Proverbs 15:16

15:16 Better ¹  is little with the fear of the Lord

than great wealth and turmoil ²  with it. ³ 

Psalms 37:16

37:16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than

the wealth of many evil men, ⁴ 

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ⁵ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ⁶  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁷ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 6:6-9

6:6 I am exhausted as I groan;

all night long I drench my bed in tears; ⁸ 

my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. ⁹ 

6:7 My eyes ¹⁰  grow dim ¹¹  from suffering;

they grow weak ¹²  because of all my enemies. ¹³ 

6:8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly, ¹⁴ 

for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping! ¹⁵ 

6:9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;

the Lord has accepted ¹⁶  my prayer.

[15:16]  ¹ sn One of the frequent characteristics of wisdom literature is the “better” saying; it is a comparison of different but similar things to determine which is to be preferred. These two verses focus on spiritual things being better than troubled material things.

[15:16]  ² sn Turmoil refers to anxiety; the fear of the Lord alleviates anxiety, for it brings with it contentment and confidence.

[15:16]  ³ sn Not all wealth has turmoil with it. But the proverb is focusing on the comparison of two things – fear of the Lord with little and wealth with turmoil. Between these two, the former is definitely better.

[37:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “Better [is] a little to the godly one than the wealth of many evil ones.” The following verses explain why this is true. Though a godly individual may seem to have only meager possessions, he always has what he needs and will eventually possess the land. The wicked may prosper for a brief time, but will eventually be destroyed by divine judgment and lose everything.

[37:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ⁶ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”

[6:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”

[6:7]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[6:7]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”

[6:7]  ¹³ sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5.

[6:8]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord has heard. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes because the Lord responded positively to the lament and petition of vv. 1-7 and promised him deliverance.

[6:9]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request.