Proverbs 18:23 (ESV)
The poor use entreaties,
but the rich answer roughly.
Money talks!!! Solomon is providing us insight into the way society observes and responds to the aspect of wealth and poverty in our society. The poor, because they are poor and have no influence, are left to beg and ask and request. The rich, on the other hand, can say what they want and do so without the concerns of their hearers. They can answer "roughly" because they are rich. Bluntness is the tool of those who feel they have no want. They can be rich in confidence. They can be rich in many things and have no need to win the hearts and minds of others. The poor on the other hand have a need. They can be poor in friendship so they beg, ask and request for friendship. The can be poor in influence and must act accordingly. The contrast in Proverbs between the rich and poor is obvious by the many times the Spirt, through Solomon's pen, records these type of observations. See further:
Proverbs 10:15 (ESV)
A rich man's wealth is his strong city;
the poverty of the poor is their ruin.
Proverbs 14:20 (ESV)
The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
Proverbs 14:31 (ESV)
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
Proverbs 17:5 (ESV)
Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;
he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 22:2 (ESV)
The rich and the poor meet together;
the LORD is the Maker of them all.
We all should find ourselves poor in the spirit. That is the only way we can truly find fulfillment. Those who believe they have righteousness, without Christ, will never utter supplications. They, instead, will speak roughly and proclaim their ignorance about God:
Psalms 53:1 (ESV)
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
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