2/2/2025
Turn with me to Proverbs 19:1-2. These are our verses to study and memorize this week.
Proverbs 19:1-2 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity Than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool. 2 Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps errs.
Introduction
While we are beginning a new chapter, we are actually still continuing a three part section of proverbs which focuses on wisdom for life’s relationships (18:22-19:7/19:8-19:14/19:15-19:24). This section began in Proverbs 18:22 with the closest relationship: marriage. We were told that “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.” The next part of this section, which will begin with Proverbs 19:8, echoes that refrain of finding a good thing when it says that “He who keeps understanding will find good.”
In between those verses we have gone from looking at marriage to now looking more broadly at true friendship and true wealth. In 18:23 we saw that money can affect relationships and the ways that people speak to one another. Then in 18:24 we saw the danger of fake friends contrasted with the blessing of a true one. Now here in Proverbs 19:1 money and relationships comes back up. This is a repeating theme which we will see a number of different facets of in upcoming verses. Proverbs 19:4, 19:6, 19:7, 19:10, 19:14, 19:17, and 19:22 all touch on it. Money, or the lack of it can really affect people’s character and relationships. Additionally, the pursuit of money and a wrong perspective on it can quickly bring ruin to lives and relationships. Thus Solomon devotes a number of proverbs to giving us guidance on navigating pitfalls and issues that come up in relationships related to money.
Proverbs 19:2 expands on verse 1 by looking at the issue of doing things without the wisdom needed to rightly carry them out. We are explicitly told that living that way can keep us from finding the good that that these verses are all trying to guide us into having in our relationships. That kind of warning directly tied to a refrain in these verses let’s us know it will be important for us to pay attention to.
With that overview, let’s take a closer look at Proverbs 19:1-2 and continue studying true friendship and true wealth.
19:1 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity Than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.
It is better to live righteously—even if that means being poor—than to speak wickedly and live foolishly. This proverb emphasizes the importance of integrity.
Here we are given two pictures. The first one is of a poor person who does not have much of value, who has to struggle to meet his family’s needs, and who may even have to go without. Yet, he is righteous, truthful, and keeps his word. He has integrity. He consistently does what he should in his life dealings with people and God.
With the very first word the text tells us that it is better to be this person than what is going to be described next. This proverb is not like Proverbs 18:23 and some others where we have an observation of the ways things often work and then have to work a bit harder to figure out the application points for our lives. No, the point is being told to us quite plainly: be a person of integrity in your relationships even if it means you do not have enough to always meet your needs. Instead of working out the application in this proverb what we have to puzzle out is why it would be such a good thing to be poor and lacking in our daily needs than what the comparison will be.
The second picture gives us the comparison and makes quite the contrast. The perverseness or twistedness of speech that is referred to is the direct opposite of living with integrity. It is manipulating and deceiving people. Because of the implicit contrast with being poor in the first part of the proverb, most likely there is the idea here of one having gotten riches by this twisted speech and unjust behavior. It is achieving one’s success by cutting corners, shading the truth, fraud, manipulation, lies, or scheming.
To cap it off this person is described as a fool. No doubt is left to us about the character of the kind of people portrayed here. They are fools. They are ones who have departed from God’s way of wisdom. They are ones who are living life according to their desires and dictates rather than God’s purposes and His righteously ordered commands. They are people who are defying God by making themselves out to be the god of their lives.
It is much better to be in need and not have enough than to be this kind of person. That is how important it is to live with integrity and righteousness. Contrary to what our society and world will often tell us, being rich is not what is most important in life. Integrity and righteousness in our lives is far more important. It is so much more important that it is worth going to the other extreme and have nothing as long as integrity and righteousness is retained.
Proverb in Comparison: What this proverb does not tell us is, why? Why is it so much better to have integrity even if that means one is destitute? Why is having integrity so much better than being a rich, sweet talking fool?
When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see the answer to this question. Galatians 6:7-10 gives us an idea of why this proverb is true.
Galatians 6:7-10 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
When we pervert our words and life from the ways that God designed them to be we will reap the consequences. Yes, we might initially get our way, take advantage of people, make money off of their hard work, gain power, or experience the pleasures of sin. But, it will catch up to us. A revolving door of politicians, businessman, entertainers, and schemers rocket to the top, gain wealth and influence, and enjoy the so-called “high life.” Yet all to often scandals come out and the consequences fall. Many physically destroy their lives, families, and marriages through the ways that they foolishly and perversely live. Plenty of others have ended up in jail as their crimes come to light and catch up to them.
Beyond those earthly consequences, the truth is that possessions, power, and pleasure in this life are not eternal. All of us will be judged by God’s perfect standard of righteousness after we die—not by what other people think or do, nor by our own standard that we make up. Nothing that from God’s perspective is perverse, twisted, and evil will go unaccounted for. As Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”
Revelation 20:11-15 adds to that and gives a sobering picture of what this world’s coming judgment looks like:
Revelation 20:12-15 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
It is not worth it be perverse in speech and a fool no matter how much wealth, power, or pleasure we amass in this life. It will catch up to us. God’s judgment will come. The frank and honest truth is that before God all of us stand condemned. As Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But God in His great love, while we were yet sinners and enemies of Him, sent His son Jesus to be the one and only way of salvation. We could not fix our situation before God. Only Jesus as the perfect God-man could. As a perfect, sinless man He could give His life in exchange for ours. As God He could bear that penalty for all those who believe in Him and He could conquer sin and death on our behalf. In Jesus God can both righteously judge sin as it deserves and rescue, redeem, forgive, and transform people’s lives from their sin. In Jesus people can become righteous before God and live new lives of integrity by His power. Having that eternal life with God is true riches. By contrast, the riches of this world will be destroyed in God’s judgment. They are pretend, fake, and temporary. True righteousness from God is real, eternal, and worth more than any earthly riches, power, or pleasure.
One way or another all of our sins will be judged. If we are fools and continue defying God with our twisted, perversions of what He created to be good then we will lose all that we have. We will be judged eternally in the lake of fire. On the other hand, if we humble ourselves before God and turn from our sin by trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Savior then He has paid for all of our sin in full by what He did on the cross with His death, burial, and resurrection. In Jesus we are adopted into the family of God and have an eternal inheritance with Him. That is true riches and much better than any temporary, physical riches that sin might seem to bring.
Have you trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Or have you fallen into perverting the truth, pursuing your own sinful design for life, and seeking the temporary riches and pleasures of this world? In the end it will not be worth it. Turn to Jesus with His righteousness and integrity.
Scriptural Example: When we look to Scripture for an example of this proverb we see a positive example in Daniel. He was a poor, young captive from Judah who was taken to Babylon to be trained as one of their wise men. He could have just gone along with whatever he was told, eaten whatever was set before him, and forgotten the God of his parents. No doubt he would have had a rich, cushy life going along, fitting in, and telling rulers what they wanted to hear. But he would not do that. He would not pervert his life or his words. He lived with integrity. As Daniel 1:8 tells us he determined in his mind right away that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or wine. He decided to live with integrity no matter what it cost him. Later on, when he was old, he retained this same determination even when continuing to pray to God meant he would be cast into the lion’s den. He chose to do what was right regardless of what it might cost him. In some of those moments it must have looked like his life was about to be over. Yet he persisted in doing what was right and maintaining his integrity.
From reading the book of Daniel we know the rest of the story. So this might not hit us as intensely as it must have been for him to experience. The reality was that he lived out this proverb. He recognized that it was better to be poor—or even to be put to death—while maintaining his integrity before God than to have all the riches, pleasure, and power of this world’s kings. He put his life where his integrity was. By God’s grace and preservation God rescued his life and even exalted him before men. But even if God had not done so, having God’s eternal favor and blessing is far better than the temporary favor and riches of this life. The truth is that we all are going to die. We just do not know when or how. But even though we do not know that, from God’s Word we do know the end of the story. We know of God’s eternal judgment on sinners, and His eternal blessings on His redeemed people.
On the negative side of this Balaam, the bad prophet that the donkey rebuked in Numbers 22-24, illustrates that putting money before integrity is not worth it. Balaam wanted the reward that Balak king of Moab promised to him if he would prophesy evil against Israel. He could not do it because God would not let him, but after numerous attempts he finally ended up counseling Balak on how to turn God Himself against Israel. He encouraged Balak to entice Israel into idolatry and immorality. God did judge Israel for their sin when they did this at Ba’al Peor, but God also judged Balaam and he was killed in a battle with Israel (Numbers 31:16 and Joshua 13:22). He may have briefly had the favor and monetary blessings of king Balak, but it did not last long. It was not worth anything when God’s judgment came. Balaam desperately needed the wisdom of our proverb.
Truth in Connection: As we connect this proverb to our lives, its general truth is that it really is better to have integrity even if it is at the expense of our financial well-being. As we look more specifically at the context here relating to people’s relationships we see that it is important for us to be people of integrity in all our interactions with them. We need to speak the truth to people. We need to keep our word. We need to be righteous in our dealings with them. We need to have God’s wisdom guide our interactions and not the foolishness of sin, selfishness, and deceit. That integrity is what will make us good friends to people. That is what will build our relationships instead of tearing them down. That is what will bring us good. Additionally we should learn here that not only are we to be people of integrity, but that is what is important for us to look for in the friends that we make.
If our friends value money more than doing what is right, then sooner or later we will be taken advantage of. They will be more concerned about what helps them financially and how they can get ahead than they will be about doing what is right in their relationship with us. They will also lead us in the wrong direction with their perversions of the truth. Their words and actions will not be trustworthy or reliable. Those are dangerous people to have as our friends or to spend time with. If we do, we will not find good in our relationships. We will find ruin.
All in all, we must not buy the lie about the supreme value of money. We must be careful not to value money more than it is actually worth. It is not worth losing our integrity and righteousness over. It is not worth sinning to get, or to keep.
As Jesus said, we cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24). Instead as Christians we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). If we are doing that, then whenever there is a conflict between money and what is right it will be no contest. Doing what is right will always win out no matter the amount of money in question.
How are you doing with this? Are you living as a person of integrity, choosing to do what is right even if it costs you money? Will you live this way when you do your taxes? Will you keep your words honest and right with people or will you manipulate your friends, family, and acquaintances? Do you walk in God’s wisdom towards them or do you maneuver your relationships to get out of them what you want? True, good relationships are built on the integrity of trust, truth, and a love that does what is best for the other person. Similarly, true, lasting wealth is built on integrity and righteousness and consists of something entirely different than the temporary possessions we can have here on this earth. It comes from serving God.
It is better to be a poor person, lacking in earthly possessions and money, than to be physically rich and live wickedly in relation to other people. To find good in our relationships with people we must be people of integrity and righteousness. To have that integrity and righteousness we first need to personally know the forgiveness of our sins that Jesus alone brings through faith in Him. Then we need to allow God to continue to transform our way of thinking and living to be people of integrity with one another. As we do this we will be a true friend and we will find good in those relationships. We will have true and lasting wealth even if we do not have it here on earth. Do you have this integrity? Our next verse adds another element to this finding good.
2 Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps errs.
Living without understanding what is really going on is not good. Hurrying into decisions leads to mistakes. This proverb emphasizes the importance of knowing the truth before making decisions in our relationships and pursuits.
Back in Proverbs 18:9 we had a proverb that began with the word “also.” We noted how it closely tied that verse to the previous one. It made us look for the continuity that Solomon intended for us to see. In that case, just like here, if we did not have that connector we might be tempted to overlook the close connection that it was supposed to have with the previous verse. Thus this verse is not a new topic isolated from the previous verse. Instead we are to see that just like we are to prioritize integrity in our relationships, so too we are to prioritize the truth. We are to prioritize wisdom. We are to prioritize an understanding of what is going on in situations before moving forward. If we do not, we will not find good. It will turn out bad for us. We will commit actions without knowledge and make mistakes. We will cause problems in our haste. We will not have considered all the details and we will make critical errors in our decisions and actions.
