? The faithful, he will conceal the matter. You'll just keep it to yourself. Where there is no counsel, the people fall.

But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Just a good rule of life. A multitude of counselors. Be willing to ask someone for advice if it's a subject in which you are not really very proficient.

Don't be afraid. Ask someone who knows. I call my grandson up all the time about my computer. I could probably really mess the thing up if I tried to correct the problem myself. And so I call him up and he'll walk me through the solutions.

And I don't mind asking him for his help and advice because he's a real computer expert. He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it. Now we were told even in previous lessons here in Proverbs that even if you're surety for a friend, you're making a mistake.

Good way to lose a friend is to become surety for a friend. But if you're a surety for a stranger, you're gonna smart for it. It's gonna hurt. You're gonna get in real trouble over that. But he that hates surety ship, he is sure.

You don't have to worry as long as you haven't signed, cosigned on a note with someone else or whatever. You're safe. You're certain. You're sure. But if you go ahead and say, oh sure, I'll cosign, look out.

Mercy, Emotional Health, and Reaping What We Sow

A gracious woman retains honor and strong men retain riches. So a gracious woman, she'll hold on to honor. A strong man, he'll hold on to riches. The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubles his own flesh.

Interesting thing how that they have discovered a tremendous interesting relationship between our mind and our physical being. We are learning more and more about how marvelous is the human body. Of these little glands in the body that are producing chemicals that come into our system.

Chemicals that are designed many times for our benefit and to help us. And when these glands are not functioning properly, then our bodies can be affected by it. But interesting how that emotions can affect the chemicals that are being brought into our bodies.

And some of these chemicals that are brought by emotions of anger, emotions of fear, and all, they can be very harmful to the body. Whereas emotions of joy and of happiness, they produce chemicals that are good for you, that are healthy.

And later on in the Proverbs, we're going to read that laughter does the heart good like a virus. The medicine and the value of laughter as far as the chemicals, the good chemicals that are produced in your body, especially in eating, in the digestive portion, laughter.

You know if you would have a joke book at the table and just spend a lot of time laughing as you're eating, it would help tremendously in the digesting of your food. If you're eating and you're all upset and uptight, watch out.

Because they can produce chemicals that are going to be harmful and will hinder your digestive abilities. And that food can become sort of corrupt within you. And so the merciful man, he does good to his own soul.

But he that is cruel, he hurts or he troubles his own flesh. The wicked works a deceitful work, but to him that sows righteousness shall be a sure reward. And the contrast now between the wicked and the righteous, one is his work is deceitful, and the other, there is a sure reward for him.

The righteousness tends to life, so he that pursues evil, pursues it to his own death. Contrast between life and death, the contrast between the righteous and the evil. The righteous tends towards life or leads to life, the wickedness or the evil leads to death.

They that are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord. If you have a perverse heart, it's an abomination to God. But such as are of an upright in their way, they are his delight. How God delights in his children.

Even as you delight in your children when they are doing the right thing, when they are good children. How delightful is that child that is compliant, that child that is loving, that child that is obedient.

They are a tremendous delight to their parents. But if you have one that is stubborn and rebellious, real hardship. They that are of a perverse heart are an abomination. Now, verse 21, though hand join in hand.

This is, in those days it was a slapping of the hand, which was the sealing of a bargain, sold, you slap your hand. Today, quite often a handshake, seal the deal, okay, shake on it. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.

There are some deals where there is the handshake on it, but one is totally dishonest, has no intention of keeping his side of the deal. But the righteous God will deliver from that ungodly bond. Hollywood, as you watch the Oscars or these other many different things that they have to reward those people that are proficient in their purveying of evil.

As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman who is without discretion. They're all over Hollywood, pigs with gold in their snouts, jewels of gold. And I could say a lot. To see women, fair women, beautiful women, who are willing to corrupt minds of people, corrupt the minds of children, though they may be beautiful, in God's eyes, they are pigs, like pigs.