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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Proverbs 28:20
Comments
Like the two previous proverbs this teaches that those who pursue riches will not find them, but those who pursue righteousness will not lack anything that they need in this life. How little control we really have over our lives, and how little power we have to secure even the basics of life. The wise man therefore lives in dependence on God and praises him for the skill in which he conducts us through life. He does not pretend that he has powers which he does not have to arrange the outcome of life or to guarantee even the most meagre supply. Instead he focuses on what pleases the Lord, for if the Lord is pleased – although we must always say that we are unprofitable servants – then he will take care of the rest. This ability to resign into God’s hands all manner of things that are in reality outside our control is a wonderful relief to the soul. The foolish man burdens himself with many impossible goals which deny him peace. The believer can come to the position where he or she is trusting in God and watching with great admiration as he works out all the details of our lives. There may be trials to go through, but these are best handled by those who are confident in the Lord’s overall loving intentions towards his children.But he who hastens to be rich, he who is preoccupied with material things, and spends all his energies trying to gain more in this life will be punished. Why punished? What has he done wrong? He has left God out of the reckoning. He has acted as if God was not there to bless. He has tried to obtain more for himself than God in his wisdom has allotted him, and he has made an idol out of earthly riches. This is no minor misdemeanour, but a sin which characterises the whole course of the person’s life. We are created to have God at the centre of our being in the place where he deserves to be. He is a jealous God who will not allow another person or thing to usurp his place. This jealousy is not a failing in God but is right and true because he is the greatest of all beings and it is a great evil if his greatness is not recognised. God does not show false modesty by taking any other position; he will not give his glory to another.
Application
How can we be trusting the Lord to provide for us if we are constantly worrying about our future material needs? Worry and anxiety about these things is a sign that our faith is weak and this should prompt us to go to God to ask him to change us. We must deliberately take our minds off these things and ask repeatedly and with a sense of hopelessness, ‘What shall we eat? What shall we put on?’ Anxieties should be tackled and should prompt us to go to prayer because we see that God needs to work in us. We do not despair when we see such faults in us, but we know that God needs to do more work within us.
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