Proverbs 22:26-29

Proverbs 22:26-29
English Standard Version
​26 Be not one of those who give pledges,
    who put up security for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
    why should your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
    that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work?
    He will stand before kings;
    he will not stand before obscure men.

---

Solomon again encourages those who are listening to him to not put up security (cosign) for a loan someone else takes out.  He also has encouraged us to neither borrow nor lend money to each other (as God's people).  We should simply give to each other expecting nothing in return.  Solomon points out the folly of someone using things like their bed as collateral on a loan.  If you're that bad off where you don't have the finances to ensure payment without the need for collateral, why would put your bed at risk of being taken from you (probably they put their house and all that was in it up as collateral).  Remember that the land and the houses built on it were to be the eternal inheritance of the families as a sign of the everlasting covenant that the LORD made with His people.  They were not to sell or trade their land or put it up as collateral for a loan.

That takes us to the next point.  Don't move the boundary markers that show what land belongs to you and your family to try to steal land that rightfully belongs to your neighbor.  God gave you and your family exactly what He meant for you to have, and God gave your neighbor exactly what he meant for them to have.  This doesn't seem like as large of an offense to us as it was for the people in that day and time as they were not just stealing land, but something that God had made an eternal covenant and promised that portion of land would forever belong to that family as long as that family existed (and didn't get kicked out of the covenant community for reasons that you can find in the Law).

Solomon then encourages people to have excellence in their work, even if it is in manual labor or seemingly menial jobs.  Even kings will take notice of fine craftsmanship and attention to detail and want to meet such people to have them work for him.  Such people will eventually get to the point where all the important and rich people will want him to work for them that he will never work before "obscure" (common, everyday) people ever again.  While we know this isn't the story for everyone who works hard in such jobs, it is the way that God wants things to work and wisdom of God that we should pass down so that future generations know the value of hard work and the reward that should come from someone doing a good job.