Proverbs 28:25 Commentary and Bible Study

What one person strives to obtain for himself he does not find, while another who trusts in the Lord is given what he did not seek. There is nothing devious about the man in the second half of the proverb, as if he was aiming at increasing his earthly substance all along, and simply found an indirect way of doing so. No, this man genuinely puts the Lord first in all his thinking, so that he almost loses sight of what the other focuses on. The first man has a broad or a large soul, but this is not a description of something good as is obvious from the comparison. He is large hearted not in the sense that he has much concern for other people in their needs and troubles. Instead he is large hearted for himself. He has a soul with large appetites and they are all focused on himself, so that many translations render the word ‘large’ as ‘greedy’. The KJV interprets with the word ‘proud’, which links well to ‘stirs up strife’, since pride always creates contention. If ‘proud’ is the thought here, then it contrasts well with the simple, humble trust that the believer has in the Lord. The second half of the verse is literally, ‘shall be made fat’, a much more graphic translation than simply ‘shall prosper’. ‘Stirs up strife’ is set against ‘shall be made fat’ but these are not opposites. As so often, Solomon adds further elements to the comparison to take us by surprise and get us thinking. Strife never brings the spiritual prosperity that the Christian should seek after.The Lord knows what we are and what he has made us, and he does not deny that we have earthly needs. Christ says, ‘your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you’ (Matthew 6:32-33). He who trusts in the Lord trusts him for all his needs, needs which go far beyond the physical. He does not reduce himself to a being that has only a body, but remembers he has an eternal soul also. Ironically the one with, literally, ‘a broad soul’ does not think much about his soul or what feeds it, but treats himself as if he had no soul, no spiritual part, no eternal future to face. Strife comes because there is inevitably competition for the limited resources of earth so that my neighbour becomes my fellow contestant in a race where I run to win at his expense. In the Christian world view however, there are no limits for God has infinite resources and his unending supply is the arena in which we are to love one another. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Altruism is genuine and not a devious mechanism for short-term payback to the individual or even the group.