# 27 2023 Dev. Prov.19:11 Wealth and Poverty! Read all of chapter nineteen first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story! Do you believe that this is also our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Proverbs 19:11 “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
Proverbs 19 puts emphasis on wealth and poverty and the actions and attitudes that lead to each condition. By now we know that Proverbs are a series of couplets about the way God wants us to live. Proverbs is about a way of being and a way of becoming, either good and better or bad and worse. For Christians, our lives involve both good events and bad that God uses to shape us into who He wants us to be.
Vs.1-7 “Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.” V.1 sets the tone for this section. The author points out the following attitudes: “Desire without knowledge… hasty feet miss the way. A person’s own folly… yet their heart rages against the Lord. “Wealth” has friends, poverty, looses friends. “A false witness will not go unpunished…liars will not go free. Many curry favor with a ruler…” Is the author talking about bribes? “The poor are shunned…” Are there poor in this country? Yes, and there are many reasons for poverty, there is also much help. The difference is that attitudes and actions reduces the help available.
Vs.8-14 “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.” V.8 sets the tone for this section. “A false witness will not go unpunished…” is repeated here indicating the importance of this statement. In the authors day “A fool… a slave” are not suited for rule. However, fools not slaves are ruling today! “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” I think this is the defining statement of this Proverb. “A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.” To make peace saves the world. “A foolish child… and a quarrelsome wife… is a father’s ruin… a prudent wife is from the Lord.” Good choices with the help of the Lord make for a prosperous life, Amen!
Vs.15-22 “Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.” V15, the root of poverty. “Whoever keeps the commandment… whoever shows contempt…” is the difference between life and death. Kindness and generosity is rewarded. “Discipline your children…” give them hope and life. “A hot temper…” is not easily quelled. “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart… The Lord’s purpose prevails. What a person desires is unfailing love…” Our actions and attitudes set that stage, Amen!
Vs.23-29 “The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” V.23 sets the tone for this section. “A sluggard…” will go hungry. Flogging and rebuking brings on prudence and knowledge. “Honor your father and you mother, and your life will be long in the land… Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. A corrupt witness mocks at justice… Penalties are prepared for mockers…” A persons attitude and a persons action, in this life, sets the tone for life, negative or positive. Amen!
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