Proverbs 13:4-9 contain contrasts between the diligent and the lazy, the righteous and the wicked, and the rich and the poor.
Verse 4--The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing,
while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.
Verse 5--The righteous hate falsehood,
but the wicked act shamefully and disgracefully.
Verse 6--Righteousness guards one whose way is upright,
but sin overthrows the wicked.
Verse 7--Some pretend to be rich, yet have nothing;
others pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.
Verse 8--Wealth is a ransom for a person's life,
but the poor get no threats.
Verse 9--The light of the righteous rejoices,
but the lamp of the wicked goes out.
What uplifting lessons can one learn from these ideas?
1. Attaining what one desires depends on the quality of the desire. A lazy person desires great things, but is unwilling to work to get them. Righteousness is like a shield or huge boulder which guards one from danger, but sin is so powerful that it destroys the sinner. One can see that these statements are actually referring to God working in behalf of the righteous and the diligent, and against the lazy and wicked.
2. People who are wealthy are often the objects of attempted murder, theft, and slander by those who are striving to take away their wealth from them. In such cases, frequently the rich have to pay a great deal of money to ward off or escape those who are threatening them. Some wealthy people try to make the world think they are poor in order to avoid such dangers.
3. An individual's life is like the light emanating from a lamp. A righteous person's light keeps glowing in the darkest times of life, while the darkness prevails against a wicked person's light, and that light goes out.