GOD’S WISDOM FOR YOU
PROVERBS 22:1-3
Chapter 22 begins with a half-chapter about the way wealth is misused by the sinful. It is an extended illustration of the Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Commandments. At verse 17, the chapter changes dramatically to a series of “Sayings of the Wise” which continues through the end of chapter 24. There is a question about whether this section is an adaptation of an Egyptian poem, the Sayings of Amenemope, or whether Solomon may possibly have influenced an Egyptian poet or sage. We shall, as the Iron Duke said, cross that bridge when we come to it.
22 Choose a good name over great wealth,
and favor rather than silver or gold.
2 The rich and poor will meet together
the LORD is the maker of them all.
This is one of the more important reminders for us that a good reputation—a good name—is to be preferred. Solomon said, “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1).
Some translations take the verb in verse 2 to mean that the rich and poor have a common bond, but pagash has more of a sense of a meeting: “Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Psalm 89:10). In this sense, we can take the verse to be a reminder that we all inhabit the same earth, or that we are all bound for eternity, where earthly wealth or poverty mean nothing at all.
3 A prudent man sees danger and hides,
but the simple keep going and will suffer.
Wisdom, godly wisdom, is faith in Christ. This faith teaches us the dangers of sin and all of its pitfalls, and so we hide in the shadow of God’s wings (Psalm 17:8). The simple here are all who reject Christ, fools that they are, and will suffer for it.
This proverb teaches us to reach out with the gospel to the simple in faith. We will always encounter arrogance and brashness from fools who think they know better than God himself what’s good for them. They are every brand of poor soil in Jesus’ parable of the sower (Matthew 13:18-23). Still, we sow God’s seed where we can, and we rejoice when it takes root.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota