Read Proverbs 27:7

Read Proverbs 27:7  Have you ever been hungry?  I mean really hungry?  May be you didn't like what was for breakfast and you didn't eat very much.  Then you were outside playing hard; running and doing things.  Then suddenly, you realized that your stomach was growling and you were really hungry.  When you came into the house for lunch, it didn't matter what was on the table, you were ready to eat!  It could be that your mother had a lunch that you didn't usually like very well.  But on this day, you were hungry; you were ready to eat anything!  You might have even have had seconds.  But you finally got full.  You pushed back from the table and groaned rubbing your full belly.  Then your mother brings out your favorite dessert.  But, you are so full that you can't even take a bite.  You look at that sweet dessert, but you just can't even take a little nibble.  That is what our verse is talking about.  Often in our lives, we are going along just fine.  Things are good and we are doing alright. It is like we are spiritually full.  We don't seem to need God.  But then something happens.  Things suddenly go wrong.  We get into mischief and suddenly we realize that we need God.  Our soul is hungry.  We are in trouble and we cry out to God in prayer.  We remember that we have left God out of our lives.  I believe that God lets bad things happen to us so that we will remember that we need Him.  Because we really do!   We really need God all of the time.  It is just that some of the time we don't realize that we need God.  We become proud and independent.  Just like our verse, we are so full that we don't even want honey.  We don't even realize that we need God.  I pray that God will give us a spiritual hunger for Him.  I pray that we will realize that we need God every day.  I want to love God more and more every day, don't you?

Read Proverbs 27:5 & 6

Read Proverbs 27:5 & 6  These verses tell us that our friends will be honest with us.  If we talk too much, we want our friends to tell us that we am talking too much, so that we can stop rattling on and on.  We may get mad at them for saying that we talk too much, but we will get over it.  We want the truth, not just what we want to hear from our friend.  The last of verse six says that the enemy is deceitful.  An enemy will say, "Oh no, you aren't talking too much.  I like to hear you talk.  Go ahead, talk some more!"  But then he will tell others how that we talk too much, and he will laugh at us behind our backs.  But a true friend will be honest and will tell us the truth.  That is what Solomon calls the wounds of a friend.  We need honest friends, not back-stabbing enemies.

Read Proverbs 27:1

Read Proverbs 27:1  What are you going to do tomorrow?  Do your school work?  But, that is just what you think that you are going to do.  Our verse says that we may plan what we are going to do tomorrow, but we don't really know what we are going to do tomorrow.  We may plan to do schoolwork, but a tornado may come.  We may be blown into the next state tomorrow!  Well, I certainly hope not.  A friend may call you tomorrow and tell you that they are in the hospital and we may decide to go to visit them.  Our plans may change.  The truth is that we don't know what we will do tomorrow.  We only know what we plan to do tomorrow.  But Who knows exactly what is going to happen tomorrow?  God does.  Isn't it good that we can trust in a loving heavenly Father?  He knows what He will do with us tomorrow.  And He will be with us, no matter what it is.

Read Proverbw 26:27

Read Proverbs 26:27  The verse for today gives two examples of people who do mischief that comes back on themselves.  When you do naughty things, people are naughty back to you.  When you are bad, you get punished for the bad things that you have done.  Our first example is of someone who digs a pit and covers it over with camouflaged sticks and grass in order to trap someone else as they innocently walk by.  But the Bible says that they themselves will forget and fall into the pit that they have dug!  When my friend, Brother Ron, was in high school, he and another friend wanted to do something funny the night before the last day of school.  So they got some cans of gasoline, sneaked onto the football field at night and poured the gasoline out in the grass in the shape of the year, 1984.  But when they got a match out to burn the 1984 in the grass, it was too dark and they had forgotten where the shapes of the numbers were.  When they lit the match and threw it down into the grass, the fire flamed up - all around them!  They were in the middle of the fire!  They had to jump over the fire to get out to safety.  What a dumb trick.  Almost as dumb as falling into a pit that you had dug yourself, or rolling a rock that rolled back onto yourself.  Things have a way of coming back to us - bad things that we do or good things that we do.

