7.6.18

Daily Bible Study - Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.

Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV).

God doesn't make you feel bad for being blessed, and being blessed, you will have material gain.

The root word in the original language is "ashar", which means "to be or become rich".

If you look at the other instances, the context is, even in the derivations, about wealth, though certainly some of the different tangible forms of it.

Why do I make such an emphasis?

First, because Jesus was an ascetic of sorts, and so were many of his disciples, and modern folks in thinking that they need to be more like Jesus, believe that they must also likewise be without any material attachment.

Second, add on top of this the secular systems of morality where reality is often treated as a zero-sum, where to win someone else always must lose, and so even if you believe you've gained by legitimate means, you're actually still guilty of taking from someone else even if you don't understand how.

In this light, modern Christians are prompted to be ashamed of God's blessings. Making good choices and reaping the rewards carries a connotation of conquest, not simply of achievement. The temptation is to believe that, not only should we not strive in this life, even if we are granted gain by God, it's our job and our duty to divest ourselves as soon as possible so that we can "be a blessing unto others".

Yet in this passage, when God blesses, God adds no sorrow. Think about that.

It should make sense. Why would God bless people and then send along sorrow?

Well, if God were capricious or vindictive like the gods of man's creation, then it would make sense because the love was not genuine or unconditional, but entirely conditional and subject to change.

Convincing people that God is no different than a god or gods is a surefire way to undermine any other claims that would follow, which makes sense given that this position is held by the portion of the world which is in rebellion with God. If there's only one genuine path to salvation, then it won't matter which alternative people actually end up on, so long as they do not take that one path.

Misery loves company, an so one should not just seek to denigrate God, but any benefit that a follower of God could obtain through their association with God. They have to poison the entire well and then seek to fill it with rocks and do anything they can to discourage genuine faith and the obedience which is a reflection of that faith.


We should not be sorrowful at the disparity of circumstances that exists between those God has blessed and those God has not blessed. We should not add in sorrow that God did not intend for us, that we think is justified by an incoherent secular morality.

God's blessings will make one rich, and God does not intend for sorrow to be your response to such blessings.

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