Proverbs 28:21
To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
Sermons
The Source of Disturbance and the Secret of SecurityW. Clarkson Proverbs 28:1, 13, 25
Hidden ManhoodW. Clarkson Proverbs 28:12, 28
Judgments on TransgressorsE. Johnson Proverbs 28:17-22
Haste to be RichH. W. Beecher.Proverbs 28:20-22
Wealth or Faithfulness? a Sermon to Young MenW. Clarkson Proverbs 28:20, 22














Proverbs 28:20, 22 (and Ver. Proverbs 28:8)
What shall the young man set before him as his goal when he stands face to face with active life? Shall he make up his mind to be rich, or shall he resolve that, whatever his circumstances may be, he will be counted among those who are faithful to their trust? Shall he fix his mind upon and find his heritage in a large estate or in an honourable and a useful life? Let such an inquirer consider -

I. THE GRAVE DOUBT ABOUT WEALTH. To have sufficiency of money for a comfortable home, for education, for the furtherance of the cause of God, and for the relief of human want, - this is certainly a very desirable thing. He who is facing the future may honestly desire to attain it, and he who has won it may well give God hearty thanks for the goodness which has placed this blessing in his power. But the mere acquisition of wealth, on which so many set their hearts, to which they devote their lives, and for which they sacrifice the best and highest things of all, ensures nothing at all of that which is valuable to a man who uses his reason and cares for his character. For who can be sure:

1. How it will be gained. There are temptations on every hand to gain money dishonestly or, if not fraudulently, by questionable means; by taking advantage of the weak and struggling in a way which, if it be not positively unjust, is inconsiderate and unkind. Of those who "make haste to be rich," how very large a proportion fail to "be innocent" (Ver. 20)! They either deviate from the straight line of perfect equity, or they wander into ways of rank injustice and shameful wrong. Who shall say whether the next aspirant will not be counted in their number? And what does it profit a man to gain a fortune and to lose his integrity?

2. How long it will stay. He "considereth not that poverty shall come upon him." Few things are less certain than the duration of wealth. Who that has reached middle life has not frequently known of those that were supposed to be beyond the reach of misfortune being suddenly reduced or positively beggared (see Proverbs 23:5)?

3. How much it will do for its possessor. "He that hasteth... hath an evil eye;" so far is he from being satisfied with his fortune, and from looking graciously and generously upon all his neighbours, rich and poor, that he looks enviously upon those that are wealthier than himself, proudly upon those that are less successful, and grudgingly upon those that are poor, lest they should want his aid and diminish his store.

4. Whither it will go. If dishonestly obtained, it is likely enough that wealth will soon meet with the penalty it deserves, and pass to another holder. It may go to him that will "pity the poor," or it may get into the hands of "the fool," who will squander it in some kind of folly (Ecclesiastes 2:18, 19, 21). There is, then, an utter uncertainty about riches. It may be that God has not intended a man to be rich, but to be happy in a very humble station (Proverbs 30:9); and a pertinacious endeavour to secure what God has not placed within reach must end in a wretched failure and a badly bruised spirit. To such as these the strong words of Paul are applicable (1 Timothy 6:9, 10).

II. THE CERTAINTY ABOUT FAITHFULNESS. "A faithful man shall abound with blessings." And there is no room for questioning it. Let a man be faithful to his convictions; let him be to God, his Father and his Saviour, what he knows in his heart he should be; let him be true and upright in all his relations with his fellow men, and he will be regulating his life by a sovereign principle which will "abound with blessings." It will:

1. Build up a strong and noble character.

2. Establish an honourable reputation and win the confidence of men.

3. Secure as large a measure of peace and of happiness as is the lot of disciplined humanity.

4. Dispense much good of many kinds to those around, both in public and in domestic life.

5. Lead down to a peaceful end, and on to a glorious future. What wise man would endanger the loss of these priceless blessings for the uncertain and transient good of worldly wealth? - C.

He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
Nowhere does the Bible denounce riches. It tells men very plainly what the dangers are. It denounces very strongly the conduct of rich men. But the motive to good conduct, in the Old Testament period, was the promise of secular prosperity — abundance. The Bible asserts that riches are a great blessing; and poverty a great misfortune. It is the method of God's development and education of the race to bring men up to higher levels by those processes by which men develop larger means, various riches, and the comforts of life, and give to the household broader foundations, ampler powers. It goes against the educated religious feeling of men for one to say that the way of riches was meant to be the way of religion; yet it is true. All barbarous nations are poor. The Bible speaks the sentiment of universal mankind when it regards riches held in the hand of virtue as being an eminent blessing from God.

I. RICHES MAY EITHER BE PRODUCED OR COLLECTED. The foundation of all prosperity is production. He increases the riches of a society that applies his reason and skill to the raw material of the globe, or that brings it from inertness to positive service, and gives to matter the power of serving man. He produces wealth. Then comes the man who utilises it; creates it into garments, houses, utensils, etc. The foundation of all value is not what a thing costs in making it, but what is inherent in it of thought and skill. What part of man was used in producing it; and to what part of a man is such properly addressed? The man who produces wealth is the foundation man. It is the law of the production of wealth that a man should render an equivalent for every stage of value. Sudden wealth is not hasty wealth, necessarily.

II. THE PRODUCTION OF WEALTH CONNECTS ITSELF WITH BENEVOLENCE, WITH SYMPATHY. The man who is developing property, as distinguished from money, is actually increasing the common wealth. It is a sad thing, but in the main true, that the producers of wealth are obliged to eat up the larger part of their product in order to have strength to work. But every man that is developing or producing riches is, at the same time, educating himself in morals, or should be. Patience is a moral quality; another name for self-control. The man who gets wealth legitimately is usually himself built up in inward riches fully as much as he builds up his estate in outward wealth.

