22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it.
23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool,
but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
24 What the wicked dreads will come upon him,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more,
but the righteous is established for ever.
The series of contrasts continues in these verses, and it is instructive to follow the thread of each in turn: blessing, wisdom, fulfilment, enduring integrity on the one hand, and sorrow, mischief, fear and insecurity on the other. The truth is that both the wise and the foolish are caught up in a process that carries them forward with its own momentum. Paul echoes this in Romans 6:19-23 in the alternatives 'iniquity unto iniquity' and 'righteousness unto holiness'. It is so very true that each of us makes his own future, for weal or woe. The 'it' in 22 is emphatic, underlining the exclusive prerogative of the blessing of God, it is only that blessing that can enrich, and when it does, it is unalloyed bounty that it bestows. The meaning of 23 can be brought out by the observation that what people think funny is often a good index of their character. Sometimes a man will play a practical joke that is in poor taste and will laugh uproariously. This tells a great deal about him. Then we think of another, and say of him, 'He would never have done a thing like that, even as a joke'. Again, as in 22, the 'it' in 24 is emphatic. There is a parallelism between 'fear' and 'desire', and paradoxically both lead to the same in the end, for what the wicked dreads is confrontation with God, and this, for the righteous, is the ultimate beatitude. Kidner quotes C S. Lewis's well known words in this connection, 'In the end, that Face which is the delight or terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us either with one expression or the other, either conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguise'. Character and integrity are the only things that will survive that awesome confrontation (25).