{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58767/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58767","id":"gutenberg_58767","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58767","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Commentaries","Bible. Proverbs -- Commentaries","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Preaching"],"text":"Produced by John Hagerson and Mrs. Faith Ball\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\n - This book uses SMALL CAPS in headings throughout. You might need\n to experiment with browsers and fonts to find one that shows SMALL\n CAPS correctly.\n\n - The text of the series shifts among font sizes and between one and\n two column presentation, in an effort to maximize the amount of\n text that can appear on the printed page. This transcription will\n dispense with that formatting because costs are so much lower in\n the digital world.\n\n - The text comments on, but does not include, the text of the\n Scriptures. A copy of the King James Version of the Bible (also\n known as the \"Authorised Version\") should be available from the\n same source where you obtained this e-book.\n\n - The author refers to \"Canticles,\" which is another name for the\n Biblical book \"Song of Solomon.\" He also refers to two books that\n are not in the Protestant canon: \"Ecclesiasticus\" and \"The Wisdom\n of Solomon.\" These books are found in a Roman Catholic Bible or\n on-line, if desired.\n\n - This book is a collection of men's opinions on the book of\n Proverbs in the Bible, the inspired Word of God. The book was\n printed toward the end of the 19th century. Some of the comments\n might be considered culturally insensitive today.\n\n - Details of the Transcriber's changes are enumerated after the\n text.\n\n\n\nTHE PREACHER'S\nCOMPLETE HOMILETIC\nCOMMENTARY\nON THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE\n\nWITH CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES,\nINDEXES, ETC., BY VARIOUS AUTHORS\n\nTHE OLD TESTAMENT\n_Volumes 1-21_\n\nTHE NEW TESTAMENT\n_Volumes 22-32_\n\nVolume 13\n\n\n\nThe Preacher's Complete Homiletic\nCOMMENTARY\n\nON THE BOOK OF THE\nProverbs\n\n_By the_ REV. W. HARRIS\n_Author of the Commentary on Samuel_\n\n[LOGO]\nPRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\nFUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY\nNEW YORK\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\nIntroduction and Preface\n\n VERSES CHAPTER I.\n Critical Notes\n 1-4 The Author, His Method and His Object\n 5, 6 The Characteristics of a Wise Man\n 7-9 The Root of True Knowledge and the Means of Its Attainment\n 10-19 Enticement to Sin and Exhortation Against Yielding to It\n 20-33 The Cry of Wisdom\n\n CHAPTER II.\n Critical Notes\n 1-5 Human Understanding and Divine Knowledge\n 6-11 God as a Giver, and Man as a Receiver\n 12-20 The Character of Those from Whom Wisdom Preserves\n 21, 22 The Contrast in the End from the Contrast in the Way\n\n CHAPTER III.\n Critical Notes\n 1-4 Blessings from the Remembrance of God's Commandments\n 5, 6 Exhortation to Confidence in God\n 7-12 The Way (1) to Health, (2) to Wealth, (3) to Endurance\n 13-18 Wisdom and Her Gifts\n 19, 20 One of the Proofs of God's Wisdom\n 21-26 God's Keeping, the Reward of Man's Keeping\n 27-29 Doing Justice and Loving Mercy\n 30 Unlawful Strife Forbidden\n 31-35 The Oppressor Not to Be Envied\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n Critical Notes\n 1-4 The Reciprocal Duties of Parents and Children\n 5-13 The One Thing Needful\n 14-19 Contrasted Paths and Opposite Characters\n 20-27 The Path of Safety\n\n CHAPTER V.\n Critical Notes\n 1-20 Bitter and Sweet Waters\n 21-23 Three Reasons for Avoiding the Way of Sin\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n Critical Notes\n 1-5 Self-Imposed Bondage\n 6-11 Industry and Indolence\n 12-19 A Student of Iniquity\n 20-23 The Law of God's Word\n 24-35 A Special Sin and Its Penalties from Which He\n Who Keeps God's Law Will Be Kept\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n Critical Notes\n 1-4 The Source of True Life, etc.\n 5-27 A Picture Drawn from Life\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n Critical Notes\n 1-3 The Nature of Wisdom's Call\n 4-9 God's Speech Meeting Man's Need\n 10, 11 Wisdom Better Than Wealth\n 12, 13 Wisdom and Prudence\n 14-16 The Source of True Power\n 17-21 The Reward of Earnest Seekers\n 22-31 The Personal Wisdom of God\n 32-36 Exhortation Founded on Human Obligations to Divine Wisdom\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n Critical Notes\n 1-12 Wisdom's Feast\n 13-18 The Feast of Folly\n\n CHAPTER X.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Parental Grief and Gladness\n 2 The Comparative Value of Righteousness and Riches\n 3, 4 Divine and Human Providence\n 5 The Use and the Neglect of Opportunities\n 6, 7, & 11 The Way to Present Blessedness and Future Fame\n 8 The Doer and the Talker\n 9, 10 Opposite Characters\n 12 Love and Hatred\n 13, 14 Laying Up to Give Out\n 15, 16 A False and a True Estimate of Life\n 17 The Influence of Example\n 18 Three Degrees of Moral Foolishness\n 19-21 Speech and Silence\n 22 The Source of True Riches\n 23 A Touchstone of Character\n 24 The Inheritance of Fear and Desire\n 25 The Whirlwind and the Sure Foundation\n 26 The Vexatiousness of a Sluggish Servant\n 27 Long Life\n 28 Hopes Realized and Disappointed\n 29 God's Way, Destruction and Salvation\n 30 The Earth the Possession of the Righteous\n 31 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 32 Acceptable Words\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Just Weight\n 2 Pride and Humility\n 3 The Infallible Guide\n 4 See Homiletics on chap. x. 2\n 5, 6 Made or Marred by Desires\n 7 The Death of the Wicked\n 8 The Wicked Coming in the Stead of the Righteous\n 9 The Just Man Delivered from the Mouth of the Hypocrite\n 10, 11 The Reward of the Righteous Citizen or Ruler. The Fate\n of the Unrighteous One\n 12, 13 Contempt and Tale-Bearing\n 14 Helmsmanship\n 15 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 16 A Gracious Woman\n 17 Mercy and Cruelty\n 18-20 Sowing and Reaping\n 21 Deliverance from a Confederated Opposition\n 22 Precious Things Possessed by Unworthy Owners\n 23 The Desire of the Righteous, and the Expectation\n of the Wicked\n 24-26 The Liberal and the Niggardly Man\n 27 Diligent Seekers\n 28 Trust in Riches, and Trust in God\n 29 Foolish Home Rulers\n 30 The Winner of Souls\n 31 The Recompense of the Righteous and the Wicked\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n Critical Notes\n 1 The Love of Knowledge and the Proof of It\n 2 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 3 A Right Desire and the Means of Its Attainment\n 4 A Husband's Crown\n 5-8 Thoughts and Words and Their Result\n 9 Show and Reality\n 10 Care for Animals and Cruelty to Men\n 11 Satisfaction from Tillage\n 12-14 The Desire of Wicked Men and the Fruit of Righteousness\n 15, 16 Two Examples of Foolishness and Wisdom\n 17-19 & 22 Wounding and Healing\n 20 Joy from Peace\n 21 All Working for the Good of the Righteous\n 23 The Concealment of Knowledge and the Proclamation\n of Foolishness\n 24 The Reward of Diligence\n 25 Heaviness of Heart and Its Cure\n 26 The Guide and the Seducer\n 27 The Loss of the Slothful, and the Gain of the Diligent\n 28 The Way of Life\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n Critical Notes\n 1 The Wise Son and the Scorner\n 2, 3 Keeping the Mouth\n 4 The Disappointment of the Sluggard's Desires\n 5 A Lawful Hatred\n 6 Overthrow by Sin\n 7, 8 The Law of Compensation\n 9 The Abiding Light\n 10 The Parent of Strife\n 11 The Ways of Growing Rich\n 12 Deferred and Accomplished Hope\n 13 Bound by Law\n 14 Living by Rule\n 15 A Bad Way and a Good Understanding\n 16 Dealing with Knowledge\n 17 A Social Link\n 18 The Way to Honour\n 19 The Abomination of the Fool\n 20 Companionship, Constructive or Destructive\n 21 Pursuit and Repayment\n 22 An Inheritance Incorruptible\n 23 Land and Its Tillers\n 24 The Child and the Rod\n 25 Want and Satisfaction\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n Critical Notes\n 1 The House Builder and the House Destroyer\n 2 Fearing and Despising the Lord\n 3 Speech a Rod\n 4 The Clean Crib\n 5 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 6 Seeking, but Not Finding\n 7-9 The Fool and the Prudent Man\n 10 Secrets of the Heart\n 11 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 12 What Seems to Be, and What Is\n 13 True and False Mirth\n 14 Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction\n 15-18 Revelations of Character\n 19 A Levelling Law\n 20, 21 An Aggravated Crime, a Questionable Virtue,\n and a Present Blessing\n 22 A Fatal Error and a Certain Good\n 23 The Profit of Labour\n 24 Wealth, with and without Wisdom\n 25 Deliverance by Truth\n 26 A Sure Refuge\n 27 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 28 A King's True Glory\n 29 Great Understanding\n 30 A Sound Heart\n 31 The Oppressed and Their Oppressors\n 32 The Death of the Righteous and the Wicked\n 33 The Hidden Made Manifest\n 34 National Salvation\n 35 A Wise Servant\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n Critical Notes\n 1, 2 The Use of Knowledge\n 3 Divine Intelligence\n 4, 5 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 6 Like in Circumstances, but Unlike in Character\n 7 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 8, 9 Praying and Living\n 10 Out of the Way\n 11 Two Worlds\n 12 Self-Destroyed\n 13 A Cheerful Face and a Broken Spirit\n 14 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 15 The Continual Feast\n 16 A Treasure Without Trouble\n 17 Two Feasts\n 18 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 19 The Way of the Slothful and the Righteous\n 20 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 21 Opposite Tastes\n 22 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 23 Joy from a Seasonable Word\n 24 The Upward and the Downward Path\n 25 Destruction and Establishment\n 26 Wicked Thoughts and Holy Words\n 27 The Curse of Covetousness\n 28 Studying to Answer\n 29 God Near and Far Off\n 30 Cheerfulness and Good Tidings\n 31-33 How to Give and Take Reproof\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n Critical Notes\n 1 The Heart and the Tongue\n 2 The Weigher of Spirits\n 3 The Establishment of Thoughts\n 4 All Things for God\n 5 Heart-Pride\n 6 The Purging of Iniquity\n 7 Pleasing God\n 8 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 9 Man Proposes, God Disposes\n 10-15 Kings\n 16 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 17 Soul-Preservation\n 18, 19 The End of Pride\n 20, 21 The Fruits of Trust in the Lord\n 22-24 An Unfailing Spring\n 25 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 26 The Mainspring of Human Industry\n 27-30 Different Species of the Same Genus\n 31 A Crown of Glory\n 32 Taking a City and Ruling the Spirit\n 33 The Lot and Its Disposer\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n Critical Notes\n 1 See Homiletics on chap xv., 17\n 2 The Foolish Son and the Wise Servant\n 3 The Trier of Hearts\n 4 The Evil Speaker and the Listener\n 5 A Double Revelation\n 6 Father and Children\n 7 A Twofold Incongruity\n 8 The Power of Gifts\n 9 How to Make Friends and How to Separate Them\n 10 Correction Must be Adapted to the Character of\n the Offender\n 11-13 Phases of Evil\n 14 The Beginning of Strife\n 15 Inversion and Restitution\n 16 Neglected Opportunities\n 17, 18 True Friendship\n 19 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 20, 21 See Homiletics on chap. x. 1, 13, 14, etc.,\n and on verse 24\n 22 The Merry Heart\n 23 Bribery\n 24 The Eyes of a Fool and Those of a Wise Man\n 25 See Homiletics on chap. x. 1\n 26 Smiting the Just\n 27, 28 Two Badges of a Wise Man\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n Critical Notes\n 1, 2 Solitude\n 3 The Short-lived Prosperity of Evil Men\n 4 A Good Man's Mouth\n 5 See Homiletics on chap. xvii. 15 and 26\n 6-8 Folly and Its Results\n 9 Twin-Brothers\n 10, 11 Two Citadels\n 12 See Homiletics on chap. xi. 2 and xvi. 18\n 13 Answering Before Hearing\n 14 Sickness of Body and Wounds of Soul\n 15 Prudence and Knowledge\n 16 The Influence of Talent\n 17 Cross-Examination\n 18 The Use of the Lot\n 19 Castle Bars\n 20, 21 The Power of the Little Member\n 22 A Twofold Good\n 23 Rich and Poor\n 24 The Obligations of Friendship\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n Critical Notes\n 1 The Better Part\n 2, 3 Ignorance Leading to Sin\n 4 Suggestive Comment.\n 5, 9 The End of a False Tongue\n 6, 7 Two Proofs of Human Selfishness\n 8, 9 See Homiletics on verses 2 and 5,\n and on chaps. viii. 36, and ix. 12\n 10 Incongruities\n 11, 12 Two Kings\n 13, 14, 18 Domestic Sorrow, and How to Avoid it\n 15 See Homiletics on chap. vi. 9, 10\n 16 A Double Keeping\n 17 The Best Investment\n 18-20 Relative Duties\n 21 Many Plans Working to One End\n 22 Poverty of Heart and Poverty of Circumstance\n 23 See Homiletics on chaps. x. 27, xiv. 26, xviii. 10\n 24 See Homiletics on chap. xxvi. 12-16\n 25, 29 See Homiletics on chap. xvii. 10\n 26-29 Possibilities of Human Depravity\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Strong Drink\n 2, 3 See Homiletics on chaps. xiv. 29, xvi. 32, xix. 12\n 4 See Homiletics on chap. x. 4\n 5 Deep Sea Dredging\n 6-12 An Universal Challenge, a General Rule, and a Rare Virtue\n 10 For Homiletics see also chap. xi. 1\n 13 For Homiletics see chap. vi. 10, 11\n 14 Bargaining\n 15 See Homiletics on chaps. iii. 14, 15, viii. 11,\n xii. 14, xviii. 20, 21\n 16 Necessary Security\n 17 Bad Bread\n 18 Thought Before Action\n 19 See Homiletics on chaps. x. 19, xi. 13\n 20 An Unnatural Child and a Natural Law\n 21 See Homiletics, chaps. xiii. 11, xxi. 5, 7\n 22 The Recompenser of Evil\n 23 See Homiletics on chap. xi. 1\n 24 God over All\n 25 Religious Vows\n 26, 28 Pillars of Government\n 27 The Candle of the Lord\n 29 The Glory of Youth and Age\n 30 Pain as a Preventive of Pain\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n Critical Notes\n 1 The King of Kings\n 2 See Homiletics on chap. xvi. 2\n 3 The More Acceptable Sacrifice\n 4 The Ploughing of the Wicked\n 5-7, 17 Two Ways to Wealth\n 8 Two Ways\n 9, 19 An Angry Woman\n 10 The Desire of the Wicked\n 11 Instruction for Those Who Need It\n 12 God's Surveillance of the Wicked\n 13 The Cry of the Poor\n 14 The Pacification of Anger\n 15 The Joy of Righteousness\n 16 Like to Like\n 18 The Ransom of the Righteous\n 19, 20 See Homiletics on verses 5, 7, and 9\n 21 A Noble Pursuit and a Rich Prize\n 22 A Wise Man and a Mighty City\n 23 See Homiletics on chap. xiii. 2-3\n 24 A Name of Degrees\n 25, 26 The Sword of the Sluggard\n 27 The Sacrifice of the Wicked\n 28 Outlines and Suggestive Comments.\n 29 The Face and the Way\n 30, 31 Counsel Against the Lord\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Better Than Gold\n 2 Levelling Down and Levelling Up\n 3 See Homiletics on chap. xiv. 16\n 4 See Homiletics on chap. iii. 1-18\n 5, 6 A Hedged-Up Way\n 7 An Analogy Affirmed and a Contrast Suggested\n 8 A Worthless Seed and a Rotten Staff\n 9 The Bountiful Eye\n 10 A Man Who Ought to Dwell Alone\n 11 A Road to Royal Friendship\n 12 The Preservation of Knowledge\n 13 An Active Imagination\n 14 A Deep Pit\n 15 A Fact Stated and a Duty Inferred\n 16 Oppression and Servility\n 17-21 Trust from Knowledge, and Blessedness from Trust\n 22, 23 God the Spoiler of the Spoiler\n 24, 25 An Infectious and Dangerous Disease\n 26, 27 Suretyship and Its Dangers\n 28 See Homiletics on chap. xxiii. 10\n 29 The Destiny of the Diligent\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n Critical Notes\n 1-3 The Temptations of the Table\n 4, 5 The Deceitfulness of Riches\n 6-8 Feigned Generosity\n 9 The Morally Incurable\n 10, 11 The Rights of Private Property\n 12-28 Parental Duties and Parental Joys\n 29-35 The Drunkard's Picture\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n Critical Notes\n 1-6 House Building\n 7 A False Estimate and a True One\n 8, 9 See Homiletics on chap. vi. 12-19\n 10 The Day of Adversity\n 11, 12 Positive Punishment for a Negative Crime\n 13, 14 Honey and Wisdom\n 15, 16 A Social Ambush\n 17, 18 The Fall of an Enemy\n 19, 20 See Homiletics on verse 1, and on chap. xiii. 9\n 21, 22 Rule and Reverence\n 23-26 Impartiality of Truth\n 27 Plan and Patience\n 28, 29 An Uncalled-For Testimony\n 30-34 The Sluggard's Vineyard\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n Critical Notes\n 1-3 God's Mysteries and Man's Research\n 4, 5 See Homiletics on chap. xx. 26 and 28\n 6, 7 Self-promotion\n 8-11 Two Ways of Treating an Enemy\n 12 Giving and Taking\n 13 See Homiletics on chap. xiii. 17\n 14 Clouds Without Rain\n 15 Forbearance and Persuasiveness\n 16 Use and Abuse\n 17 Obtrusiveness\n 18 See Homiletics on chap xii. 18\n 19, 20 Misplaced Confidence and Unseasonable Songs\n 21, 22 A Blessed Recompense\n 23 The Way to Treat a Backbiter\n 24 See Homiletics on chap. xxi. 9\n 25 Cold Water and Good News\n 26 The Evil Result of Moral Cowardice\n 27 Too Much of a Good Thing\n 28 A Defenceless City\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n Critical Notes\n 1 A Gift Wrongly Bestowed\n 2 The Causeless Curse\n 3-11 A Low Level\n 12-16 Self-Conceit and Indolence\n 17 Needless Interference\n 18-22 See Homiletics on chaps. xvii. 14, xviii. 6-8\n 23-28 Counterfeit Friendship\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Divine Property\n 2 Self Praise\n 3, 4 Wrath and Envy\n5, 6, 9-11, 14 Tests of Friendship\n 7 Want of Appetite\n 8 A Man and His Place\n 12 See Homiletics on chap. xiv. 15\n 13, 15, 16 See Homiletics on chaps. xix. 13, xx. 16\n 17 A Social Whetstone\n 18 The Reward of Service\n 19 A Correct Likeness\n 20 Insatiability\n 21 A Crucible for Character\n 22 See Homiletics on chaps. xvii. 10, and xix. 26-29\n 23-27 Moral Farming\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Cowardice and Courage\n 2 The Penalty of Revolt\n 3 The Most Inexcusable Oppressor\n 4, 5 Lawkeepers and Lawbreakers\n 6 See Homiletics on chap. xix. 1\n 7 See Homiletics on chap. x. 1\n 8 See Homiletics on chap. xiii. 22\n 9 See Homiletics on chap. xv. 8, 9\n 10 See Homiletics on chap. xxvi. 23-28\n 11 Wisdom in Wealth and Poverty\n 12 See Homiletics on chap. xi. 10-11\n 13 Confession and Forgiveness\n 14 See Homiletics on chaps. xii. 15, xiv. 15-18\n 15-17 Vice and Virtue in High Places\n 18 See Homiletics on chaps. x. 9-10, xi. 3\n 19 See Homiletics on chap. xii. 11\n 20, 22 See Homiletics on chaps. xiii. 11, xxi. 5\n 21 See Homiletics on chap. xvii. 23\n 23 See Homiletics on chap. xxvii. 5, 6\n 24 Robbing Parents\n 25a See Homiletics on chap. xiii. 10\n 25b, 26 Self-Confidence\n 27 See Homiletics on chaps. xi. 24-26, xiv.-31\n 28 See Homiletics on chap. xi. 10-11\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n Critical Notes\n 1 Reproof and Destruction\n 2 See Homiletics on chap. xi. 10-11\n 3 See Homiletics on chaps. x. 1, v. 1-20\n 4 See Homiletics on chap. xvi. 10-15\n 5 See Homiletics on chap. xxvi. 23-28\n 6 A Snare and a Song\n 7 See Homiletics on chaps. xiv. 31, xxiv. 11, 12\n 8 The Citizen's Enemy and the Citizen's Friend\n 9 See Homiletics on chaps. xxiii. 9, xxvi. 3-11\n 10 Soul-Seekers and Soul-Haters\n 11 See Homiletics on chap. x. 19-21\n 12 A Moral Cancer in a King's Court\n 13 See Homiletics on chap. xxii. 22-23\n 14, 15 See Homiletics on chaps. xvi. 10-15, xiii. 24,\n xix. 13, 14, 18\n 16 Victory Not with the Majority\n 17 See Homiletics on chap. xix. 13, 14, 18\n 18 Divine Revelation and Human Obedience\n 19, 21 Masters and Servants\n 20, 22 See Homiletics on chap. xiv. 17 and 29\n 23 See Homiletics on chaps. xi. 2, xvi. 18-19\n 24 Criminal Partnerships\n 25, 26 Safety from a Snare\n 27 See Homiletics on chap. xxviii. 4\n\n CHAPTER XXX.\n Critical Notes\n 1-9 The Sources of True Humility\n 5, 6 The Word of God\n 7-9 The Middle Way\n 10 See Homiletics on chap. xxiv. 28, 29\n 11-17 Four Manifestations of Ungodliness\n 18-20 Depths of Wickedness\n 21-23 Burdens Grievous to be Borne\n 24-28 Lowly Teachers\n 29-31 Kingly Qualities\n 32, 33 See Homiletics on chap. xvii. 14\n\n CHAPTER XXXI.\n Critical Notes\n 1-9 Divine Commands from a Mother's Lips\n 10-31 A Model Matron\n\n\n\nHOMILETIC COMMENTARY\nON\nPROVERBS\n\n\nINTRODUCTION AND PREFACE.\n\nThe Hebrew word for proverb _(mashal)_ means a comparison. Hence it\nincludes more than we generally understand by the English word, viz.,\na pithy sentence expressing in a few words a well-known or obvious\ntruth. When books were few it was most natural that observations on\nlife and manners should be compressed into the smallest possible\ncompass: hence proverbial teaching has been employed from the most\nremote antiquity. It is highly probable that all proverbial sayings\nwere at first literally _comparisons,_ as this would tend to fix them\nmore indelibly upon the memory. But the word by degrees came to\nexpress that which we now understand it to signify.\n\nAlthough a few more lengthy discourses are found in this book, it\nconsists mainly of a few short proverbial sentences, often\nillustrated and enforced by most striking metaphors. It has been\nalmost universally received by both Jewish and Christian writers as\nthe inspired production of Solomon. The most convincing proof of its\ncanonicity is the fact that the New Testament contains many\nquotations from it. Compare Prov. iii. 11, 12 with Heb. xii. 5, 6;\nProv. iii. 34, with Jas. iv. 6; Prov. x. 12, with 1 Pet. iv. 8; Prov.\nxi. 31 _(Sept.),_ with 1 Pet. iv. 18; Prov. xxii. 9 _(Sept.),_\nwith 2 Cor. ix. 7; Prov. xxv. 21, 22, with Rom. xii. 20; Prov.\nxxvi. 11, with 2 Pet. ii. 22; Prov. xxvii. 1, with Jas. iv. 13, 14.\nBut, were these wanting, its superiority to every other book of a\nsimilar character would constitute a most weighty internal evidence\nof its Divine inspiration. Moses Stuart says of it: \"All the heathen\nmoralists and proverbialists joined together cannot furnish us with\none such book as that of the Proverbs.\" And Wordsworth remarks: \"The\nProverbs of Solomon come from above, and they also look upward. They\nteach that all true wisdom is the gift of God, and is grounded on the\nfear of the Lord. They dwell with the strongest emphasis on the\nnecessity of careful vigilance over the heart, which is manifest only\nto God, and on the duty of acting, in all the daily business and\nsocial intercourse of life, with habitual reference to the only\nunerring standard of human practice, His will and Word. In this\nrespect the Book of Proverbs prepared the way for the preaching of\nthe Gospel, and we recognise in it an anticipation of the apostolic\nprecept: 'Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord.'\" Dr.\nGuthrie considered that \"the high character which Scotsmen earned in\nby-gone years was mainly due to their early acquaintance with the\nBook of Proverbs.\" (_Sunday Magazine,_ Oct., 1868, p. 15.)\n\nAlthough the greater part of the book was doubtless compiled by\nSolomon during his life, chapters xxv.--xxix. were not copied out\nuntil the days of Hezekiah, and the last two chapters are assigned in\nthe book itself to other authors, of whom we know nothing. It seems\nstartling at first sight that a man whose character we know from\nother parts of the Holy Scripture to have been marred by so many\nserious defects, should be the author of an inspired book, but Dr.\nArnot remarks on this point that \"practical lessons on some subjects\ncome better through the heart of the weary, repentant king than\nthrough a man who had tasted fewer pleasures, and led a more even\nlife. . . . Not a line of Solomon's writings tends to palliate\nSolomon's sins. . . . The glaring imperfections of the man's life\nhave been used as a dark ground to set off the lustre of that pure\nrighteousness which the Spirit has spoken by his lips.\" It is evident\nfrom the most cursory study of its contents that this book is rather\nethical than doctrinal. The following Commentary has for its main\nobject the setting forth the great moral lessons contained in it in a\nhomiletic form. It does not pretend to be a critical Commentary,\nalthough the latest and best criticisms have been quoted where they\nseemed to throw any new light upon the text. But the book of Proverbs\nis not easy to treat homiletically. Prof. Lockler, the author of the\nexpositions on the works of Solomon in Dr. Lange's Commentary,\nsays,--\"A theological and homiletical exposition of the book of\nProverbs has difficulties to contend with which exist, in an equal\ndegree in but few books of the Old Testament, and in none in quite\nthe same form. . . . To treat the book homiletically and practically,\nin so far as regards only brief passages, is rendered more difficult\nby the obscurity of many single sentences; and in so far as it\nattempts to embrace large sections, by the unquestionable lack of\nfixed order and methodical structure.\"\n\nThe main DIVISIONS of the Book of Proverbs are:--I. A series of\ndiscourses on the excellency and advantages of wisdom, and the\ndestructive character of sin (ch. i.--ix.). II. A collection of\nunconnected maxims on various subjects (ch. x.--xxii. 16). III. Short\ndiscussions on a variety of subjects (ch. xxii. 17--xxiv. 22), with a\nbrief appendix of maxims (ch. xxiv. 23, 24). IV. The collection of\nSolomon's proverbs made in the time of Hezekiah (ch. xxv.--xxix.).\nV. A supplement containing the words of Agur (ch. xxx.) and of King\nLemuel (ch. xxxi.). [_Annotated Paragraph Bible._]\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Proverbs.+ See Introduction. +2. Instruction,+\nproperly \"chastisement,\" signifying moral training, admonition, then\ngood habits, the practical side of wisdom. +3. Wisdom.+ A different\nword from that in ver. 2. It means \"prudence.\" +Justice+ relates to a\nman's attitude in relation with God, and would be better translated\n\"righteousness.\" +Judgment+ includes our duties to our fellow-man and\nshould be rendered \"justice.\" +Equity+ is \"uprightness,\" \"sincerity\nof purpose.\" +4. Subtlety,+ \"prudence.\" +Simple,+ literally \"the\nopen,\" those easily persuaded. +5. Wise counsels,+ or \"capability to\nguide,\" literally _\"helmsmanship.\"_ +7. Fools,+ derived from a word\nmeaning to be gross and dull of understanding. Gesenius understands\nit to signify \"one who turns away,\" the \"perverse.\" +10. Entice\nthee,+ \"lay thee open.\" Miller here reads, \"if sinners would make a\ndoor of thy simplicity, afford thou no entrance.\" +17.+ Some\ninterpret this verse as referring to the godly who escape the snares\nlaid for them, others to the wicked, who, not so wise as the bird,\nplunge themselves into ruin by plotting against the good. Then the\n_blood_ and _lives_ of ver. 18 refer to the blood and life of the\nsinner. +20.+ The word _wisdom_ is in the plural form in the Hebrew.\n+27. Desolation,+ or \"tempest.\" +28.+ To seek early denotes\n\"earnestly.\" See ch. viii. 17, Hos. v. 15. The person now changes\nfrom the second to the third, \"as though wisdom were increasingly\nalienated.\" _(Miller)._ +32.+ The +turning away+ of the simple,\n_i.e.,_ their rejection of wisdom. +Prosperity,+ \"Security,\" \"idle,\neasy rest.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.\n\nTHE AUTHOR, HIS METHOD, AND HIS OBJECT.\n\n+I. Four things connected with Solomon would tend to commend his\nproverbs to the Hebrew nation.+ 1. _His remarkable antecedents._ The\ninfluence of any man in this world depends very much upon his\nantecedents. If they happen to be such as are held in esteem by\nsociety, they form at once letters of commendation for him, and often\nprove stepping-stones to great positions. The question, \"_Whence_ art\nthou?\" is more often asked than \"_What_ art thou?\" Perhaps this was\neven more true of Hebrew society than it is of English. Solomon was\nthe son of a king. The king whom he claimed as his father was the man\nwhom God had honoured more than any other since the days of Moses. He\nwas not only a king, but a prophet and a poet, who had no equal in\nthe day in which he lived. He was more than this. His reputation as a\nwarrior, more than anything else, endeared him to a people who looked\nupon him in this light as the best representative of their nation.\nThe fact that Solomon was the \"son of David,\" would ensure him the\near of the Jewish people throughout all their generations. 2. _His\npersonal position._ He was not only the son of a king but a king\nhimself--a king who had attained the highest pinnacle of royal\ngreatness. 3. _His practical wisdom._ The instance of this narrated\nin 1 Kings iii. 16-28, proved to Israel that \"the wisdom of God was\nin him to do judgment.\" Who so fit to utter proverbs concerning human\nlife as a man who could thus so skilfully bring to light the hidden\ncounsels of the heart? The Son of God Himself speaks of Solomon as a\nwise man (Matt. xii. 42). 4. _The variety of his experience._\nExperience is always a good reason why men should speak their\nthoughts. Those are most fitted to counsel others who have travelled\nby the same path before them. Solomon's experience had been great and\nvaried. He knew the real value of all that is held in estimation by\nmen. See Eccles., chapters i. and ii. These considerations gave\nweight to his words in the day in which he lived and among his own\npeople, and have done so in every succeeding age and in every nation\nin which his proverbs have been made known.\n\n+II. The form in which Solomon communicates his thoughts.+ A proverb\nis a large amount of wisdom wrapped up in the fewest possible words.\nIt is like a corn-seed which, though a tiny thing in itself, encloses\nthat which may expand and increase until it furnishes food for\nmillions. Even a child may carry a large sum of money when it is in\nthe form of golden coin, although his strength would be quite unequal\nto the task if the same amount were in a baser metal. One diamond may\nconstitute a small fortune, and may be easily carried and concealed\nupon the person, but its value in iron could only be lifted by the\nunited strength of many. The proverb stands in the same relation to\nmental and moral wisdom as gold and diamonds do to copper and iron.\nIt is so portable that it can be carried and retained by the weakest\nmemory.\n\n+III. The main object of the utterer of these proverbs.+ \"To give\nsubtilty to the simple.\" The man who has to travel a dangerous path\nmay be ignorant of the way to arrive at his destination in safety.\nHis simplicity arises from his ignorance. Anyone who has gone the\nsame way before, and has thus experimentally gained the knowledge\nwhich he lacks, can make him wise upon this subject. Solomon has\ntrodden the greater part of the path of human life, those who had not\ndone so were the _simple,_ or ignorant, to whom he here desires to\nimpart the knowledge which might save them from moral ruin. There\nwere those in the days of Solomon, as there are now, who would take\nadvantage of simplicity to destroy character. Solomon desires to\npreserve and strengthen character by showing how to avoid and resist\nsin.\n\n\nOUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS.\n\nVerse 1. The Bible is not given to teach us philosophy, but religion:\nnot to show us the way to science, but the way to holiness and\nheaven. Notwithstanding, therefore, the extent and variety of\nSolomon's knowledge in botany, in natural history, and other\ndepartments of science, we have in preservation none whatever of his\ndiscoveries or his speculations on such subjects.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe Queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear\nSolomon's wisdom. Did she come so far upon uncertain reports, and\nshall not we receive with gladness his instructions, since he is come\nto us to be our teacher?--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 2. The general idea of wisdom is, that it consists in the\nchoice of the best ends, and of the best means for their attainment.\nThis definition admits of application both in a lower and higher\ndepartment. In the first place it may be applied to the whole conduct\nof human life,--in all its daily intercourse and ordinary\ntransactions, and amidst all its varying circumstances. . . . To\naccommodate our conduct to these variations--to suit to all of them\nthe application of the great general principles and precepts of the\nDivine law, and \"to guide our affairs with discretion in them all,\"\nrequires _\"wisdom.\"_ And for enabling us to act our part rightly,\ncreditably, and usefully, from day to day, there is in this book an\nimmense fund of admirable counsel and salutary direction.\n\nAnd then, secondly, the knowledge of wisdom may be taken in its\nhigher application--to interests of a superior order, to spiritual\nduties, to all that regards true religion and the salvation of the\nsoul. Wisdom, in this book, is generally understood in this its\nhighest application, as might indeed be expected in a book of\ninstructions from God. How important soever may be the successful and\nprudential regulation of our temporal affairs, yet in a Divine\ncommunication to man, as an immortal creature, we cannot conceive it\nto be the only, or the principal subject.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 3. \"To perceive the words of understanding\" is a phrase which\nmay be interpreted as meaning the power of justly distinguishing\nbetween good and evil counsel--between that which is right in its\nprinciple and salutary in its operations, and that which is unsound\nand pernicious.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAll through Ecclesiastes and throughout the present book, the more\nmental aspects of sin are always made prominent--piety is called\nwisdom. The saints are _the wise._ The impenitent man is _a fool._\nNothing could be more natural than that just here there should be the\nbroad assertion that knowledge is piety. Nothing could be more\nseminal. A new heart comes from a new light. If a man sees, he\nbelieves, he loves, he hopes, he serves, he repents, he rejoices; and\nthis as but new forms of the one blessed illumination.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 4. There are none that need to be politicians more than they\nthat desire to serve God because they have to deal with the most\npolitic enemies. . . . No gift is worse taken, though never so well\nbestowed, than this is, where there is no feeling of the want of it.\nThe simple seeth not his defects, the young man thinketh that he\nseeth great abundance of ability in himself.--_Jermin._\n\nThe teacher offers to save the young and inexperienced from the\nslower and more painful process of learning by\nexperience.--_Plumptre._\n\nOver the gates of Plato's school it was written: \"Let no one who is\nnot a geometrician enter.\" But very different is the inscription over\nthese doors of Solomon: \"Let the ignorant, simple, foolish, young,\nenter.\"--_Cartwright._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5, 6.\n\nTHE CHARACTERISTICS OF A WISE MAN.\n\n+I. He will hear.+ He shows that he values what he has already\nattained by giving heed to those who are able to add to his\nknowledge. Those who know the most are the most open to receive fresh\nknowledge. +II. The necessary consequence of this willingness to hear\nis a growth in knowledge.+ The wise man \"will increase learning.\"\nThere is an absolute promise in connection with spiritual wisdom.\n\"Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and whomsoever hath not, from\nhim shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have\" (Luke\nviii. 18). He who has wisdom to give heed shall have his wisdom\nincreased by giving heed. To those who are willing to hear, that what\nwas once dark and difficult becomes clear and plain. They \"understand\na proverb and the interpretation; the words of the wise and their\ndark sayings.\" This hearing implies more than a mere reception of\nsound. It includes a desire to translate precepts into deeds. Many\nwho can understand the grammatical construction and literal meaning\nof the Divine oracles cannot apprehend their spiritual signification\nbecause they do not desire to submit to their guidance. This was the\ncondition of many of the Scribes and Pharisees in the days of our\nLord. They saw and yet were blind (Matt. xiii. 13; John ix. 39). \"If\nany man will do his will, he shall _know_ of the doctrine,\" etc.\n(John vii. 17). +III. This growth in knowledge gives a man a guide\nfor his own life and enables him to guide others.+ (For \"wise\ncounsels,\" see Critical Notes). Such a man will not sound all the\nmysteries of life or of God, but enough will be made plain to give\nhim a compass by which to steer; and he will be able to lead others.\nA diligent pupil will by-and-by be fit for a teacher. How fully was\nthe truth of these verses exemplified in the history of the Apostles.\nWhat dull pupils they were at first, and even until after their\nMaster's resurrection. (Luke xxiv. 25.) But their willingness to be\n_disciples_--_learners_--fitted them at length to \"go and teach all\nnations.\" (Matt. xxviii. 19.) Continuing in Christ's Word, they came\nto \"know the truth,\" according to His promise. (John viii. 31.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 5. True wisdom is never stationary, but always progressive;\nbecause it secures the ground behind it as a basis for further\nadvances. \"He who is not adding is wasting; he who is not increasing\nknowledge is losing from it,\" says Rabbi Hillel.--_Fausset._\n\nAs long ago as the time of Melanchthon it was recognized as a\nsignificant fact that wisdom claims as her hearers and pupils, not\nonly the simple, the young, and the untaught, but those who are\nalready advanced in the knowledge of the truth, the wise and\nexperienced. It is indeed Divine wisdom in regard to which these\nassertions are made, and it is precisely as it is within the\ndepartment of the New Testament with the duty of faith, and of growth\nin believing knowledge, which duty in no stage of the Christian life\nin this world ever loses its validity and its binding power. Compare\nLuke xvii. 5; Eph. iv. 15, 16; Col. i. 11; ii. 19; 2 Thess. i. 3;\n2 Pet. iii. 18.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n\nVerse 6. If the law be dark to any, the fault is not in the lawgiver,\nbut in those that should better understand it.--_Trapp._\n\nThe _sayings_ of the wise are but _words_ (two or three words), and\nit is their shortness that maketh them to be dark. Now, David said:\n\"I will incline mine ear unto a parable\"--there is his study to\nunderstand; \"I will open my dark saying upon the harp\"--there is the\ninterpretation. It is not David, but He who came from David, that\nthere is spoken of, and who, despising inanimate instruments, having\nmade this world and the little world man, and by His Holy Spirit\nhaving compacted his soul and body, doth praise the Lord by an\ninstrument of many voices, and to this instrument man doth sing the\nknowledge of His truth. Wherefore to understand the words of His wise\nprophets and penmen, we must go to Him.--_Jermin._\n\n\nMAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-9.\n\nTHE ROOT OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND THE MEANS OF ITS ATTAINMENT.\n\nWhen the husbandman comes to examine a fruit-tree, he disregards\neverything in the way of leaf and branch; if he does not also find\nevidence of fruit in the appointed season, he considers that the end\nof the planting is not attained. God, the great Husbandman, here\ndeclares that all human wisdom and intelligence avail nothing unless\nthey have for their basis that fear of Him which enables a man to\nattain the end for which he was created. +I. The fear of the Lord\nsprings+ 1. _from a practical recognition of His existence_. God, to\nthe vast majority of mankind, is but a name; they no more recognize\nthe personality and moral character of the Divine Father than they\nrecognize a personality and moral attributes in the wind or the\nsunlight. He has no influence upon their hearts; to them,\npractically, there is no God. There is no fear of God before their\neyes, because there is no God. 2. _From an experimental knowledge of\nHis kindness_. The mightiest being cannot be reverenced for his\npower; that may produce the \"fear which hath torment,\" but not the\n\"reverence and godly fear\" which leads to willing obedience. When a\nking's character is such that his subjects taste of his kindness and\nfeed upon his bounty, it begets a reverence which makes them fear to\nbreak his law. The \"fear of the Lord\" is synonymous with\nheart-religion, and must be born of a personal experience of Divine\nmercy. This fear says, \"O taste and see that the Lord is good:\nblessed is the man that trusteth in Him\" (Psa. xxxiv. 