Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.
Children want to be accepted and praised by their fathers. Fathers need to look for ways to help their children understand what true love is. The best example of a good father is God. He is love. He loved Adam and Eve. He gave Adam very clear instructions on how to live. Adam had no earthly father. His only Father was God. Adam chose to defy God. He chose foolishness over wisdom. How could God be pleased with Adam’s choice? In Genesis 4 Cain chose to defy God and yet he wanted God to accept his defiance. Abel chose to obey God and he pleased God. Cain faced God’s judgment because he rejected God’s wisdom.
God still loved Cain and reached out to him. However, Cain chose to defy God all the way through. A godly human father will love his son. He will try to help his son to see the value of choosing God’s wisdom. A son that wants to continually defy his earthly father has a problem with God first of all. He should not expect his earthly father to be glad with his rebellion. He needs to understand that his basic problem is with God.
God directed Solomon to note that a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. No godly mother can be happy with a foolish son. A foolish son is a son who wants to defy God. Rather than allowing the secular, anti-God world to indoctrinate you on how a good parent will operate, look to God’s Word. God’s Word is the truth. The wicked psychology of the world is extremely corrupt. God’s Word is wisdom.
In verse 2 we are warned of the treasures of wickedness. They seem like treasures to the son that is foolish but the reality is that they profit nothing. There are many wicked things that people get involved in. We do not need to list them here. Those who are involved in them know very well what they are. They take pride in their wickedness.
The contrast again is that righteousness delivereth from death. Death is a fact for all of humanity. However, there are things that the wicked do that encourage an early death. Some people smugly claim that God knows how long they will live and there is nothing they can do to change that. Thus their philosophy is to do what they want. It is true that God knows when each person will die. It is also true that God gives man the opportunity to choose life over death. God does not force any person to sin. He encourages all people to know Him and to glorify Him.
In verse 3 we see a promise of God. The soul is the central being of man. God breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul. Adam changed that when he chose to sin. The soul desires truth, but the flesh desires lies. Man is born heavily invested in the flesh. Man is born a lost sinner. He needs to respond to the Gospel and have his soul awakened. The soul of the righteous is made alive. God provides His Word and He provides a true, local church for the righteous to attend. The righteous soul cannot be satisfied in a New Evangelical social club. The soul of the righteous wants more and God provides that. We know that Lot was described as a righteous man and yet we also read:
II Peter 2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
The problem was Lot, not God. God provided the way for Lot to be able to satisfy his soul, but Lot chose a path that would oppress his righteous soul. There are saints today that are living with vexed souls. They are miserable and they do not know the joy of the Lord. God did not leave Lot without help. The problem is that Lot chose to remain careless and left no good testimony for his daughters or anyone else. God uses Lot as a warning for people to avoid.
The wicked do not have a hope as long as they persist in their wickedness. They just dig their hole a little deeper all the time. They like to drag others down with their wickedness. They promote the religious social clubs, but they are not content in one such club. They have to find others to attend as well. There was a religious social gathering in a community not far from us this past weekend. It was a welcoming place for the wicked, but not a place that would feed the soul of the righteous. Discernment is in short supply for many. That is why a true, local church is so important. The soul of the righteous desires the truth.
Be sure you are not starving your soul if you are saved. You will know whether that is the case. If you are cold toward truth you know you have a problem. If you find comfort in the midst of compromise you know you are going the wrong way.
If compromise does not bother you, you are likely not a righteous person. Don’t neglect the health of your soul. Humble yourself and know God’s blessings.
Pastor Bartel