Read Proverbs 26:23

Read Proverbs 26:23  Solomon uses a very clear word picture in our verse for today.  Burning lips mean someone who talks about someone else.  A talebearer or a contentious person has burning lips.  And a wicked heart goes right along with the burning lips.  So what are these two evil things like?  Solomon says that they are like a piece of a pot that has been shattered.  And then it is covered with the nasty scrapings off of the top of a pot of molten silver.  When silver is heated up until it is a hot liquid, the impurities float up to the top.  Then the scum is scraped off with something - here it is a piece of a broken pot.  The scum cools and turns back to a solid.  The potsherd is useless and the silver scum that is stuck onto it is useless too.  What a nasty thing.  That is how nasty that God sees gossiping lips and a wicked heart.  God thinks that both of them are as nasty as the worthless piece from a broken pot that has silver scum stuck on it.  I want God to be pleased with me, don't you?  Don't have problem lips or a wicked heart.  Be pleasing to the Lord!

Read Proverbs 26:21

Read Proverbs 26:21  Yesterday that we discussed verses 20 and 22.   These verses seem to go together because they talk about a talebearer.  But did you notice that we left out verse 21?  Verse 21 is a little different  from the other two verses.  Verse 21 talks about a contentious person.  A contentious person is a trouble maker.  Have you noticed that it takes two people to quarrel?  One person can't argue with himself.  He must have someone else to fuss with.  But what happens when one person wants to fight, but the other person doesn't want to fight?  Well, there isn't a fight.  If one person is peace-loving, there will not be a problem.  The problem comes when a contentious person starts something.  If the other person is not careful, the fight is on!  Contentious people like to cause trouble.  They like to get someone mad.  They like to stir up trouble.  Solomon uses the example of a fire.  If you take away the wood from the fire, what happens?  Of course, the fire goes out.  The contentious person is like the wood; they like to keep the trouble burning.  They will pick at you and get under your skin and push your hot buttons and get you mad.  That is what they want.  But the way to end trouble is just not to fight at all.  Don't let the troublemaker get to you.  Just stay calm and be nice.  Soon they will be frustrated and go away and take their trouble with them.  Their fire has gone out.  Good for you!

Read Proverbs 20 & 22

Read Proverbs 26:20 & 22  Did you know that what you say can really hurt someone?  It is true, we shouldn't let words hurt us, but they do.  Have you ever had someone say something that really hurt your feelings?  Not only were your feelings hurt, but you were mad at them for saying what they said.  But have you ever been the one who gossiped and hurt someone else?  Our second verse reminds us that the rude words that we might say to someone about someone else may eventually get around to the person that we were talking about.  And when they do, our friend will be hurt and we will be embarrassed.  But our first verse tells us how to avoid being embarrassed about what we have said.  In order to be a talebearer, there must be three people: one person who we are talking about, and another person to whom we are talking to.  The third person is us.  Our first verse reminds us that if we take away the wood from a fire, it will go out.  Wood in a fire burns up.  In order to keep the fire going, we have to keep putting wood on the fire.  So here is the key to stop talebearing: when someone brings a bit of gossip to you about someone else, just stop them and don't listen to them.  They might get mad at you, but they will not bring rude words to you.  You will put out the fire of talebearing.  They will soon realize that you are right and, your other friend will not have their feelings hurt.  Stop talebearing!  Stop gossip!  Be kind to others and guard your mouth.  God will be pleased, and so will your friends.

Read Proverbs 26:17

Read Proverbs 26:17  This is a funny verse that talks about sticking your nose into other people's business.  You might know a nosy person, or you might be a nosy person.  Nosy people just can't leave a problem alone.  They have to stick their nose in and solve a problem that isn't any of their business.  Solomon gives the example of someone who grabs a dog by the ears.  The dog gets mad and is snarling and snapping his sharp teeth at you.  But he can't bite you because you are holding him off with each of your hands on each of his ears.  His ears are hurting him and he is getting madder and madder, but the dog can't get at you to bite you.  But the problem is, you can't let go of his ears!  If you do, the dog will bite you!  So the dog is mad and you are stuck.  You can't let go and the dog is trying to bite you. If we stick our noses into something that is not our problem, we get involved in another person's business.  That is called meddling.  It is meddling in other people's business.  We may just want to help, but there is a way to help.  First, ask the person if they want our help.  If the do, then you have their permission to get involved and to help them.  But if they say that they do not want our help, then just do not get involved.  Don't meddle in their business.  As Solomon said in our verse, don't grab that dog by the ears.