8). +II. The\nmeans by which this beginning of knowledge ought to be attained.+ The\nrule in creatures below man is, that they instruct their offspring as\nsoon as they are capable of instruction. The eagle teaches her young\nto fly: she \"stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young,\nspreadeth about her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.\"\n(Deut. xxxii. 11.) And this is what God expects every parent to do in\na moral sense. A child ought to get his first ideas of God from his\nparent, and his father's and mother's love ought to be the\nstepping-stones by which he rises to apprehend the love of his Father\nin heaven. This exhortation takes for granted that the parents will\nbe possessors of this true knowledge, and will impart it to their\nchildren. +III. The reason given to the young for receiving and\nretaining parental instruction.+ The coronet on the brow of the noble\nproclaims his place in society--sets forth his high position. The\nnecklace of pearls on the young and beautiful maiden proclaims the\nwealth of the wearer, and adds to her attractiveness. So the\nobedience of a good son to a true father proclaims him to belong to\nthe noble in spirit--sets a crown upon his character. And a\ndaughter's reverential love for a good mother is a true indication of\nmoral wealth. That mother's words, treasured in the memory and\ntranslated into life, are so many precious pearls of soul-adornment,\nand are in the sight of God of great price.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 7. This, \"the fear of the Lord,\" comes as the motto of the\nbook. The beginning of wisdom is found in the temper of reverence and\nawe. The fear of the finite in the presence of the Infinite--of the\nsinful in the presence of the Holy; self-abhorring, adoring, as in\nJob's confession (xliii. 5, 6), this for the Israelite was the\nstarting point of all true wisdom. What the precept \"Know thyself\"\nwas to the sage of Greece, that this law was for _him_. In the book\nof Job (xxviii. 28) it appears as an oracle accompanied by the\nnoblest poetry. In Psa. cxi. 10, it comes as the choral close of a\ntemple hymn. Here it is the watch-word of a true ethical education.\nThis, and not love, is the _beginning_ of \"wisdom.\" Through\nsuccessive stages, and by the discipline of life, love blends with it\nand makes it perfect.--_Plumptre._\n\nWhy is this the only way that God hath pointed out for the attaining\nto wisdom? 1. One reason may be the falseness of man's spirit. The\nheart is deceitful above all things, and so God will not entrust it\nwith such estimable treasures of durable wisdom before a trial hath\nbeen upon it. \"To him will I look, even to him that is of a pure and\ncontrite spirit, and _trembleth_ at my words.\" 2. Here is another\nargument, viz., _impossibility_. \"The natural man perceiveth not the\nthings of the Spirit of God,\" &c. (1 Cor. ii. 14). \"The eye sees not\nthe sun, unless it bear the image of the sun in it;\" nor could it\nreceive that impression if it were covered with dirt and filth. So\nthe necessary foundation of true wisdom is unfeigned righteousness\nand pureness. The purging of a man's soul takes away the main\nimpediments to true knowledge,--such as self-admiration, anger, envy,\nimpatience, desire of victory rather than of truth, blindness\nproceeding out of a love of riches and honour, the smothering of the\nactive spark of reason by luxury and intemperance, &c.--_Henry Moore._\n\nWhere God is, there is fear of God; and where the fear of God is,\nthere are all things which God requireth.--_Jermin._\n\nThe fear of the Lord consists, once for all, in a complete devotion\nto God--an unconditional subjection of one's own individuality to the\nbeneficent will of God as revealed in the law (Deut. vi. 13; x. 20;\nxiii. 4; Psa. cxix. 63, &c.)\n\nHow, then, could they be regarded as fearing God who should keep only\na part of the Divine commands, or who should undertake to fulfil them\nonly according to their moral principles, and did not seek also to\nmake the embodying letter of their formal requirements the standard\nof life.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nVerse 8. The relation of the teacher to the taught is essentially\nfatherly.--_Plumptre._\n\nIn Scripture and that Oriental speech framed to be its vehicle,\nnarrow examples stand often for a universal class. \"Honour thy father\nand mother,\" means--obey all superiors. \"Thou shalt not steal,\"\nmeans--keep clear of every fraud. In those patriarchal countries,\nobedience to a father was the finest model of subordination. . . .\nLet the child take the first and obvious meaning; let the man look\ndeeper. The earlier principles having been settled, the Proverbs have\nbegun with a grand practical direction--that we are to listen to our\nteachers; that we are to begin at our firesides, and obey all the way\nup to God.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 9. The instruction and discipline of wisdom do at first seem\ndifficult and hard, and are like fetters of iron restraining the\ncorruption and rebellion of nature; but at length they are like\nchains of gold, worn like ornaments and no burden at all.--_Jermin._\n\nNothing so beautifies as grace doth. Moses and Joseph were \"fair to\nGod,\" (Acts vii. 20) and favoured of all men.--_Trapp._\n\nAs Christ prays, \"Hallowed be thy name,\" as his first petition, so\nSolomon put first in his promises mere beauty, the mere prize of\nbeing right. The best thing in being pious is the mere comeliness of\npiety.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-19.\n\nENTICEMENT TO SIN AND EXHORTATION AGAINST YIELDING TO IT.\n\n+I. Youth will certainly be tempted.+ 1. _Because he is in an evil\nworld._ In this world everything that possesses life is in danger of\nlosing it. The tree is liable to have its root eaten by the worm, the\nsmaller creatures in the animal world are beset with danger from\nthose above them in size and strength, the fish in the sea is ever in\ndanger of the hook and the net, the bird of the fowler's snare, the\nforest king of the hunter's gun. Man, in respect to his mere bodily\nexistence, is surrounded by influences antagonistic to the\npreservation of his animal life. And this danger often presents\nitself in the form of _enticement_. The crumbs lure the bird into the\ntrap, the bait tempts the fish to bite the hook. A smooth sea and\nlight sunshine in the morning tempts the fisherman to the voyage upon\nthe treacherous deep, which becomes his grave in the evening. Moral\nlife is not excepted from this rule. Wherever the youth finds himself\nin the world he will be tempted, because he is everywhere surrounded\nby influences which war against his soul life. 2. _Because it is an\nordination of God._ The Divine Ruler has ordained that men shall\nsuffer temptation. There are things in this world which are the\ncommon lot of all men, from the highest to the lowest. Disease and\ndeath come alike to the proudest monarch and his meanest subject, to\nthe man of highest intellect and to the most unlettered savage. And\ntemptation is also an ordained heritage of man. Not even the \"second\nAdam, the Lord from heaven,\" was exempted from this rule. 3. _Because\nit is necessary for the formation of moral character._ The seaman\nneeds to come into conflict with the stormy winds and the rough waves\nof the ocean if he is to become a skilful mariner. The very effort\nwhich he puts forth to overcome them makes him more fit for his\ncalling. So men must have temptation in order to test their powers of\nresistance; the struggle against sin, if successful, strengthens the\nmoral character.\n\n+II. The elements which form the strength of the temptation.+ 1. _The\nsecresy promised by the tempter._ \"Let us _lay wait_ for blood,\" let\nus _lurk privily_ for the innocent, etc. No one commits a crime\nagainst his fellow man, without an underlying hope that he will not\nbe found out; he even persuades himself that it is hidden from God.\n\"They say, how doth God know, and is there knowledge in the Most\nHigh?\" (Ps. lxxiii. 11). 2. _The hope of gain._ Advantage of some\nkind is supposed to be the fruit of every sin. That which the tempter\nuses here is an increase of wealth. \"We shall find all precious\nsubstance,\" etc. This temptation is most common. A man is persuaded\nthat by a very slight risk he can make a large fortune, that the deed\nwill never come to light, and these two persuasions have been the\nruin of hundreds. 3. _The number of the tempters._ Here several are\nrepresented as tempting one. \"Come with us.\" Numbers always influence\nus even when no persuasion is used. Men are naturally inclined to do\nwhat the many do, to go with the multitude. There is an undefined\nfeeling that safety is with the majority, or, at least, that the\nbeing involved with many others lessens personal responsibility. This\nelement of temptation is very powerful in a world where \"the many\" go\nin at the gate which leadeth to destruction, and \"few\" walk in the\nway which leadeth to life (Matt. vii. 13, 14).\n\n+III. The way of escape from the tempter.+ 1. _Calling to mind his\nfilial relation._ \"My son.\" It is a great help to a youth who is in\ndanger of being drawn away from his steadfastness in the path of\nvirtue to call his parents to mind. His father's instructions and\nexample, his mother's love and prayers, the grief that his fall would\nbring upon them will, if reflected on, be a means of escape from the\ntempter's snare. The thought that he is a _son_ ought to be\nsufficient to keep him from straying. 2. _A consideration of the\ncertain end of sinners._ Those who promise themselves and others\nsecresy shall be taken openly. The bird will not be decoyed into the\nnet if he sees it spread, the trap must be laid in secret if it is to\nbe successful. But sinners go on in sin although they are forewarned\nby God, by their own consciences, by the law of human society, and by\nthe experience of others what the end will be. \"Be sure your sin will\nfind you out,\" is written, not only in the book of God, but within us\nand around us. The young man is to bear in mind that they are _fools_\nwho tell him there is gain to be had by sin. Those who seek to take\nlife in order to enjoy the property of others, or in any way to wrong\ntheir fellows for their own fancied gain, shall themselves, like\nHaman, be hanged upon the gallows which they have made. Let the youth\nreflect upon the sad histories of those who now fill our\nconvict-prisons, and he will feel that it is indeed true that\nevil-doers \"lay wait for their _own_ blood.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 10. +I. A supposition implied,+ that sinners will entice. Sin\nis of so virulent and malignant a nature, that it tainteth the whole\nair about it and filleth it with infection, and there is no safety to\nbe found within its neighbourhood without the blessed antidotes of\npiety and carefulness. And the sinner will take as much pains to\npervert his companions, as the Jews did to make proselytes, and with\nthe same fatal design and consequence, viz., to make them twofold\nmore the children of hell than themselves. For since the good have\nall other advantages, and vastly outweigh them in intrinsic worth,\nthey will endeavour to come as near a level as they can by making up\nin number what they want in value. Besides, it silences in some\nmeasure the loud alarms of their own consciences, when they join with\nthem in their vicious performances, and the approbation of others, by\ncomplying with their practices, lulleth them to sleep in a dull\nsecurity. +II. A caution subjoined,+ \"Consent thou not.\" To which\nend--1. Consider the baseness and danger of consenting. We must\nsacrifice our reputation, render ourselves unfit for the company of\nmen of worth, and exchange the glorious liberty of the children of\nGod for that of vassals of iniquity. We must call in question the\nexistence of God, and expose ourselves to that avenging hand which\nwill lie heavy upon sinners to all eternity. 2. Take some plain and\nshort directions to secure yourself against their enticements. Repel\nthe first attempts upon your character. When that which is wrong is\nspoken or acted in your presence, do not suffer yourself to give it\ninward approbation. Withdraw from such society as soon as possible.\nSeek God's assistance.--_Nicholas Brady, D.D._\n\nThis verse, in brief compass and transparent terms, reveals the foe\nand the fight. With a kindness and wisdom altogether parental, it\nwarns the youth of the _danger_ that assails him, and suggests the\nmethod of defence.--_Arnot._\n\nCarry a severe rebuke in thy countenance, as God doth (Psa.\nlxxx. 16). To rebuke them is the ready way to be rid of\nthem.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerses 11-13. Two unreasonable and insatiable lusts they propose to\ngratify. 1. _Their cruelty._ They thirst for blood, and hate those\nthat are innocent, and never give them any provocation. Who could\nimagine that human nature should ever degenerate so far that it\nshould ever be a pleasure to one man to destroy another? 2. _Their\ncovetousness._ What, though we venture our necks, we shall fill our\nhouses with spoil. See here (1) the idea they have of worldly wealth.\nThey call that precious substance which is neither substance nor\nprecious; it is a shadow and vanity, especially that which is gotten\nby robbery. It is the ruin of thousands, that they overvalue the\nwealth of this world. (2) The abundance which they promise\nthemselves. Those who trade with sin promise themselves mighty\nbargains. But they only _dream that they eat_, the housefuls dwindle\ninto scarcely a handful.--_Henry._\n\n\nVerse 11. The warning, as such, is true for all times and countries,\nbut has here a special application. The temptation against which the\nteacher seeks to guard his disciple is that of joining a band of\nhighway robbers. At no period in its history has Palestine ever risen\nto the security of a well-ordered police system, and the wild license\nof the marauder's life attracted, we may well believe, many who were\nbrought up in towns (Judges xi. 3; 1 Sam. xxii. 2), and the bands of\nrobbers who infested every part of the country in the period of the\nNew Testament, and against whom every Roman governor had to wage\nincessant war, show how deeply rooted the evil was there. The history\nof many countries (our own, _e.g._, in the popular _Traditions of\nRobin Hood_ and _Henry V._) presents like phenomena. The robber-life\nhas attractions for the open-hearted and adventurous. No generation,\nperhaps no class, can afford to despise the warning against it. . . .\n_Without cause_ may mean _in vain_, and receive its interpretation\nfrom the mocking question of the tempter: \"Doth Job serve God for\nnought?\" The evil-doers deride their victims as being righteous\ngratis, or in vain.--_Plumptre._\n\nIf sinners have their \"come,\" should not saints much more? Should we\nnot incite, entice, whet, and provoke one another, rouse and stir up\neach other, to love and good works? (2 Pet. i. 13; Heb. x. 24; Isa.\nii. 3; Zech. viii. 21.)--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 12. The force of the verse noteth the allurement of wickedness\nfrom the cleanly despatch of it, so that nothing appeareth of the\ndoing of it.--_Jermin._\n\nWe will be as Sheol, or Hades, as the great underworld of the dead,\nall-devouring, merciless. The destruction of those we attack shall be\nas sudden as that of those who go down quickly into Sheol. (Numb.\nxvi. 30, 33.)--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 13. Wickedness has always been a very bragging boaster. These\nsinners make a brag like that which the devil made to Christ: \"All\nthese things will I give thee.\" Covetousness is a strong chain to\ndraw men on to wickedness.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. The first form of temptation is addressed to the simple\nlust of greed. The second, with more subtle skill, appeals to\nsomething in itself nobler, however easily perverted. The main\nattraction of the robber-life is its wild communism, the sense of\nequal hazards and equal hopes. To have \"one purse,\" setting laws of\nproperty at nought among themselves, seems almost a set-off against\ntheir attacks on the property of others.--_Plumptre._\n\nVerse 15. \"God will not take the wicked by the hand.\" (Job viii. 20.)\nWhy, then, should we?--_Trapp._\n\nThe affairs of this life are the highways of the King of Heaven; thou\nmayest walk in the ways of them, but not with the wicked. It is an\nargument of a wicked man but to company with the wicked. We judge\nevil accompanyings to be next to evil deeds.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. They may talk of walking, of walking in pleasures and\ndelights, to get thee to walk with them. But, though, from what thou\nfindest at first, thou little thinkest what will be the end, yet let\nme tell thee that it is to evil the journey tendeth; to that it will\nquickly come, for their feet _run_ unto it. What shame it is that\nevil should be so pursued after!--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 17. These men are plotting with their eyes wide open. The verse\nteaches the great doctrine of deliberateness to ruin. Men go to hell\nwhen they expect it; at least, they go when it is a trap to them, of\nwhich they know the setting. They go open-eyed on into the\ngin.--_Miller._\n\nThe great net of God's judgments is spread out, open to the eyes of\nall, and yet evil-doers, wilfully blind, still rush into\nit.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 18. These couriers of hell, who carry the despatches of the\ndevil, cannot run faster to the hurt of others than they do to their\nown mischief; they cannot make more haste to shed the blood of others\nthan they do to shed their own blood.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 19. These \"ways\" are certainly some of the worst. The persons\ndescribed are of the baser sort; the crimes enumerated are gross and\nrank. Yet when these apples of Sodom are traced to their sustaining\nroot, it turns out to be _greed of gain_. The love of money can bear\nall these. When this greed is generated, like a thirst in the soul,\nit imperiously demands satisfaction wherever it can most readily be\nfound. In some countries of the world it still retains the\nold-fashioned iniquity which Solomon has described. In our country,\nthough the same passion domineer in a man's heart, it will not adopt\nthe same method, because it has cunning enough to know that it will\nnot succeed. Dishonesty is diluted, and coloured, and moulded, to\nsuit the taste of the times. But the ancient and modern evil-doers\nare reckoned brethren in iniquity, despite the difference in the\ncostume of their crimes. . . . This greed, when full-grown, is coarse\nand cruel. It has no bowels. It marches right to its mark, trading on\neverything that lies in the way. If necessary \"it taketh away the\nlife of the owners thereof.\" Covetousness is idolatry. The idol\ndelights in blood. He demands and gets a hecatomb of human\nsacrifices.--_Arnot._\n\nMidas, the Phrygian king, asked a favour of the gods, and they agreed\nto grant him whatever he should desire. The monarch, overjoyed,\nresolved to make the favour inexhaustible. He prayed that whatever he\ntouched might be turned to gold. The prayer was granted, and bitter\nwere the consequences. What the king touched _did_ turn to gold. He\nlaid his hand upon the rock and it became a huge mass of priceless\nvalue; he clutched his oaken staff, and it became in his hand a bar\nof virgin gold. At first the monarch's joy was unbounded, and he\nreturned to his palace the most favoured of mortals. Alas for the\nshortsightedness of man! He sat at table, and all he touched turned\nto gold--pure solid gold. The conviction rushed upon him that he must\nperish from his grasping wish--die in the midst of plenty; and\nremembering the ominous saying he had heard, \"The gods themselves\ncannot take back their gifts,\" he howled to the sternly smiling\nDionysius to restore him to the coarsest, vilest food, and deliver\nhim from the curse of gold.--_Biblical Treasury._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-33.\n\nTHE CRY OF WISDOM.\n\n+I. The wisdom of God is the voice of God.+ 1. _The wisdom of God in\nnature, in the heavens which declare His glory and in the firmament\nwhich sheweth His handiwork is Divine speech which speaks loudly of\neternal power and Godhead._ 2. _There is a voice of wisdom in the\nlaws and economy of the old dispensation, although that voice gave\nsometimes but an indistinct sound concerning Divine mercy and\njudgment._ 3. _The wisdom of God as displayed in the plan of\nsalvation by Christ is the loudest, the most persuasive and\nunmistakable voice of God._\n\n+II. God's voice of Wisdom is an earnest voice.+ Wisdom _crieth_. The\nvoice of the mother who thinks that her children are in danger rings\nupon the ear with no uncertain, theatrical sound. When the voice of\nPaul rang through the Philippian prison and fell upon the man who was\nabout to destroy himself, it was a _loud_ voice, because he was in\nearnest. God has to deal with his human children who are in danger,\nand therefore He speaks with earnestness when He says, \"Do thyself no\nharm.\" The voice of God in the human conscience sometimes speaks as\nloudly as the trump of Sinai. He said by His prophets in the days of\nold, \"Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O\nhouse of Israel?\" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). The voice of Christ was an\nearnest voice. His death enforced the earnestness of the appeals\nwhich He uttered in His life. It proved the reality of His own and\nHis Father's desire that \"all should come to repentance.\" The voice\nof the Gospel ministry is an earnest voice. Those who have been\nbaptised by the Spirit of God, _beseech_ men to be reconciled to God\n(2 Cor. v. 20).\n\n+III. God's voice of wisdom has been uttered where men could hear\nit.+ Wisdom uttereth her voice \"in the streets,\" \"in the chief places\nof concourse,\" \"in the gates.\" The merchant brings his silks and\ndiamonds to the crowded cities, because in them he is most likely to\nfind purchasers. The vendors of goods seek the broad thoroughfares,\nbecause there they find streams of human beings to whom they offer\ntheir wares. God has observed this method in offering His Divine\nwisdom to the sons of men. The highest wisdom of God--the Gospel--was\nfirst proclaimed in the city of Jerusalem, at a time when there were\ngathered there men \"out of every nation under heaven\" (Acts ii. 5).\nThe apostles of Christ preached in the chief cities of the civilised\nworld, in Corinth, Athens, Antioch, Ephesus, and Rome. And now the\nvoice of wisdom cried in the principal centres of the population of\nthe world. The fishermen spread their nets where most fish\ncongregate, and the fishers of men are attracted to the places where\nmost human souls are gathered.\n\n+IV. God's voice of wisdom addresses all classes of sinners.+ 1. _The\nsimple ones._ The unwary and those easily misled. Some men sin\nthrough ignorance or through the influence of others. As the unwalled\ngarden is open to the foot of every dog that passes by, so the man\nwho has no principle of his own to defend him is liable to have his\nsoul entered and taken possession of by the first tempter who passes\nby. 2. _The scorner._ He is a sinner of a deeper dye. The child who\nis indifferent to his good father's love and the attractions of his\nhappy home is a sinner, but the son who mocks his parents and holds\nup their words to ridicule is certainly a greater sinner. The simple\nman denotes a sinner who is passive in the hands of evil, but the\nscorner is active against good. He is placed before us in Holy\nScripture as one who has reached the climax of human iniquity (Psa.\ni. 1). 3. _Fools are addressed._ The man who would rather use means\nto increase his disease than seek to cure it, may very properly be\ncalled a fool. The blind man who chooses to remain blind when he\nmight be healed is certainly a fool. And certainly this is an\nappropriate name for those who love moral darkness rather than light.\nHe who hates the knowledge which would save him and prefers death to\nlife is the most unwise man upon the face of God's earth.\n\n+V. Although sinners may differ in degree, the same reproof and\ninvitation are addressed to all.+ A rich man may be able to satisfy\nthe wants of a hungry multitude, although all may not be equally\nhungry. If a physician possesses remedies which can heal men whose\ndisease is deeply rooted, he will be able to cure those upon whom it\nhas as yet a lighter hold. The voice of God to men offers but one way\nof satisfaction and soul-healing, viz., _repentance_. \"Turn ye at my\nreproof.\" And the gift of His Spirit which accompanies repentance\n(Acts ii. 38) is powerful to change the greatest sinner into a saint.\n\n+VI. The rejection of Wisdom's voice of invitation changes it to one\nof threatening.+ The refusal of the invitation to the Gospel feast\nshut out to retribution those who rejected it (Luke xiv. 16). The\nspace given for repentance will not last for ever. A time is here\nforetold when God will not hear them who have refused to hear Him.\nTheir cry for help will be treated as they once treated the earnest\ncry of wisdom. \"I will mock when your fear cometh.\"\n\n+VII. The blessed condition of those who accept Wisdom's invitation.+\nThe promises given under this Old Testament dispensation referred in\na large degree to the present life. Dwelling safely here doubtless\nhas its immediate reference to a home in Canaan, as in Isaiah i. 19.\n\"If ye be willing, and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.\"\nYet the underlying principle is that God will take charge of the real\ninterests of those who yield themselves to Him--who fall in with His\nplans for their real eternal good.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 20. What was in the views of godly men, in Solomon's days, an\nabstraction, became concrete when Christ was manifested on earth. The\nmanifold character of this Divine wisdom (Isa. xi. 2, 3), and the\nmultiplicity of all messengers of this wisdom of God in all ages of\nthe Church accord with the plural form. (See \"Critical\nNotes.\")--_Fausset._\n\nThe Orientals used the plural form to denote the highest excellence.\nBut _wisdoms_ may be plural to denote wisdom in all forms, or all\n\"_wisdoms_\" in one; specially two forms of wisdom--wisdom in a\nworldly sense, and wisdom in the spiritual sense which the natural\nman does not discern. Wisdom in both these senses unites in piety.\nThe pious man has spiritual wisdom of which the sinner knows nothing;\nand fleshly or natural wisdom to avoid hell and to secure heaven, to\nprovide for death and get ready for an eternal world, to a degree\naltogether superior to a fleshly nature.