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GOD’S BLESSING, THE GREATEST RICHES
AMIDST the lessons of practical wisdom which we are taught in the Book of Proverbs, we find a continual reference to God as the source and the end of all. If we attempt to spiritualize the different moral apophthegms, we in fact pervert them, and apply them to a use for which they were never intended: if, on the other hand, we regard them solely in a moral view, without any relation to God, we fall exceedingly short of their true import. In explaining them, therefore, a proper medium must be observed; that we neither strain their meaning, on the one hand; nor enervate it, on the other.
To unfold to you the passage before us, I will shew,
I. In what respects “the blessing of God” may be said to “make us rich”—
This effect may well be ascribed to “the blessing of God,”
1. Because it is in reality the only source of all wealth—
[Men are apt to ascribe their success in life to their own industry, and to the wisdom which they have exercised in the management of their affairs. But this is to rob God altogether of the glory due to him. The people of Israel were guarded against it by God, who particularly cautioned them not, when they should be established in Canaan, to arrogate any thing to themselves; or to “say in their heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth:” for that “it was God alone who had given them power to get wealth [Note: Deu_8:17-18.].” Who sees not how often men fail even in their best-concerted efforts? Success depends, in fact, on so many contingencies, which it is altogether beyond the power of man to control, that the wisest and most industrious of men must of necessity rely on God alone; even as the husbandman, who, though he can plough and sow his land, can command neither the clouds to water it, nor the sun to fructify it with his invigorating rays. No man therefore, however successful, should “sacrifice to his own net, or offer incense to his own drag [Note: Hab_1:16.];” but all must give glory to God alone, “who maketh poor, or maketh rich; and bringeth low, or lifteth up; who raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit a throne of glory [Note: 1Sa_2:7-8.].”]
2. Because it is itself the greatest of all wealth—
[What can be compared with the blessing of God upon the soul? If we succeed in life, it is that which constitutes our chief joy; or, if we fail in our earthly pursuits, it is that which will compensate for the loss of all. The poorest man in the universe is rich, if he have the presence of God with his soul: and the richest man in the universe is poor, miserably poor, if he be destitute of that great blessing. Behold Paul and Silas in prison, their feet fast in the stocks, and their backs torn with scourges; and yet singing praises to God at midnight! Were they poor? They were rich, truly rich; as were the Hebrew youths, when, in the fiery furnace, the Lord Jesus Christ came and walked with them [Note: Dan_3:25.]. To the eye of faith Lazarus was rich, though he subsisted only on the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. And had he been offered an exchange of condition with his opulent benefactor, he would have disdained the offer, and called himself incomparably the richer man. So, in having God for our portion, we are truly rich. St. Paul, under such circumstances, accounted himself the richest man in the universe: and so he was; for, “though he had nothing, yet he possessed all things [Note: 2Co_6:10.].” And in like manner of us also, even though we are at this moment destitute of bread for the morrow, it may with truth be said, that “all things are ours, if we are Christ’s [Note: 1Co_3:22-23.].” Thus, if we can say, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup [Note: Psa_16:5.],” we may account ourselves richer than those who have crowns and kingdoms at their command.]
But we are especially informed by Solomon what is,
II. The peculiar happiness of the person so enriched—
With all other riches there is a mixture of sorrow to embitter them—
[As for riches obtained by iniquity, the curse of God is upon them [Note: Jer_17:11. Hab_2:6-11.]. But where there has been nothing of rapacity or dishonesty in acquiring them, yet, if the blessing of God be not upon the soul, there is much care in the preserving of them, much grief if they be lost, and little but disappointment and dissatisfaction in the use of them. In truth, they are entitled to no better name than “vanity and vexation of spirit [Note: Ecc_2:26.].” Let the whole state of mankind be candidly surveyed, and it will be acknowledged that the most wealthy are far from being the happiest of men: for, partly from the tempers generated in their own bosoms, and partly from the collision into which they are continually brought with persons envious, or proud, or dishonest, or in some way disobliging, it may well be doubted whether the pain occasioned by their wealth do not far exceed any pleasure which they derive from it. It was a wise petition which was offered by Agur, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; but feed me with food convenient for me [Note: Pro_30:8.].”
But there is another view, in which riches are far from affording any solid satisfaction; and that is, on account of the responsibility attached to them. They are talents to be improved for God: and, whether wasted in extravagance, or hid in a napkin, they will bring down nothing but a curse in the day of judgment. “Go to now, ye rich men,” says St. James, “weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” To those who have amassed wealth, he says, “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire: ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” To those, on the other hand, who have wasted their money on personal gratifications, he says, “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter [Note: Jam_5:1-5.].”]
But where God gives his blessing with wealth, “he addeth no sorrow with it.”
[There is then no conscious guilt in the acquisition of it; no anxiety in the preservation: no disappointment in the use; no grief in the loss; no dread of the responsibility attached to it. On the contrary, “God has given to his people all things richly to enjoy [Note: 1Ti_6:17.]:” and they have a rich enjoyment of every thing, because they enjoy God in it. They receive it all as his gift: they taste his love in it. They consider it, also, as a means of honouring God, and of doing good to man. A benevolent steward, who should be sent by his master to dispense his bounties to a famished multitude, would feel great delight in all the comfort which he was thus empowered to bestow; he would view his master as the author of the benefits, and himself only as the instrument; but his pleasure would still be exquisite, yea, and the more exquisite because his master was honoured in all the good that was done. Such a steward the true Christian feels himself to be: and his final account, also, he contemplates with joy; assured that his stewardship shall be both approved and rewarded in that day.]
From this subject I would take occasion to suggest two important lessons—
Learn,
1. In what spirit to address yourselves to every duty in life—
[Be not contented to perform a duty; but look for the blessing of God upon every thing you do. Without his blessing you will have but little comfort in your own souls. I will not hesitate to say, that in every line whatever, from the highest to the lowest, the man who acts to God and for God will be the happiest man. Others, it is true, may exceed him in wealth; but he will have no reason to envy them; for they have sorrows which will not come near him [Note: Psa_91:7.]; and he will have “a joy with which the stranger intermeddleth not [Note: Pro_14:10.].”]
2. What to look for as your chief portion—
[Earthly things are not to be neglected. Your worldly calling, whatever it may be, should be diligently followed. But the blessing of God should be the one object to which all others should be subordinated. Nothing, either on earth or in heaven, should, in your estimation, bear any comparison with that [Note: Psa_73:25.]. If the question be put, “Who will shew us any good?” your unvaried answer should be, “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us [Note: Psa_4:6.].” Then will you have “durable riches [Note: Pro_8:18.].” And whilst those who seek any other portion will, “in the midst of their sufficiency, be in straits [Note: Job_20:22.],” you, in whatever straits you are, will have a sufficiency for your support and comfort both in time and in eternity.]