Today’s headlines in light of Scripture · Proverbs 13
A father who loves his son corrects him. That is how Proverbs 13 opens, and it is close to how the chapter ends. Verse 1 begins with a son who listens to his father’s discipline, and verse 24 comes back around to the father who disciplines because he loves. Today is the thirteenth, so today we read Proverbs 13.
Hold this verse up against the morning news.
The light of the righteous shines brightly,
Proverbs 13:9 (CSB)
but the lamp of the wicked is put out.
Solomon knew what a lamp meant. A clay lamp with a wick in olive oil was the only light in a house after sundown, and if the oil ran dry the room went black. He watched two kinds of lives. One keeps burning when the night gets long. The other sputters and goes dark.
Below are ten stories from yesterday’s national news. A few will lift you. Some are hard to read. Each one meets a verse in Proverbs 13, written about three thousand years before the headline.
Today’s Headlines
1. A soldier’s rebuke earns a medal
After a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his staff when a loud laugh was heard after they took photos on the steps. The next day Hegseth welcomed the Army unit that guards the tomb to the Pentagon and pinned the Joint Service Commendation Medal on Spc. Thomas Iglesias. His post afterward read, “We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist.” The AP notes the medal is not usually given to junior enlisted soldiers. (AP via PBS)
Poverty and disgrace come to those
Proverbs 13:18
who ignore discipline,
but the one who accepts correction will be honored.
Nobody enjoys being corrected in public. Fewer of us would turn around the next day and honor the person who did it. Whatever you think of the secretary, that response is the last line of this verse played out in front of the whole country. A young sentinel did his duty, and the man he corrected said so. When someone tells you the truth about yourself this week, thank them before you defend yourself.
2. Nvidia names new leaders after its founder’s exit
Nvidia moved fast after Jensen Huang resigned Thursday. Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer since 2013, is now interim CEO, and the board named Harvey C. Jones as its first chairman. U.S. intelligence suspects a woman Huang had a relationship with of spying for China, and Beijing denies it. Lawmakers from both parties want more investigation, while the company says it has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. (AP via PBS)
A wise person’s instruction is a fountain of life,
Proverbs 13:14
turning people away from the snares of death.
A snare works because it looks harmless until it closes. Proverbs never pretends a man can be too smart or too powerful to get caught. Its answer is instruction, the kind a father hands to a son and God hands to all of us in His Word. Pray for the thousands of families whose paychecks ride on what that company does next. Pray for the Huang family too. Then look hard at your own life for the snares you have been calling harmless.
3. A proposed rule could shrink food aid
The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would end automatic SNAP eligibility for some people who get benefits through a separate program for needy families. The administration says it closes a loophole. The Agriculture Department estimates about 6.3 million people could lose eligibility by the 2029 fiscal year, on top of 5.5 million who lost benefits over the past year. One economist called it the most reasonable of the administration’s SNAP changes, while advocates for the poor warn it will make it harder for families to eat. Public comment runs into next month. (AP via PBS)
The uncultivated field of the poor yields abundant food,
Proverbs 13:23
but without justice, it is swept away.
Solomon saw something every farmer in the Delta understands. Poor ground can still feed a family. What ruins it is the absence of justice. People of good faith disagree about how a government program ought to run, and I won’t settle that argument here. Scripture settles this much. God watches how a nation treats the poor, and His people should watch too. If a family down your road is about to lose help, don’t wait on Washington to fill their pantry.
4. Layoffs stay near historic lows
The Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 9,000 last week to 200,000, a little higher than economists expected. By historical standards that is still a low number, and Reuters reported it fits a job market that is getting stronger. (Reuters via SRN News)
Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle,
Proverbs 13:11
but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.
Honest work is the slow way to build anything, and Proverbs says it is the way that lasts. Money gained by cutting corners shrinks. Money earned by labor grows. If you clocked in this week, you did something God calls good. And if you are one of the 200,000 who filed, your worth did not drop with your paycheck. Let your church help you look for the next job.
5. A veterans bill passes a noisy House
On Veterans Day the House passed a large Republican veterans package by voice vote after no member called for a recorded vote. Its centerpiece would raise pay for an estimated 58,000 medically retired, combat-injured veterans by about $1,450 a month, paid for partly by changing how the VA rates tinnitus and sleep apnea for future veterans. Democrats said they never got the chance to object, the Republican committee chairman said Democrats weren’t paying attention, and the VFW condemned the voice vote. Democrats have their own version without those offsets, and the Senate could take up either one or neither. (AP via PBS)
Arrogance leads to nothing but strife,
Proverbs 13:10
but wisdom is gained by those who take advice.
Both parties say they want the same thing for these veterans. The fight is over how to pay for it and how the vote went down. Proverbs says pride produces strife and nothing else, and wisdom comes to the one who will take advice. Pray that men and women wounded for this country do not become a scorecard. Pray that somebody in that building listens to the other side long enough to get it done.
