Thrive in Life (Proverbs 28:25)

Proverbs 28:25 says, "He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he that puts his trust in the Lord shall be made fat."

STIR UP - This word means to excite to anger, or more specifically, to wage or make war with anyone.

The word is only used 14 times in the OT, with 4 of those references being in Deuteronomy chapter 2 (2:5,9,19,24), and 3 of them being in Daniel chapter 11 (11:10[2x's],25). The other references are in Jeremiah 50:24; 2 Kings 14:10; 2 Chronicles 25:19;  and the remaining references in Proverbs (15:18; 28:4,25; 29:22).

The origin of this word is from the idea of "roughness" or more accurately, "roughness of throat". This imagery seems to speak to harshness in one's words.

The interesting aspect of this verse of scripture, is that it  conveys both the actions of the "proud heart", and the response of those to whom those actions are directed.

The proud heart incites people to wage war with them, and one another, and this results from their "roughness of throat", or harsh words.

Through what they do and say, they incite anger among others, and these actions and speech cause strife, or "judgments" to be formed, creating division. [See Divide and Conquer].

What is very interesting is the source of all this destruction is rooted, in what the KJV translates as the "proud" heart. 

HEART

First of all, the word "heart", is obviously not a reference here to the physical organ, but is here used as a personification, describing the individual themselves. You could, very accurately, paraphrase this text, as "the proud person". It is a direct reference to the inward motivation of the individual. In other words, the persons inward motivation is from being "proud".

PROUD - This word has fascinating origins, and  gives us a very illuminating picture of it's meaning.

Even when we think of a person being proud, or we may even term them as  arrogant, these are merely "tag" words, that we have labelled people with to describe what they have said or done, that we feel is deserving of this title. However, each of us has a level of tolerance that may include some under this branding and exclude others, and our allowances vary among ourselves to such a degree, that there is no uniform standard of measurement.

The scriptures, however, are much more specific in identifying, and providing us with an accurate understanding of what classifies a person as "proud".

This word, from the Hebrew, is only translated as "proud", in 3, of it's 21 references (Ps.101:5; Prov.21:4; 28:25).

The word is actually used, the majority of the time,  to describe land, that is spacious; wide; or large. The inference is that there is a limitless supply, that there never has to be any concern of not having enough or ever running out of space, or land to use.

When this word is used in the negative sense, as in this text, it describes those individuals who never have enough and are constantly grasping for more; for a limitless supply, of power; money; position; authority. What ever they have, it is not enough to satisfy their insatiable desire for more. This is obviously a deep rooted insecurity that provides no rest for the individual.

The Greek word used here, in the LXX, means "insatiable", or "limitless", in the sense that, in a negative connotation, these individuals have a "large" heart, that is never full enough of things; authority; power; control; or influence.                                                                                                                                                            

The irony is that, because of their desperate need to be in charge; to have more money; to be the source of influence. they only succeed in alienating others through causing them to go to war against them, initiating  "rough" or harsh words spoken by them and to them, and severing valuable relationships from their lives.

By contrast, those who are anchored  in the faithfulness of  God, as their loving Father, and have faith in their Father-God, succeed in life, or, as the KJV says, "shall be made fat" [i.e., experience the "fatness" that life has to offer.]

Moffat has an acceptable translation of this verse:                                                                                                          "A grasping nature stirs up enmity, but he who trusts in the Eternal thrives".

You are God's Best and God's Best is Yours.