Grace & Peace: Proverbs 17:3

At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

He that laboureth laboureth for himself; For his mouth craveth it of him (KJV).
The person who labors, labors for himself, For his hungry mouth drives him on (NKJV).

Proverbs 16:26

A working man’s hunger is the equivalent of a blinking fuel gage. God created us in such a way as to require food, and without it we cease to function.

In the first place, a man works for himself. This is simple creational self-interest, and there need be no selfishness in it. The things that make us want to watch out for ourselves—seeking warmth, or shelter, or food, or drink—might provide an occasion for sin, but there are not sinful in themselves.

If a man wants to come in out of the rain, that is in his self-interest to do so, but it need not be selfish. If a man wants to eat when he is hungry, or drink when he is thirsty, that need not be selfish and sinful. We can say the same about all of our creational desires.

Not only so, but God made these desires in such a way as to motivate us. Here in this proverb, a man’s hunger drives him on. He keeps working because he wants to have dinner that night.

One of the great mistakes that Christians make when it comes to economics is the mistake of confounding self-interest, which God gave to us, and selfishness, which we collaborated with the devil on. Selfishness and self-interest are not the same thing at all. 

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: And his children shall have a place of refuge (KJV).
In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge (ESV).

Proverbs 14:26

One of the more surprising things about Scripture is how the fear of the Lord is treated, and how much it clashes with what we tend to assume about it. We tend to think of all fear as being the same kind of thing, something that is a craven or crawling thing. And it is true that the fear of God is rightly called fear, in that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), and we are to worship God rightly in reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:28-29), for God is a consuming fire. So being thunderstruck with awe does have something in common with ordinary fear.

But this proverb points to the great difference. The fear of the Lord is our delight, our joy, and to the most immediate point, our strength. One of the things that the fear of the Lord does is to provide the God-fearer with strong confidence. Not only so, but the one fearing God also knows that his children will have a place of refuge. “With salvation’s walls surrounded, thou mayest smile at all thy foes.”

It is as though there is a spiritual toggle switch, which means that if we fear man then we will not fear God. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). The two fears exclude one another. The man who fears God does not live in the fear of man. The one who lives in the fear of man does not fear God.  

So that is why this proverb can speak as plainly as it does, using terms that appear to be inconsistent. They are not inconsistent at all. The fear of God is strong confidence. Strong confidence arises from this fear.

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

In all labour there is profit: But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury…

Proverbs 14:23

Everyone knows that the book of Proverbs frequently contrasts work with laziness. Work leads to wealth, and laziness leads to poverty. So much is . . . well, proverbial.

But there are variations on the theme, and this proverb is one of those variations. This is not a proverb about hard work in the field and lying on the couch at home. It is not a comparison between work and sleep. Rather, it is a contrast between work and talking about work. 

Now of course, we have to be careful here because there is a kind of talking about work that actually is a part of the work. We call it planning, or brainstorming, or outlining. This is preparation for work that is the first part of the work. In fact, because this is part of the work, it is what gives the mere talker the cover he needs to justify his talk, the kind that leads only to penury. 

Penury is a condition of extreme poverty or destitution. Talking about not becoming poor is a great way to become really poor.

Anyone who is acquainted with those who know how to work hard knows how to tell the difference between the talk of workers and the talk of idlers. If you have ever gotten up early for a work day with a bunch of farmers, you know how they all like to pull up in their big rigs, get out of them in order to chat for about fifteen minutes. They do this as a preliminary exercise before putting in a hard 12 hour day.

But the talking idler is one who wants to substitute the chat in for the work. He wants to replace one with the other. And that leads only to poverty.  

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At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)

The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: But the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.

Proverbs 14:11

There is a double contrast in this passage. The first and more obvious one is the contrast between the wicked and the upright. One category disregards the holy word of God, and the other embraces it, submitting to it. 

The other contrast is between a house and a tent, between a permanent structure and a temporary one. And with that contrast stated, each dwelling place has something surprising said about it. The house, the permanent dwelling, will be overthrown. The tent, the tabernacle, the temporary dwelling place, will flourish.

Put another way, the security of the wicked is insecure, and the apparent insecurity of the saints is founded on a rock. 

The wicked man likes to have a tangible scoreboard, something he can point to. “See, look at that, and see how I am prospering.” And God says to him, in effect, “you fool. This night your life is required of you” (Luke 12:20).

By way of contrast, the upright lays up treasure in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves cannot break in and steal (Matt. 6:19-20). He may look like a pilgrim, or a wayfaring stranger, but he is actually nothing of the kind. The tabernacle of the upright will flourish. Abraham dwelt in tents, but Abraham was also a very wealthy man—and with both kinds of wealth.

There are many places where this principle may be applied, but this is most certainly one of them. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

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