6. Florida fights a record dengue outbreak
Florida has counted 524 dengue cases picked up inside the state this year, a record high, along with 382 cases tied to international travel. Officials are spraying a natural larvicide from helicopters, and health experts urge people to dump standing water, wear repellent and cover their skin. There is no specific cure, and most people recover in about a week. (PolitiFact via PBS)
Every sensible person acts knowledgeably,
Proverbs 13:16
but a fool displays his stupidity.
The first line of this verse fits a Florida backyard. Tip out the birdbath. Turn over the bucket by the shed. Put on long sleeves before you cut the grass. Trusting God and using good sense have never been at odds. Pray for the families sick this week and for the crews working to stop the spread.
7. Mexico answers a tariff threat over migrant caravans
President Trump threatened to double tariffs on Mexican goods unless Mexico stops migrant caravans moving through its territory. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum answered that no caravan has reached the U.S. border since January 2025. She said a caravan of about 600 people in the southern state of Chiapas had mostly broken up after its members were told that reaching the United States would be very difficult. (AP via The Gazette)
A wicked envoy falls into trouble,
Proverbs 13:17
but a trustworthy courier brings healing.
Proverbs puts a lot of weight on messengers. A trustworthy courier carries the message straight, and healing follows. Two neighbor nations are trading hard messages this week, and the people caught in the middle are poor families walking north. Pray for honest words between the two capitals. Pray for the migrants on those roads as they decide what to do next.
8. Wall Street slips on a jittery day
Stocks fell Thursday, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each down about 0.4 percent. Zacks Investment Research pointed to Nvidia’s leadership shakeup, rising tension with Iran and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike. Traders now put the odds of a quarter-point Fed hike in December at 89 percent. (Zacks via Yahoo Finance)
One person pretends to be rich but has nothing;
Proverbs 13:7
another pretends to be poor but has abundant wealth.
Some people look rich and own nothing. Others look poor and are wealthy. Solomon was the richest man of his day, and he knew a balance sheet cannot tell you what a man truly owns. A down day on Wall Street can sting a retirement account. It cannot touch the treasure Jesus told us to store up where moth and rust never reach. Ask yourself which account you check most often.
9. Alaska is still counting
Alaska’s Senate race between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola is the only one in the country still too early to call. A judge ruled Wednesday that the Peltola campaign’s request for a list of voters whose absentee ballots were rejected was not reasonable, given the time pressure on election workers. Overseas ballots can arrive through Nov. 18, which is also the state’s target for a ranked-choice tabulation if no candidate tops 50 percent. (AP via PBS)
Hope delayed makes the heart sick,
Proverbs 13:12
but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
Waiting wears on people. Ten days after the election, both campaigns and thousands of Alaskans are still waiting. Proverbs calls hope delayed a sickness of the heart, and anyone who has waited on a biopsy result or a phone call from a wayward child knows it is true. Pray for the election workers putting in long hours up there. Whoever wins, our deepest hope was never on a ballot.
10. An old soldier finds a new mission
After 24 years in the Army, Quinton McNair came home to Chicago and struggled to adjust to civilian life. He told PBS NewsHour that an unexpected hobby helped him find a new sense of mission. His story aired the day after Veterans Day. (PBS NewsHour)
The slacker craves, yet has nothing,
Proverbs 13:4
but the diligent is fully satisfied.
Ask around and many veterans will tell you the hardest deployment is the one back home. The structure is gone, the mission is gone, and the days run together. Proverbs ties satisfaction to diligent work, and that means more than a paycheck. God made us to put our hands to something worth doing. If you know a veteran who has pulled away since coming home, ask what he is building these days. Then offer to help him build it.
Where Our Hope Stands
Ten headlines. A rebuke and a medal, a sudden change at the top of a tech giant, a fight over food aid, steady jobs, a veterans bill, mosquitoes, migrants, a nervous market, a slow count, and an old soldier with a new mission. God did not step away from a single one of them. The lamp of the righteous is still burning.
He has already spoken to mornings like this one. Here are three places to stand.
Because of the LORD’s faithful love
Lamentations 3:22–24 (CSB)
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!
I say, “The LORD is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in him.”
For anyone who woke up tired of bad news. His mercies were new before the first headline loaded.
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11 (CSB)
Proverbs 13 is a chapter about correction, and Hebrews tells us why the Father’s discipline is worth the sting.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (CSB)
For the waiting room, the slow count and the long week. Our God is the God of hope, and He means for us to overflow with it.
Read all twenty-five verses of Proverbs 13 today. Start with the son who listens in verse 1 and finish at the full table in verse 25.
Tomorrow, Proverbs 14.
Scripture quotations are from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
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