Read Proverbs 26:13-16

Read Proverbs 26:13-16  Our verses talk about a lazy person.  Can you remember the two Bible names in our verses for a lazy person?  The first three verses call him a slothful man and the last verse calls him a sluggard.  Both just mean that he is lazy.  Verse 13 says that the sluggard will use any excuse not to go to work.  How many times have you seen a lion running around in town?  Where do you usually find lions running wild?  Certainly not in town.  But the sluggard says that he is afraid to go to work because there just might be a lion outside his door.  Wow!  What a lame excuse!  Then the second verse tells us that just like a door is attached to the wall and swings in and out, and in and out, so the sluggard is attached to his bed.  Now I know we need our rest, but the sluggard sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps.  He is too lazy to get out of bed.  When he wakes up, he just turns over in his bed.  Then when he wakes up again, he just turns back over and goes right back to sleep.  He is too lazy to get up!  Our third verse on laziness says that if a lazy person had a candy bar in his pocket, he would be too lazy to put his hand inside and pull it out again.  That is pretty lazy!  Our last verse tells us that no matter what you say, the lazy person has a reason for why he can't do his work.  Verse 16 even says that a lazy person has more excuses ready than seven people who have good reasons for going to work.  You just can't talk to a lazy person.  He always has an excuse for not doing his work.  So what about you?  Do you do your chores at home?  Do you do your school work?  Or are you lazy and just offer excuses?  I hope not.  Let's get busy and do our jobs.  Let's be pleasing to our parents and pleasing to the Lord.

Read Proverbs 26:10

Read Proverbs 26:10  There are many things in this world that seem to be unfair.  We look around and see people who are suffering.  That doesn't seem fair.  We see children that are mistreated by selfish parents.  That doesn't seem fair either.  We see angry people who take advantage of weaker people.  Again, that doesn't seem fair.  Our verse is dealing with big questions.  Is God powerful?  Is God fair?  We may ask, why doesn't God do something about the unfairness that is in the world.  These questions are pointing to different characteristics of our Great God.  Oh yes, God is fair and will punish evil.  But God is also loving and forgiving and is giving us time to repent of our sins.  God made Adam and Eve perfect and innocent and wanted them to enjoy God's friendship.  But They decided to follow Satan's lies.  They disobeyed and rebelled against God.  Sin entered into the world.  Death and disease and wickedness came along with sin.  All of Adam's children were born with this sin nature.  Evil began to take over God's once perfect world.  But God already had a plan to rescue mankind.  God sent His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins.  Jesus' death of the cross would make everything right that Adam's sin had destroyed.  The Great God had a plan to make everything right again.  God hates sin, and God wants us to be free from sin and to live with Him in heaven's perfectness forever.  But we have the choice to make to follow God or continue in our rebellion against Him.  While God is giving us time to change our evil ways, we are continuing to do bad things.  He loves us and is watching and waiting.  When our life is over, God will reward us for the lives that we have lived.  If we have done evil, He will punish the evil with separation from Him forever.  But if we have trusted in Jesus Christ and accepted His payment for our sins, God will reward us for our decision.  What a wonderful gift God has given us!  God has provided forgiveness through Jesus.  The Great God will give the fool and the sinner what they deserve.  But if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior, He will give us heaven.  What a wonderful exchange! Jesus takes our sins and gives us His eternal life!  Let's sing that song, He Paid a Debt He Did not Owe.

Read Proverbs 26:7-9

Read Proverbs 26:7-9  Well, King Solomon is still talking about fools.  Marmie and I were talking yesterday about why Solomon had so much to say about fools, and we could think of two possibilities: either Solomon was worried that his children would turn out like fools, or Solomon took on so many wives, that he was a fool himself.  Anyway, Solomon uses three interesting examples in our verses.  Verse seven and nine explain that a fool cannot use a parable to explain anything.  Whatever the fool is talking about or trying to explain,  well it just doesn't make sense.  A fool doesn't know the question nor the answer.  He doesn't understand either.  And the example in verse eight  doesn't make sense either.  Do you remember the story about little David killing the giant?  What did he use for his weapon to kill Goliath?  He used a sling shot.  David whirled the stone around in the sling and let go of one end of the sling and the rock flew straight to Goliath's forehead.  But what would have happened if David had tied the stone up in the pocket of his sling like the fool in our proverb?  David's smooth stone would not have gone anywhere.  Goliath would have won.  Actually, tying up a stone in a sling is kind of like tying up a baseball in your glove.  First of all, you can't win a game that way, and second of all, it just doesn't make sense to do it.  What is the lesson in our three verses: nothing that a fool does makes sense and nothing that a fool does will turn out good.  So, how can you avoid being a fool?  By reading and understanding and obeying God's Word, the Bible.  And that is exactly what you are doing right now!  You are not a fool!

