Proverbs 29:13

The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about the rich and the poor:

Proverbs 29:13 (NASBStr)

The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:

The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

The contrast in Proverbs is between the poor and those who oppress the poor ... the wealthy.   You don't have to read far into the proverbs to observe that God watches and is aware of the oppressor and guards over the poor.   According to James, the greatest act of "religion" is to visit those who are poor (visiting the fatherless and the widow ... James 1:27).  The difference between the two in Scripture couldn't be more stressed or accentuated.  Yet, with these differences in the background, Solomon draws one major similarity:  The fact that they can see the other is given to them as a gift from God.   Solomon wants us to know that both owe their sight to God.   But, deeper than sight, he wants us to know that God not only gives them the ability to see but what they behold, as well.  He gives "light" to them both.   He stresses what comes into their sight as much as the fact that they see.   As they behold each other and observe the status of the other, that ability comes from God.   They might behold different circumstances, but the fact that “they behold,” they have in common.   God gives gifts to us.  Sometimes, even though we are miles apart on the status spectrum, we have in common God's common grace.   Wealth and poverty might come from decisions and mistakes we have made along the way.  However, the ability to see those mistakes and the outcomes of them comes from God, giving both the poor and the oppressor sight.   God gives good things to the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).  Notice what Solomon said earlier in Proverbs:

Proverbs 22:2 (ESV)

The rich and the poor meet together;

the LORD is the Maker of them all.

The point Solomon is making, whether it is the oppressor or the oppressed, God gives life to them both.  In Psalm 13:3 we see that the phrase “light of the eyes” is a metaphor for life and death.   Solomon wants us to know that God is the giver of life.   This proverb is a Divine warning that God is in control of those in society who are rich and those who are poor.