In addition to this, we also see a continuation here of the negative idea at the end of verse 1. If we listen to the perverse speech of the fool, or if we are the fool with perverse speech, then we will end up in error and ruin. We will act without true knowledge. This verse gives us the result of that perverse speech and foolish behavior. Frankly, this is the only result that can come out of having perverse speech and foolishness guide us. In our perversions we will be going against the way that God has designed this world and our lives. We will speak and act without true wisdom and knowledge. We will be deceived. We will then hurry our footsteps into sin and behaviors which will have negative consequences.
The word for “err” there at the end of the verse has to do with one who misses the mark or fails to reach the goal. Metaphorically (or spiritually) it has to do with sinning morally, offending, or doing wrong.1 When we live apart from God’s wisdom—whether intentionally as a fool who defies God, or by default through ignorance or deception—the result is failure, sin, and ruin. Living this way will not lead to good. Therefore we must not follow the words of the fool who perverts the truth and leads one away from integrity and righteousness. Similarly, we must be careful to make sure that we do not become the fool who cuts corners, manipulates words, and values riches and earthly gain more than integrity. These are all deceptions which will ruin relationships and our own lives.
Proverbs 8:36 uses this same word for “errs” when it describes the sin of those who do not listen to Lady Wisdom. In that verse Wisdom declared:
Proverbs 8:36 “But he who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death.”
That is the outcome of allowing riches to be valued more than integrity. That is the outcome when we hurry our footsteps and listen to twisted sinful words (whether from our own hearts or from our others). That is the outcome when we live without the knowledge of the truth. We ignore wisdom and reap the consequences. We rush into sin without consideration of whether it is right or wrong or what the consequences will be. This is the extreme danger of having foolish friends who speak deceit. It will lead us nowhere good. It will only lead us into error and towards destruction.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we have an example of this with King Xerxes in the book of Esther. He did not really check into what Haman was proposing with all of its ramifications before approving the extermination and despoiling of the Jews in his realm. He acted without knowledge. He hurried his footsteps into following the foolish and devious words of Haman.
It seems that he just saw the large amount of money that would go into the treasury because of Haman’s plan. So he signed it into the unchanging law of the Medes and the Persians. He set himself and his kingdom up against God by allowing this attempt at slaughtering all the Jews. He unknowingly set himself up against his very own queen and Mordecai—someone who had saved his own life by revealing a plot against him. What a way to repay someone who had done him the ultimate good! Even when the issue was more fully revealed the complications of trying to undo his hasty, unchangeable law caused a lot of violence in his kingdom. There was quite a lot of unrest as it all played out. It was a huge mistake that was only overcome by God’s merciful grace and providence.
We see another example of this proverb in the life of Samson in his relationship with Delilah. Her god was actually money. She was not a good and loyal friend with integrity. She did not actually love him. Her speeches were deceptive and perverse. She was a fool living for her own foolish goals. She was most definitely not following God. She wheedled Samson and wore him down. Then she betrayed him for money. If Samson had integrity he would not have been there with her to begin with. His lack of knowledge made things even worse. He did not think through his words with Delilah when he shared the secret of his strength with her. He did not carefully think through whether she was actually trustworthy with that secret. It was a huge error in judgment that cost him his eyes, his freedom, and eventually his life. He acted without knowledge. He acted without wisdom. It destroyed him.
Other examples in Scripture abound. Joshua made an ill-judged and disobedient peace treaty with the Gibeonites during the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 9). Pilate did not think things through well enough when the religious leaders and people were hurrying him into condemning Jesus to death. Festus did not think things through well enough and investigate Paul’s situation when the Jewish leaders were pressing to have Paul brought back to Jerusalem for trial (Acts 25). John Mark did not think things through well enough when he left Paul and Barnabas during the first missionary journey (Acts 13:13).
