Brief note before sharing the devotional: this right here is critical. God will not bless proud people. Even though I have had people come up to me and remark on the humility that they see I possess, I know I'm still very often prideful. And God knows. So He calls me out on that. I'm only really humble because I've often been humbled in the past and have had to learn some painful lessons, sometimes the same ones over and over. I like to think that I'm getting better at humbling myself when I receive warnings from God about this. But He knows my heart better than I or anyone else does. This is another element of learning to trust God fully: allowing Him to challenge us regularly regarding our pride. No one wants to be told that they are being prideful. But, like I said at the beginning, this is critical.
God granted King Solomon, the great King of Israel, wisdom beyond measure. From this, King Solomon penned much of the book of Proverbs, providing insight and knowledge regarding right living before God.
Solomon begins the book of Proverbs with this statement:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
He repeats this truth in our Verse of the Day:
“The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.”
King Solomon had more riches than we can imagine. He was honored among the nations and had a full and prosperous life. We might not be kings, but the truth of this statement is timeless.
Hundreds of years later, Paul wrote a prayer for the Christians in his letter to the Ephesians that can provide context for Proverbs 22:4.
“…the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe … ”
His prayer teaches us that by coming to God and His Word with humility, God will give us spiritual wisdom and knowledge. And because of our faith in Him, God honors us and gives us riches that only come with belonging in Christ Jesus. He blesses us because of His great love.
It is through humility and a holy fear of God that we receive His promises of riches, honor, and life. Some of those promises will come to pass on earth, but all of them will be fulfilled when Jesus returns one day. And as we see the fulfillment of God’s promises, our response will be to give God the glory.
https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.22.4.ESV
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