Bridges on Proverbs 28:8
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 28:8
 
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8.   He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. {unjust...: Heb. by increase}
 
What a deadly curse is it to be under the spell of covetousness! Everything that is “honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report,” is sacrificed to this idolatrous principle. No laws can bind it. God had fenced in the rights of his poor people with solemn and plain obligations. And he will not suffer their rights to be lightly regarded. “I know” — saith the man of God — “that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.” (Psalm 140:12.) As a God of equity, often does he make selfishness to punish itself, and even to turn to the advantage of the oppressed. Ill-gotten gains are a dangerous and uncertain possession. A man labors for himself, and his harvest falls into better hands; ‘not intending anything of himself; but it is so done through God's secret Providence.’ In this, as in every view, godliness “has the promise of the life that now is.” (1 Timothy 4:8.) It brings “the great gain of contentment” (Ib. 6:6), and restrains those inordinate desires for wealth, which ruin all right principles, and “drown men in destruction and perdition.” (Ib. Verse 9.) “A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15.) Why should we seek to increase our substance by unjust gain, when we have our Father's promise — “All things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33) — yea, when his divine power hath given unto us all things pertaining unto life and godliness? (2 Peter 1:3).
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Exodus 22:24. Leviticus 25:36. Deuteronomy 23:19, 20. Ezekiel 18:13.
 

 
Exodus 22:24
24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
 
Leviticus 25:36
36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
 
Deuteronomy 23:19, 20
19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: 20 Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
 
Ezekiel 18:13
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. {blood: Heb. bloods}
 
 
Psalm 140:12
12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 13:22. Job 27:13, 16, 17.
 

 
Proverbs 13:22
22 ¶ A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
 
Job 27:13, 16, 17
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. 16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 10:2; 21:6.
 

 
Proverbs 10:2
2 ¶ Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.
 
Proverbs 21:6
6 ¶ The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
 
 
Footnote:
Diodati. Ecclesiastes 2:26.
 

 
Ecclesiastes 2:26
26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. {in his...: Heb. before him}
 
 
1 Timothy 4:8
8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. {little: or, for a little time}
 
 
1 Timothy 6:6
6 ¶ But godliness with contentment is great gain.
 
 
1 Timothy 6:9
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
 
 
Luke 12:15
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
 
 
Matthew 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
 
 
2 Peter 1:3
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: {to: or, by}