At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“Riches profit not in the day of wrath: But righteousness delivereth from death” (Prov. 11:4).
We have a very common knowledge of one application of this proverb. When we die, as all of us will, we go to meet our Maker. And when we take that long journey, as our proverb goes, “you can’t take it with you.” Or, put another way, there are no U-Haul trailers behind the hearse.
For the unbeliever, the day he dies . . . it is over. “When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: And the hope of unjust men perisheth” (Prov. 11:7). So when an evil man dies, his hope dies with him. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). So the obvious application of this proverb has to do with the day we die. A man’s riches, particularly if they are ill-gotten riches, will provide no comfort of advantage where he is going. The one who is delivered from death is the one who has a righteousness that can so deliver. And as every believer knows, the only righteousness that can do that for us is the righteousness of another, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
But there is another application of the proverb that we can make. The proverb is true in this life as well. In times of famine, you can’t eat your gold. In times of war, your wealth as often as not will make you a target of marauders. In a flood, your riches will just sink you to the bottom faster.
In times of crisis, it is better to go into that crisis righteous and naked than morally stupid and well-clothed. The righteous man will still have his wits about him. He can think clearly. The indolent and wealthy man has been lulled to sleep by all he possesses, and a sense of entitlement is really not a good preparation for an unexpected tsunami of troubles. Although such a man could hire the help he needs, it is often the case that his understanding of such practical matters has been dulled by all the surfeiting.