Read Proverbs 26:6-8

Read Proverbs 26:6-8  Solomon is still talking about a fool here in chapter 26.  We saw yesterday that the words of a fool don't make sense.  Verse 6 tells us that we are wasting our time to send a message by a fool.  If you want to send a message to one of your friends, do you just take your message and throw it out into the back yard?  No, that would be silly.  But if you give a message to someone who always forgets what he is supposed to be doing, he will just leave your message in his pocket and forget about it.  Then his mother will wash his clothes and put them in the dryer.  Then she will fold his pants up and put them in his dresser.  A few days later, your forgetful friend takes out his pants and puts them on.  Later that day he feels a lump in his pocket and pulls out a wadded, mushed-up hunk of paper and wonders how it got into his pocket.  He won't even remember that it was your message!  So, how much good did it do you to write that message?  You wasted your time, didn't you?  Don't waste your time with unfaithful people.  Spend your time with trustworthy friends.

Read Proverbs 26:3-5

Read Proverbs 26:3-5  Our verses are continuing to talk about the fool that we read about in yesterday's verse.  When you carry on a conversation with a fool, you soon realize that you are wasting your time.  For example: a fool will say something that doesn't make sense.  You will think about what he said.  Then you will explain to him why the thing that he said didn't make sense.  But then the fool quickly says another crazy thing.  You think about it and give him an answer.  Before long you realize that it is taking you more time and mental energy to think about your answer than it is taking the fool to say his next words.  You are just wasting your time.  Just like verse four said, don't waste your time with foolish questions or answers.  Spend your time thinking about useful things.  Hang around wise people.  You will be wiser if you do!

Read Proverbs 26:1

Read Proverbs 26:1  Some things just don't make sense.  Like snow in the hot time of the year.  Or rain during the dry time of the year.  When someone chooses to honor a fool, it just doesn't make sense.  But how do you know who is a fool and who isn't?  By what they do.  Matthew 7:20 says that "by their fruits ye shall know them."  Verse sixteen asks if "men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"  No, you know that a plant is a grape vine if grapes grow on it.  You know that a tree is a fig tree if figs grow on it.  And you know that a person is a fool if they do foolish things.  Our verse for today reminds us that it doesn't make sense to honor a foolish person.  Do you want to be thought of as a fool?  If not, don't do foolish things.  Don't do foolish things like the person in Proverbs 26:1, do wise things, like the person in Proverbs 25:13.  I want to be thought of as a faithful person, don't you?

Read Proverbs 25:28

Read Proverbs 25:28  One of the hardest things to control is the tongue.  Before we realize it, we have said things that are sorry that we did.  The next hardest thing to control is our temper.  Sometimes we are quick to get angry, and usually it is with someone that we love.  In verse 28 Solomon uses a good example.  In Bible times they didn't have airplanes or bombers to fly overhead, so castle walls were good defenses against enemies.  But when a city's walls were broken down, the city had no defense.  It is the same with someone who has no control over his temper.  He has no defense.  Our temper is hard to control, but it is possible to control it.  Let's not be like a defenseless city.  Let's control our temper.  If you are quick to get angry, ask the Lord to help you control your anger.  Try this: When you feel yourself getting mad, just stop.  Don't say anything.  Take a deep breath and let it out slowly and ask the Lord to calm you down.  God will be pleased.  He will help you control your temper.

Read Proverbs 25:25

Read Proverbs 25:25  Did you notice that I skipped verse 24?  Ask your dad why I did.  Anyway, verse 25 tells us a story of how good it is to hear news from a far country.  When I first began to visit Romania in 1990, it took six weeks for a letter to get from here to there.  Then it took another six weeks for Brother Florin to send a response back to me.  It took a total of three months of waiting to get news back from Romania!  But when I got the news, I was happy.  Our verse says that news from a far country is like a drink of cold water to a thirsty soul.  Have you been outside playing on a hot summer day and suddenly gotten thirsty?  You can't wait to get a glass of cold water to drink.  Two years ago, the neighbor behind me was having his roof replaced.  The two Hispanic workers were working all morning out in the sun on that roof.  I knew they were hot and they were probably thirsty.  So I got two plastic throw-away cups and filled them with ice and then with water.  I went to the fence that was between our houses and called out, "senior, agua."  Then I held up those two glasses.  It only took a moment for the two men to realize what I had in my hands.  They hurried down the ladder and gratefully took the water.  We stood in the shade on opposite sides of the fence for a moment and smiled at each other.  Then I went inside and they went back to work.  They were refreshed and I was happy.

