At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith” (Proverbs 15:16).
We should first address the teaching of this proverb, which is quite straightforward, and secondly, we should look at the method of reasoning.
A man should prefer to be poor and one who fears God, on the one hand, than to be a very rich man who has abundant wealth alongside abundant troubles. When God gives wealth for blessing, He gives the ability to enjoy that wealth alongside the wealth. When God grants wealth apart from the spiritual resources to enjoy it, the net result is not a blessing at all. “And he gave them their request; But sent leanness into their soul” (Psalm 106:15).
Think about it. What would you rather have? A world class chef, a high end kitchen, a full pantry, a huge rack of exotic spices, imported wines, and rich desserts . . . and no taste buds, or a bag of baby carrots and the ability to taste them?
As we have gone through the book of Proverbs, we have had occasion to remark many times on this distinctively biblical approach to keeping your priorities where they ought to be.
The method of reasoning is this: it is better to have X and not Y than to have not X and Y. This presents us with two options, even though we recognize that logically there are four options. You could have both X and Y, and you might miss out on both. But the way Proverbs presents the choice helps us to rank things the way we should.
It is better to be poor and good looking than to be rich and ugly. If we rush to say that what we really want is to be rich and good looking, we are missing the point of the lesson. And if people who reason that way wind up both poor and ugly . . . well, we tried to warn them.
