Proverbs 19:17

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again. HE THAT HATH PITY UPON THE POOR LENDETH UNTO THE LORD - making the Lord his debtor; for God regards favours to His people as done to Himself (). AND THAT WHICH HE HATH GIVEN (LITERALLY, HIS BENEFIT) WILL HE PAY HIM AGAIN. No surer Paymaster is there than Yahweh; none pays with such accumulated interest....

Verse Proverbs 19:17. _LENDETH UNTO THE LORD_] O what a word is this! God makes himself debtor for every thing that is given to the _poor_! Who would not _advance much_ upon such _credit_? _God will pay it_ _again_. And in no case has he ever forfeited his word....

Note the original greatness of the thought. We give to the poor. Have we lost our gift? No, what we gave, we have lent to One who will repay with usury. Compare the yet nobler truth of our Lord’s teaching Matthew 25:40....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 19:1 BETTER IS THE POOR THAT WALKTH IN HIS INTEGRITY. The word for "poor" is, here and in Proverbs 19:7, Proverbs 19:22, _rash, _which signifies "poor" in opposition to "rich." In the present reading of the second clause, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool, there seems to be a failure in antithesis, unless we can understand the fool as a rich fool. This, the repetition of the maxim in Proverbs 28:6 ("Than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich"), would lead one to admit. The Vulgate accordingly has, Quam dives torquem

HE THAT HATH PITY UNTO THE POOR LENDETH UNTO THE LORD,.... A man, whose heart is full of compassion to the poor, and whose hands distribute to their necessities, from a true principle of love and charity to men, and with a view to the glory of God, and not from any selfish principle and with a end; such a man's gift to the poor is a loan to the Lord; it is not cast away upon the creature, but is a "depositum" in the hands of God, and shall be returned with advantage; AND THAT WHICH HE HATH GIVEN WILL, HE PAY HIM AGAIN; either in this life, in things temporal and spiritual, increasing his worldly substance, blessing his posterity, granting him larger measures of grace, indulging him with his gracious presence, and giving him peace of mind, which passeth all understanding; or in the world to come; not as a reward of debt, but of grace; see Ecclesiastes 11:1....

CHAPTER 19:1-19 FURTHER PROVERBS ON PERSONAL INSTRUCTION One may be poor, but walking in integrity, he is far ahead of him who is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Then we find proverbs about fretting against the Lord; warning against false witness and speaking lies and other matters. We call special attention to Proverbs 19:12 . _ The King's wrath is as the roaring of a lion._ But his favour is as dew upon the grass. It may be applied to Him who is The Lamb of God and also the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Some day He will roar in His displeasure and manifest the wrath, so well deserved by the world. But even then His grace will be revealed, for in wrath He will remember mercy, the mercy promised to Israel. “I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth its roots as Lebanon”...

PROVERBS 19. A shrewd turn of sarcasm in Proverbs 19:3 suggests the attitude of practical wisdom towards that questioning of the moral government of the world which we find in Job. PROVERBS 19:1. FOOL: read rich, as in Proverbs 28:6. Proverbs 19:2 a. Both RV and RVm are unsound grammatically. The lit. rendering shows that the clause is defective, Also without knowledge of the soul. is not good. Some verb expressing action is required. Proverbs 19:2 b. sinneth: read _mg._ The idea is more haste less speed.

_that which he hath given_ Better, HIS DEED, A.V. marg.; or HIS GOOD DEED, R.V. Comp. Matthew 25:34-40....

TEXT Proverbs 19:11-20 11. The discretion of a man maketh him slow to anger; And it is his glory to pass over a transgression. 12. The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; But his favor is as dew upon the grass. 13. A foolish son is the calamity of his father; And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. 14. House and riches are an inheritance from fathers; But a prudent wife is from Jehovah. 15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And the idle soul shall suffer hunger. 16. He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul; But he that is careless of his ways shall die. 17. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto Jehovah, And his good deed will he pay him again. 18. Chasten thy son, seeing there is hope; And set not thy heart on his destruction. 19.

1. FOOL] read, 'rich' (Proverbs 28:6)....