Sustaining the Righteous

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. -Proverbs 10:3, KJV

Several other translations write this verse to say that God will not let His people go hungry, but He denies the cravings and desires of the wicked.

We can see this as the same kind of promise Jesus gave:

“Look at the birds, whom God feeds. Look at the flowers, whom God clothes better than Solomon in his great clothes. How much more does the Father want to take care of you?” (Matthew 6:25-34)

My wife and I have been through much in our relatively short nine years of marriage, times when there was not enough money in our bank account to pay all the bills, let alone to buy basic necessities. But God took care of us during those times.

However, Jesus started this section of scripture by saying, “Isn’t life more than food and clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

What, then does God’s Word promise us, if we cannot trust that we will always have enough food to feel full?

In John 4, Jesus was talking to His disciples, immediately after the Samaritan woman by the well left Him, when He said, “I have food you do not know about … to do the will of the one who sent me.” (vv. 32-34)

Back in Matthew 6, He says to seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be given to you (v. 33).

Therefore, the KJV certainly says it best in today’s verse, for it is implied that God takes care of His people, but the deeper and more obvious (based on the plain reading) meaning is this:

God fulfils the spiritual needs of His people, saving and nourishing their souls, but He ultimately removes the wicked, casting them into Hell.