In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the contrast between righteousness and wickedness. He emphasizes that God will take care of those who live a righteous life and will not allow them to go hungry. Laziness leads to poverty, while diligence leads to wealth. The fear of the Lord prolongs life, while the years of the wicked are shortened. The sermon also highlights the power of the blessings of the Lord, which make a person truly rich without any sorrow.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that hold you And His Spirit and His love We'll descend upon your life and make you whole Now, with today's message, here's Pastor Chuck. Again, contrasting righteous and wicked, the Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to famish. If you are living a righteous life, God is going to take care of you. Jesus said, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, make yarn out of cotton or whatever. Yet, Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. As beautifully as one of these. Consider the birds of the air. They don't sow seeds and gather into barns and harvest their crops, plow the fields. Yet, your Father feeds them. Now, if your Father will sow clothe the grass of the field, which today is there and tomorrow is gone. If your Father feeds the birds, how much more will He take care of you, His child? Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow. What you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what you're going to wear. Because your Father knows that you have need of these things. And so, the Lord will not allow the righteous to famish. He'll take care of them. He'll not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish. But, He will cast away the substance of the wicked. So, righteousness and wickedness again contrasted. Now, we have a contrast between laziness and diligence. He becomes poor that deals with a slack hand. If you are slack in your business, if you're slack in your duties, tends towards poverty. But, in contrast, the hand of the diligent maketh rich. And so, you get your interesting contrast. And continuing with sort of that laziness and diligence, He that gathers in summer is a wise son. That is, you take advantage of the harvest. You're working out and you're harvesting the crops. But, He that sleeps in the harvest is a son that causes shame. Blessings are on the head of the just. And so, now, the just or the righteous compared to the wicked and contrasted. Blessings are on the head of the just. God's blessings on your life. If you are just, blessings of God. But, violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Again, the just and the wicked. The memory of the just is blessed. So, blessings are on the head of the just. And the memory of the just are blessed. You think of a person who is fair and honest. You say, oh, that fellow, you know. He was so fair. He always did what's fair. And the memories of those people are blessed. You remember those kind of things about people. But, the name of the wicked shall rot. You say, that guy was so rotten. Through and through. Good he's dead, you know. The wise is contrasted with the fool. The wise in heart will receive commandments. You'll receive instruction. You'll listen. But, a pratting fool shall fall. I know it. Leave me alone. I know, I know what I'm doing. Just leave me alone. Wise in heart, you'll take instruction. Say, well, thank you. Appreciate that. He that walketh uprightly. And this is the contrast. The one who walks uprightly. He walks surely. If you walk uprightly, you don't have to worry. But, he that perverted his ways. In contrast with walking uprightly, you pervert your ways. He that perverted his ways shall be known. And then, this one is not a contrast. It's just sort of amplifying the first clause. The first clause, he that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow. But, a pratting fool shall fall. That guy who is, you know, so false. And going around and just snowing everybody, you know. And comes on strong. The mouth of the righteous. And, of course, righteous and wicked contrasted. The mouth of the righteous man is a well of life. You notice, life again associated with righteousness. The mouth of the righteous is a well of life. The things that they speak tend towards life. But, violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Have you ever heard some people whose conversation are sort of like an open sewer? I mean, there's nothing but filth that comes out. I was working one time at Alpha Beta Markets. And I was sent over to a store here in Santa Ana. I used to work for the Alpha Beta Markets as sort of a fill-in manager. Whenever a manager would be sick or going to conventions or whatever, they'd call me to operate the stores. And I was over in Santa Ana operating the store that used to be over here on Bristol. And there was a young fellow that was working there, stocking the shelves and so forth. And this fellow's mouth had to be one of the most filthy mouths I've ever heard. And finally, I just stopped and I said, Fellow, I've never heard such filth, ever, coming out of anybody's mouth. I said, there is an old proverb that says, Some men's minds are like racehorses. They run best on a dirt track. It seems like your mind must be in a dirt track. I've never heard such filth. Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. I mean, it's terrible to be around them because they're pouring out that filth on you. I felt like I had to take a shower when I went home. But it's terrible to plant that kind of filth in other people's minds. Hatred. And here, hatred and love are contrasted. And of course, we know there's quite a contrast between hatred and love. Hatred stirs up strifes. I mean, man, how many strifes are stirred up by hatred? Think of how many things that have been stirred up by you because you hated someone or have been stirred up against you because someone hated you. Hatred stirs up strife. It creates strife. However, love covers all sins. There is a scripture in the New Testament that no doubt was taken from this proverb. It says, Love covers a multitude of sins. You know, if you really love, you say, Oh, that's all right. You know, my grandkids, they can do no wrong. So they pour a box of sugar out on the floor, you know, and isn't that cute? You know, look, they made a neat little pile out of it, you know. Shows artistic ability, the way they drew with it on the floor, you know. Love covers a multitude of sins, you know. Now, the next proverb is contrasting understanding and those who are void of understanding. The lips of him that has understanding in the lips, wisdom is found. Listen to that. That's why I like to be around men like Dr. Wilder Smith. You listen to it. Wisdom is found. This guy is so wise. And in the lips of understanding, the understanding, wisdom is found. But the rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. They end up being beaten. Again, contrasting wise men and foolish. Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. That is, the wise men preserve knowledge. The foolish, destroyed, near destruction. Rich men and poor men. The rich man's wealth is his strong city. By his wealth, he fortifies himself. But the destruction of the poor is their poverty. They are destroyed because of their poverty. They can't afford to defend themselves. The righteous man and the wicked again. The labor of the righteous tendeth to life. Again, life and righteousness associated. Properly so. Because the way of righteousness is the way of life. And so the labor of the righteous tendeth to life, but the fruit of the wicked to sin. So there's a contrast here also between labor and fruit. The effects of sin or wickedness, the sin, the fruit of wicked to sin. Now, those that keep instruction and those that refuse are contrasted. He is in the way of life that keeps instruction. If you listen and you follow instruction, you're in the path of life. But he that refuses reproof erreth. It's a mistake not to listen to reproof. Now, this one is just sort of building on itself. No contrast here, but sort of building. He that hides hatred with lying lips. And this is often done. You really try to deceive by lying about it. Someone says, you really don't like him. Oh, yeah, I like him. He's all right. And it's not true. You hate him. And you're trying to hide hatred with lying lips. Well, I didn't say that. And he that uttereth slander is a fool. To slander someone else, to repeat slander about someone else, a fool. Here is a contrast between a person who talks all the time and a person who refrains. In the multitude of words there oneth not sin. You talk enough and you're going to reveal it. But he that refraineth his lips is wise. Now, there's another proverb that is similar to this, and I don't think it's in the Bible, but it's better to keep your mouth shut and let men think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubts. He that refraineth his lips is wise. Now, the just is contrasted with the wicked. The tongue of the just is as choice silver. Silver tongue, you've heard of them. The heart of the wicked is of little value, contrasting the just and the wicked. The lips of the righteous feed many. How many people are fed from the lips of the righteous? But fools die for the lack of wisdom. And then this one is just a declaration, and I love it. This is one of my favorites. The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Oh, how rich are the blessings of the Lord, and they make you so rich. I drive around Newport Beach looking at all of the fancy houses and bay fronts and the whole thing, and I just think, man, I'm fortunate. I'm the richest man in Newport Beach. Now, you wouldn't know that from my bank account or from anything else because riches, true riches are not measured by bank accounts. They're measured by the blessings of God that are upon your life, and the blessings of the Lord make rich. He adds no sorrow with it. I think of the sorrow that so many of those people are going through, and here I am just so blessed of the Lord, so rich. The fool is contrasted with the man of understanding. It is as sport to a fool to do mischief. Now, when I was in college years, this thing probably applied to me. We looked for mischief. Why is that? I don't know. Guys used to come over at night, and what are we going to do? Looking for mischief. Sport as a sport to a fool. We're foolish. But a man of understanding has wisdom. Wicked and righteous contrasted. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him. Interesting. If you're fearing something, you're wicked. It'll usually come to pass. But the desire of the righteous shall be granted. And now again, wicked and righteous. As the whirlwind passes, so is the wicked no more. As the whirlwind goes through, passes by, so the wicked, blown away. But the righteous is an everlasting foundation, the eternal, the life, eternal life. Now, I don't know what vinegar does to the teeth, but I do know what smoke does to the eyes. As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard, or the lazy man, to those who sent him. I mean, you send a lazy guy to do a task, and that's just like smoke in your eyes. I mean, it just smarts, it hurts. I suppose maybe without dentistry, that if your teeth were rather rotten, maybe vinegar really smarts on the teeth. I don't know, but as vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those that sent him. The fear of the Lord, contrasted with the wicked. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days. Again, life is associated with righteousness. But the years of the wicked shall be shortened. God'll cut off the wicked. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. Again, righteousness and wickedness, contrasted. The hope of the righteous, gladness. But the expectation of the wicked shall perish. It will not come to pass. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright. But destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. So the upright are contrasted with the workers of iniquity. The way of the Lord, strength to the upright. Destruction shall come to the workers of iniquity. Righteousness and wickedness. The righteous shall never be removed. They live forever. There is that eternal purpose and plan that God has for the righteous. They will never be removed. But the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. That is that new earth that God creates. Behold, God said, I make all things new. I create a new heaven and a new earth. The old things will pass away and never be brought into mind. And it talks about how the wicked will not be there, not inhabit it. The mouth of the just, and the just is contrasted with the perverse. The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom. But the perverse or forward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. But the mouth of the wicked speaks perverseness. So several contrasts there between righteousness, wickedness, justice, and wickedness. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord. So the false balance is contrasted with the just weight. Now, in those days, the whole commercial system was done with balances. You would have scales, and they were balanced scales. And you had these little weights. You had a half-pound weight. You had a pound weight. You had a two-pound weight, five-pound weight. And so a person would order five pounds of hamburger. They'd put the five-pound weight on there. And then they would pile the hamburger on the other side of the scales until they balanced. And in those days, they usually had rocks that they would cut down to the weights. And there would be those who had two sets of weights, one by which they would buy and the other by which they would sell. And, of course, the weights by which you sold were always lighter than those by which you bought. So the Lord's rebuking this practice that people got involved in, in a false balance, false weights. They're an abomination. God wants people to be fair. Now, that's fair, isn't it? They used to have the National Bureau Standards of Weights and Measures. And the purpose of this bureau was to make sure that a gallon was a gallon. They had actual pound weights. And the idea was to have a standardized pound, a standardized gallon, a standardized quart, so that when you bought a pound of bread, you knew you were going to get a pound loaf of bread. If it said one pound loaf, they made sure it was one pound. And that was the whole idea of standardizing all of the weights and the measures so that you can engage in commerce. And while there, we encourage you to browse through the many additional biblical resources by Pastor Chuck. You can also subscribe to the Word for Today podcast or sign up for our email subscription. Once again, all this can be found at thewordfortoday.org. If you'd like to call, our toll-free number is 1-800-272-WORD. And our office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Again, that's 1-800-272-9673. For those of you preferring to write, our mailing address is The Word for Today, P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California, 92628. And now, on behalf of The Word for Today, we'd like to thank all of you who share in supporting this ministry with your prayers and financial support. And be sure to join us again next time as Pastor Chuck continues his verse-by-verse study through the Bible. That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck with today's closing prayer. Father, we thank you for your Word, the instruction. And Lord, help us that we might apply our hearts to understanding and to wisdom. Help us, Lord, to hate evil and every evil work. Help us, Lord, to have that fear, that reverence for thee. And may we walk, Lord, as the wise, keeping and obeying your commands. We might live the good life, the blessed life. In Jesus' name, amen. The Word for Today has put together a booklet series by Pastor Chuck called The Answers for Today. It addresses questions pertaining to hot topics, such as what does God say about alternative lifestyles? If God is love, then why are people so against him in the first place? And, of course, the always asked questions, why does God allow suffering? Or what is the rapture? And when is Jesus coming again? It's time these questions are put to rest. And we help our loved ones come to a simple understanding of the Bible and how to have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. To order The Answers for Today booklets individually or collectively as a set, you can call The Word for Today at 1-800-272-9673 or you can order them online at thewordfortoday.org. I want to encourage you, order these to keep on hand because you never know when you're going to get asked that question. This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California.