Proverbs 10:22 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Proverbs 10:22

Comments

Blessing, which comes from the Hebrew verb 'to kneel', is a picture of an ordinary poor subject kneeling before a king, and receiving from the king, some gift, some tremendous provision. So the king of olden times, may have brought an ordinary subject before him, and bestowed some special favour, given him some land or some privilege. We are talking here about the blessing of the Lord, undeserved, unearned, the free favour of God. We can only have the blessing and the favour of God by his kindness and mercy, we can never earn it. By virtue of what Christ has done on Calvary, in bearing the punishment for our sins, and offering up His perfect righteousness for us, so without doubt this little parable or picture is about the salvation and the favour of God. The blessing of the Lord makes a person extremely wealthy. But we can just pause with that for a moment, because what are riches? Well in olden times if you were given a fortune, and you were made rich, as today, what did it do for you? Obviously money bought you food and clothing, and shelter, in abundance. You could have a wonderful house, and grounds, and estates. If you were rich, you did not have to engage in hard physical toil. Why should you? You could afford servants. If you are rich you can afford to rest a little. If you are rich, you can afford beautiful things, you have got security. If you are only comfortably off, you could fear that one day you may lose your security. But if you are rich you have nothing to fear, you have got more than enough to cushion you against all the problems of life. If you are rich you can get the very best counsel, you can afford the best advisers. You have the money to be hospitable on a large scale. You can do constructive things and build things, and shape the entire region, and put your stamp upon it. The blessings of this life – even if they are ever obtained – bring much sorrow: the inability to enjoy them, the realisation that they are not capable of satisfying the soul, the curse of a bad conscience, and the knowledge that they must all be lost at death, if not before. But how different is the blessing of the Lord, for it is given in righteousness. The forgiveness of sins at the start makes us able to enjoy God’s blessing without reservation, for although we do not deserve it, grace has given it us in conformity with the law. It is ours to keep forever. Furthermore, the hardships that we experience along the way, do not detract in any degree from God’s blessing, for all things work together for our good, and our reward is in the world to come, not here, and is reserved for us in heaven.

Application

All those things are true of the Christian life, in a spiritual sense. In Christ we have spiritual clothing, He provides for us, and in the word, we have food and pleasure and enjoyment, and beautiful things. We have everlasting security, and we have the finest of counsel, and we have the character by the grace of God, and the knowledge and the grasp of his word, to be hospitable to other needy souls and to bring them in, and to nourish them in truth and to be the means of God for their salvation. And we have the opportunity to have such influence.

You could think that to have riches was a great strain, because in the world you have got to protect them, and maintain them and worry about them in some degree, and you could suffer setbacks and losses, but that never happens with spiritual riches. There can be no failure of the promises of God, and no regrets either. Yes, in this life we still have regret because of sin, but not because of our spiritual blessings. No Christian in his or her right mind in a proper relationship with the Lord, is ever in a position of saying, 'I wish I were a worldling again'. Oh that is not a thing we would ever want to say, because of the nature of the wonderful blessings which are ours. So this is a verse which encourages and introduces to the challenge of this next section.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Proverbs 10:22 Commentary and Bible Study