Day 191 Joyfully Poor | Proverbs 16:19-20

Joyfully Poor

19 

Better to live humbly with the poor
     than to share plunder with the proud.

20 

Those who listen to instruction will prosper;
     those who trust the Lord will be joyful.

Verse 19

A man who is rich and proud is selfish. He will want to keep his possessions to himself.

Humble but poor people are much more likely to share what they have.

Verse 20

A wise person obeys instructions. He learns more, and so he becomes even more wise.

We must trust in God. People may trust many different things. They may trust in money, or governments. But the wise person trusts God, so God helps him.

Today's first saying, like yesterday's, warns against pride. It's better to be poor than to be arrogant and take advantage of others.

Verse 20 is often misunderstood. Some people use it to try to force God to make them rich, thinking that because it's in God's Word, He has to give them prosperity. But this is a greedy misinterpretation, similar to why people play the lottery. We can't make God do anything; we are His creations, not His controllers.

Let me ask you: Do you play the lottery? Do you only play when the jackpot is really high? Why? Isn't playing the lottery driven by greed?

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