A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him. ~Proverbs 28:11
When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them: “Tell your master, This is what the Lord says: “Do not be afraid of what you have heard, those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.” ~2 Kings 19:5-8
The excerpt lifted from 2 Kings, of the quote from Isaiah, is actually taken from one of the most amazing events in the history of Judah as recorded in the Old Testament. If you aren’t familiar with the story, may I encourage you to read it for yourself from 2 Kings 18:14 through chapter 19. It’s a bit of a cliff hanger with a bit of an amazing ending.
For the sake of our thoughts today, however, I will recap just a bit so that you can understand how it illustrates the proverb above. Hezekiah was a very godly leader and king of Judah. He did more to cleanse the nation of Judah than any king before him. He even had the brass snake that Moses had erected in the wilderness destroyed because the people had turned it into an idol and were worshiping it. (2 Kings 18:4) That took guts and zeal. He cleansed the temple of all of his father’s shenanigans and reestablished worship of the one true God.
In the meantime, Israel, (remember, the kingdoms had been divided, so Israel refers to the rebellious ten other tribes,) had been conquered by Assyria, and their people had been spread out through other nations. Assyria was rich and powerful and now boasting and threatening that he would do the same to Judah, representing the remaining two tribes of Israel. His boast was that no nation had been successful in standing up to him, why should Judah be any different?
From the statement of the proverb, we might say that the King of Assyria was the rich man who was wise in his own eyes, but Hezekiah, though poor by comparison, saw through the bragging and trusted in the Lord. Go read the story. It has an awesome ending!!
Chances are, those who have accumulated much wealth, have also accumulated other benefits that this world has. That isn’t a bad thing necessarily. Wealth can be a tremendous blessing, especially when it is then used to bless others. We’ve talked about that before. The danger comes, when the rich person begins believing their own press, so to speak, and believes that they are more than they truly are. It is true that they have a lot by this world’s standards, but that also means that they have a lot to lose. Knowledge of that should keep them humble in how they handle what they have been given.
A poorer individual may understand this. That understanding can give him the ability to see through the boasting and bragging, to the truth. The poor man who is wise has a blessing that cannot be taken away, no matter what happens. Fortunately, if he is truly wise, he also knows better than to brag about that. Hezekiah’s wisdom guided his decisions through an exceedingly difficult situation for his people. He resisted the urge to panic. He kept his eyes on the Lord no matter how threatening the king of Assyria became. He knew that the king of Assyria was not considering the God factor.
This story is a good lesson for us. We may face challenging times. There are those who oppose us and oppose our message. They appear to have power over us. It may seem that they can do what they want with us. They have the means, the public opinion on their side, and they are in control. But we have our faith in an unchanging, never failing God to appeal to. We must hold steady to that fact, praying for wisdom to see our way through the boasting that we face. They may be wise in their own eyes, but God’s wisdom sees through all of it and His wisdom, His way, will prevail.
Prayer: Father thank you for taking me, poor in spirit, and leading me into the true and spiritual riches of Your Kingdom. I trust in Your sovereignty. So, I can stand firm in the armor of God, without fear, no matter how scary the circumstances. May my faith be visible, evident enough so that seekers find Jesus through my testimony. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: The Voice of Truth
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