Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings with the purpose of teaching us how and why we should live obediently to God’s Law. Proverbs shows us the wisdom, character, and mind of God Himself. God is the source of all true wisdom, which we can only obtain by His grace when we trust in Him. The godly life principles taught in Proverbs must be applied appropriately in each situation due to the complexity of living among sinners in a fallen world.
Righteousness and the fear of the Lord are more important than money:
Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. (15:16)
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. (11:28)
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. (11:4)
Living in a way that pleases God and shows Him the proper respect often clashes with obtaining wealth and riches. Our ‘lust of the eyes’ can tempt us to choose money instead of obedience to God. In our heads we may know that we cannot depend on riches for security, but too often we think that having just a little more money will give us just a little more security. We all know people who have felt secure in their career or their investments or their business, only to lose it all when the economy turns sour. Or how helpless these rich people felt when their health worsened, or their marriage fell apart.
We must remember that God will not be mocked. If we place our trust in our treasures, then He will need to show us that we cannot ultimately depend on anyone or anything but Him. This lesson will be difficult to learn, but it is better to learn this lesson now than to learn it on the ‘day of wrath’ at the judgment seat. The flourishing of the righteous may an unexpected path, but God promises great things for those who love and fear Him.
Wisdom and understanding are more valuable than gold and silver.
How much better to get wisdom than gold! / To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. (16:16)
A rich man is wise in his own eyes, / but a poor man who has understanding will find him out. (28:1)
Solomon had the opportunity to ask God to give him whatever he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge. (2 Chronicles 1) We repeatedly face the same choice throughout our prayer life: to ask God for wisdom, knowledge and understanding, or to ask Him to merely improve our immediate circumstances. Augustine has said, “the essence of sin is disordered love.” Few of us love what is truly evil and wicked. But everyone yearns for some less-important things more than we should, and desires other more-important things less than we ought. Wisdom helps us to make better choices and properly order our priorities.
Repenting of our sin and reordering what we love are especially important when we see how often we have prioritized money over being wise and understanding in the things of God. We must also avoid being full of head-knowledge without being a “doer of the Word.” (James 1) No matter how much Scripture we memorize or how much theology we know, if we are not living our lives in accord with the wisdom of God, then we are hypocrites who are only deceiving ourselves.