'There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is that
maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.'--PROVERBS xiii. 7.
Two singularly-contrasted characters are set in opposition here. One,
that of a man who lives like a millionaire and is a pauper; another,
that of a man who lives like a pauper and is rich. The latter
character, that of a man who hides and hoards his wealth, was,
perhaps, more common in the days when this collection of Proverbs was
put together, because in all ill-governed countries, to show wealth is
a short way to get rid of it. But they have their modern
representatives. We who live in a commercial community have seen many
a blown-out bubble soaring and glittering, and then collapsing into a
drop of soapsuds, and on the other hand, we are always hearing of
notes and bank-books being found stowed away in some wretched hovel
where a miser has died.
Now, I do not suppose that the author of this proverb attached any
kind of moral to it in his own mind. It is simply a jotting of an
observation drawn from a wide experience; and if he meant to teach any
lesson by it, I suppose it was nothing more than that in regard to
money, as to other things, we should avoid extremes, and should try to
show what we are, and to be what we seem. But whilst thus I do not
take it that there is any kind of moral or religious lesson in the
writer's mind, I may venture, perhaps, to take this saying as being a
picturesque illustration, putting in vivid fashion certain great
truths which apply in all regions of life, and which find their
highest application in regard to Christianity, and our relation to
Jesus Christ. There, too, 'there is that maketh himself rich, and yet
hath nothing; and there is that maketh himself poor, and yet'--or one
might, perhaps, say _therefore_--'hath great riches.' It is from
that point of view that I wish to look at the words at this time. I
must begin with recalling to your mind,