"It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it"
Solomon is saying that there are many ways to get rich, but only one of them doesn't come with sorrow mixed in. That is through following the blessing of the Lord. Where the Lord is guiding, you build an abundant life. It may not involve abundant amounts of money, but it will surely involve building abundant relationships of love. This is the best kind of riches
blessing
This is the Hebrew word berakah, which means a blessing, a benefit, a gift, blessings, present.
This verse has been misused numerous times. Some have suggested that this verse means that an evidence of God's blessing in your life is material abundance, but that is not what this verse is saying. This verse is saying that one of the results of following the Lord and living His way is that He might give you riches as a gift and if He does, then it will not result in destruction and sorrow to you or your family.
We are watching the riches of the world be destructive to people. I read somewhere that over 70% of large lottery winners are bankrupt in a few years and that over 90% of large lottery winners are divorced in two years. What was supposed to be a great blessing turned into destruction for these people. Many who have looked into setting aside large trust funds for their children and grandchildren have concluded that there does not seem to be any way to avoid the trust fund being a degenerating issue in the children's lives.
There are all kinds of ways to get rich from cheating – to illegal goods, to mortgaging your family to put in more hours, and many others. But they end in great sorrow along with the riches. Solomon is saying that when your God gives you wealth because you followed His plan, it doesn't come with sorrow.
rich
This is the Hebrew word asir, which means rich or rich man. The idea is abundance beyond day-to-day or paycheck-to-paycheck. Solomon is clearly pointing out that the goal of many people is to pile up extra so that they are secure, but what good is that if the sorrow is added to the pile? The riches of God do not come with the sorrow of unrighteousness and greed.
sorrow
This is the Hebrew word eseb, which means sorrow. Notice that God says, through the mouth of Solomon, that He may let you have wealth without Him; but He will add sorrow to it so the enjoyment over the long haul is not there. Do not love money and pursue riches. Pursue instead God and His kingdom and all these other things will be added to you.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz