Also Cry Out And Not Be Ashamed

Proverbs 21:4-13 – Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin. The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right. The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright. Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them. When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge. The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin. Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 10:4 – Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Proverbs 14:21 – It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

Proverbs 28:27 – Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

Luke 16:22-23,30 – “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side…“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

Matthew 18:35 – “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Application:

• ·         Many proverbs praise diligence and the profit it brings, and they condemn laziness as a cause of hunger and poverty.
• ·         Sharing food, lending money and defending rights are ways one can show kindness. Such a person “honors God” and “will lack nothing”.
• ·         Generosity is the path to blessing.
• ·         “Abraham’s side” refers to the place of blessedness to which the righteous dead go.  Its bliss is the quality of blessedness reserved for people like Abraham.
• ·         “Hades” is here depicted as the place to which the wicked dead go and suffer torment.
• ·         If people’s minds are closed and Scripture is rejected, no evidence—not even a resurrection—will change them.
• ·         God is very forgiving, but He also judges those who refuse to forgive.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV