Proverbs 12:16 

¹⁶A fool’s wrath is known at once, But a prudent man covers shame. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to shun outbursts of anger and to cover shame.

Life is often hard. We live amongst sinful, selfish, silly people and we ourselves are often sinful, selfish, and silly. Hence, we often rub one another the wrong way; we say things that we shouldn’t say and do things that we shouldn’t do. People are often inconsiderate. Children are often disobedient. Fellow Christians are sometimes uncaring. Unbelievers are sometimes cruel. Others do things that are shameful or that embarrass us. So how do you respond?

On the one hand is the fool: A fool’s wrath is known at once. He responds to such things with wrath. He lacks self-control and is characterized by, in the Apostle Paul’s words, “outbursts of wrath” (Gal 5:20) – visible and vocal expressions of anger, indignation, and frustration. So your toddler throws a fit in the store and you explode at them, making a scene in the cereal aisle. Your child embarrasses you at church and you scold them through clenched teeth. Your wife doesn’t have dinner ready when you get home, and you yell at her in front of the kids. Your friend says something insensitive, and you immediately get mad and tell your other friends all about it. The fool lacks self-control over his emotions; he believes he has a right to just express them and let the chips fall where they may. But, make no mistake, he is a fool.

On the other hand is the prudent man: But a prudent man covers shame. He responds to embarrassing or frustrating things with self-control thinking others more important than himself. So if your toddler throws a fit in the store, you don’t imitate him but you correct him patiently and leave the cart full of groceries in the aisle if necessary to go to the car or even to go home and discipline him. If your child embarrasses you, you receive the embarrassment and govern your emotions and determine if your child’s action is just childishness or if it is disobedience – if it is childishness then you instruct privately covering their shame; if disobedience then you take them somewhere and discipline them privately to lessen their shame. If your spouse disappoints you, you don’t yell at them in front of your children but speak to them discretely to cover their shame. If your friend says something insensitive, then you restrain your hurt and determine if this is a matter that love should cover or if it is one you need to address with them directly. A prudent man possesses self-control and carefully weighs the things that have occurred rather than responding hastily.

So what of you? Are you a fool or are you a prudent man? Are you routinely characterized by outbursts of wrath? Or do you exercise self-control and do all in your power to cover the shame of others? “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Pr 16:32). 

Reminded of our calling to be men and women of self-control who do not let our emotions rule our lives and destroy our relationships, let us confess that we are often foolish, that we often lack self-control and increase shame rather than covering it. And as we confess our sin to the Lord, let us kneel as we are able. 

Proverbs 12:15 

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to be humble men and women who heed counsel.

The Proverb begins with a warning, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes…” A fool commits himself to a plan of action and concludes it is the best course simply because he has chosen it. He closes himself off from competing counsel. So this is the man who sets himself to marry a woman, or a woman who sets herself to marry a man, that their friends warn them not to marry. It is the young man who seeks, like Rehoboam, the counsel of those who will tell him what he wants to hear rather than what he needs to hear. It is the husband who seeks out his buddies when he is contemplating a new purchase rather than discussing it with his wife. It is the wife who tells her husband her woes not so that he can give her counsel and correct her perception of the situation but so that she can nurse her resentment or bitterness or hurt. The fool is proud, believing that his or her own assessment of the situation is adequate and that he doesn’t need to hear contrary counsel. It is not a sign of foolishness to need counsel; it is a sign of foolishness to need it and not seek it; or to seek it and not heed it. Don’t be a fool.

Instead be a wise man. And what is the character of a wise man? “But he who heeds counsel is wise.” Notice that it is not the man who merely seeks out counsel but the man who heeds such counsel who is wise. Now this, of course, assumes that the counsel received is good. The wise man knows his own frailty, he knows his need for the advice, encouragement, and support of godly friends, so he seeks out their counsel when in difficulty and he implements it in his life. So if you are considering vocational options, whether and whom to date or marry, how to process a severe loss, how to shepherd your children faithfully, how to work through a relationship tangle, etc. seek out godly counsel. This is why God has given us one another, to be counselors in perplexity. Did not our Lord Jesus Himself open His heart to his friends and ask them to pray for Him in His times of need? So if He did, then how much more ought we?

So what of you? Do you count it a sign of weakness when you have to seek out godly counsel? Or do you recognize it as a gift from God that He has put godly counselors in your life whom you can seek? Do you regularly seek out wise counsel when making important decisions or do you think that you can go it alone? Are you proud and unwilling to appear weak in the eyes of others by seeking counsel? Or are you humble and willing to acknowledge your need for help? And then, having sought help, do you listen carefully to the counsel and give heed to it? “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.”

