He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf. Proverbs 11:28

What makes you feel safe and secure?  What do you rely upon to make you confident about these things.  Today in our look at Proverbs we will see how two types of people seek security and safety, but how only one of them will truly obtain it. 

Our proverb tells us of a man who "trusts in his riches."  The word for trust is the Hebrew word "batah" which means to not just trust, but to have a confident trust.  This man feels secure and safe - without fear - as a result of his riches.  He may have a bank account that is full - a set of stocks that are the best on the market in returns - plus a sure-fire business model that assures him of success in life for years and years to come.  This is what makes him feel confident - his wealth.  Here is the problem with this man.  Scripture tells us that the one who trusts in his riches will fall.  This word is a very frightening one.  It means to fall down to a prostrate position.  Here it has the idea of being overthrown.  The overthrow described here is death.  Regardless of what amount of money you have - and how secure that you think it is - your money will not survive your death.  In Psalm 49:5-9  we read the following,  "Why should I fear in days of adversity, When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me, even those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches? No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him— for the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever— that he should live on eternally, That he should not undergo decay."

The Psalmist here reminds us that no amount of money will be able to pay for a soul and the redemption it needs.  The man who trusts in his wealth - who thinks that the abundance of his riches will rescue him from death and from the punishment due for his sins - is in for a tremendous amount of disappointment.  The day will come when he will stand on the same footing as any other human being - and have to give an account for his sin.  If anything, the fact that he has wealth and riches will make his judgment even more stringent.  Jesus said that to whom much is given - much will be required.  The man who trusted in his riches rather than trusting in Jesus Christ - will end up in the lake of fire for all eternity.

The righteous are contrasted with this unwise rich man.  In fact we are told that the righteous man will flourish like a green leaf.  This is the man who realized that there is no amount of money that could ever pay for redemption.  His desire to please God and to honor Him will make this man do everything in his power to obey God.  He does not look for a righteousness based on money - or even on his own good works.  He knows that the man who will flourish in this life and stand in the next is the man who has been justified (made righteous) by faith.  Thus his life is not spend trying to earn God's favor and love - he knows that such things have already been purchased by the blood of Christ.  His desire is rather to listen to God - walk in fellowship with Him - and - out of that fellowship enjoy spiritual growth.  This is why he will flourish like the green leaf.  He is not trusting in growing himself.   He trusts in a God who blesses him first with righteousness to stand in His presence - and then trusts Him to lead him in the way that will glorify God in all that he does. 

What are you trusting to make you secure?  If you think your security depends on how much money you have here in this life - or how great your wealth and insurance coverage is - you will lose everything.  If instead you see that there is only really one security issue, you will do well.  If you grasp that the clear and present danger is the wrath of God for sin - you will choose the way that will make you stand righteous in that day - and that righteousness only comes through the gospel - and the gift of it by God in response to repentance and faith in those who believe on Jesus.

The rich man's wealth is his fortress, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.  The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.   Proverbs 10:15-16

To rightly understand the first proverb here in verse 15, we must push on to read it with the proverb in verse 16.  If we do not do this, we will think that the acquisition of money is the end of man's existance.  Although God encourages us to prepare for the future and to work hard so that through His blessing we may leave an inheritance to our children's children, this does not mean that gaining wealth is to be our highest aim. 

We first learn of the fact that money can provide a measure of protection.  The rich man's wealth is his fortress.  There is much that a rich man can do to protect himself from harm due to his wealth.  He is protected from much in life due to this.  A fortress is a place one stays during an attack - it was a place of safety.  For the rich man - his wealth can prevent him from a quick ruin by difficult circumstances.  One example for us to remember is the wisdom of setting aside money for problems that we know will come in the future.  The man who acquires some wealth can set aside money for problems that ARE going to come.  In our society, if you own a car or other mechanical item, you are assured that a breakdown of some sort is in your future.  If you spend everything you have - you will not have anything set aside for this difficulty.  The wise man acquires wealth for this very purpose.  He puts money away for the repair and replacement of such items.  Therefore when a difficult time comes, he has money for these things.  The poor man often is ruined by such situations.  He does not know what to do and often sees ruin come to his financial picture because of debt he obtains seeking to fix or replace things or he just has to do without, which could be a very problematic hardship.  Wealth can be a protection for us.

The problem with this proverb is that one might think wealth is the ultimate protection.  Therefore we must gain wealth however we can.  Such thinking is ungodly - and will lead to ruin, if not now - then in eternity.  Therefore we have a clarification in the next verse.  We are told that the wages or income of the righteous is life - which the income of the wicked is punishment.  If we are seeking righteousness - a life that pursues God and desires to do what God says is true and just - we will be blessed.  We may not have a tremendous amount of money - but we will have what is necessary at the end of the age.  We will have life!  The wicked though, however rich they may become, have a serious problem.  Their income will be punishment.  Thus a man may be tremendously wealthy by all outward appearances - but he may be dirt poor in spirit.  The rich farmer in the gospels had enough to tear down his old barns and build new ones to fill with even more earthly riches - but the very night his soul was required - he was found destitute. 

Remember that wealth and riches are defined in a number of different ways in Scripture.  They may be physical wealth - or they may be spiritual riches in Christ Jesus.  It is wise to remember that to be physically wealthy according to James is to be put in a humble place by God.  It is difficult for an earthly rich man to enter heaven - because he has a bad tendency to trust his riches.  To be poor is also defined different ways.  Whereas it may be a bad thing to be financially poor - it is a blessed state to know that we are poor in spirit.  Realizing these things will help us better define true wealth and true poverty.

"I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries. Proverbs 8:20-21 

What is the way to wealth in this world?  Today many would see that wealth and earthly riches are attainable by any means possible.  People do very ungodly things in order to get rich.  Yet from what we see here in today's proverb, wisdom says that she wants to give wealth to those who walk in righteousness and justice.  So which way is it?  The world's way or wisdom's way?

First of all we read in this passage that wisdom walks in a righteous path.  The words used here indicate that wisdom always walks this way.  This is the very lifestyle of wisdom - to embrace and to walk in righteousness.  Therefore we can rightly assume that those who receive the wealth that wisdom endows also walk in this way.  Second, we read that wisdom also walks in the middle of the path of justice.  The idea here is not that wisdom is trying to walk in the middle - meaning that wisdom sees the path of justice as a tightrope - and that walking wise is a difficult path to follow because it involves walking with a balance.  The idea is that there is the road of justice - and wisdom drives right down the middle of it.  Wisdom does not hug to one side or the other of the road, trying to live as close to the edge as possible.  Instead, wisdom drives right down the middle - choosing the right way every time. 

Wisdom walks in this way so that she can offer to men true wealth.  When wisdom says this to us, we need to see that she says that she wants to endow those who love her with wealth.  The picture painted though is not that our eyes are on the wealth.  Our eyes are fixed on wisdom.  It is not money we love - it is wisdom.  The wealth that she gives us is simply an offshoot of living for her.  This is emphasized even further by the next statement made here - "that I may fill their treasuries."  For those fixated on wealth and money - they see money as the goal.  For those whose hearts are right - they see that wisdom herself is filling their treasuries.  The wealth is wisdom and her ways - wisdom and her paths - wisdom and the ability to walk and choose rightly and justly. 

Will wisdom gives us money?  There are times when this is true - when making a wise choice will help us immediately in the bottom line of our finances.  But there are other times when the right and just choice will negatively affect our immediate bottom line.  No matter which one it is - the man who truly walks in wisdom and seeks her and her ways is not fixated on his bank account.  He longs for wisdom herself.  He desires for the wisdom of God to fill the treasuries of his heart and mind all his days.  This is the promise of wisdom - not a greed-motivated desire for a fat wallet, but rather a love-motivated desire for the fullness of the mind of Christ as we make every decision of life. 

"Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.  My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield better than choicest silver."  Proverbs 8:18-19

Wisdom is speaking to us about riches, wealth, honor, and righteousness.  We live in a world that thinks it truly understands what it means to be rich and wealthy - yet - from what we read here in Proverbs chapter 8 we will learn that what they are pursuing is not true wealth.  Therefore in case we too are confused on this issue it would be wise for us to examine what is written here - and be wise in this area of true riches and wealth.

I find it fascinating that each time wealth or riches is mentioned, these things are qualified in what is mentioned with them.  First we see that wisdom will bring us riches and honor.  Honor speaks not just of having "fake" honor because you are wealthy.  This kind of sychophantic honor is pitiful to watch.  We see those who fall over themselves to show honor publicly to those who have a lot of money - yet who may secretly curse them when they are not around them.  What Proverbs says is that this rich man also receives honor - but it is true honor due to his wisdom, not due to his having a lot of money.  The second phrase says that he will also have "enduring wealth and righteousness."  The idea of enduring is something hat lasts.  It is durable and not subject to decay or to fading away.  But this kind of wealth is found with those who combine it with "righteousness."  They have wealth, but they also do what is right in life - regardless of what their wealth could purchase.  All these things remind us of what our Lord Jesus Christ said - that we should not work for the riches and wealth that are subject to moth and rust - to decay and to thieves.  We should work for and desire the wealth that will last for all eternity.  That is what this passage is saying to us as well by qualifying both riches and wealth with honor and righteousness. 

Finally, we see in verse 19 that the fruit of wisdom is better than even gold - and the purest gold.  The yield of wisdom far outsurpasses even te choicest of silver as well.  After speaking of wealth and riches - it is as if wisdom is saying to us that the best wealth and the richest thing is wisdom itself. 

From time to time I teach classes on economics to high school students.  One of the principles of economics is that due to the fall of man into sin, there will always be a scarcity of what is desired among men.  We fell from a garden that was perfect and abundant in every way - to a world where we would have to work for our food and sustenance by the sweat of our brow.  Even as we worked hard we would not have a perfect yield because the ground would yield thorns and weeds as we worked it.  Thus the principle for us economically after the fall is that there is a limited amount of riches and wealth on this planet.  Not everyone will be rich and wealthy with this world's goods.  But, by God's grace and through the teaching He offers to us through His Spirit, there is untold riches and wealth when it comes to the wisdom He seeks to teach us.  If we would value that wisdom it could be ours without any limits whatsoever.  There are true riches and enduring wealth available to any man who chooses true honor and righteousness.  What will be your choice this day?

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, But the one who gathers by labor increases it. Proverbs 13:11

At times it amazes me how much can be found on business and finances within the book of Proverbs.  There is enough counsel on business decisions and how we handle money to guide us throughout our entire lifetimes.  That is why admonitions like the one today are such a blessing to us if we will heed what is said to us by them. 

Today's proverb counsels us as to the proper way to obtain wealth.  There are many in our day (and actually at any time in history) who are looking for a "get-rich-quick scheme."  They want to obtain wealth any way that they can - and do not realize that to sell our soul or our integrity for any amount of wealth is far too high a price to pay to become rich.  That is the warning that is given to us today in Proverbs.

When we obtain wealth by fraud - we are going to face problems and difficulties in maintaining that wealth.  The word fraud here is the Hebrew word "hebel" and it refers to soemthing that is vain and empty.  It refers to a person's character when it is empty of character - or when the character is fleeting and easily changed.  It also has the idea of being evil as well.  When we seek wealth but do so by being ungodly - we are on the wrong track.