Read Proverbs 25:23

Read Proverbs 25:23  Solomon is once again explaining an important lesson with an example.  The important lesson is that we should no listen to someone who is gossiping and complaining about their boss.  When someone whines to another person about a third person, God is not pleased.  If we have a problem with someone, we should talk to them about it.  We should not talk to someone about another person who isn't there to defend themselves.  That is called gossiping.  And when we gossip about about our boss to someone, that is backbiting.  Backbiting is an interesting word.  If you sneak up behind your dog and grab her in the middle of the back, you will understand exactly what backbiting is all about.  But when we are backbiting, we are just gossiping about our boss behind his back.  And when someone gossips to you, they are dragging you into their backbiting.  But how do you stop someone from pulling you into their complaining attitude?  In the first part of our verse, Solomon gives an example of how to stop someone from gossiping to you.  In Solomon's country, when a cold north wind blew in, it pushed the rain out.  So, this is how you deal with a gossiper: when someone begins to gossip to you about someone else, just don't say a word.  Just give them the frowning north wind look and they will stop their backbiting.  Well at least they will stop their backbiting to you.  Usually they will find someone else to take their gossip to.  But at least they won't be gossiping to you.

Read Proverbs 25:21 & 22

Read Proverbs 25:21 & 22  I heard a good saying several years ago: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  That means that when you have a sour situation, make the best of it.  Turn it around to be a pleasant situation.  What does our verse say is the best way to deal with an enemy? Turn them into a friend.  Solomon said that if your enemy is hungry, don't be glad that they are, be compassionate; give them something to eat.  If your enemy is thirsty, don't enjoy their difficulty; give them something to drink.  Would you like red-hot coals piled up on top of your head?  No way!  If you are kind to your enemy, they can't stand it either.  They will not be your enemy for long - they will become your friend.  God likes it better when we have friends than when we have enemies.

Read proverbs 25:20

Read Proverbs 25:20  There are three word pictures in our verse for today.  The first two are used to explain the last one.  The last word picture is the one that King Solomon is trying to get us to understand.  When someone has a heavy heart, we should be respectful to them and kind of leave them alone.  When you are sick, you don't feel like having a party.  You just want to lie around in your bed or on the couch.  When you are sad, you usually want to be left alone.  You don't want someone to come around and sing and be happy - because you are not happy.  And when someone is all happy and bubbly around you when you are sad, you become irritated with them.  They are not very thoughtful of your feelings.  Solomon explains it like this: How would you feel if someone came and took away your winter coat when it was cold?  Not very good.  When vinegar is put on nitre, it bubbles and hisses and makes a lot of noise.  Do you like a lot of noise when you have a heavy heart?  No.  You can recreate Solomon's experiment: get a glass and put it in the sink.  Pour a cup of vinegar into it.  Then put a teaspoon of baking soda into the vinegar and watch what happens.  When you are sad, you want your peace and quiet.  You don't want a lot of bubbly racket like the action that is taking place inside the glass.  Here is the lesson that Solomon is trying to teach us: when someone wants to play, play with them.  But when someone wants to be left alone, just leave them alone.  Usually they will get over their grumpiness by tomorrow.

Read Proverbs 25:19

Read Proverbs 25:19  In verse 13 we learned about a faithful messenger.  Our verse for today talks about an unfaithful messenger.  If a boss gives a message to an unfaithful messenger, will the message get delivered on time?  Will the message get delivered to the right person?  Probably not.  When you bite down on a piece of food, you count on your tooth to do its job.  But what happens if you have a toothache?  When you have to walk, you count on your feet to do their job and to carry you to wherever you need to go.  But what happens if your foot is out of joint?  Our verse reminds us that you can't trust a broken tooth, you can't trust a wobbly foot, and you can't trust an unfaithful person.  Are we faithful?  Can we be trusted to do our job?  Or are we unfaithful, like a broken tooth or a wobbly foot?

Read Proverbs 25:16

Read Proverbs 25:16  Do you like candy?  What kind of candy do you like?  Eating candy is like eating dessert.  You can't live on candy alone and you can't live on dessert alone.  You have to eat vegetables and meat and real food in order to get to the last part of the meal, the dessert.  Dessert is special because we have it last.  We have to wait in order to have it.  A piece of cake is great at the end of a good meal.  But could you imagine eating a piece of cake instead of eating your salad?  Then, could you imagine eating another piece of cake instead of eating green beans?  Then eating a third piece of cake instead of eating mashed potatoes?  Then eating a fourth piece of cake instead of eating chicken nuggets? Then eating a fifth piece of cake for dessert?  A whole meal of just cake would make you sick.  Our verse reminds us that too much of a good thing is not good.  If you find honey, eat just enough of it to satisfy your sweet tooth.  If you eat too much of a good thing may not be a good thing.  It may make you sick, just like too much cake may make you sick.  The word to remember is moderation.   Moderation means not too much; not too little; just the right amount.

