Proverbs 3:9, 10; Proverbs 11:25
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): “Honour the Lord with thy substance” is a precept which makes it our duty to serve God with our estates. It is the end of our creation and redemption to honour God, to be to Him for a name and a praise―His honour we must show forth, and the honour we have for Him. We must honour Him, not only with our bodies and spirits which are His, but with our estates too, for they also are His.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Our time, our property, our influence, should all be considered His, and nothing as really ours, except the honour and happiness of employing it all for God.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): To ‘honour God with our substance’ is not necessarily to give it away for religious purposes, but to use it devoutly and as He approves. Christianity has more to say about the distribution, as well as the acquisition of wealth, than professing Christians, especially in commercial communities, practically recognize. This precept grips us tight, and is much more than a ceremonial regulation.
MATTHEW HENRY: Worldly wealth is but poor substance, yet, such as it is, we must honour God with it, and then, if ever, it becomes substantial, we must honour God “with our increase.” Where riches increase we are tempted to honour ourselves, Deuteronomy 8:17, and to set our hearts upon the world, Psalm 62:10; but the more God gives us the more we should study to honour Him. It is meant of the increase of the earth, for we live upon annual products, to keep us in constant dependence on God. As God has prospered us in everything, we must honour Him…“Thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth,” Deuteronomy 8:18.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): And do you think that He does so in order that we may gratify selfish lusts and indulge extravagant tastes? No, God’s bounty unto us is to be used in works of piety and charity—and not wasted upon luxuries and vanities! Christ still sits near the offering box, Mark 12:41, beholding how we drop in our money!
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): Lay out thy estate not only to please and advance thyself or family, but also to glorify God; which is done by the payment of all those offerings and dues which God hath required; by giving according to thy abilities whatsoever is necessary for the support and advancement of God’s worship and service in the world; by free and liberal contributions to those whom God hath made His deputies, and, as I may say, the receivers of His rents, to wit, faithful ministers and good Christians, and all others who need and require thy help. The performance of these duties is here called an honouring of God―and partly because it is, a testimony of our respects to God, of our obedience to Him as our sovereign Lord, and of our thankfulness to Him as our chief Benefactor and Donor of all that we have, and of our belief of His promises made to the faithful practisers of this duty; which if they were believed, the most covetous persons would be the most charitable.
R. K. (19th Century)*: “The liberal soul shall be made fat.” It holds good to this day. “Honour the Lord with thy substance” is a word we do well to remember. Will it not impoverish us? Not a bit.
MATTHEW HENRY: Here is a promise, which makes it our interest to serve God with our estates. It is the way to make a little much―and much more; it is the surest and safest method of thriving: “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty”…If we make our worldly estates serviceable to our religion we shall find our religion very serviceable to the prosperity of our worldly affairs. “Godliness has the promise of the life that now is,” 1 Timothy 4:8, and most of the comfort of it. We mistake if we think that giving will undo us and make us poor. No, giving for God’s honour will make us rich, Haggai 2:19
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): How wonderful is the Lord! He gives the property, gives the heart to use it aright, and recompenses the man for the deed though all the fruit was found from Himself!
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): God takes it for an honour; how should this prevail with us!
R. K. (19th Century): As to niggardly souls, what can we say of them?
A. W. PINK: It is miserliness which impoverishes, Proverbs 11:24―“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He that is covetous, angers the great Giver of all good, whose liberal soul cannot endure churls and misers.
ADAM CLARKE: Whatever God sends us in the way of secular prosperity, there is a portion of it always for the poor, and for God’s cause. When that portion is thus disposed of, the rest is sanctified; when it is withheld, God’s curse is upon the whole.
CHARLES SIMEON: God has said, that “what we give to the poor, we lend unto Him, and He will repay it again,” Proverbs 19:17…Very remarkable is His promise in relation to the present life: “Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again,” Luke 6:38.
MATTHEW HENRY: “So shall thy barns be filled with plenty.” He does not say thy bags, but thy barns; not thy wardrobe replenished, but thy presses: God shall bless thee with an increase of that which is for use, not for show or ornament―for spending and laying out, not for hoarding and laying up. Those that do good with what they have shall have more to do more good with.
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): There is no presumption, or enthusiasm in looking for the literal fulfillment of the promise.
A. W. PINK: Of all the miracles performed by the Lord Jesus the feeding of the five thousand is the only one recorded by each of the four Evangelists. This at once intimates that there must be something about it of unusual importance, and therefore it calls for our most diligent study…They “filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten,” John 6:13. How this confirms what we have said about giving out to others. The loaves were augmented by division and multiplied by subtraction! We are never impoverished, but always enriched by giving to others. It is the liberal soul that is made fat. We need never be anxious that there will not be enough left for our own needs. God never allows a generous giver to be the loser. The disciples had more left at the finish than they had at the beginning!
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): There was a man, some called him mad;
The more he gave, the more he had.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): John Bunyan’s quaint rhyme [from Pilgrim’s Progress,] is in itself a suited commentary on these verses. It was propounded as a riddle by Old Honest, and explained by Gaius: “He that bestows his goods upon the poor
Shall have as much again, and ten times more.”
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*Editor’s Note: No further information available as to the identity of R.K.
