Proverbs 24:3 - Meaning and Application

We are often tempted to envy people who get rich and build up their families through dishonest means, while our own consciences will not let us do the same. But Solomon reminds us here that, with wise management, a person can build an estate and a family by lawful and honest means, with a clear conscience, a good name, and God’s blessing on his work. The dishonest way may seem to bring gain faster, but the honest way lasts much longer.

What Solomon recommends first is wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. That means both true godliness toward God, which is real wisdom, and good judgment in handling everyday affairs. We must live by the rules of religion first, and then by careful sense in practical matters. Some truly godly people do not do well in the world because they lack prudence, and some careful people still fail because they trust themselves too much and do not acknowledge God in their ways. A wise man needs both.

The benefit of true wisdom is that it helps a person’s outward affairs go well. It builds a house and makes it firm (Proverbs 24:3). People may build their houses through wrong means, but they cannot make them secure, because the foundation is rotten (Habakkuk 2:9, 10). What is honestly gained lasts like steel, and it becomes an inheritance for children and grandchildren.

Wisdom also enriches a house and fills it (Proverbs 24:4). Those who handle their affairs with wisdom and fairness, who work diligently by lawful means, who avoid waste, and who give to others, are likely to have their homes, stores, and rooms filled with precious and pleasant riches. They are precious because they come from honest labor, and the work of a diligent person is valuable. They are pleasant because they are enjoyed with thankful joy.

Some take this mainly in a spiritual sense. By knowledge, the rooms of the soul are filled with the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit, those precious and pleasant riches. The Spirit begins his work by opening the understanding, and then carries out his other work in the soul.

Wisdom also strengthens a house and turns it into a kind of fortress. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, whether used to attack or to defend. A wise man stands in a strong place, and a man of knowledge increases strength (Proverbs 24:5). As we grow in knowledge, we grow in all grace (2 Peter 3:18). Those who grow in wisdom are strengthened with all power (Colossians 1:9, 11). A wise person can accomplish by judgment what a strong person cannot do by force. True wisdom also strengthens the spirit for spiritual work and spiritual battle.

Wisdom can govern a house, and even a kingdom, and handle the affairs of both (Proverbs 24:6). Wisdom can form a council, or a group of advisers. It helps in public disputes by keeping people from joining them unless the cause is right and there is some hope of success. And when a dispute must be faced, wisdom helps manage it well, so that the result may be either a good peace or an honorable withdrawal. War should be handled only with wise counsel, because it can lead to serious harm if managed badly.

Wisdom also protects the public peace. In a large number of advisers there is safety, because one may notice danger or see an opportunity that another misses. In our spiritual conflicts, too, we need wisdom, because our enemy is subtle.