--_Miller._\n\nAfter that Solomon hath brought in a godly father warning and\ninstructing his sons, now he raiseth up, as it were, a matron or\nqueen-mother provoking her children unto virtue.--_Muffet_\n\nThe words of men may be wise; but when God speaks, Wisdom itself\naddresses us.--_Lawson_\n\nPerhaps some wide law of association connecting the purity and\nserenity of wisdom with the idea of womanhood, determines the\ncharacter of the personification. Not in solitude, but in the haunts\nof men, through sages, lawgivers, and teachers, and yet more through\nlife and its experiences, she preaches to mankind. Something of the\nsame kind was present, we may believe, to Socrates when he said that\nthe fields and the trees taught him nothing, but that he found the\nwisdom he was seeking in his converse with the men whom he met as he\nwalked in the streets and _agora_ of Athens. (Plato, \"Ph\u00e6drus,\" p.\n230.)--_Plumptre._\n\n\"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and\n_cried_, saying 'Come unto me and drink.'\" (John vii. 37.)--_Trapp._\n\nIn the Scriptures, Wisdom cried unto men. \"They testify of me,\" said\nJesus. The prophets all spake of His coming. The sacrifice offered\nyear by year, continually proclaimed aloud to each generation the\nguilt of men, and the way of mercy. The history of Israel, all the\ndays of old, was itself Wisdom's perennial articulate cry of warning\nto the rebellious. The plains of Egypt and the Red Sea, Sinai and the\nJordan, each had a voice, and all proclaimed in concert the\nrighteousness and mercy of God. And the things were not done in a\ncorner. . . . But the wisdom of God is a manifold wisdom. While it\ncentres bodily in Christ, it is reflected and re-echoed from every\nobject and every event. There is a challenge in the prophets, \"Oh\nearth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!\" The receptive earth\nhas taken in that word, and obediently repeats it from age to\nage. . . . He hath made all things for Himself. He serves Himself of\ncriminals and their crimes. From many a ruined fortune, Wisdom cries,\n\"Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy.\" From many an outcast in\nhis agonies, as when the eagles of the valley are picking out his\neyes, Wisdom cries, \"Honour thy father and mother, that thy days may\nbe long.\" From many a gloomy scaffold Wisdom cries, \"Thou shalt not\nkill.\"--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 21. Wisdom's walk through the streets. The Lord and His Spirit\nfollow us everywhere with monition and reminder.--_Lange's\nCommentary._\n\nIn verse 10 sin was represented as trying to get in. Here wisdom is\nrepresented as trying to reach out. Sin is harmless unless it can get\ninto the conscience. Wisdom is utterly helpless unless it begins with\nthe flesh. One strives to get in, the other yearns to reach out. \"The\nnatural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit.\" She must begin,\ntherefore, without. The impenitent can only hear _natural_ reasons.\n\"The law is a schoolmaster.\" The terrors of death are applied by the\nAlmighty to draw us nearer, within, and finally into the region that\nis spiritual. It is \"out of doors,\" therefore, that Wisdom must life\nup her voice.--_Miller._\n\nThe voice of wisdom is heard everywhere. It sounds from the pulpit.\nFrom every creature it is heard (Job xii. 7, 8). The word is in our\nvery hearts, and conscience echoes the voice in our souls. Let us go\nwhere we will we must hear it, unless we wilfully shut our\nears.--_Lawson._\n\nIn the Temple she crieth for holiness and reverence, in the gates she\ncrieth for justice and equity, in the city she crieth for honesty and\ncharity. Or else by accommodation we may thus take the words, the\n_head_ is the chief place of concourse in man, where all the\nfaculties do meet and all affairs are handled: the openings of the\ngate are the outward fences, the city is the _heart_, to all which\nwisdom strongly applieth her instructions. In the head she crieth for\na right understanding, in the outward fences for watchfulness, in the\nheart for upright sincerity.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 22. Men are always going to be wise, and therefore, Wisdom\nplunges upon this very difficulty. You are going to repent; but when?\nAnd, as a still more imperative question, \"How long first?\" You are,\nperhaps, a grey old man, and your resolutions have been for fifty\nyears.--_Miller._\n\nLovers of simplicity and haters of knowledge are joined together; for\nwhere there is a love of simplicity, there is a hatred of knowledge,\nwhere there is a love of vice there is a hatred of virtue.--_Jermin._\n\nScorners _love_ scorning. The habit grows by indulgence. It becomes a\nsecond nature.--_Arnot._\n\nThese simplicians are much better than scorners, and far beyond those\nfools who hate knowledge. All sins are not alike sinful, and wicked\nmen grow worse and worse.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 23. The two things mentioned here are to be taken in connection\nwith each other. The latter is the result of the former--the former\nin order to the latter. There can be no plea, therefore, for\ncontinued ignorance. The Word of God is in possession, and the Spirit\nof God is in promise.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen it is said: \"Turn,\" &c. could an essay to turn be without some\ninfluence of the Spirit? But that, complied with, tends to pouring\nforth a copious effusion not to be withstood.--_J. Howe._\n\nWhen we turn at His reproof, He will pour out His Spirit; when He\npours out His Spirit, we will turn at His reproof: blessed circle for\nthe saints to reason in.--_Arnot._\n\nLittle as we might have expected it, the teaching of the Book of\nProverbs anticipates the prophecy of Joel (ii. 28) and the promise of\nour Lord (John xiv. 26; xv. 26.) Not the _Spirit_ alone, with no\narticulate expression of truths received or felt: nor _words_ alone,\nspoken or written, without the Spirit to give them life.--_Plumptre._\n\nHe that reproves and then directs not how to do better, is he that\nsnuffs a lamp, but pours not in oil to maintain it.--_Trapp._\n\nThere are no words that can make known Wisdom's words but her own,\nand there is no one that can make known Wisdom's words but herself.\nShe can, and here she saith: \"_I will._\" And it is as she _will_, not\nas she _can_, and yet freely and fully too, whereof she saith: \"I\nwill _pour out_.\"--_Jermin._\n\n+I. The reproof God administers.+ God reproves (1) _by the\nScriptures;_ (2) _by ministers;_ (3) _by conscience;_ (4) _by\nProvidence._ +II. The submission He requires.+ Turn (1) _with\npenitent hearts;_ (2) _with believing minds;_ (3) _with prompt\nobedience._ +III. The encouragements He imparts.+ The Spirit is\n(1) _convincing;_ (2) _quickening;_ (3) _comforting;_\n(4) _sanctifying._--_Sketches of Sermons._\n\n\nVerse 24. It is an honour to be invited to the feast of an earthly\nprince; how much more to be bidden unto the banquet of the King of\nkings! And as the desiring of any to dinner or supper is a sign of\nlove and goodwill in him that offereth this courtesy, so it is a\npoint of great ungentleness and sullenness for a man, without just\ncause, to refuse so kind a proffer; for, in so doing, he sheweth that\nhe maketh none account at all of him, who not only hath borne toward\nhim a loving affection, but he made declaration thereof in some sort,\nand gone about to seal it by certain pledges of friendship; yea, that\nwhich is yet more, he causeth him to lose the cost which he hath\nbestowed about provisions and entertainment, and his messengers to\nlose their pains and their travail. Then, when those who are bidden\nto the kingdom of God (Luke xiv. 18) desire to be excused, how can\nthis be but a great sin? but, when God shall not only call with His\nhand to a rebellious people, continuing His Word preached with all\nmeans pertaining thereunto; as the grace offered in this respect is\ndoubled, so the sin of not profiting thereby is mightily\nincreased.--_Muffet._\n\nGod called for a famine on the land, and was not refused; God called\nfor a drought upon the land, and was not refused; and, no doubt,\nshould God call any other of His creatures, they would not refuse to\ncome unto Him, seeing those things which are not, when they are\ncalled, do come to God. Only man refuseth. Surely hence it is that\nthe prophets of God do so often speak unto insensible things, as:\n\"Hear, O heavens; give ear, O earth.\" For it is not seldom that God\ncalleth to men and is refused.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 26. There is not in the Lord any such affection or disposition\nof mocking as in man; but when in the course of His providence He so\nworketh that He leaves the wicked to his misery, or maketh him a\nmocking stock to the world, He is said in the Scripture to scorn, or\nhave them in derision (Ps. ii.), because He dealeth as a man which\nscorneth.--_Muffet._\n\nIf God laugh, thou hast good cause to cry.--_Trapp._\n\nThere is, as has been said, a Divine irony in the Nemesis of history.\nIt is, however, significant that in the fuller revelation of the mind\nand will of the Father in the person of the Son, no such language\nmeets us. Sadness, sternness, severity there may be, but from first\nto last no word of mere derision.--_Plumptre._\n\n_Even I,_ not, \"I also,\" _I,_ who have warned you so often, so\ntenderly, so earnestly.--_Stuart._\n\n\nVerse 27. Cataline was wont to be afraid at any sudden noise, as\nbeing haunted with the furies of his own evil conscience. So was our\nRichard the Third after the murder of his two innocent nephews, and\nCharles the Ninth of France after the Parisian massacre. These\ntyrants became more terrible to themselves than ever they had been to\nothers.--_Trapp._\n\nYou cannot paint an angel upon light: so mercy could not be\nrepresented--mercy could not be, unless there were judgment without\nmercy, a ground of deep darkness lying beneath, to sustain and reveal\nit.--_Arnot._\n\nHere also the parallelism which we have traced before holds good. The\n\"coming of the Son of Man\" shall be as \"the lightning\" in its\ninstantaneous flashing. And at that coming He will have to utter the\nsame doom. \"Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be\nable.\"--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 28. Does the sinner ever cry, and not get answered? Does he\never seek diligently, and God laugh at him? The passage is the\nprofoundest Gospel. A man has two ways of seeking, before he becomes\na Christian, and after he becomes a Christian. Before he becomes a\nChristian he seeks from _natural_ motives, otherwise he would be\nalready spiritual. We cannot say that natural seeking has no promise.\nWe think it has. A man can only start outside the camp to get in. The\nman who out of a deep sense of terror flies toward the wicket-gate\nunder that schoolmaster the law, will reach it if he keep on, and\nthat by promise. If he begs God to make him spiritual and to give him\nthe true motives of the kingdom with even a proper common spirit\nthough it be under the terrors of escape, he draws nearer all the\ntime to being spiritual. The light will at last break. If he keeps on\nin that way he will emerge some day into the light of the blessed.\nThe action of common grace will merge into that which is saving. But\nif his motives are too carnal; if his state is mere terror; if his\nmoral part has been so abused that it has passed the boundary which\nour text suggests; if there be the mere terror of the lost, and the\nmere selfishness, such as wakes up at the judgment day, we could\neasily understand that oceans of such tears would drift a man only\nfurther off. They are only a more insidious carnality. The sum of the\ndoctrine is, that _natural_ motives may become instruments of\nconversion if we seek God early, but if we sin away the day of grace,\nno terror, however selfishly and therefore passionately expressed,\ncan become a saving prayer to bring us any nearer to the\nRedeemer.--_Miller._\n\nThis was Saul's misery: \"The Philistines are upon me, and God will\nnot answer me.\" This was Moab's curse (Isa. xvi. 12). This was the\ncase of David's enemies (Ps. xviii. 41). Even if God answer him at\nall, it is according to the idols of his heart (Ezek. xiv. 3, 4) with\nbitter answers, as in Judges x. 13, 14. Or, if better, it is but as\nHe answered the Israelites for quails and afterwards for a king;\nbetter have been without. Giftless gifts God gives\nsometimes.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 29. Those who do _not choose_ the fear of the Lord are\ncondemned no less than those who hate it. Not to choose is virtually\nto dislike, and ends in positive hatred. (Matt. xii. 30.) Men are\nfree in choosing destruction, so that the blame rests wholly on\nthemselves. \"Ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.\" (Acts\nxiii. 46.)--_Fausset._\n\nGod will give them a reason of their punishment. No marvel if they\nwho hate knowledge do not choose the fear of the Lord. For knowledge\nis the guide of election, and if the guide be bad the choice cannot\nbe good. And to show the badness of the choice, there being many\nfears proposed to man's choice to which man's life is subject; to\nchoose the fear of the Lord, freeth from all the rest; not to choose\nthat, is to be a slave to all the rest.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 30. There is not a word here of _disability_, it is all\nunwillingness. Point me to one passage in the Bible where sinners are\nrepresented as being condemned for not doing what they _could not_\ndo. The blessed God is no such tantaliser. When, at any time\ninability _is_ spoken of, it is inability all of a moral nature, and\nresolves itself into _unwillingness_.--_Wardlaw._\n\nCan it be that _none_ of God's counsel should be followed? Can it be\nthat _all_ his reproof should be despised? Yes; not to have a care of\nfollowing all God's counsel is to follow none: not to have a mind\nthat regardeth all His reproof, is to despise all. . . . As the wings\nof the living creature which Ezekiel saw, were joined together, so is\nthe joining together of God's commandments, our desire of yielding a\ngeneral obedience unto them, that must carry us up to\nheaven.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 31. Their miserable end is the fruit--not of God's way, but of\ntheir own. _His_ plan, _His_ device for them, was a plan of\nsalvation.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIf a man plants and dresses a poisonous tree in his garden, it is\njust that he should be obliged to eat the fruit. If our vine is the\nvine of Sodom, and our clusters the clusters of bitterness, we must\nleave our complaint on ourselves, if we drink till we are drunken,\nand fall, and rise no more.--_Lawson._\n\nThe sinner's sin is its own punishment (Isa. iii. 9-11.) Hell is not\nan arbitrary punishment, like human penalties, which have no\nnecessary connection with the crimes, but a natural development of\nthe seed and the bud (Isa. lix. 4; Gal. vi. 8). \"Filled with their\nown devices\"--_i.e._ filled even to loathing, which is the final\nresult of the pleasures of sin. \"They did eat, and were well filled;\nfor He gave them their own desire; . . . but while the meat was yet\nin their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them\" (Psa. lxxviii. 29).\nMen's own desires fulfilled are made their sorest plagues (Psa.\ncvi. 11).--_Fausset._\n\nBad will it be for them that shall eat of it; and yet due will it be\nto them to eat of it, because it is their own. . . . It is not said\nthey shall _gather_ the fruit of their ways, which were some\nexpression of their misery, but they shall _eat_ it, it shall enter\ninto them, and be made, as it were, their very substance. This it is\nthat _filleth up_ the misery, filling is of their own devices, that\nit is, that maketh it be pressed down.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 32. When Jeshurun waxed fat, he kicked (Deut. xxxii. 15). Thus\nthe objection is met, that sinners often prosper now. Yes, replies\nwisdom; but that very prosperity proves their curse, and accelerates\nthe judgment of God. It is they who are \"settled on their lees that\nsay in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do\nevil\" (Zeph. i. 12).--_Fausset._\n\nProsperity ever dangerous. 1. Because every foolish or vicious person\nis either ignorant or regardless of the proper ends and rules for\nwhich God designs the prosperity of those to whom He sends it.\n2. Because prosperity, as the nature of man now stands, has a\npeculiar force and fitness to abate men's virtues and heighten their\ncorruptions. 3. Because it directly indisposes them to the proper\nmeans of amendment and recovery.--_South._\n\nBecause they are fools, they turn God's mercies to their own\ndestruction; and because they prosper, they are confirmed in their\nfolly.--_Baxter._\n\nWhen sinners are moved a little by wisdom and _turn away_, it is\ndeadly; it is worse than if they had never listened. _Prosperity_ or\n_tranquillity_ (see \"Critical Notes\"). The mere doing nothing of\nimpenitent men is carrying them downward.--_Miller._\n\nBernard calls prosperity a mercy that he had no mind to. What good is\nthere in having a fine suit with the plague in it? A man may miscarry\nupon the soft sands as soon as upon the hard rocks.--_Trapp._\n\nNot outward prosperity, but the temper which it too often produces;\nthe easy going indifference to higher truths is that which\ndestroys.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 33. He shall enjoy genuine security. His mind will enjoy\nunmoved tranquillity amidst all the turmoils and all the vicissitudes\nof this life (Phil. iv. 6, 7). And he shall be quiet from the fear of\nultimate evil. The season of the impenitent sinner's last alarm shall\nbe to him the season of peace, and hope, and joy.--_Wardlaw._\n\nBe it so, that some fits of fear, like grudgings of an ague, in the\nmidst of fiery temptations, begin sometimes to cause the faithful to\nquake a little, yet the grace of God's Spirit will drive them out in\ntime, and put them all to flight in such manner at the end, that\ninstead of timorousness, stoutness; of unquietness, peace; of\nbashfulness, boldness; of shrinking, triumph will arise. O, the\nvaliant courage and unterrified heart of the Christian knight and\nspiritual champion, who is furnished with the whole armour of God\n(Eph. vi.), and fighteth under the banner of Divine wisdom, his\nrenowned lady and mistress!--_Muffet._\n\n1. Temporally. 2. Mentally. 3. Spiritually. 4. Externally. (Isa.\nxxvi. 3, xxxiii. 15, 16; Jer. xxiii. 6; Deut. xxxiii. 12,\n28.)--_Fausset._\n\nHis ark is pitched within and without; tossed, it may be, but not\ndrowned: shaken, but not shivered.--_Trapp._\n\nEternal life, secure in the world to come, casts a bright beam of\nhope across, sufficient to quiet the anxieties of a faint and\nfluttering heart in all the dangers of the journey through.--_Arnot._\n\nThere is now _dwelling_ but in heaven; hell is a _prison_; earth is a\n_pilgrimage_. In Heaven there be many mansions, wherein every room is\nthe lodging of quietness, the walls whereof are safety, the gates\nsecurity, and all fear of evil shut out for ever.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+2. Incline.+ To _sharpen_ or prick the ear, like an\nanimal. +5. God.+ _Elohim._ One of five instances in the book in\nwhich God is thus designated, the appellation Jehovah occurring\nnearly ninety times. In explaining the all but universal use of\n_Jehovah_ as the name of God in the Proverbs, while it never occurs\nin Ecclesiastes, Wordsworth says: \"When Solomon wrote the book of\nProverbs he was in a state of favour and grace with Jehovah, the Lord\nGod of Israel; he was obedient to the law of Jehovah; and the special\ndesign of that book is to enforce obedience to that law.\" +7. Sound\nwisdom.+ Miller translates this word \"_something stable_.\" It is used\nbut twelve times in Scripture; in Job v. 12, it is translated\n\"enterprise,\" but the rendering given here would well fit in the\ncontext there; and so in every other case. +That walk uprightly,+\nliterally \"the walkers of innocence.\" +8.+ (_Heb._) _so as that_ \"He\nmay keep,\" or _protect_ the paths, etc., _i.e._ He manifests Himself\nas a shield that He may cause the upright to keep the paths of\njudgment (_Fausset_). +9. Righteousness,+ _etc._, the same three\nwords used in chap. i. 3 (see Notes). +Every+ or \"the whole\" path.\n+10. When.+ Rather \"if\" or \"because.\" This verse is antecedent to the\nconsequence expressed in ver. 11. +Heart,+ the \"seat of desire, the\nstarting point for all personal self-determination\" (_Lange_).\n+12. Deliver,+ \"snatch,\" as a brand out of fire. +Evil man,+ rather\n\"an evil way.\" +13.+ \"Level\" paths. +16. Strange,+ \"unknown,\"\n\"_wanton_\" (see 1 Kings xi. 1-8). +17. Guide,+ or \"companion,\"\n\"confidant,\" her lawful husband. +18. House,+ in the East means\n\"interests;\" a man's whole blended well-being (Ex. i. 21).--_Miller._\n(On Vers. 16-18 See Note at the beginning of Chap. vii.)\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-5.\n\nHUMAN UNDERSTANDING AND DIVINE KNOWLEDGE.\n\n+I. Divine knowledge is within the reach of human understanding.+\nWhen a physician has created an appetite in his patient, he sees that\nhe is provided with food that will satisfy his hunger. As God has\ngiven the eye, so He has given light to meet its needs. God has\ncreated man with a _need_, and with _capabilities_ of knowing Him,\nand has therefore placed such knowledge within his reach. \"The Word\nis nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, etc.\" (Rom. x. 8).\n\n+II. The conditions of its attainment.+ 1. _Attention_. In all\ndepartments of knowledge we must begin by doing the easiest thing.\nThe first thing we have to do is to listen to what the teacher has to\nsay. Everybody can do that. This is the first thing to be done in\norder to attain a knowledge of God. We can listen to His message. We\ncan \"receive\" His words, \"incline our ear.\" \"Faith cometh by\nhearing.\" 2. _Retention_. The simple attention of the soul is not the\nreclaiming power. The hearing will not bless us if we do not hold the\ntruth in our memory. \"And some seed fell by the wayside, and the\nfowls came and devoured them up\" (Matt. xiii. 4). But the ploughed\nearth receives the seed, and holds it, and hides it, and by\n_retention_ comes seed to the sower and bread to the eater. We must\nnot only \"receive\" but \"hide\" the words of God. 3. _Reflection_. This\nprevents forgetfulness; this is indispensable to retention. The rules\nor grammar, or of arithmetic, must not only be received into the\nmemory, but meditated upon. We must \"apply\" our minds to them in\norder to understand them. The soul which receives and holds Divine\ntruth must apply itself to the understanding of it.\n4. _Supplication_. If the learner has not only the book, but the\nauthor of the book at hand, he can turn to him and ask him to unfold\nthe meaning of the difficult passages, or to show him how to apply\nthe rules. We have not only the Divine Word of God, but we have the\nDivine Spirit; not only the Book of Wisdom, but the Author of the\nBook, the source of wisdom. And He has promised to give wisdom for\nthe asking. \"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that\ngiveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be\ngiven him\" (Jas. i. 5). There must be an asking in order to receive.\n\"If thou criest after knowledge, etc.\" 5. _Perseverance._ Those who\nfind a few diamonds upon the surface of the ground do not then bring\ntheir labours to a conclusion. They dig down beneath, and toil on for\nmonths and years if the mine yields. They do not cease while they\nthink there is more to be gained. The Divine wisdom is a mine which\nyields a little on the surface, but we must not stop there: we must\ndig down deep, we must continue to hear, to remember, to meditate, to\ncry for enlightenment,--we must ask, and seek, and knock, and never\ncease to \"search\" for the hidden and exhaustless treasures of wisdom.\n\n+III. The certainty of success if the conditions are fulfilled.+ Then\n_shalt_ thou understand, etc. The mariner puts out to sea, and\nfulfils all the conditions known to him for reaching the country to\nwhich he is bound, but he may find a grave midway between his\nstarting-point and his goal. The husbandman sows the seed, and\nfulfils all the conditions upon which a good harvest depends. But his\ncrop may fail notwithstanding: he may not reap the golden grain. But\nno such disappointment ever befals the earnest seeker after the\nknowledge of God.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 4.\n\n\"There are frequent allusions to hid treasure in the Bible. Even in\nJob we read that the bitter in soul dig for death more earnestly than\nfor hid treasure. There is not another comparison within the whole\ncompass of human action so vivid as this. I have heard of diggers\nactually fainting when they have come even upon a single coin. They\nbecome positively frantic, dig all night with a desperate\nearnestness, and continue to work until utterly exhausted. There are,\nat this hour, hundreds of persons engaged in it all over the country.\nNot a few spend their last farthing upon these ruinous efforts. . . .\nIt is not difficult to account for this hid treasure. The country has\nalways been subject to revolutions, invasions, and calamities of\ndifferent kinds. . . . Warriors and conquerors from every part of the\nworld sweep over the land, carrying everything away that falls into\ntheir hand. Then, again, this country has ever been subject to\nearthquakes, which bury everything beneath her ruined\ncities.\"--_Thomson's \"Land and the Book.\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 1 and 2. The sinner is here told how he may become serious. In\nany conceivable path if thou wilt do that lowest conceivable\nthing--just listen; and, that thy listening may not be a mere passing\nflash, if thou wilt pause upon it, and attend. If a man just takes a\nchair and thinks for a moment of death and judgment and eternity, his\nheart begins to feel, and it will go on feeling to any length. It\nrequired the Spirit, no doubt; but what is the Spirit but the Spirit\nof the God of Nature? He will come in the track of thought just as\nsurely as a star is dragged after Him in the track of\ngravitation.--_Miller._\n\nThe Word of God is a vital seed, but it will not germinate unless it\nbe hidden in a softened, receptive heart. It is here that Providence\nso often strikes in with effect as an instrument in the work of the\nSpirit. The place and use of providential visitations in the Divine\nadministration of Christ's kingdom is to break up the way of the word\nthrough the incrustations of worldliness and vanity that encase a\nhuman heart, and keep the word lying hard and dry upon the\nsurface.