The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,
but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

Proverbs 13:25

What is this proverb’s setting?

Everywhere.

The righteous has enough, always. The righteous man or woman is content. Even in times of hunger, they are satisfied.

But the wicked are not so. They are governed by their gut. Their desires and appetites drive and direct them. They can do nothing but want, even in the midst of plenty. For them, enough cannot be reached. The goal will always be a little higher, a little more.

The inability to master one’s appetite is a moral predicament. Our hungers will almost never (naturally) be for God and His ways. Instead, our flesh is like the grave, always begging for one more.

Sometimes this is food.

For others it’s sex.

Or maybe it’s spending, compulsively buying trivial things.

The irony about becoming obsessed with a pleasure, with having a discontent appetite, is that it ruins enjoyment itself. The person who cannot keep from impulsively eating the entire bar of chocolate does not love chocolate; they enjoy consuming chocolate.

Lust, after all, is a selfish and obsessive perversion of love. Lust is what happens when an appetite cannot be satisfied.

God’s people avoid this trap. By God’s wisdom, we are always satisfied because we no longer listen to the commands of the belly. We do not live by bread alone but from every word that comes from the mouth of God.