Proverbs 13:7-11--The Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 13:7-11
English Standard Version
​7 One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
    another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
8 The ransom of a man's life is his wealth,
    but a poor man hears no threat.
9 The light of the righteous rejoices,
    but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
10 By insolence comes nothing but strife,
    but with those who take advice is wisdom.
11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
    but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

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If you're my age or older, you might remember a Super Bowl commercial from what seems like not that long ago with a guy on his riding mower with a "plastic" smile (fake smile) talking about how he had seemed to have everything--a nice house with a nice yard, a nice car.... from outward appearances he was living the American Dream.  He asked, "How do I do it?" and then replied, "I'm in debt up to my eyeballs."  It's a sad fact that those who don't have money often want to give the impression that they do and borrow money they don't have and cannot ever afford to pay back.  So it is in the first verse of today's passage with those who pretend to be rich.  Also, let's take a moment here to say that wealth has a far greater meaning in the Bible than measuring your assets and liabilities and finding the difference in an accounting ledger.  The man who has a relationship with God and has eternal life and peace with God is far wealthier than the foolish man who is rich by the world's standards that will one day die, and all of his "wealth" will be left behind.  We see too from the passage that sometimes those who are rich pretend to be poor because they prefer to buy a regular-sized house that is just right for them and their families and they drive normal cars--maybe even used cars, and they don't splurge on vacations and luxurious living.  You would never know how wealthy they are.  Often times they are the people who silently give generously to the local church and to missions and other charities because they believe God has given them money so that they can use it to fund gospel ministries they want to partner with.

A rich man often is owned by his wealth instead of owning the wealth.  What I meant by that is that the rich man gets so concerned about all of his businesses and investments and security for his property.  All these things are things that a poor person never thinks about--they only think about clothing, shelter and food (and often these things would be provided by their master if they are someone's servant).  A wealthy man often realizes how much simpler life was when he has less to keep track of.  A poor man doesn't even really worry about thieves and robbers because he has nothing of value for them to steal.

The righteous man rejoices and continues to live in a way that glorifies God and is a blessing to others.  The wicked man however--what little light he has will be snuffed out if he continues to live in rebellion to the LORD.  He will die in his trespasses and sins and die without hope.

Those who are insolent, overconfident, proud person speaks in boatful and hurtful ways that do nothing but bring division and strife.  He uses his words to hurt and not to encourage and uplift people.  However, the wise person will be the one who swallows his pride and takes advice from wise counselors.

Wealth that is gained hastily (probably referring to things like an inheritance or large gift) seems to disappear quickly.  It's not the same as working hard and making small investments over time (which is what the second part of the verse speaks of).  Ultimately, there is more gain to making the sacrifices and saving the money bit by bit, and there is also some sound investment strategy here to make regular deposits into savings and the account will one day surprise you.  If you just deposit a big lump sum and never make additional deposits, then you'll only ever withdraw money from the account, taking away the principal that's there and soon the account will be empty as you are tempted to use that money to buy things that you would have never bought before.  This is not something that I will say always happens, but it happens quite often, and it's something that Solomon wanted to warn his son about (especially if Solomon's son was going to inherit all of Solomon's wealth).