Proverbs 10:22-28--The Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 10:22-28
English Standard Version
22 The blessing of the LORD makes rich,
    and he adds no sorrow with it.
23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool,
    but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
24 What the wicked dreads will come upon him,
    but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more,
    but the righteous is established forever.
26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the sluggard to those who send him.
27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life,
    but the years of the wicked will be short.
28 The hope of the righteous brings joy,
    but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

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Solomon again continues with his proverbs.  These are general statements about how Solomon sees the world operate and specifically how Solomon sees the LORD interact with the nation of Israel.  We're not going to be able to expect that in every case the LORD's blessing will come in the form of riches with no sorrow attached to it in the here and now (that is the prosperity gospel).  Instead, we can look at that and know that ultimately, that truth will be fulfilled in the New Heavens and the New Earth when we will have riches so vast that gold is used to pave the streets because it is essentially worthless.  The walls of the city will be made of gemstones, and the city gates will be made of huge single pearls without blemish.  Not only that, but all the consequences of sin will be gone--no more disease, death, decay, aging, pain or suffering of any kind.  That certainly sounds like what Solomon has in mind here.

Solomon continues to contrast the wise or prudent man with the fool.  The fool thinks that wickedness is funny.  Have you ever seen wicked men assault someone and then laugh about it?  I think that's the picture here.  Their minds are so warped by evil they actually think others will laugh with them about them hurting someone else.  However, the evil man gets no real and lasting pleasure or satisfaction from his wickedness.  Any euphoria he felt is quickly gone and he has to try to do something even more vile next time to get the same feeling (much like an addictive drug).  Wisdom on the other hand brings true and lasting joy and happiness.  It is for the good of everyone--the wise man, and all those around him.  It also brings understanding with it--understanding of who the LORD is and what He wants from us, and understanding of what His mission is and how we can join Him on that mission.

There are things that the wicked man dreads that keep him up at night because he is afraid that he will become a victim of someone else just like he has victimized others, and the LORD will do exactly that to the wicked man.  He will cause him to get caught up in his own wickedness and fall victim to his own schemes and traps.  The things that he fears will come true.  The LORD will not protect the wicked from the disaster that comes upon them as a natural consequence of their actions.  However, the desires of the righteous (to be more like God, to pass along their faith to the next generation, for good things for their neighbors, etc.) are all things that the LORD loves to do for them, and He gives them the desires of their heart at He makes their desires His desires.

The storms of life come and the wicked are destroyed, much like the foolish man who built his house on the sand in the parable that Jesus told.  The wise man however is firmly established.  The storms of life come and go, and he is still standing firm like the wise man who built his house on the Rock in Jesus' parable.

The sluggard is an irritant like vinegar to the mouth or smoke to the eyes.  No one really wants to be around that kind of person.  Solomon hasn't talked much about the sluggard or slothful person to this point, but this person shirks the responsibilities that God gave him to take care of himself and his family.  He expects others who have worked hard to save for themselves and their families to use their reserves to take care of him (and maybe his family) so that he doesn't have work.  Slothfulness is a sin, and the book of Proverbs will have much to say about it.

We have talked quite a bit already about the fear of the LORD, but Solomon reminds us that the fear of the LORD brings longer, more abundant life.  Wickedness on the other hand cuts our lives short and steals the joy that the LORD intends for us to have.  Even the years that we do have seem void, empty and meaningless.  The LORD wants you to have life both eternal and abundant, but that can only be found in Christ.

The hope of the righteous (I think this speaks of the eternal life that comes through the salvation that God provides through Christ) brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked (that they will be able to get away with their wickedness unpunished) will perish as they will be judged, condemned, and enter eternal damnation if they die outside of Christ.  You choose your destiny by what you choose to do with the one Way of salvation that the LORD has offered freely to everyone at great cost to Himself, but at no cost to you (other than giving up control of your life to the one who is already both King of Kings and Lord of Lords).  If you want to know more about this, please use the website's contact form, reach out to me on Facebook if we're friends there, or reach out to me on Discord if we're friends there.  You can even DM me on Twitch if we are friends there (that message may take me a little longer to see though).  I would love to tell you how you can have a change in identity in Christ.