Proverbs 11:23-24 “The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he should and comes to poverty.”

We’ll take the easy one first! God blesses those who help others, sometimes materially, and certainly spiritually. Here the emphasis seems to be on the physical, revealing that God blesses those who give so that they can give more!

2 Corinthians 9:5-12 “Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift and not as something you feel forced to do. My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work. Just as it is written, ‘He has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.’ Now God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God.”

Verse 23 can be taken multiple ways. Does it refer to judgment or desire? Do righteous people desire to do good and wicked people desire to stir up trouble, or do righteous people end up receiving good from God while the wicked can expect judgment (both now and in the age to come)? Perhaps both are meant to be true!

Proverbs 11:31 “If the righteous are recompensed on earth, how much more the wicked sinner!”