One who is slack in his work
    is brother to one who destroys.

 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
    the righteous run to it and are safe.

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
    they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.

To answer before listening—
    that is folly and shame.

Proverbs 18:9-13

V. 9: The slacker (one who doesn’t work) doesn’t produce, and the destroyer destroys what has been produced. The results are the same: there is nothing to show for one’s time and efforts, Therefore, they are said to be “brothers”. Some who don’t take care of what they have, or who are spendthrifts, sometimes look down upon and criticize the person who has no ambition and produces nothing. But this saying relates the two groups together.

V. 10: Many passages teach that God .is a refuge: sometimes a “tower,” sometimes a “rock”, sometimes covering “wings” (I1 Sam. 22:3; Psa. 18:2; 27:l; 61:3,4; 91:2ff; 144:2). V. 6. V. 6. V. 8. The ancients had their fortified cities with their walls, big gates, and towers. Sometimes the enemy was able to break through the gates and batter down the walls. That left a tower to get up into for their final safety. The Lord can take care of us when other helpers fail.

V. 11: The first statement is also in Prov. 10:15. In contrast to the righteous person’s God, the rich man trusts his “wealth”. This is forbidden in I Timothy 6:17: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Don’t overlook the connection of “high wall”, “strong city,” and “tower” in vs. 10, ll.

V. 12: While the righteous of v.10 find their “tower” (God) a place of safety, the rich man of v. 11 finds that his wealth did not save him from destruction. The first statement is similar to Proverbs 16:18; the last to Proverbs 15:33. The present verse brings these two contrasting statements found isolated in Proverbs and brings them together in one verse as a contrast, whose truths are witnessed numerous times in the Bible.

V. 13: Pre-judging (judging before the facts are known) gives us our word “prejudice”. Many misjudgments are made because of pre-judging: replacing investigation with rumor or making a judgment of a person on the sound of his or her name or where one is from (John 1:45,46), one’s looks, or first impressions. (John 7:51; 7:24)