Proverbs 15:16

Proverbs 15:16 "Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith."

The focus of this proverb is not a person’s net worth, income or possessions.  This proverb is not condemning large estates nor is it endorsing a minimalist lifestyle.  Scripture has never been against wealth; it has only been against falling in love with wealth and trusting in riches.  Some of the Bible’s most important and most spiritually-successful characters were wealthy and often such as the direct result of God’s blessings, as was the case with Abraham, Job and Solomon himself.   In Proverbs 8:18, Wisdom herself said, “Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.”  Money is a part of this proverb because the human heart is obsessed with it and because we can all relate to it.  

Most people equate wealth with success.  If you have a good job, a big home and a nice car, it is generally assumed that you’re successful.  Furthermore, almost everyone believes that money can solve most, if not all of our problems.   After all, if you had unlimited amounts of money, you wouldn’t lack for housing, food or clothes.   If you had unlimited amounts of money, you could pay for any doctor, medicine or healthcare.  With unlimited financial resources, you could go just about anywhere and do just about anything.  Wealth is often used as a carrot for companionship and it definitely brings friends as Solomon himself said, “every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts” (Proverbs 19:6).   Wealth can provide an expensive education.  It can hire any help and any service that may be needed.  Plenty of religious people even believe you can buy a ticket to Heaven by giving donations to churches or to people in need.  Most of us believe that, if we had plenty of money, we wouldn’t have any stress in our lives or in our marriages since most couples experience financial tension.

Yet, in this proverb, Solomon links “great treasure” and “trouble.”  The fact of the matter is that wealth doesn’t have to be accompanied by trouble but it almost always is.  It has been accurately said, “The more you have, the more that has you.”  The larger the lawn, the longer the mowing.  The longer the driveway, the longer the snow-blowing.  The bigger the house, the longer the cleaning.  The greater your treasures, the greater your security system needs to be.  The more vehicles you get, the more maintenance they’ll need.  The more appliances and devices you obtain, the more you’ll have to fix and replace.  The more investments you have, the more you’ll have to manage and worry about.  The more you’re worth, the more people want from your net worth.  You don’t have to do anything wrong to experience the trouble of having great treasure.  This isn’t a warning or an admonition as much as a fact of life.

Again, this proverb is not condemning wealth nor is it encouraging a minimalist lifestyle.  But by mentioning both “great treasure” and “little,” we’re drawn to the things attached to them.  To “little,” a virtue is attached.  To “great treasure,” an unwanted condition is attached.  They’re two different things but they’re intentionally connected since Solomon chose to contrast them alongside two opposites.  As opposite as “little” and “great treasure” are, so too are “trouble” and the “fear of the Lord.”  This isn’t to suggest that all trouble is the result of not fearing God.  As a reminder, having wealth in itself can very naturally produce trouble.  Just as having little is the very opposite of having great treasures, the outcome of fearing God is the opposite of having trouble.  Within the canvas of a person’s net worth, Solomon is telling us that we can’t buy peace with any worldly currency.  This world’s currency, possessions and treasures only bring trouble.  The price of peace is simply but beautifully, the fear of God.

A person can pursue great treasure but that person should know that there is no golden pot full of peace and tranquility at the end of the rainbow.  Rich or poor, the only way to obtain peace is by fearing God.  In Solomon’s Day, in our day and in every day in between, people believe the stress-free life can be bought with money.  We pay the psychiatrist and the counselor weekly or monthly, trusting that our investment will eventually calm our anxiety and fix our troubling thoughts.  We pay the monthly gym membership and the specialty grocery store, certain that when our body starts feeling better, our minds will start thinking straighter.  We pay our health insurance, car insurance, home-owners insurance and life insurance premiums, believing that those plans will bring peace of mind in an uncertain world.  We keep putting money into our investment portfolios, hoping to avoid the stress of not having enough money one day.  We buy special pills, supplements, medicines, oils and substances believing that these things will calm our minds and usher in some level of sustainable tranquility.

If Amazon offered peace, tranquility or serenity, people would buy it for whatever Amazon determined the price to be.  In fact, souls would click on the “subscribe and save” option.   By putting the fear of God in this financial equation, we’re to realize the value of the virtue.  It can secure what no amount of money can secure.  It can purchase what “great treasure” is unable to purchase.  Fearing God can bring PEACE to our souls.  By putting the fear of God opposite of trouble, we’re left to link the opposite of trouble (peace) to the fear of God.   While the average person believes money will solve all of our problems and bring us a worry-free life, the Biblical person believes the fear of God is what brings a trouble-free life.  Fearing God keeps us out of trouble.  Fearing God keeps us from sin and the trouble that it brings us.  For that reason, fearing God is the price tag of peace.  Fortunately for all of us, we can all afford that!  We need not any treasure, let alone “great treasure” to fear God.