For the past year, I've been reading through Bruce Waltke's commentaries in The Book of Proverbs. Even though it's a somewhat difficult read, this book is tremendously helpful in bringing out the richness and amazing depth of this well-known book of the Bible.

Today, I read Waltke's take on The Wise and Wealth.

Money has a way of supplanting one's trust in God. A rich person in Proverbs is not merely a person who has more than enough to take care of his physical needs but one whose heart clings to his possessions for security and significance (10:15; 18:10-11; Ps 49:6-7). He depends on himself, not the Lord, for his life (28:11); thus he is a fool, living in the realm of death.

Moreover, money's value is limited (3:13-18). It can build a house, but not a home; it can put food on a table, but not fellowship around it; it can give a woman fur and jewelry, but not the love she really wants. Wisdom, however, gives both material well-being and spiritual life.

On the other hand, money has value. It saves one from spiritual losses associated with poverty. Agur recognized that too little money would lead him to steal and so defile his conscience and alienate him from God (30:9)....Money also enables one to be righteous in the sense of serving and enriching the community (11:23-28; Eph 4:28).

Enduring wealth is received through honoring God with one's first fruits (3:9-10), generosity (11:23-28), hard and timely work (10:4-5), contentment, not indulgence (21:17), patience (13:11), and providing for one's income before building a home (24:27). As these means of obtaining wealth show, it's a matter of character, not of method.