The warning here is that when we get wealth by this kind of fraud, it will dwindle.  It will dwindle first of all because God's blessing will not be upon it.  God is sovereign over the affairs of mankind, and when we go outside what He says and commands, His blessing will be absent from our lives.  There may be wealth to be had on the front end of godless business practices - but the latter end of these men will see a dwindling of their wealth.  What is interesting is how their wealth may dwindle.  One way it dwindles is by others having the same ungodly, fraudulent business practices that eventually takes their money.  The saying, what comes around goes around is the rule here.  The Bible puts it this way, if we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind.  Act ungodly in securing your own riches - someone may use the same ungodly tactics on you later in life.  The second way that wealth may dwindle later in life is through children that have no sense at all when it comes to finances.  Solomon wrote these words about this dwindling of our wealth and riches. 

"Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity."  (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19, NASB)  Some men spend a lifetime gathering wealth by fraud - only to have a son or daughter live foolishly and destroy a fortune left to them.  This is because that child has watched a corrupt father gather millions - and in the process the true riches of that child's character are ruined.  They not only inherit the riches - but also the fatal flaws in their father's actions.  The third way that these riches dwindle is by the man's ability to enjoy them later in life.  The older we get, the less we can enjoy the things of this world.  Our taste buds go - our health goes - and our agility and strength go as well.  So, whether God's judgment and discipline come immediately - or just through the course of life itself - wealth obtained wrongly will dwindle in the end.  And this says nothing of eternity - where fraudulent wealth will disappear altogether as a man loses everything. 

Consider the rich farmer who tore down his old barns to build new ones - thinking that his life indeed only consisted of his possessions.  He was not rich toward God - and faced the loss of everything - most importantly his very soul as he burned in hell for all eternity for his focus on the wrong kind of wealth. 

The promise of this proverb is that if we gather wealth by labor - we will increase.  That is an aspect of his proverb that we need to see clearly.  The translation says that we increase "it" - referring to our wealth.  But the it is not actually in the text.  The phrase says that when we gather wealth by labor - we increase - not just our wealth - but our entire being.  God grows us as we learn to work hard and labor at what pleases and honors Him.

Another aspect of this proverb is that we are to gather wealth gradually - working for it at every turn.  We are warned elsewhere in Proverbs that an inheritance gained quickly - will most likely be wasted.  The prodigal son got his inheritance quickly from his father - but he wasted it on immoral living and wound up eating with the pigs in a foreign land.  There is something to be said to having wealth come slowly by surely by labor and by effort.  There is a promised increase - a blessing that comes as we work hard and appreciate what blessing God has given to us. 

Beware of gaining wealth the wrong way - fraudulently.  It will not give us the true riches that God desires for us to have.  These come by hard work and effort.  This kind of wealth will bring us great blessing in the end.  May God help us to see this kind of wealth - and have a heart to covet it rather than wealth that will harm us instead.

Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. Proverbs 3:16

Wisdom has many benefits for the one who chooses to walk in it.  That is what we are told today in Proverbs 3:16.  We are told that God promises by long life and riches and honor to the ones who walk in wisdom. 

First let us look at the promise of long life.  When a man walks in God's wisdom he will walk in peace.  Wisdom counsels us to be made right with God and to cooperate with Him throughout life.  This will calm a man and grant him a longer life.  Reports come back regularly explaining to us that a peaceful, tranquil heart is great for our health.  Stress will kill a man in the end - because stress will release toxins in the body and cause the heart to have to work much harder than it usually does.  Wisdom will also offer us long life because wisdom calls us away from the excesses of the wicked.  Having embraced a life of moderation and temperance, we will be spared much of the difficulty that comes from the varied gluttonies of life. 

We are also told that wisdom will give us riches and honor.  Throughout the book of Proverbs we read tremendous amounts of wisdom in regard to our finances and how we should operate in business.  Having talked with several of the successful businessmen in my own congregation, they have assured me that reading the proverb of the day - and learning to follow the counsel of Scritpure on financial matters will yield wealth.  I'm not talking about the kind of wealth that the health, wealth, and prosperity people tout.  This is the wealth that acrues due to wise management of our money and our lives. 

