“A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.”
My Notes
What Does Proverbs 28:20 Mean?
"A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." The contrast is between faithfulness and haste — between the person who builds wealth through consistent integrity and the person who sprints toward riches by any available route.
The word "faithful" (emunah) means reliable, trustworthy, steady — the same root as "amen." The faithful person doesn't just believe the right things; they're reliable. They show up. They do what they say. They persist. And the result is abundance — not instant wealth but overflowing blessing that comes from sustained integrity.
The phrase "shall not be innocent" (literally "shall not be clean") suggests that the person in a hurry to get rich will inevitably compromise. Speed demands shortcuts, and shortcuts in wealth acquisition always involve moral compromise. The haste itself produces the guilt.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you currently building wealth through faithfulness or through haste?
- 2.What shortcuts have you been tempted to take that would compromise your innocence?
- 3.How does the compound interest of trustworthiness work in your experience?
- 4.What would patient, faithful wealth-building look like in your specific situation?
Devotional
The faithful person abounds with blessings. The person in a hurry to get rich ends up guilty. The first builds slowly and overflows. The second sprints and crashes.
The contrast isn't between wealth and poverty — it's between how you get there. The faithful person may end up wealthy too. But their wealth came from years of reliability, integrity, and consistency. The hasty person's wealth came from cutting corners, and the corners they cut are their innocence.
The word "faithful" is the key. Not talented, not brilliant, not lucky — faithful. Reliable. Consistent. The kind of person who does what they say, shows up when they commit, and handles small things well before being given large things. Blessings abound for this kind of person because trust compounds the way interest does. People give more to the person who proved faithful with less.
The hasty path to wealth is the opposite: it trades trustworthiness for speed. It sacrifices relationships for deals. It cuts ethical corners to make financial turns. And the proverb says: you won't be innocent. The money might come, but the clean conscience won't.
Are you building faithfully or sprinting hastily? The blessings that come from faithfulness take longer to arrive but they come without guilt. The riches that come from haste arrive with baggage you'll carry for years.
Which kind of wealth are you building?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
A faithful man shall abound with blessings,.... Or, "a man of faithfulness" (u). A very faithful man, that is truly so;…
Not the possession of wealth, nor even the acquisition of it, is evil, but the eager haste of covetousness. Shall not be…
Here, 1. We are directed in the true way to be happy, and that is to be holy and honest. He that is faithful to God and…
faithful i.e., as the second clause shews, one who puts fidelity above gain. Comp. Psa 15:4.
innocent Rather,…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture