Psalms 111

Psalms 111:2

"His seed shall be mighty in the earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed."
Is Jesus contradictory with the OT about wealth?
Contrasting Link: Matthew 19:24

Contrary to skeptical belief, Jesus is not "telling the wealthy to sell all that they have, for the rich can not go to heaven." It indicates --- using typical rabbinic hyperbole -- that it is difficult for the rich to enter heaven; and in context (the story of the rich young ruler) shows that this is because they find their wealth so alluring.

The order of the Psalms verse indicates that someone who fears the Lord will thereafter...as a result...have riches in his house. What is this "fear of the Lord"? It might be summarized proverbially in Proverbs 8:13 -- "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way..." A person who has this "fear", having proven their dedication to the Lord, has proven themselves able to "handle" wealth. It does not stand in their way of serving and fearing the Lord.

The rich young ruler is clearly one who does not fear the Lord. When he shows that he'd rather not give it up for the sake of following a prophet whose ministry he ostensibly believed to be founded of God, he showed himself to be a violator of the most important commands against idolatry!

Let me just emphasize here the most important point of all -- that of the proverbial, non-absolute nature of the Psalmist/Proverbial literature, and even the Matthean teaching. Obviously not all who gain wealth will remain steadfast in faith; not all who feared the Lord ended up with a horde of riches. By the conventions of the genre, no "wisdom" teaching is an absolute.

In addition, regarding Proverbs 18:11, let's not ignore the rest of the verse, which goes on to say: "they imagine it an unscalable wall." In other words, this verse completely agrees with the "camel" verse! It indicates that the rich man thinks that his wealth is his strong city, but he is merely fooling himself.