Falling Into Poverty

Ἐξομολογήσεται σοι, ὅταν ἀγαθύνης αὐτῷ. Περὶ τοῦ χοῖκοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἀγαθὰ νομίζοντος εἴναι μόνα τὰ τοῦ Βίου τούτου προτερήματα, πλοῦτον, καὶ ὑγίειαν, καὶ δυναστείαν, περὶ τούτου φησὶν, ὅτι ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ Θεῷ, ὅταν ἀγαθύνηται· ἐν δὲ τοῖς περιστατικοῖς πᾶσαν ἀφίησι δυσφημίαν. καταλιπὼν γὰρ τὸν πένητα, πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἥδη ποιεῖται τὸν λόγον· ἐν κατηγορίᾳ τῇ τοῦ πλούτου παραλαμβάνων καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ εὐθηνιᾳ μόνῃ εὐχαριστεῖν τῷ Θεῷ, σκυθρωποτέρων δέ τινων περιστάντων, μηκέτι τὸν αὐτὸν διαμένειν. Τοιοῦτον γάρ ἐστι καὶ τὸ τοῦ διαβόλου εἰς κατηγορίαν προσθερόμενον τῷ Ἰὼβ, ὅτι οὐ δωπρεὰν σέβεται Ἰὼβ τὸν Κύριον, ἀλλὰ μισθὸν ἔχει τῆς εὐσεβείας τὸν πλοῦτον, καὶ τὰ λοιπά. Διὸ καὶ εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρετῆς ἐγύμνωσεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς ὦν εἶχεν, ἵνα διὰ πάντων διαφανῇ τὸ πρὸς Θεὸν εὐχάριστον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΜΗ' Source: Migne PG 29 456c-457a

He shall confess you while you bless him. 1 This is about a man of the world who judges those things of the world to be good which promote this life, things such as wealth and health and power, and so it is said that he shall confess God while he blesses him with such things, but in adversity he shall utter every blasphemy, for on account of God abandoning him to penury he will speak so, that is, in criticism of Him who takes away his wealth, which wealth was the only reason he gave thanks to God, but, grievous things befalling, his thankfulness passes away. And this is the criticism the devil directs against Job, that he is not pious to God freely but on account of his wealth, and so on. Therefore to show the virtue of the man God deprives him of all he has that the goodness of the man through everything might be apparent. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 48 1 Ps 48.19