Proverbs 13:22 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, how a good man’s estate lasts: he leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. This is part of his honor, because he thinks ahead for later generations. He does not spend everything on himself, but uses prudent and proper restraint, without being stingy.

He also trains his children to do the same, so they may leave something to their own children. Even more, he works by justice and charity to gain God’s blessing on what he has, and to pass that blessing on to his children. Without that blessing, the greatest hard work and thrift will come to nothing. A good man secures his family’s future by being good and doing good, by honoring the Lord with his wealth and using it in his service. Or, if he leaves little money behind, his prayers, his teaching, and his good example are the best inheritance. The promises of God’s covenant will be an inheritance to his children’s children (Psalm 103:17).

Second, we see how a good man’s estate can grow through the wealth of sinners, because that wealth is stored up for the righteous. If someone asks how good people can become rich when they are not as eager for the world as others, and when they often suffer for doing good, the answer is this: God often, in his providence, brings into their hands what wicked people had stored up for themselves. The innocent will divide the silver (Job 27:16, 17). The Israelites spoiled the Egyptians and took their goods (Exodus 12:36), and they ate the riches of the nations (Isaiah 61:6).