Proverbs 10:30

Standing Firm

Commonplace –

“The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth” (Proverbs 10:30).

In Proverbs 10:30, Solomon addresses the material and immaterial position of the righteous. On this material earth, the righteous have their spiritual life, which grounds them and points the way for them. That solid rock foundation holds them fast in the changing circumstances of the world. It doesn’t make them perfect, but it does give them a roadmap, pointing the way to the good in every situation. Later, when the righteous pass on from their material body, they move into their eternal life in heaven, not so the wicked, which Solomon points out in the second half of the verse. As Matthew Henry notes, “Ruin and destruction are the certain consequences of wickedness. The wicked shall not only not inherit the earth, though they lay up their treasure in it, but the shall not so much as inhabit the earth; God’s judgments will root them out” (695).

In his Commentary, Matthew Henry also wrote the following regarding the outcome of the righteous and the wicked:

“…the way of the Lord which is the strength of the upright is consumption and terror to the workers of iniquity; the same gospel which to the one is a savour of life unto life to the other is a savour of death unto death; the same providence, like the same sun, softens the one and hardens the other, Hos. 14:9 (695).

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:30.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg