The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
Summary: The duality of our nature, being both physical and spiritual, is the key to understanding the Scriptures. It applies to everything, even something as simple as being hungry.
This seems like a verse that would be easy to point to as an example of crazy talk. How can you say that God does not let the righteous go hungry? People go hungry all the time. Famine is a real thing. Sometimes people starve to death, even those we might consider “righteous.”
Maybe you will argue that there has never been anyone righteous enough to qualify for God’s care at this level. It might be argued that if there were someone righteous enough before God, they would not be allowed to go hungry. Yet even here, there are too many examples of righteous people whose lives are recorded in the Bible, who have gone hungry. Jesus himself is one of them.
When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit led him out into the wilderness where he ate nothing for forty days. Then the Bible says, “he was hungry.” (Luke 4: 2) Yep. I would be, too! The difference between us is that Jesus is righteous and I am not. So if it is true that the Lord “does not let the righteous go hungry,” and that Jesus was a righteous person before God (Luke 23:47), then how could he be allowed to go hungry?
Could it be that God sees us differently than we see ourselves?
If we really are spiritual beings first and physical beings second, then God “sees” both. He sees us as spirits and often speaks to us as spirits.
What do spirits hunger for?
A righteous spirit hungers for things only God can provide: truth, light, and love. “The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry.”
Application: Feed your spirit daily by being in God’s Word.
Food for Thought: What is an example of God thwarting the “craving of the wicked?” (Bonus question: What might be in a box of “thwart remover?”)
…….. What is an example of God thwarting the “craving of the wicked?”
By making them go back to bed instead of leaving an unrighteous comment because that pun hurt.
Or Genesis 19:24-25
Tim,
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah certainly thwarted any more unrighteous behavior from that quarter!
(Sorry about the pun. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody!)
🙂
Your puns are appreciated Jeff. Your a punny guy. All work and no pun can make a person unhappy. Sometimes you just need to relax and have some pun.
Ouch! 🙂
I think God put me here on earth to “pun”-ish people.
😊
What is an example of God thwarting the “craving of the wicked?”
I had to look up what thwart actually means: to prevent someone from accomplishing something. In this verse Solomon is saying God prevents the wicked from being “fulfilled” by sin. Even though the Lord gives us free will, we will never find fulfillment in it. God offers us fulfillment through Him. I also found it interesting that God allows the wicked to temporarily gain wealth, but that eventually it will go to whom God wills it to go to. That as well thwarts the desires of the wicked. To find a false sense of security in possessions, only to have it redistributed when God chooses.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
Psalm 37:9 “For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.”
Ecclesiastes 2:26 8:13 “The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.”
Chris,
Thank you for sharing your meditation on “thwarting.” I appreciate the perspective that God’s will is accomplished in spite of physical appearances.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Matthew 5:6
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30
I’m going to highlight in this passage, ‘all things’. If God causes all things to work together for good (yes, yes, His idea of the meaning not ours) then the wicked, who desire evil are always thwarted. Kinda like the illusion we have of control, or the illusion we have of really owning things (for these are all God’s) there is also the illusion of evil prevailing.
So often it seems like evil has overwhelmed good… But Jesus wins, and all who follow Him get to join in.
A –
Jesus does win! Hallelujah!! Well said.
Oh!! I almost forgot!!
Thwart remover is a spray. You spray it on the most dastardly plans to keep thwarting hands from being able to touch it. Comes in 5 scents: rain, pond, ocean, lake, river.
LOL!!
I’m glad you took up the ‘bonus question’ challenge! Great answer!!
🌟 🌟 🌟
Great comments. And I am with T, sometimes it hurts. But honestly, I think that is the point 😊.
As for God thwarting wicked plans, I have always found the story of Balak and Balaam in Numbers chapters 22 – 24 interesting. Balak wanted to pay Balaam to curse Israel, but God thwarted that plan over and over again. God can even thwart a curse.
Of course, the ultimate thwarting of evil is what has and will happen to Satan. His evil purposes have been thwarted time after time. He probably thought he won a great victory at the cross – surprise – Jesus rose and defeated him. In Revelation 20, we see that his final attempt to overthrow Jesus’ rightful rule will be thwarted with the most serious consequences.
Rich,
The story of Balaam is a deep one. He was a man who acknowledged the presence of God and was used by God, but still did not honor God’s will. In that story we find that sometimes the “thwart remover” is a talking donkey! 🙂
04-12-2022, Proverbs 10:3, What is an example of God thwarting the “craving of the wicked?”
Matthew 5:6, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The righteous, receive and turn to God. The wicked choose to reject His call to righteousness.
John 1:12-13, 16:8-15, Revelation 3:20, 1 Corinthians 10:13.
To those who seek to please Him, God will give spiritual wisdom, knowledge and joy, but God will intentionally ignore the desires of a wicked person who rejects His call to righteousness.
In Luke16:14 we see the Pharisees, who loved money, heard all Jesus had said and were sneering at Him. In Verses 15-18, Jesus points out how they have chosen to seek the approval of men based on their outward appearances of righteousness, over the approval of God, based upon the condition of the heart. They had chosen to set aside the revelation of God, written in their hearts of men.
Mathew 7:6, Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Matthew 26:63, Mark 14:61, Luke 23:9, John 19:10
What might be in a box of “thwart remover?”, John 16:8-12
Thank you, Ron!
I love that you bring us to the Beatitudes! What a great illustration of God thwarting the corruption of this world. And yes, when Jesus comes again, all thwarting is over. 🙂