Wisdom also holds in her hands honor for us.   The word for honor here is "kabod" - which speaks of a weightiness in life.  This speaks of honor given by others as they see how we live.  Wisdom will help us to live an honorable life in the sight of God, which in turn will move the Lord to grant us honor in the sight of others - and most importantly, in His sight. 

Rather than health, riches, and honor due to a "name it, claim it" type of mentality, this passage is truly teaching us something amazing.  Just for the fun of it - I would call this the "learn it, spurn it" mentality.  As God teaches us wisdom - we learn from Him of His ways and paths.  He instructs us in the way that we should go - and that has reference to everything we do and everything we are.  We learn it - in His presence - by His Spirit - as He endeavors to educate us teaching us His Word.  As we embrace His ways - we also learn to "spurn it."  This simply means that the more we learn of wisdom and of God's Word, the more we will spurn the ways of this world, and the ways of our own flesh.  This will help us to truly be blessed in all that we do. 

Before I finish with this proverb, I would like to show a couple of New Testament verses that reiterate this same principle for us - just using slightly different language.  First is what Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."  Here in very simple language is the pursuit of wisdom.  We learn to seek as the first order of business in our daily lives, His kingdom and His righteousness.  Said another way, we seek for His rule and reign over every thought and action, and we have Him determine what is right in every situation.  Truly this is wisdom - and the promise we receive?  He will add all the other things (here refering to food and clothing) to us. 

The second verse is 1 Timothy 4:8, ". . . for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."  Here we see that wisdom will always lead us to live a godly life.  This godliness is profitable here and now, as well as throughout all eternity.  Seeing this, it is my hope for both you and me that we will embrace her - embrace wisdom - and find that in both hands there awaits us great blessing from God.

A rich man's wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination. Proverbs 18:11

There is something about wealth and riches that make men think that they are insulated from things normal men have to endure.  They often use their money to avoid the troubles of the average man.  Some pay bribes to officials so that they and their family do not have to be arrested or pay for tickets that have been given to them.  But this is only deception.  God will bring down the high wall and the fortress in which they put their trust. 

There was such a man in the New Testament.  In Luke chapter 12 we read about a rich man whose land was very productive.  When a bumper crop came in, he wondered to himself what he should do with it.  His decision was one that consisted of trusting in riches for his future.  He decided to tear down his existing barns and build bigger ones to store all his food for himself.  He truly saw his wealth as a strong city and a high wall behind which he could be safe.  His imagination told him that when he gathered up all his wealth he would be protected and kept from the normal problems and indignities men usually faced.  It was a nice illusion while it lasted.  Problem was for him that it only lasted less than one hour. 

God came to this safe and secure rich man and demanded of his his soul that very hour.  God came to him and revealed to him the foolishness of his choices.  He might have imagined that his money was his real future - but he forgot the one enemy money cannot buy off in the end.  Death was coming to him - his soul was required of him - and there was absolutely nothing that his accumulated wealth could do for him in that moment.  He did not choose to be "rich toward God," and in the end it cost him everything.  Safety in wealth is just a bad illusion.  The only safe place is in the center of God's will.  We may think that our savings will protect us - but the only secure place to store up treasure is in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and thieves cannot break in and steal. 

You may think that your riches provide safety for you - but that is only your foolish imagination.  It is only the lie of the devil and the siren song of the world that would lure you in to destroy you on the rocks of death and the grave.  The only safe place is under the blood of Jesus.  The only true wealth is the wealth that is stored up through our good works done in the name of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.  All other wealth and safety are the epitome of illusory lies.  They will disappear before your eyes at death just as the promising mirage of an oasis disappears before the dreaming eyes of the man who is dying of thirst in the desert. 

Ill-gotten gains do not profit, But righteousness delivers from death.  Proverbs 10:2

What is true treasure?  When I think about this I go back to my childhood memories of the book Treasure Island.  My mind thinks of pirates and those who ride the high seas in search of that most illusive of all things - buried treasure.  I consider the intrigue and the hidden motives and betrayals that await me as I read of a journey based upon a tattered treasure map.  The air is heavy with excitement as the first shovel of dirt and sand is lifted on the very spot where the X is on the map.  That excitement reaches fever pitch as the shovel thuds for the very first time on the chest itself. 

Solomon tells us about a kind of treasure in this proverb.  The phrase "ill-gotten gains," is actually the Hebrew phrase, "The treasures of wickedness."  So we find that there are treasures that no matter how much they say they are worth - are actually worthless.  When we seek our treasures here on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break in and steal, we are only gathering up the treasures of wickedness.  In fact, unless we are locating the X on God's map - the gospel of Jesus Christ - everything we think is true treasure is only a chest filled with filthy rags.  Let me explain further.

Solomon tells us in the second half of this proverb, "but righteousness delivers from death."  What a powerful phrase he has just uttered.  What a prophetic phrase it is as well.  Any treasure that cannot deliver us from death is not a treasure at all. This is where we begin to see there is only one treasure that we should desire.  The Scriptures say some interesting things about this Treasure.  Jesus asked the question, 'What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?' (Matthew 16:26)  There is an interesting question.  What will you give in exchange for your soul?  What amount of money or earthly treasure will pay the price for our souls?  The psalmist answers that question when he says, 'No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him—For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever.'  (Psalm 49:7-8)

There is NO price in human terms that will ever be able to buy our souls.  The problem is not with a financial price, it is with the currency that must be paid for our souls.  Our problem is that the price tag is blood - blood of an holy sacrifice offered to God.  The price is the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  He paid the final and ONLY acceptable price for our souls.  When he gave up His Spirit on the cross His final cry was, "Tetelestai!"  That is a financial term meaning, "Paid in full!" 

The cost for our souls is perfect righteousness.  We must be absolutely holy and pure to come into God's presence.  Any sin would merit His full wrath being poured out upon us.  Coming into His presence without this righteousness would be as foolish as Nadab and Abihu's approach to God in Exodus.  Their entrance without righteousness resulted in them being consumed by the fire of God instantly.  Considering the fact that God tells us in His Word that all our righteousness is like filthy rags - we quickly see that we are in need of a righteousness that will stand before God.

Praise the Lord, God provided that righteousness Himself through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He came and fulfilled the Law.  He came and lived a perfect life absolutely keeping all God's commandments and precepts.  Then He took our sin upon Himself and paid the horrific penalty of God's wrath.  Through His death, burial, and resurrecton God now forgives our sin and gives us the glorious exchange - His righteousness for our sin.  By the grace of God we have been justified by God.  Justified means, "declared righteous."  As a result of being justified/declared righteous we can now stand before God - not in our own righteousness, but clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  This is the "righteousness that delivers from death." 

All the treasures of all the ages piled as high as the heavens amount to nothing before our holy God.  Added together they still amount to a sum of the "treasures of wickedness."  All the achievements of all the people who have worked to attain them mean nothing in light of our sin.  None of these things profit us - or have profited any son of Adam.  What we need is the "righteousness that delivers from death."  That righteousness was provided by God Himself.  It is only attained when we receive it as a gift by the grace of God.  It comes only through Jesus Christ.  In light of these undisputable Biblical facts there is then only one question to be answered.  Are you trusting in the treasures of wickedness to deliver your soul from death - or - are you trusting in Jesus Christ.  Only He has the righteousness that delivers from death.

Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than he who is crooked though he be rich. Proverbs 28:6

Integrity and honor are character traits that are of high value in the kingdom of God.  They make a person very wealthy even though at the time they may not have a fantastic financial bottom line.  When someone is varying between two stances - which is what this passage called being "crooked," they can have all the money in the world and still be seen as far less successful than the poor man who lives a godly life.  God's way of valuing things and people is far different than that of the world.

The word "crooked" is very interesting.  The literal Hebrew means, "perverse in two ways."  What this describes is someone who is going back and forth between two opinions and two views.  According to the Theological Wordbook of the OT this term refers to the twisted and perverting nature of sin.  The word was also used to describe how a woman twists her hair for the purpose of putting it in braids.  Thus the word came to mean the way that people twist their ways and choices contrary to what God commands and desires.  The word is used to describe the way rulers "twist everything that is straight" (Micah 3:9).  In a similar Proverb about the need for integrity, this same word is used to describe how fools are perverse in their speech. 

Too often the rich think they are beyond the law - or above it because of the influence their money buys in this world.  I have several friends who are police officers who have told me again and again that they have far more trouble out of rich people they pull over for speeding than from any other group.  They are told that they should give the rich person a warning or nothing at all because of all the people they know in City Hall.  They try to throw their influence around to intimidate my friends in law enforcement into ignoring the law - or might we say perverting it.  They want my friends to act crookedly.  These guys write them tickets seeking to enforce the law - only to have them ignored by those in power when they come to court.  Too many of the rich make the mistake of placing their hope in riches and what they provide in this world - rather than in God and the hope of His reward in eternity.  I say this not to absolve the poor of integrity issues - because the problem is not money - it is the love of money.  I've seen the love of money in every financial category there is.  The warning here is to run after integrity and honor - and not allow money to make us think that these things don't matter as long as you are well off financially. 

Just an aside here for our mutual benefit.  I've heard a saying again and again that grieves my heart.  Here is the saying, "Money may not be able to make you happy, but it makes your misery much more bearable."  Those who say that are truly deceived.  They think that a few years of less miserable riches are worth trading for all of eternity.  God does not countenance such foolishness.  They are truly deceived because they do not understand that their momentary happiness in their wealth and stuff will actually make their judgment more severe.  The Scriptures tell us, "To whom much is given, much is required."  Whatever brief comfort they find in their things and their wealth will be infinitely offset by the searing judgment that awaits them for loving the world and therefore not having the love of the Father in them.  Again - that was for free - because I'm tired of fools sounding wise to this world when they are only multiplying their foolishness for a judgment that awaits them at the throne of God.  True wisdom is seeing the end, in this case eternity, and making sound decisions with God's ways in view.

The poor man walks differently here because he walks in his integrity.  The word "walk" is the Hebrew word "halak" which means to come and go, or to walk about.  It was a word that was used to describe a flowing river, the blowing of the wind, and the movement of animals of all kinds.  It was therefore used to metaphorically speak of the pathways of one's life - and came to mean the lifestyle that one chooses.  This poor, wise man has chosen to walk out his life using God's wisdom as his guide.  The best way to describe this integrity that the poor, wise man chooses is to walk with all of our heart in the things of the Lord.  The word here for integrity was used to describe the way that men like David and Job spoke of walking with a perfect heart.  This did not mean these men were sinless - just that they did not want to waver between two opinions and two ways of living.  They wanted to live for the Lord with all their heart - all the time. 

There is something that God values greatly in this world.  But what God values and what men value are two entirely different things.  This world does not value living for God and His ways with a whole heart.  They might give an honorable mention to the occasional religious person who they admire for a few moments because of their devotion to God, but they do not see this as a way of living for all men.  They live for the things of the world - and chase after them with all their heart.  But what is highly valued by men of this world is despised by the Lord.  He is looking for men whose heart is completely given to Him.  How much better it is to be one of these men - regardless of their financial bottom line.  It is far better to be that kind of a man and poor - than to be the richest man on earth and only enjoy it for the mere length of a breath - which is how God describes this life in comparison with eternity.