Blessings for the Righteous

December 30, 2021

Proverbs 11:27

He that diligently seeks good procures favour: but he that seeks mischief, it shall come unto him. 

What you seek is what you get. But those seeking what is good are not half-hearted seekers. With importunate and relentless fervor they bang on the gates of heaven, and like Jacob wrestling with the angel, they cry out, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 

Nevertheless, what you seek is still important. Those who strive hard to satisfy the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, will produce misery, suffering, and destruction for themselves, their relationships, and their institutions. Here, the Word uses the same word for sin and the consequences of sin. Those who strive to do evil will bring evil down on their own heads. 

But the converse is true as well. Those who seek what is good and profitable, those who seek to love God and walk rightly with Him, will receive God’s favor. Our Lord Jesus Christ repeats this promise in Matthew 7:7–8 in these words, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.” 

Proverbs 11:28

He that trusts in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. 

What an apropos verse for an affluent age! When a man owns a home paid in full, and has his retirement account of one hundred twenty thousand dollars neatly stowed away in a bank somewhere, he says to himself, “‘Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God says unto him, ‘You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you.’ Then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?” (Luke 12:19–20). Whenever we feel a little extra cash deep in our pockets, or we review our cushioned savings accounts, almost instinctively we want to remove our eyes from God as our constant Help and Sustainer, for just a minute or two. Of course, this trust in money (or self) is both ridiculous and insane! Riches are terribly uncertain. They are here today and gone tomorrow. In no time, the value of money may be reduced to practically nothing, and even hard metals are practically useless when there is nothing that money can buy. Lawsuits and government tyranny may reduce us to poverty overnight. It is the idolatrous hearts of men that constantly grope after some other god, hoping they will stand in good stead in the day of trouble. But alas, these idols are nothing but dry, spindly branches on the cliff of destruction—utterly incapable of preventing the inevitable slide into the abyss. 

Meanwhile, the righteous man will flourish like a branch only because he is trusting in God. Grafted into the Vine and holding to Christ, this man refuses to allow any other god to dominate his life. 

Family Discussion Questions: 

1. What are the sorts of things that we seek after with great diligence and persistence? 

2. How do we look at our belongings, our bank accounts, and our net worth? Are we trusting in our riches more or less today than we did five years ago?