III. HASTE TO BE RICH IS A GREAT DANGER TO MEN, BECAUSE IT TEMPTS THEM TO EMPLOY ILLEGITIMATE MEANS. Sleights, crafts, disingenuous ways, greed, violations of honesty. Haste runs along the edge of so many dangers, that a man's head must be peculiarly well set on his shoulders, and his brain must be very solid and sober, if he does not topple over into them. A man that is making haste to be rich is tempted to ostentation. But ostentation is expensive, and men are easily tempted to devise schemes to maintain it. Men having sudden wealth are apt to become cruel through indifference to other men's rights. Haste is apt to change into idolatry.

(H. W. Beecher.)

People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Bit, Bread, Discern, Faces, Man's, Partiality, Persons, Piece, Position, Respect, Transgress, Wrong, Yet
Outline
1. general observations of impiety and integrity

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Proverbs 28:21

     5349   injustice, examples
     5361   justice, human
     5882   impartiality
     8471   respect, for human beings
     8753   favouritism

Library
Two Coverings and Two Consequences
A Sermon (No. 3500) by C. H. Spurgeon, April 4th, 1875, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. Published February 24th, 1916. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper."--Proverbs 28:13. "Thou Hast covered all their sins."--Psalm 85:2. In these two texts we have man's covering, which is worthless and culpable, and God's covering, which is profitable and worthy of all acceptation. No sooner had man disobeyed his Maker's will in the garden of Eden than he discovered to his surprise and dismay
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Right Kind of Fear
A Sermon (No. 2971) published on Thursday, January 18th, 1906, delivered by C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington on Thursday evening, September 2nd, 1876. "Happy is the man that feareth alway."--Proverbs 28:14. But did not John say that "fear hath torment?" Then how can he be happy who hath fear, and especially he who hath it always. Did not John also say that "perfect love casteth out fear?" How is it then that he is happy in whom love is not made perfect, if so be that the fear
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

"If we Confess Our Sins, He is Faithful and Just to Forgive us Our Sins",
1 John i. 9.--"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins", &c. The current of sin dries not up, but runs constantly while we are in this life. It is true, it is much diminished in a believer, and it runs not in such an universal flood over the whole man as it is in the unbeliever. Yet there is a living spring of sin within the godly, which is never ceasing to drop out pollution and defilement, either upon their whole persons, or, at least, to intermingle it with their
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"When Solomon was Old. "
"It came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other Gods." 1 KINGS xi. 4. Who could have predicted that this would come to pass? And yet it is often so, for it is still true that NO AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE WILL SAVE FROM BACKSLIDING THOSE WHO REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOD. We learn from verse 10 that God had taken pains to save Solomon from idolatry, (see 1 Kings vi. 12, and xi. 6). But what good is it for even God to try to save a man who will have his own way? And
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Letter xxiv (Circa A. D. 1126) to Oger, Regular Canon
To Oger, Regular Canon [34] Bernard blames him for his resignation of his pastoral charge, although made from the love of a calm and pious life. None the less, he instructs him how, after becoming a private person, he ought to live in community. To Brother Oger, the Canon, Brother Bernard, monk but sinner, wishes that he may walk worthily of God even to the end, and embraces him with the fullest affection. 1. If I seem to have been too slow in replying to your letter, ascribe it to my not having
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Epistle xxv. To Gregoria.
To Gregoria. Gregory to Gregoria, Lady of the Bed-chamber (cubiculariæ) to Augusta. I have received the longed for letters of your Sweetness, in which you have been at pains all through to accuse yourself of a multitude of sins: but I know that you fervently love the Almighty Lord, and I trust in His mercy that the sentence which was pronounced with regard to a certain holy woman proceeds from the mouth of the Truth with regard to you: Her sins, which are many, are forgiven her, for she loved
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

"And There is None that Calleth Upon Thy Name, that Stirreth up Himself to Take Hold on Thee,"
Isaiah lxiv. 7.--"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee," &c. They go on in the confession of their sins. Many a man hath soon done with that a general notion of sin is the highest advancement in repentance that many attain to. You may see here sin and judgment mixed in thorough other(315) in their complaint. They do not so fix their eyes upon their desolate estate of captivity, as to forget their provocations. Many a man would spend more affection,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Authority and Utility of the Scriptures
2 Tim. iii. 16.--"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." We told you that there was nothing more necessary to know than what our end is, and what the way is that leads to that end. We see the most part of men walking at random,--running an uncertain race,--because they do not propose unto themselves a certain scope to aim at, and whither to direct their whole course. According to men's particular
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Adoption
'As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' John 1:12. Having spoken of the great points of faith and justification, we come next to adoption. The qualification of the persons is, As many as received him.' Receiving is put for believing, as is clear by the last words, to them that believe in his name.' The specification of the privilege is, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' The Greek word for power, exousia, signifies
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Proverbs 28:21 NIV
Proverbs 28:21 NLT
Proverbs 28:21 ESV
Proverbs 28:21 NASB
Proverbs 28:21 KJV

Proverbs 28:21 Bible Apps
Proverbs 28:21 Parallel
Proverbs 28:21 Biblia Paralela
Proverbs 28:21 Chinese Bible
Proverbs 28:21 French Bible
Proverbs 28:21 German Bible

Proverbs 28:21 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Proverbs 28:20
Top of Page
Top of Page