Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / September 10, 2026 - Judges 6 & Proverbs 14:21-24

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September 10, 2026 - Judges 6 & Proverbs 14:21-24 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tyler Sanborn, Student Ministry Director at Compass Bible Church South Valley.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Thursday, September 10th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a quick summary of Judges 6.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: To open the chapter, we see more evil, more disobedience.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Israel doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they are given over into the hands of the Midianites, and they come in and consume and destroy, and they are having their way in the land, oppressing Israel to where they are hiding, being oppressed by this people.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And God speaks through a prophet who is unnamed to be speaking to the people as a whole.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Later in this chapter, we'll see a character named Gideon, and we might call him uh timid or or fearful, but God nonetheless is going to use him in a powerful way, and he is going to take a stand for the Lord and has an encounter with the angel of Lord, and he goes on to tear down an altar of Baal and Ashroth, and he goes into uh taking down these false worship icons, and he does it with help in the middle of the night as not to be seen.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And to conclude the chapter, we have Gideon's famous fleece, where the f after the first evening he wakes up and rings out some water, and the following morning he prays for the opposite to happen, and uh there's dew all around everywhere except the fleece.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 14, verses 21 through 24.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Do they not go astray who devise evil?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: The crown of the wise is their wealth, but the folly of fools brings folly.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Our passage today in the book of Judges shows how God is going to use someone who is timid and afraid and mold and shape him into a judge, one who would lead and save God's people, Israel, who would be hiding in caves, hiding and making bunkers, huddling down as they are being oppressed by the Midianites who are rolling into town, taking over, setting up shop, and uh taking their crops, their animals, their their means uh of livelihood, and the people of Israel are struggling once again, and there uh arises a prophet who is unnamed, and this prophet is going to draw Israel's attention back to what he commanded, what he promised uh in their approach into the promised land.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: In verse 10, this prophet says, uh, and I said to you, speaking of the Lord, I am the Lord your God.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but you have not obeyed my voice.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the the words of Moses are ringing in your ears, probably.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's calling God's people to be strong and courageous and go with with force and with a confidence that that rests in in God, a courage that is anchored in the character of God and the fulfillment of his promises time and time again.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Be strong and courageous.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And this um this character Gideon, who we see is not is not courageous, um, is not bold, but uh we do see bold things happening.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: We do see him taking a stand, take uh tearing down uh an altar to Baal and an asheroth, and uh he's doing so and and he's covered by the spirit of the Lord.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: In verse 34, we see, but the spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the people followed him.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's a confrontation earlier in this paragraph where Gideon is essentially calling out, taunting those who would be for Baal, those who would support Baal, and he says, Will you contend for Baal?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or or will you save him after the altar is torn down?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there's there's this back and forth of of boldness and courage, and then also timidity with with the fleece and not being sure.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And after having an encounter with the angel of the Lord, are you sure?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Let me make sure that this is really you.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: How can I be confident in your promises?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a meal prepared, and the angel of the Lord touches this rock that's placed on um on this rock and it goes up in flame, it's consumed, and then the angel of the Lord vanishes.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So there's there's signs and there's some wonders being um completed before Gideon to encourage him and to remind him this is the God that led you out of Egypt.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is the God that led you into the promised land, and this is the God that is going to continue to rescue you, even though you do wicked, Israel, and you fall away.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: You will um you will not shake the God who is abounding in love, who is steadfast and faithful.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Proverbs chapter 14, verse 21 pulls our eyes to see the value of treating people with love and respect for the fact that they are made in the image of God.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, we see that whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Those who look look down on, those who aren't respecting and loving uh their neighbor is a sinner.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: But on the other hand, those who are blessed are those who are generous to the poor, those who are taking care of, those who are uh downtrodden and those who are lacking in need and have have need.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: So this is uh a reminder for us to think about the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we choose to treat those people around us, whether it be our neighbor, those in our family, those in our in our workplace, and the the words of of Jesus come to mind.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And as uh Jesus was called to uh to take a stand on what's the most important command, uh he says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is the great and first commandment, and a second is like it.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's Matthew 22 verses 37 through 39.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: So this care and love and affection for those who are around us, those who who are in need, uh, you are blessed if you're going out um out of your way and being generous and and caring for for these people.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we should be planning on those things.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: We should be planning on how how it is that we are going to be taking care of those around us.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that's uh a good reminder there in verse 21.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as we look down to verse 22, do they not go astray who devise evil?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a handful of places where we see steadfast love and faithfulness, Hesed, and we we think back to Exodus uh chapter 34, uh, where we see that the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: This is God's character.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is Moses creating the new tablets uh after he breaks them.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: He comes back down uh from the mountain and he is speaking on uh behalf of the Lord.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is God, this is his character.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: He keeps steadfast love for thousands going on in Exodus 34, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a just and loving God who reveals himself, and those who are uh who meet this good and in steadfast love and faithful God are those who who devise good, who know him, who are making active plans to walk in his ways, devising and planning good, and they're following after him, and and those who aren't of the opposite side of the coin, those who go astray, those who are devising evil, making plans, plotting, scheming to disobey, to not follow in the ways of the Lord.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's God who allows us to walk in these ways.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's by his grace that anyone could be saved or anyone could know this God.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to remember that when we think about the ways that we're pursuing him, it's not a transactional thing where because we pursue him, then we meet his goodness and his steadfast love and faithfulness.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's who he is.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And what we do, we get to walk in, uh walk in obedience and pursue after him because he has revealed his truth to us and we know him as the God of the scriptures because he has opened our eyes to his goodness, to his character, and to his truth.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And in our f uh, our following verse here in verse 23 in all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh my dad used to say, talk is cheap.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he was trying to draw my attention to we could talk and talk and talk, but uh, let's be about it, let's not stop talking about it, Tyler.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's go and do something about our plans.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: It it does us no good to just to to speculate, to talk, to hem and haw, uh, but to put our hands to the plow and do some work, get something done.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so we can we could be the people leaning on the shovel, or we can be the people that are actually using and wielding the shovel to to make um to make and uh earn a living, to, to toil and to uh whatever it is that our hand finds to do, work hardly, work, work with all of our might unto the Lord.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And in that, God will um God will provide, he will take care of us, and there is profit in uh the ways that we strive to to earn a living, uh, to care for our families and to honor the Lord.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And in our final verse today, uh, verse 24 the crown of the wise is their wealth, but the folly of fools brings folly.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: So the fool who lacks wisdom, lacks good sense, uh, this person is going to bring on more of it, more foolishness, more deficit, a greater lack of sense and understanding in this world, and that that's in comparison to the crown of the wise.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: The crown of the the wise is their wealth.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: There is a a strategy or a uh a way of a forethought and planning is is uh is a result of of diligent hard work, um, wise wise saving, uh wise in investing, and that the crown of the wise is is the profit, the to profit of their toil, the the wealth that they um that they earn as a result of of wise working, wise spending, uh wise saving.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that is something that uh they are not to boast about, but that is something that they have to show as uh a result.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: So the fool uh and the folly of that fool brings on more folly, but the the crown of the wise um is is their wealth.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's what they have to show for their for their hard work, for their diligence in investing and saving and not living beyond their means.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: So an encouragement for you today, devise good, plan on doing good, plan on obedience today, uh care for the people around you, uh look to look to those to your left and to your right, uh, be generous, take care of the people that God has placed you around.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Work hard, work with wisdom and and reject foolishness and strive to become more mature in Christ through your time in prayer, through your time in study and meditation in God's Word today.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass Bible SV.org.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.