Oh how sweet is! – Thomas Brooks
“Better the little that the righteous have, than the wealth of many wicked.” Psalm 37:16
The righteous man’s mite, is better than the wicked man’s millions.
The righteous man has his little, from the special love and favor of God. Lazarus’ scraps, crusts and rags are better and greater mercies than Dives’ riches, purple robes, and dainty fare!
A godly man improves his little, to the stirring up of his heart to thankfulness, and to be much in admiring and blessing of God for his little. The least mercies which the righteous man has, make him humble, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies which You have showed unto Your servant.” Genesis 32:10
The righteous man enjoys his little, with a great deal of comfort, peace, quiet and contentment. Though he has but necessities from hand to mouth yet seeing that God feeds him from heaven, as it were with manna he is content, quiet and cheerful.
All the honors, riches, pleasures, and profits of this world, cannot yield contentment to a worldly man they are all surrounded with briers and thorns. Who can sum up the many grievances, fears, jealousies, disgraces, temptations and vexations which men meet with in their vain pursuit after the things of this world! Oh how sweet is, it to lack these bitter-sweets!
Riches may well be called thorns; because they pierce both head and heart the one with care of getting, and the other with grief in parting with them. The world and all its enchantments, are a paradise to the eye but painfulness to the soul.
But a righteous man, with his little, enjoys both peace of conscience and peace of contentment; and this makes every bitter sweet; and every little sweet to be exceedingly sweet. A dish of green herbs, with peace of conscience and peace of contentment, is a noble feast, a continual feast to a gracious soul. In every crust, crumb, drop, and sip of mercy which a righteous man enjoys, he sees much of the love of his God, and the care of his God, and the wisdom of his God, and the power of his God, and the faithfulness of his God, and the goodness of his God in making the least provision for him.
In contrast, wicked men are like the the mule which drinks from the brook but never thinks of the spring. They are like the swine which eats up the fruit but never looks up to the tree from whence the fruit falls.
A little will satisfy a temperate Christian. “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” Proverbs 30:8. Agur asks only for daily bread, necessary for his life not for his lusts. He prays for enough to satisfy necessity not luxury. He asks for bread not for delicacies. He begs that his body may be sustained not pampered.
A little will satisfy nature, and less will satisfy grace; yet nothing will satisfy a wicked man’s lusts! Wicked men never have enough they are never satisfied! Those who are separated from the world’s lusts, can live with a little.
Solomon, the wisest prince who ever sat upon a throne, after his most diligent, critical, and impartial search into all the creatures, gives this as the sum total of his inquiries, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” And how then can any of these things, yes, all these things heaped up together, satisfy the soul of man!