Proverbs
10:2–3 (NKJV)
2
Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers from death.
3 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the
desire of the wicked.
The proverbs of Solomon guide and teach us in order that
we might be full of wisdom; in order that we might govern our daily affairs in
a way that glorifies and honors our Creator and Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. In
Proverbs chapter 10, Solomon begins to identify practical ways that the law of
God teaches us wisdom. So today he urges us to place our confidence in the
Lord, not in riches.
Because God is our Father, He knows that we need food,
clothing, and shelter. He is not ignorant of our necessities and of the fears
we have of going without, nor of the desires that drive us to accumulate more.
Jesus responds to our fears and longings in the Sermon on the Mount:
““Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all
these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need
all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and
all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31–33)
Jesus reminds us to put our trust in the Lord in the face
of our fears and longings, to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,
knowing that He will care for us. Righteousness, Solomon reminds us, delivers
from death.
Unfortunately, rather than trusting in the Lord, we often
let our fears and longings drive us to sin. We become so consumed with the
longing for wealth that we ignore or violate God’s law in order to obtain more.
For example, we steal from God, withholding our tithe from Him and acting as
though what we possess is our own and not His gift. We also steal from others;
we take money from the cash register, steal credit card information, or lie on
our declarations of income in order to obtain a larger grant. We vote to tax the
hard won earnings of our neighbor or to confiscate his lawful inheritance. We
become miserly, refusing to share with others the wealth that God has shared
with us. In all these ways and more we endeavor to accumulate, in the words of
our text, “treasures of wickedness” imagining that they will profit us
or protect us. But they won’t. Why not? Because God is watching and He casts
away the desire of the wicked.
So reminded that we are to place our trust in the Lord,
to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and that we are not to
accumulate for ourselves treasures of wickedness, let us confess that we
often permit our fears and longings to drive us to sin. And as we confess, let
us kneel before the Lord as we are able. We will have a time of silent confession
followed by the corporate confession in your bulletin.
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