Proverbs 23.15-16
“My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.”
The parent’s great joy and fulfillment occurs when children learn and grow in wisdom as evidenced when they speak and act wisely. Note the reference is not to superficial wisdom, but to deep wisdom from the heart. This passage again demonstrates the connection between the inner person and speech.
The Lord wants his people to “speak what is right,” especially in the midst of a culture that is drifting further and further away from Truth.
Proverbs 23.17-18
“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Every generation and every society has dishonorable people who enjoy popularity and prosperity. This has baffled and confused the people of God from the beginning. Why do evil people prosper?
The core message for the people of God is given in this proverb: Do not let your heart be seduced into envy for the popularity or prosperity of dishonorable people. Do not be fooled into coveting the life they live. Don’t use the world’s standards for “the good life.”
Instead, be persistent in your obedience to the Lord. True prosperity is found in faithfulness to God, so seek his kingdom and its eternal treasures, not the world and its impermanent treasures. This was Jesus’ admonition:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6.19-21)
The proverb also says there is a certain future for those who trust in God, and there will also be a certain future for those who reject the Lord. At some point in the future, the prosperity of sinners will end, and they will face judgment. The good news for those who trust in Jesus is that they will enjoy a future of joy and fulfillment, and that future is certain.
Please read Psalm 73 for an extended passage on “why do the wicked prosper?”
Trust God and put your hope fully on the certain future of his promised kingdom.
