Thoughts on the topic of money from the book of wisdom

The book of Proverbs has much to say about the topic of money. Very much! So many verses that I have created categories that will help me focus on particular topics related to money, such as worth of money, value of money, effect of money, greed for money and money and the Lord.

Let’s dive into the wisdom of Proverbs for a few moments.

As we venture through the topic of money, we are going to find it compared to many other concepts.

In our first post on the topic of money, I had an extended introduction on the intangible assets such as instruction, knowledge, understanding and wisdom that is compared with money in the proverbs, along with a short discussion on each of these intangible assets. I also tried to define the difference between worth and value in the first post. If there is interest in this topic, please see Proverbial Thoughts on Money / Instruction.

Otherwise, our topic in this post is money in relation to humility.

Worth Less than Humility

Proverbs 16:19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.

As I read this verse, I find the word “better” in it, and the comparison is with the proud, not specifically with money, yet the connection seems clear. To divide the spoil with the proud implies strongly that the spoil is ill gotten. Granted the term spoil (שָׁלָל shâlâl) in the Old Testament may speak of the spoils of war, it also carries with it the idea of dubious gain. To connect this with the proud makes the diding of this spoil doubly wrong! It is the lowly spirit that recognizes this peril. He holds back, content with the company of those who are poor.

It is often said that a poor man knows his friends, and that a rich man knows his acquaintances. A major difference, and as a man enriches himself, whether ill gotten or by righteous living, there is the ever present danger that he may find it increasingly difficult to discern a true friend. (There are many other dangers, but we will leave those to other posts!)

As hinted at earlier, as the proud divide the spoil, this dividing of ill gotten gain reeks of dishonesty, possibly of violence, and shows itself to be an exercise in selfish living, an opportunity to acquire at the expense of another. Now I need to state that I consider money is a neutral tool in and of itself, and it is commonly considered a method to conveniently exchange goods with others. Yet in the hands of the proud, that love of money becomes the goal that generates all sorts of evil, and becomes weapon to use against others to get advantage.

The poor do not exercise their lives in this arena of greed. The poor prioritize people over possessions and find contentment in relationships. Of course this may be the reason they are poor, but I’ve known those who have lived this way, and I tend to gravitate to them, only because their motivations seem less “muddy”.

Yes it is the lowly in spirit that recognizes the importance of people over things. To be truly humble brings about an inner attraction of those who relate to souls instead of silver.

Proverbs 29:23 One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Although this is somewhat of a rabbit trail, note that to be lowly in spirit is also the path to honor. And as we have spoken of the honor based society of Old Testament Israel in previous posts, (Life of David – 20.03), we see that lowliness of spirit actually acquires the true wealth, instead of temporary dollars and coins!

In summary, we can review our finding in this series as follows. Money is worth less than

• instruction
• knowledge
• wisdom
• righteousness
• humility