Proverbs 14:20 - Meaning and Application

This verse shows, not what should be, but what is often true in the world: people avoid the poor and admire the rich.

Few will support those whom the world looks down on, even when those people deserve respect. The poor person should be pitied, encouraged, and helped, but instead he is often disliked, treated as strange, and kept at a distance, even by his own neighbor. That neighbor may once have been close to him and may have pretended to care for him before his fall. Many friends are only “summer friends,” gone when winter comes. It is a great comfort to have God as our friend, because he will not leave us when we are poor.

On the other hand, everyone tries to win over those whom the world favors, even when they do not deserve it. The rich have many friends, but often they are only friends to their money, hoping to get something from them. There is very little real friendship in the world when it is driven by self-interest, and that is not true friendship at all. A wise person will not prize such friendship highly or trust it deeply. Those who make the world their god end up honoring the people who have the most of its goods, and they seek their approval as if they were truly heaven’s favorites.