So reminded of our calling to be humble and to seek and to heed wise counsel, let us confess that we are often proud and stubborn and willfully pursue a course of action without seeking godly counsel. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sin to the Lord

Proverbs 12:12–14 

¹²The wicked covet the catch of evil men, But the root of the righteous yields fruit. ¹³The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through trouble. ¹⁴A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, And the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. While last week constrasted the faithful worker with the idle dreamer, this week contrasts the faithful worker with the wicked schemer.

On the one hand is the wicked schemer. He covets the catch of evil men. The wicked schemer uses the gifts and skills that God has given him – he is not an idle dreamer; he is willing to work. However, rather than work honestly and devote himself to fruitful labor to the glory of his Creator, he emulates the actions of evil men: he covets their catch. He studies how, by their cleverness, they manage to swindle, steal, murder, and rob for personal profit. So who are such men? This would include gangsters and thieves, rapists and murderers, adulterers and homosexuals. It includes politicians who use the power of the civil government to take that which lawfully belongs to others. It includes unscrupulous lobbyists that pressure politicians for handouts. And it includes those who hide their sin, hoping that their spouses or parents or friends will not uncover their gambling, their porn use, or their spending spree. But the schemes of such men will inevitably be thwarted by the God who rules and reigns over heaven and earth. The wicked schemer will be ensnared by the trasngression of his lips. He will inevitably trip up and get caught – his own lips will betray him. His deceitfulness will be turned back against him. He will lay a net for his own feet. Don’t be him.

On the other hand is the faithful worker. The faithful worker is rooted deep in God Himself – trusting in the Lord who has given him the ability to work and using his abilities to the honor and praise of his Creator. Such a man’s labor will yield fruit. Though he faces hardship and struggle – the common infirmities of this life – yet he will come through these troubles by the grace of God. Whether in this life or the next, his labor will yield good fruit. His honest lips and his hard work will have their reward: A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, And the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him. God will bless him according to his labor and he will have no cause to be ashamed even in times of trouble. By his honest speech and diligent hands, he earns the respect of his neighbors and a profit from the Lord.

So what of you? Whose work do you emulate? Do you covet the catch of evil men, studying those who deceive and scheme to advance their cause? Or do you study the work of those who are honest and hard working, speaking only what they know to be right and true and looking to God to bless the work of their hands? Our calling is to emulate the latter; indeed to be the pattern that others, especially those in the next generation, can follow.

So reminded of our calling to work with our hands that we might be satisfied with good, let us confess that we and our neighbors often scheme and plot instead of pursuing honest labor. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sin to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletins.

Proverbs 12:11 

¹¹He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today our passage contrasts the faithful worker with the idle dreamer.

On the one hand is the faithful worker. “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread…” Scripture reminds us that “all hard work brings a profit but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Pr 14:23). So the wise man is a faithful worker. He sets himself diligently to his labor knowing that it is God Himself who has called him to it. Work is a gift from God, given to us as human beings prior to our fall into sin. While toil is a result of the fall, work itself is part of our design. Hence, God calls us to labor and blesses us with bread as the fruit of our labor. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you…” (2 Thes 3:7-8). Our calling is to support ourselves with our work.

How perverse, therefore, the one who is an idle dreamer; who follows frivolous schemes rather than setting himself to faithful work. Solomon is not forbidding ingenuity and risk here. Rather, he is forbidding idle dreams – the man who lives in his parent’s basement and mooches off them while failing to develop his vocational skills; the college student who takes on tens of thousands of dollars in college debt to study feminist studies and then wonders why she can’t find a job; the young man who thinks society owes him a job, owes him a car, owes him a house but who has no marketable skills. He who follows frivolity is void of understanding. He doesn’t understand that it is the one who is excellent in his work who “will stand before kings” (Pr 22:29). Like the fool in “The Big Rock Candy Mountain,” he sings of the place “Where they hung the jerk That invented work.” But God invented work and the one who fights against work, who wants to eat without labor, is a fool.

So what of you? Are you committed to work? Do you give thanks that God has placed you in this world that you might love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength – and that loving Him with your mind and strength involves using the gifts that He has given you to bless your neighbor by developing the latent potential of the world? Do you work with your mind and hands? Do you rejoice that he’s given you another problem to solve, another job to do, another meal to fix, another nose to wipe? Or do you want the fruit of labor without the labor? I fear that we often desire that, do we not? We are often, like the Cretans in Paul’s day, liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. 

So reminded of our calling to work with our hands that we might have bread to eat, let us confess that we are often lazy, that we want the fruit of labor without the labor. And as you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sin to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletins.