June 10, 2026 -- Proverbs 12:14 -- True Satisfaction

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From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,
and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him. Proverbs 12:14 ESV
 
Two verses before this one, Solomon inspired by the Spirit wrote, “the root of the righteous bears fruit”. As New Testament Christians we know a believer who is grafted into Christ, the root and the true Vine, will bear fruit. According to Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23a). Solomon’s own life reveals how elusive such life-long fruit-bearing can be.
 
Solomon was blessed by God with wisdom, great wealth and peace, but he was not satisfied with such good from God His Savior. He went on to marry 700 wives (all princesses) and he had 300 hundred concubines, all these women led his heart astray. To please his wives, he built temples to honour pagan demons and his wives made sacrifices to them. It was so vile, the Bible records: “he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD” I Kings 11:6). The work of his hand came back to him and his work proved to be rotten fruit.
 
Why mention this? If Solomon, who was granted great wisdom can fall away from God with such terrible consequences, we, ordinary men and women, must guard our lips and command our bodies to be obedient. Our hands must work at what is good. With intentionality. With accountability. With constant self-examination in the strength of the Spirit doing so by the light of Scripture. Aware how quickly a believer can move from being godly to being fruitless and doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD. Fruit bearing requires pruning away unfruitful branches. Fruit-bearing requires whole-hearted devotion to the LORD.
 
Be encouraged, dear fellow Christians, the LORD our God has given to us new life in Christ. The Father and the Son have poured out the Holy Spirit so that we will be led in the way everlasting. God has provided you with brothers and sisters in Christ who can pray for you, call you back from sinful ways, and join you in worship which re-orients the soul from self-absorption to being once again fully satiated in Jesus, the soul’s delight.
 
O MY LORD,
Forgive me for serving thee in sinful ways –
by glorying in my own strength,
by forcing myself to minister through necessity,
by accepting the applause of others,
by trusting in assumed grace and spiritual affection,
by a faith that rests upon my hold on Christ not on him alone,
by having another foundation to stand upon beside thee;
for thus I make flesh my arm.
Help me to see
that it is faith stirred by grace that does the deed,
that faith brings a man nearer to thee, raising him above mere man,
that thou dost act upon the soul when thus elevated and lifted out of itself,
that faith centers in thee as God all-sufficient,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
as God efficient,
mediately, as in thy commands and promises,
immediately, in all the hidden power
that faith sees and knows to be in thee,
abundantly, with omnipotent effect,
in the revelation of thy will.
If I have not such faith I am nothing.
It is my duty to set thee above all others in mind and eye;
But it is my sin that I place myself above thee.
Lord, it is the special evil of sin
that every breach of thy law arises
from contempt of thy Person,
from despising thee and thy glory,
from preferring things before thee.
Help me to abhor myself in comparison of thee,
And keep me in a faith that works by love,
and serves by grace.
 
“Vain Service”. The Valley of Vision. Ed. Arthur Bennett. Banner of Truth Trust: Carlisle, PA, 2020, page 330
 
https://youtu.be/7tElvdnId4Q?si=iRuIZ1HV6ZTSYhTS All My Hope
 

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