Proverbs 30:8-9 - Homiletics

Neither poverty nor riches.

A wise man here points out the danger of the two extremes of poverty and riches, and seeks for himself the happier middle position. In the present day the enormous wealth of one class and the hard penury of another suggest serious social questions, and raise alarms as to great possible dangers unless the terrible anomaly of this artificial condition is not remedied.

I. THE EVIL OF POVERTY . The thought is of extreme poverty, of absolute destitution, or. at least, of that precarious livelihood that is always on the verge of want, and is therefore oppressed with an ever-haunting fear of the distress which can never be quire out of sight. Now, what is to be remarked here is that the great evil of excessive poverty pointed out in the passage before us is moral in character. The sufferings of perjury are sad to contemplate. Those of us who have never known what it is to be really hungry cannot understand the pangs of the starving. More tearful must be the trouble of parents who see their children crying for bread and cannot satisfy them. Yet the worst evil is not this suffering; it is the moral degradation that follows it. Wolf-like hunger assimilates its victims to the nature of the wolf. It is hard to be honest when in want of food. The temptations of the poor are frightful to contemplate. It is wonderful that there is so little crime, seeing that there is so much poverty. The grinding cares of poverty tend to wear the soul out, and blind its vision to spiritual truth. The patience and good behaviour of the dumb, suffering multitudes of the distressed is indeed a sight to move our sympathy and excite our admiration.

II. THE EVIL OF WEALTH . The temptation of riches is not very unlike that of poverty in its character, but more deadly. Both extremes tempt to worldliness—poverty to worldly care, riches to worldly satisfaction. The "care of this world" and "the deceitfulness of riches" stand together as the thorns that choke the good seed ( Matthew 12:22 ). But riches goes further. It tempts a man to dispense with God. Poverty tempts to theft, often, indeed, with extenuating circumstances. But riches tempts to scornful atheism. Christ saw this danger when he said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of Grail" ( Mark 10:23 ). On the other hand, when we see rich men who have conquered the exceptional temptations of their position, and who live a humble and useful Christian life, devoting their talents to the service of Christ, we should acknowledge that such victors over the world are deserving of especial honour.

III. THE CHOICE OF A MIDDLE COURSE . We are here reminded of Aristotle's doctrine of "the mean." There are circumstances in which the true mean is not just the middle way between two diverse policies. The lowering of the standard of right and wrong that comes from the peace-loving tendency to accept a compromise is disastrous to all conscientious conduct. But now we have to do with a middle course between two external states, both of which are dangerous. If Christian people understood their mission in the world aright, in its breath and humanity, they would know that the call to preach the gospel of the kingdom includes the inculcation of those social principles which tens to blot out the present ugly picture of extreme poverty set off by extreme wealth. A life that is neither crushed by care nor intoxicated by riches is the life in which it is least difficult to serve God and do right. Therefore we should labour to help on a state of society in which more of such lives will be possible.