1 00:00:02,730 --> 00:00:12,430 Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for listening to your nightly scripture. 2 00:00:13,990 --> 00:00:18,300 Speaker 1: A calming scripture-centered devotional podcast designed to help you end 3 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,299 Speaker 1: each day with God's word in your mind and on 4 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 1: your heart. Right after the short word from our sponsors, 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: we will reflect on tonight's scripture, Proverbs chapter 16. Our 6 00:00:41,060 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: evening reflection is written by Amanda Adleman and read. 7 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 2: By Kyle Norman. Proverbs 16 To humans belong the plans 8 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper 9 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:58,060 Speaker 2: answer of the tongue. 10 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,060 Speaker 1: All a person's ways seems pure to them, but motives 11 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever 12 00:01:06,819 --> 00:01:11,230 Speaker 1: you do, and He will establish your plans. The Lord 13 00:01:11,290 --> 00:01:15,009 Speaker 1: works out everything to its proper end, even the wicked 14 00:01:15,350 --> 00:01:19,459 Speaker 1: for a day of disaster. The Lord detests all the 15 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: proud of heart. Be sure of this, they will not 16 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:28,300 Speaker 1: go unpunished. Through love and faithfulness, sin is atoned for. 17 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,140 Speaker 1: Through the fear of the Lord, evil is avoided. When 18 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,750 Speaker 1: the Lord takes pleasure in anyone's way, he causes their 19 00:01:36,830 --> 00:01:41,390 Speaker 1: enemies to make peace with them. Better a little with 20 00:01:41,450 --> 00:01:47,860 Speaker 1: righteousness than much gain with injustice. In their hearts, humans 21 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,940 Speaker 1: plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. The 22 00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: lips of a king speaks as an oracle, and his 23 00:01:56,420 --> 00:02:02,070 Speaker 1: mouth does not betray justice. Honest scales and balances belong 24 00:02:02,090 --> 00:02:04,970 Speaker 1: to the Lord. All the weights in the bag are 25 00:02:05,070 --> 00:02:10,780 Speaker 1: of his making. Kings detest wrongdoing. for a throne is 26 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:17,300 Speaker 1: established through righteousness. Kings take pleasure in honest lips. They 27 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:22,140 Speaker 1: value the one who speaks what is right. King's wrath 28 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,420 Speaker 1: is a measure of death, but the wise will appease it. 29 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,060 Speaker 1: When a king's face brightens, it means life. His favor 30 00:02:31,180 --> 00:02:35,860 Speaker 1: is like a rain cloud in spring. How much better 31 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver. 32 00:02:41,290 --> 00:02:45,020 Speaker 1: The highway of the upright avoids evil. Those who guard 33 00:02:45,060 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: their way preserve their lives. Pride goes before destruction, a 34 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,850 Speaker 1: haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in 35 00:02:55,930 --> 00:02:59,510 Speaker 1: spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with 36 00:02:59,530 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: the proud. Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed 37 00:03:06,060 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: is the one who trusts in the Lord. The wise 38 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,299 Speaker 1: and heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction. 39 00:03:16,060 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: Prudent is a fountain of life to the prudent, but 40 00:03:19,660 --> 00:03:24,209 Speaker 1: folly brings punishment to fools. The hearts of the wise 41 00:03:24,620 --> 00:03:30,109 Speaker 1: make their mouths prudent, and their lips promote instruction. Gracious 42 00:03:30,169 --> 00:03:34,269 Speaker 1: words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing 43 00:03:34,330 --> 00:03:38,270 Speaker 1: to the bones. There is a way that appears to 44 00:03:38,310 --> 00:03:41,100 Speaker 1: be right but in the end it leads to death. 45 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,700 Speaker 1: The appetite of laborers works for them. Their hunger drives 46 00:03:46,740 --> 00:03:51,550 Speaker 1: them on. A scoundrel plots evil, and on their lips 47 00:03:51,670 --> 00:03:56,590 Speaker 1: is like a scorching fire. A perverse person stirs up conflict, 48 00:03:57,310 --> 00:04:02,830 Speaker 1: and a gossip separates close friends. A violent person entices 49 00:04:02,890 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: their neighbor and leads them down a path that is 50 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:10,700 Speaker 1: not good. Whoever winks with their eye is plotting perversity. 51 00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: Whoever purses their lips is bent on evil. Gray hair 52 00:04:16,380 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: is a crown of splendor. It is attained in the 53 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,140 Speaker 1: way of righteousness. Better a patient person than a warrior, 54 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,380 Speaker 1: one with self-control than one who takes a city. The 55 00:04:29,420 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: lot is cast into the lap, but it is every 56 00:04:32,490 --> 00:04:40,020 Speaker 1: decision is from the Lord. Life often throws us curveballs. 57 00:04:40,990 --> 00:04:45,090 Speaker 1: Just when we think we've gotten something figured out, inevitably 58 00:04:45,210 --> 00:04:50,029 Speaker 1: things change. Our kids grow up, jobs change, our bodies shift, 59 00:04:50,630 --> 00:04:54,970 Speaker 1: our community evolves, or a need arises. These are the 60 00:04:55,029 --> 00:04:57,900 Speaker 1: exact moments that we are called to trust in the 61 00:04:57,940 --> 00:05:00,700 Speaker 1: Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our 62 00:05:00,740 --> 00:05:03,700 Speaker 1: own understanding, because we know that He will make our 63 00:05:03,740 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: paths straight. That's Proverbs 3, chapter 5 and 6. One 64 00:05:09,860 --> 00:05:13,180 Speaker 1: notable moment in which we all had to collectively cling 65 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 1: to God was in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic turned 66 00:05:17,860 --> 00:05:22,660 Speaker 1: our lives upside down and swept across the globe. I 67 00:05:22,700 --> 00:05:27,510 Speaker 1: remember walking miles around my neighborhood, praying and reciting verses 68 00:05:27,570 --> 00:05:31,490 Speaker 1: to myself as a way of reminding myself that God 69 00:05:31,529 --> 00:05:34,609 Speaker 1: would not leave us, even as the whole world began 70 00:05:34,630 --> 00:05:40,890 Speaker 1: to panic. I had to practice Proverbs 16.3 and commit 71 00:05:41,029 --> 00:05:44,670 Speaker 1: everything to the Lord, trusting Him to establish my plans. 72 00:05:46,390 --> 00:05:50,950 Speaker 1: Since that season, life has provided many more opportunities to 73 00:05:51,029 --> 00:05:54,690 Speaker 1: cling to the Lord when the future felt hazy and scary. 74 00:05:56,150 --> 00:05:58,740 Speaker 1: We have added three kids to our family through foster 75 00:05:58,770 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: care and adoption. As we walked through uncertainty and the 76 00:06:03,100 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: roller coaster that is foster care, I often had to 77 00:06:06,420 --> 00:06:09,600 Speaker 1: remind my soul to lean on the Lord when I 78 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,779 Speaker 1: wanted to freak out. When my body was struggling with illness, 79 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:17,940 Speaker 1: I had to rely on God's Spirit for peace. Even 80 00:06:17,980 --> 00:06:21,540 Speaker 1: when pain was my constant companion. In the seasons of 81 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,740 Speaker 1: conflict and strife with my husband, I had to ask 82 00:06:24,820 --> 00:06:27,740 Speaker 1: God to show me how to change, how to forgive, 83 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,430 Speaker 1: and how to love him with God's love again. The 84 00:06:32,460 --> 00:06:36,940 Speaker 1: future often feels scary. But when we practice trusting God, 85 00:06:37,460 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: we know that we will be okay. It is our 86 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: reliance on Jesus that carries us from one season to 87 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:49,020 Speaker 1: the next. Without Him, the future is bleak. But as believers, 88 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:55,870 Speaker 1: we have access to eternal hope that changes everything. Remember 89 00:06:55,990 --> 00:07:01,550 Speaker 1: Proverbs 16.9 In their hearts, humans plan their course, but 90 00:07:01,589 --> 00:07:06,070 Speaker 1: the Lord establishes their steps. Our future is the Lord's. 91 00:07:07,170 --> 00:07:10,310 Speaker 1: He is the one establishing our steps, and we can 92 00:07:10,390 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: trust him. Father, I thank you that you are trustworthy. 93 00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: I can rely on your word and promises when I 94 00:07:22,420 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: can't see the way forward. I can lean on the 95 00:07:25,500 --> 00:07:28,500 Speaker 1: power of your Holy Spirit when I am unsure how 96 00:07:28,540 --> 00:07:32,950 Speaker 1: to move ahead. I commit my ways to you. knowing 97 00:07:33,010 --> 00:07:37,630 Speaker 1: that you alone establish my steps. Go before me and 98 00:07:37,690 --> 00:07:41,630 Speaker 1: make a way. I need you, Jesus. You are my 99 00:07:41,750 --> 00:07:44,510 Speaker 1: firm foundation in a chaotic world. 100 00:07:46,090 --> 00:07:46,390 Speaker 2: Amen. 101 00:07:48,450 --> 00:07:51,890 Speaker 1: How did tonight's scripture speak to you? Share your thoughts 102 00:07:52,350 --> 00:08:04,150 Speaker 1: in the Your Nightly Scripture Forum discussion. Thank you for 103 00:08:04,210 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: listening to Your Nightly Scripture. Tonight's scripture was read from 104 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: the New International Version by Biblica. All rights reserved. Be 105 00:08:16,460 --> 00:08:20,100 Speaker 1: sure to follow our sister show, Your Daily Bible Verse, 106 00:08:20,340 --> 00:08:25,500 Speaker 1: on Apple or Spotify. By following Your Daily Bible Verse 107 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:29,590 Speaker 1: and Your Nightly Scripture, you can be sure that your 108 00:08:29,670 --> 00:08:31,650 Speaker 1: day begins and ends today. 109 00:08:32,260 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 2: Centered on the Word of God.