Read Proverbs 25:13

Read Proverbs 25:13  When a man or a woman works for someone else, they have responsibilities that are given to them by their bosses.  When the boss has a message to send, the boss trusts their workers that they will deliver the message on time and to the right person.  When a boss can trust his employees, he can relax and not worry.  He knows that the message arrive on time, delivered by his faithful workers.  When a farmer has crops to gather in, he needs cold weather to come at just the right time.  The cold weather makes the trees to finish up their yearly cycle and to prepare for their long winter sleep. The fruit seems to sweeten with the first blast of cold weather.  When Noah and his family came off of the ark, God sent them a reminder that He would never destroy the earth again with water.  Do you remember God's sign that He would keep His promise?  God set the rainbow in the sky to remind people that He would keep His promise.  God went on to tell Noah that He would keep the seasons faithfully coming each year: God promised Noah that every year He would bring seed time and harvest.  When the farmer in our verse feels the cold weather coming on, he knows that God is once again being faithful and is sending the cold weather to help him finish up his crops.  He knows that he can trust God and God's seasons.  That is just the way the boss feels about his faithful messengers.  He can count on them do the job that he has given them to do.  Are you faithful in your jobs?  Does your mother have to keep following you around to make sure that you do your jobs?  Does your father have to keep checking up on you?  Or can they relax knowing that you will do your jobs and faithfully finish your work?  Remember, when you are faithful and do your work, you are pleasing, not only to your parents, but also to your Lord above.  Let's be like the faithful messenger in our verse.  Let's do our work faithfully.

Read Proverbs 25:11

Read Proverbs 25:11  Verse eleven is a beautiful word picture.  Think about a beautiful silver picture frame.  Then add to that a beautiful picture of golden apples inside of that beautiful frame.  When someone says just the right thing at just the right time, that is just like a beautiful picture.  Just the perfect words spoken at the right time make you pleased.  It not only pleases the hearer, but it pleases the speaker as well.  When I was dating my wife-to-be many years ago, I quoted her a beautiful poem by William Shakespeare.  She loved it and was impressed that I had gone to the trouble of memorizing the poem just for her.  I said just the right words at just the right time.  It got me a kiss!  And it got me a wonderful wife!  Let me see, can I remember how it went? ... How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Read Proverbs 25:6 & 7

Read Proverbs 25:6 & 7  These two verses tell an instructive story.  King Solomon would invite everyone to come to a great banquet.  There would be rows and rows of tables for everyone.  The guests always wanted to get close to the king - those were the best seats.  But sometimes after the banquet hall was filled, an important guest would come in late.  In order to make room for this important person, the king would have to ask someone else to give the important person his seat.  In doing so, the person who was asked to give up his seat would be embarrassed because he was being asked to give up his important seat and to go take a lesser seat somewhere further away from the king.  In verse six, we are told how to save from being embarrassed like that:  we should take a lowly seat - a seat far away from the king - when we come into the banquet hall.  Then, if the king thinks that we are more important, he will ask us to come up to a better seat.  But even if he doesn't, we are at least not embarrassed and asked to take a lower seat.  What Solomon is saying here is that we should not think too highly of ourselves.  We should let someone else say that we are great.  It is much better for someone else to say good things about us than for us to say good things about ourselves.  We should be humble.  Let someone else brag on us.

Read Proverbs 25:5

Read Proverbs 25:5  Verse five for today goes right along with verse four.  Verse four tells about the purifying process in making pure silver.  In order to have pure silver, the trash and other worthless stuff must be burned away.  And verse five tells us that, in order for a new king's government to be established, the wicked people must be taken away.  In order to have a good government, the king needs to have honest and loyal people whom he can trust.  The only way to have honest and loyal people is to get rid of those who aren't honest and loyal.  When all of the crooks and evil people are removed, the king will have good people in place and his kingdom will be a good one.  Our verse calls it righteous.  King Solomon wanted to have good government when he was the king, and we want to have good government in our country today.  Our verse tells us the secret to good government.  Can you remember what it said?  It said that in order to have good government, who needed to be taken out?  That is right: the wicked.  Get rid of wicked people and good people can have good government.