Proverbs 19:1, 2, 3, Heavenly Wealth!

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December 8, Proverbs 19:1, 2, 3

Job 2:7-9; 42:1-6; 2 Thes. 1:7-8 “You cannot gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles.”

Heavenly Wealth!

The word also in v.2 links it with v.1, showing the source of the trouble; he is without knowledge, while v.3 puts the blame for his trouble on God. The theme is not new in Proverbs, but one, like a bad penny, keeps turning up.

1. A Thankful Wholeness: Integrity (19:1; 20:7) means completeness or wholeness. Here is one who walks uprightly (2:7). Better is the honest poor than the dishonest fool (Ps. 7:8)! Better yet is the poor godly (Ps. 37:25-27; Jas. 2:5-6) than the wealthy wicked (Mt. 16:26) with perverse, twisted lips (Isa. 59:3)! Ill-gotten gains never bring peace, but rather misery, a guilty conscience, fear of exposure, and the shame that follows (Eccl. 4:13; 6:6-7). Let the poor see his riches! How thankful he should be! He has the best riches, peace within himself and peace with God hereafter. Death removes the rags, but the fool goes out empty-handed to a lost eternity (Lu. 16:19-31). In Christ alone are true riches found (Rev. 2:9; 3:18).

2. A Sinful Recklessness: Here the soul (19:2a), one’s true self, is without essential knowledge, the saving knowledge of God (Jn. 16:3). Such ignorance is not good; it is, in reality, eternally bad (Isa. 27:11; Hos. 4:6). He has no sense of the value of his soul, and, as a result, rushes with reckless abandon into sin, acts on blind impulse, makes snap decisions without intelligence (19:2b). Thus he sinneth, that is, misses his way, or the mark (Ju. 20:16), and wanders ever deeper into sin (Pr. 10:21). “Up like a rocket, and down like a stick!” is all too often the case. This haste, however, is the most tragic waste! A good carpenter measures thrice and cuts once, while a foolish carpenter measures once and cuts thrice (Isa. 28:16)! Paul wept over the “sinful recklessness” of the Jews who had a zeal for God but not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:1-4).

3. A Fearful Subversiveness: The foolish man perverts his way (19:30). Pervert here is not the same word as verse one. It is a very strong word, meaning to overthrow (13:6), ruin, subvert, hence our title for this verse. He frets (19:3b), he rages against God! We hear these days of the vicious results of “road rage,” but what is that compared to “God rage”! Yet it is all too common to blame God for our failures (Isa. 8:21-22; Rev. 16:9-11), but why (Lam. 3:9)? This surely sins against God’s character (Isa. 45:9; Ps. 37:1, 7). He wants only what is best for us. How glibly we repeat Thy will be done, and then protest every trial that comes our way! “He who follows Christ for His bag is a Judas!” (Mk. 8:34-38). Let us humbly learn Job’s lesson, submission not subversion (10:2; 34:32)!

Thought: “There is nothing so costly as ignorance – of God.”

Prayer: O Lord, enlighten our ignorance that we may know and enjoy Thee.