In all these examples we can see how important it is to not let ourselves be deceived, and to make sure that we have God’s wisdom and guidance on matters before we make our decisions. We must not let our feelings, or the deceptive words of so-called friends, or the desire to have or keep money or power mislead us into acting without knowledge and making hasty decisions.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we can see that the reality of this proverb highlights the importance of why we need to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, lean not on our own understanding, and have the Lord direct our paths as Proverbs 3:5-6 says. We can see why we need to meditate on God’s Word day and night as Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1, and Philippians 4:8-9 talk about. We can see why we need to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly and why we need the wise teaching and admonishing of one another that Colossians 3:16 commands. We can see why we need to set our minds on things above and not on the things of this earth as Colossians 3:2 commands. We can see why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and not controlled by alcohol as Ephesians 5:18 says. We can see why need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God and not allow our lives to be conformed to this world but rather be transformed by the ongoing renewing of our minds so that we see and carry out the will of God as Romans 12:1-2 highlights. We can see why we need to be slow to anger, slow to speak, and quick to listen as James 1:19 emphasizes. We can see why we need to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let our requests be made known to God as Philippians 4:6 instructs.
If we do not do these things, we are liable to act hastily out of a lack of knowledge, out of a misunderstanding, out of being deceived, out of selfishness and sin, or out of fear and anxiety.
Instead of that we need to act wisely by carefully seeking out God’s guidance through the truth of His Word. We need the knowledge and wisdom of God so that we are not deceived into making riches the most important thing that we pursue. We need the knowledge and wisdom of God so that we are not deceived by our own hearts, or the words of false friends, or the lies of Satan into doing things that are not right. When we act hastily, apart from the wisdom and knowledge of God about what is right, we sin.
Truth in Connection: As we connect this to our lives, we need to determine that in our relationships we will not only prioritize integrity, but that we will also make sure to compare what people tell us with God’s Word and what is truly going on. We must not be naïve about other people. They can mislead us with their perverse, deceptive speech. Likewise, our own hearts can do the same thing. If we are not careful to continually compare everything with the truth of God’s Word and to take everything to Him in prayer we will fall into dangerous errors and sin.
We need to both be people of integrity, as well as to continually compare everything to God’s standard of what is right and wrong. We must not allow ourselves to be pressured into hasty actions without knowledge. Likewise, when we give advice to people we must be careful not to give our knee jerk hasty considerations or encourage them into making rash decisions.
Acting without knowledge will result in missing the mark, failing the goal, and sinning against God. The biggest way that this is done is in relation to sin and God’s judgment of it. So many people ignore the issue altogether and act without knowledge. They think that somehow they will be okay when they die and stand before God. But they do not base that on truth. Maybe they assume that if they have done more “good” than bad that they will be okay, or if they have not done any so-called “really bad sins” God will overlook the rest. But those are lies which are completely contradictory to God’s Word. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” as Romans 3:23 declares. The wages of that sin is death as Romans 6:23 says. Likewise, Jesus said in John 14:6 that no one comes to the Father except through Him. He alone is “the way, the truth, and the life.” No other religions can actually deal with our sin and cause us to be able to stand before God righteously. None of our efforts or supposed good works can do it. Thus God’s Word would urge you. Turn from your sin, from acting without knowledge in relation to God. Turn to His Word. See the truth. Trust in Jesus alone as your Lord and Savior. Do not let your acting without knowledge be an eternal mistake that lands you in the lake of fire.
Having trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then continue to seek out His wisdom in His Word to guide you in every area of your life. It has wisdom for your money, for your friendships, for your dating relationships, for your sexuality, for your marriage relationship, for raising your children, for how you are to work, for your relationship to your parents, for your relationship to government, for your involvement in a local church, for using your spiritual gifts, for what purpose you should live for, and everything else—including how you use your phone, what music you listen to, what movies you watch, and what you think about. It has principles and wisdom for all that we need to live godly in Christ Jesus in our new life with Him. It has wisdom and knowledge for everything. May we not walk in ignorance and sin against God because of it. We have no excuse. God has given us His Word. Let us be people of God’s Word who walk by its knowledge in every area of our lives. May we allow it to guide us in how we conduct our relationships with one another. Then indeed we will find good.
Conclusion
If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.
© 2025, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
1 HALOT, חטא.
English (US) · 