Sermon Bible Commentary
Proverbs 10:22
Look at two facts in connection with the Divine blessing exhibited here:
I. It enriches. (1) Sometimes the blessing of the Lord is material and temporal wealth, as in the case of Abram. (2) More frequently it is not wealth, but food convenient for us.
(3) Godly contentment in poverty is another form of the blessing of the Lord. (4) This blessing turns every possession into wealth. (5) There are some things wrapped up in the blessing of the Lord which are of priceless value. He who has the blessing of salvation is rich indeed.
II. It has no drawbacks. (1) There is no remorse as to the means of acquisition, when the good things you possess you have received as a blessing from the Lord. (2) To acquire good things is to prevent all misgiving as to the right of possession. (3) In this state there is no misgiving as to the power of keeping what we have; and further, there is no alloy in the use of enjoyment.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit,2nd series, No. 1.
The truth here is twofold. It means that God's blessing gives material wealth; and also, that they are rich who have that blessing, although they get nothing more.
I. The silver and the gold are His, and He gives them to whomsoever He will. He who rules in the highest, reaches down to the minutest concerns of this world, and controls them all.
II. His blessing makes rich. "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Here is a mixture prescribed by the All-wise, for satisfying a soul, and attaining success in life. "He addeth no sorrow with it." The word seems to imply that there are two ways of acquiring wealth. Some people grow rich without God's blessing, and some people grow rich by it. It would appear that the god of the world gives riches to his subjects sometimes, when neither giver nor getter owns the supremacy of the Almighty, and that God Himself gives riches to some who are His children. Wherein lies the difference, since both the godless and the godly have gotten wealth? It lies here: He addeth no sorrow with it, but that other lord does.
W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven,1st series, p. 259.
References: Proverbs 10:22. Preacher's Monthly,vol. i., p. 62.Proverbs 10:23 (with Proverbs 14:9). W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven,1st series, p. 264.Proverbs 10:24. Ibid.,p. 268. Proverbs 10:25. Ibid.,p. 273.Proverbs 10:26. Ibid.,p. 274.