Proverbs 17:1-5

Proverbs 17:1-5
English Standard Version
17 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
    than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully
    and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
    and the LORD tests hearts.
4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
    and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;
    he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

---

"Godliness with contentment is great gain."  I think that's what Solomon is going for in the first verse here.  It is better to live a quiet and godly life with little than to be a socialite that is always going to parties and throwing parties, living the life of someone rich and famous, and to have constant conflict with both God, man, and self.

While the son was supposed to be ruler over his father's household, there were good and wise servants who were entrusted to be caretakers of their master's son.  The wise servant who guarded his master's most treasured possession and treated his master's child as his own (or better) would be rewarded in the day his master died and he received an equal part of the inheritance to the son that he watched over (or half as much if it was the firstborn son who got a double portion, as he received an equal part as the "other brothers").​

Even the most precious of metals are tested by fire so that their dross can be consumed and/or removed, leaving only the purest of gold or silver remaining.  So it is with us that the LORD tests us to refine us like skilled refiner purifies silver or gold.  No one likes going through the fire, but it is necessary to make us into the people that God wants us to be.

The evil person listens to other wicked mischievous people.  They are not only quick to listen, but quick to go along with and participate in all kinds of evil which is described in places like 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, and some other passages that talk about the things that are abominations to the LORD.  Romans 1 tells us that the wicked person is not content just to do evil, but they must get others to applaud the evil they do and try to teach others do evil and ask others to celebrate this.  That looks and sounds a lot like our fallen, broken world of today.

The wicked also look at people as being valuable only for what they can get out of a person.  If a person is "poor" in their eyes--of little to no value in their value judgment--then they despise them and mistreat them, often without guilt or shame.  However, that person no matter their net worth or any other measure of value is made in the image of God and therefore has an intrinsic value that can't be calculated with accounting formulas and ledgers.  God will not let such a person who mistreats the poor go unpunished.  He has sinned not only against the man, but against God who made that man in His image.  The man who is made glad by the destruction and downfall of others (especially the godly) will also be punished by the LORD.  This is one that is especially hard if you've been on the receiving end of being mistreated and you want to pray for the LORD to punish the wicked people who have mistreated you, but you should not take delight in their downfall.  Pray for them first and foremost to repent and be restored to the LORD.  "Do not repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good."  "But I say to you, bless those who curse you and pray for those despitefully use you."  We entrust such things to our Father in heaven who loves and protects His children, and we allow Him to deal with things in His way and in His time and to the praise of His glory.