The Realities of Wealth



To see oppression of the poor,
The violation of justice;
You find the feeling to abhor,
The infraction of righteousness.

Be not amazed in this matter,
A higher authority sees them;
Judgment prevails in the latter,
The Lord will ensure to condemn.

A gain for land in every way,
A king committed to sow fields;
The love of money leads astray,
The wealth of income that he yields.

A vanity when goods increase,
Advantage seeing with his eyes;
And a man's labor does not cease,
As a sweet sleep is in disguise.

Whether he eats little or much,
A full stomach will suffer sleep;
A grievous evil is in touch,
Desires more each time to reap.

For I have seen under the sun,
By the owner the riches kept;
Lost riches when reaping was done,
Nothing in his hand to accept.

As he came from his mother’s womb,
And naked he shall go again;
Nothing for toil when in the tomb,
Laid away at the last amen.

Copyright © 2024 Richard Newton Sherrer

About this poem

The Vanity of Wealth and Honor Ecclesiastes 5:8–15

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Written on March 24, 2024

Submitted by richardnsherrer on March 23, 2024

1:02 min read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK LMLM B
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 937
Words 208
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1

Richard Newton Sherrer

I was born and raised on a farm in Pennsylvania. It was a small family farm that was handed down through 8 generations of Sherrer men until my father; Newton just could not make a living from it any longer. He thought that I would make a better living away from the farm. So, I decided to join the Air Force in 1969 upon graduating from high school. I gained quite a bit of experience and insight on life while in the service. Even though I was only stationed on the east coast of the US, my Air Force career took me to Germany and Korea. After 20 years wearing of the blue uniform, I decided going in a different direction and found myself becoming very diverse in many different fields. Something still seemed missing to me after being separated from the service for about 10 years. The Air Force was a way of life for me, but really missed life in Korea. I found myself changing careers again. Poetry was an interest of his since my days in high school. With returning to the Lord, I felt motivated to write of my Christian beliefs. I started looking at Bible verses and reflecting on my own personal experiences. The Bible was found to be as true today as to when the various books were written. I could see much of what the Bible is teaching us as valid as every in modern time. It felt only natural to me on using his personal experience based on Bible verses and see much of my own life written in the Scriptures. God inspires me what to write about though. I do not claim to be an expert on God or the Bible. I am just a Christian who has become enlightened to write poetic verses from the Holy Scriptures. more…

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