At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“In the house of the righteous is much treasure: But in the revenues of the wicked is trouble” (Prov. 15:6).
This is a proverb that envisions the righteous and the wicked both having resources. But it is apparent that they have and hold them quite differently.
The way the contrast is set up, the righteous have “much treasure,” and this treasure is contained in the “house of the righteous.” When the contrast is made with the revenue of the wicked, which contains a bunch of “trouble,” we can see the point of comparison. The wicked have revenue and trouble, and the righteous have treasure, and it is treasure that is trouble-free. It is treasure all the way down.
We see this principle elsewhere in Proverbs:
“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22).
Just as a liar has to have a very good memory because the tale gets more and more complicated as he goes on, so also the revenue of the wicked, dependent as it is upon shady deals, false weights and measures, not to mention various forms of ambiguity, is a rich reservoir of troubles.
Because the wicked are driven by an irrational lust, the troubles are thought to be the cost of doing business. Rather than give up the revenue, they will continue to budget for the troubles—and of course, blaming everybody else for them.
In contrast, the righteous are enabled by the grace of God to simply enjoy what they have, whether their treasures are large or small. Paul had learned the secret of contentment, whether full or hungry, whether abounding or going without. In this condition, whatever he had, it was good all the way to the bottom of the cup.