--_Arnot._\n\nAngels, who are so much our superiors, apply themselves to the\nlearning of it: they are already supplied with the stories of truth,\nand yet they desire to pry deeper into the mystery of it. Surely,\nthen, the wisest of us ought to apply our whole hearts.--_Lawson._\n\nThere are some who _do_ hear, or rather, _seem_ to hear. They profess\nto be all attention; but it is mere pretence--the mere result of\npoliteness and courtesy to the speaker. This is worse than not\nhearing at all, inasmuch as it is the reality of neglect, with all\nthe guilt of hypocrisy added to it.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 2. Lie low at God's feet and say,--\"Speak, Lord, for thy\nservant heareth.\" His saints \"sit down at His feet, every one to\nreceive His word.\"--_Trapp._\n\nEven as worldlings, when they hear of some good bargain, hearken very\ndiligently; or as they who think that one speaketh of them put their\nears near to him that speaketh.--_Muffet._\n\n\nVerse 3. Earthly wisdom is gained by study; heavenly wisdom by\nprayer. Study may form a biblical scholar; prayer puts the heart\nunder a heavenly pupilage, and therefore forms the wise and spiritual\nChristian. But prayer must not stand in the stead of diligence. Let\nit rather give life and energy to it.--_Bridges._\n\nKnowledge is God's gift, and must be sought at His hand, since He is\nthe \"Father of Lights,\" and sells us \"eye-salve\" (Rev.\niii. 17).--_Trapp._\n\nIt is not any longer a Nicodemus inclined towards Jesus, he cannot\ntell how, and silently stealing into His presence under cloud of\nnight; it is the jailer of Philippi springing in and crying with a\nloud voice: \"What must I do to be saved?\"--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 4. The same image occurs in John v. 39: \"_Search_ the\nScriptures.\" Not merely scrape the surface and get a few superficial\nscraps of knowledge, but dig deep, and far, and wide. The \"treasures\"\nare \"hidden\" by God, not in order to keep them back from us, but to\nstimulate our faith and patient perseverance in seeking for\nthem.--_Fausset._\n\nMen never prayed that way and were not answered. Men seek\nmoney--(1) always; (2) as a matter of course; (3) against all\ndiscomfitures; (4) under all uncertainties.--_Miller._\n\nWill not the far-reaching plans, and heroic sacrifices, and\nlong-enduring toil of Californian and Australian gold-diggers rise up\nand condemn us who have tasted and known the grace of God? Their zeal\nis the standard by which the Lord stimulates us now, and will measure\nus yet. Two things are required in our search--the right direction\nand the sufficient impulse. The Scriptures point out the right way,\nthe avarice of mankind marks the quantum of forcefulness, wherewith\nthe seeker must press on.--_Arnot._\n\nThis intimates (1) a loss or want of something. Else men seek not for\nit. (2) A knowledge of this want or loss. Else men sit still.\n(3) Some goodness indeed, or, in our own opinion, of the thing\nsought. Men are, or should be, content to lose what is evil. (4) Some\nbenefit to ourselves in it. Else few will seek it, though good in\nitself. (5) An earnest desire to find it. Else men have no heart to\nseek it. (6) A constant inquiry after it, wheresoever there is any\nhope to find it. Else we seek in vain. So in seeking wisdom--we must\nwant it, and know that we want it, and see good in it, and that to\nourselves, and seek it earnestly and constantly, if we would find\nit.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 5. That which impels men to the pursuit is also the prize which\nrewards them. If any distinction between God (Elohim, see \"Critical\nNotes\") and the Lord (Jehovah) can be pressed here, it is that in the\nformer the glory, in the latter the personality of the Divine nature\nis prominent.--_Plumptre._\n\nHe understandeth the fear of the Lord, whose understanding feareth\nthe Lord. The knowledge of God is found in all His creatures, but he\nfindeth the knowledge of God who, being lost in his sins, is found by\nGod in the acknowledgement of them. . . . And as fear advanceth to\nthe knowledge of God, so the knowledge of God bringeth us to the fear\nof Him.--_Jermin._\n\nThis knowledge of God is the first lesson of heavenly wisdom. On the\nright apprehension of this lesson all the rest necessarily depends.\nWrong views of God will vitiate every other department of your\nknowledge. Without right views of God you can have no right views of\nHis law. Without right views of His law you can have no right views\nof sin, either in its guilt or in its amount. Without right views of\nsin, you can have no right views of your own condition, and\ncharacter, and prospects as sinners. Without right views of these you\ncan have no right views of your need of a Saviour, or of the person,\nand the righteousness, and atonement of that Saviour. Without right\nviews of these you can have no right views of your obligations to\nDivine grace, etc. . . . The fear of the Lord, founded on the\nknowledge of Him, is something to the right understanding of which\nexperience is indispensable. To a man who had never tasted anything\nsweet, you would attempt in vain to convey, by description, a right\nconception of the sensation of sweetness. And what is true of the\nsensations is true also of the emotions. To a creature that had never\nfelt _fear_ you would hardly convey, by description, an idea of its\nnature; and equally in vain would it be to make love intelligible to\none that had never experienced that affection. It is thus to a\ndepraved creature with regard to holy and spiritual affections. \"This\nfear of the Lord\"--a fear springing from love and proportioned to\nit--such a creature cannot _understand_ but by being brought to\nexperience it.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe knowledge of God regulates the fear and prevents it from sinking\ninto terror, or degenerating into superstition, but guides it to\nexpress its power in checking and subduing every corrupt affection\nand animating the soul to every instance of obedience.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-11.\n\nGOD AS A GIVER AND MAN AS A RECEIVER.\n\n+I. The fact stated+--_that God gives._ The nature of the good is to\ngive. God is the best of all beings, therefore He is the greatest\ngiver. 1. The _kindness_ of God is manifested in the character of His\ngifts. 2. The _resources_ of God are revealed in the abundance of His\ngifts. The character and disposition of men are made known by _what_\nthey give and by _how_ they give. God's gifts are \"good and perfect,\"\nand are given ungrudgingly (Jas. i. 5-17). But men's resources are\nnot always equal to their desires to give. But God is rich, not only\nin mercy, but in power; He has given _up to Himself_ in the gift of\nHis Son, in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and\nbeyond whom the Father Himself cannot give.\n\n+II. Some of His gifts enumerated.+ 1. _Wisdom. Sound wisdom._ Real\nwisdom as opposed to that which is only a sham (see \"Critical\nNotes\"). The serpent--the devil--possesses _cunning_, but not real\nwisdom. Our first parents were led astray by believing a _lie_--the\nfruit of following the tempter's guidance was unsoundness of body and\nsoul. The results of this \"wisdom of the serpent\" proved its falsity.\nGod gives the true wisdom. He gives men the _truth_. A knowledge of\nthe truth about themselves, about Him (ver. 6), brings stability of\ncharacter--leads men into the right way of life (ver. 9)--and thus\ntends to peace and blessedness of soul. 2. He gives _protection_ by\ngiving true wisdom. \"He is a _buckler_,\" etc. (ver. 7). When Abraham\nundertook to deliver Lot from the hands of his enemies, the skill\nwith which he planned and carried out the attack (Gen. xiv. 14)\nshowed his wisdom. After the victory God came to him and said, \"Fear\nnot, Abraham. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward\" (Gen.\nxv. 1). How had God just proved Himself to be his shield? Not by\nsending a legion of angels to deliver him, but by giving him the\nwisdom by which he had defended himself. This is how He is a buckler\nto His children. He \"preserveth the way of His saints\" (ver. 8) by\ngiving them wisdom and grace to \"understand\" and keep \"every good\npath\" (ver. 9).\n\n+III. Man as a receiver of God's gifts.+ 1. This wisdom and\nprotection is only given to those who fulfil certain conditions.\n_Wisdom_ is for the _righteous_, the _buckler_ for them that _walk\nuprightly, preservation_ for his _saints_. These terms must be\nregarded as relative, as we shall see presently; but the fact that\nGod has \"laid up\" His \"wisdom,\" implies that it must be sought. God\nhad laid up a store of wisdom of Joseph's guidance when Pharaoh\nsummoned him from the prison, even as Joseph afterwards stored up\ncorn for the needy people; but in both instances the gifts had to be\nsought for (Gen. xli. 16). Daniel had wisdom laid up for him, but he\nhad to ask for the wisdom kept in store for him (Dan. ii. 18).\n2. _This best gift of God must be received into man's best place._\nThe knowledge which God gives must enter the _heart_, the\naffections--thus it will be _pleasant_ to the soul (ver. 10). He who\nholds the rudder guides the vessel. There may be many important\npositions in a fortified city, but he who holds the highest place\ncommands all the rest. Understanding the word _heart_ here to mean\nthe affections, the heart commands the man. The will, and even the\nconscience to an extent, are wheeled about by the affections. They\nare the rudder of the man; they are the key to the position in the\ntown of Man-soul. 3. _Man, by thus receiving God's gifts, attains a\nrelative perfection._ The \"understanding\" of every good way implies a\nwalking in them. Those who receive God's wisdom \"walk uprightly\"--are\n\"saints.\" The man who has long followed any profession may be said to\nbe a perfect master of his business, of his handicraft. This does not\nimply that he can go no further--can attain to nothing higher. The\nApostle Paul speaks of an absolute and a relative perfection. He had\nattained to the last but not to the first (Phil. iii. 12-15). To know\nwhat we ought to strive after and to choose the right way, is the\nrelative perfection, which leads on to that which is absolute and\nentire.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 6. One may, indeed, by natural knowledge, very readily learn\nthat God is a benevolent being; but how He becomes to a sinner the\nGod of love, this can be learned only from the mouth of God in the\nHoly Scriptures.--_Lange._\n\nVerses 1 to 5 teach plainly that a man may get \"light,\" and that\nthere are steps to it like money-getting; and yet hardly have the\nwords left his lips before Solomon guards them: \"_Jehovah gives\nwisdom_\"--and guards them in a striking way, for he says: \"For,\" that\nis, the fact that it is the gift of God is the reason it can be\nproceeded so hopefully after by man.--_Miller._\n\nSolomon knew this by experience. The \"for\" gives the reason why he\nwho is anxious to have wisdom should learn to know and worship\nGod.--_Fausset._\n\nEvery beam of reason in men is communicated from the wisdom of God\n(1 John i. 9). The simplest of the mechanical arts cannot be acquired\nunless men are taught of God. How, then can we be expected to\nunderstand the mystery of the Divine will without light from the\nFather of lights.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 7. We are ill keepers of our own goodness and wisdom: God,\ntherefore, is pleased to lay it up for us,--and that it may be safe,\nHimself is the buckler and safeguard of it. . . . In this life, he\nthat walketh, although he walk uprightly, and seeing evil, shuns it,\nyet may receive hurt behind, where backbiters too frequently make\ntheir assaults. Wherefore, as he walketh to God before him, so God\nwalketh after him, and even there, where they cannot help themselves,\nHe will be a _buckler_ to His servants. . . . But learn also that the\nbuckler shows that they who will live uprightly must strive and\nfight.--_Jermin._\n\nHeb., substance, reality (see \"Critical Notes\"): that which hath a\ntrue being in opposition to that which hath not.--_Trapp._\n\nHe layeth up _that which is essential_ for the righteous.--_A.\nClarke._\n\nThe righteousness of our conduct contributes to the enlightenment of\nour creed. The wholesome reaction of the moral on the intellectual is\nclearly intimated here, inasmuch as it is to the righteous that God\nimparteth wisdom.--_Chalmers._\n\n\"He lays up\" or \"hides away.\" 1. That the wicked may not find it.\n2. That the righteous may have to dig to get it (the verb is the same\nas that from which \"hid treasures\" is derived in Verse 4). 3. That it\nmay be safe from the evil one.--_Miller._\n\nHe walks uprightly who lives with the fear of God as his principle,\nand the Word of God as his rule, and the glory of God as his\nend.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe most dreadful enemies of those who walk uprightly are those who\nendeavour to turn aside the way of their paths; but against these\nenemies God defends, for He keepeth the paths of wisdom and\nrighteousness.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 8. Well may they walk uprightly that are so strongly supported.\nGod's hand is ever under his; they cannot fall beneath it.--_Trapp._\n\n\"Paths of judgment\" or \"justice\" are here, by the substitution of the\nabstract for the concrete expression, paths of the just, and\ntherefore synonymous with \"the way of His saints.\"--_Lange's\nCommentary._\n\nWe have certain vicarious rights. One is, to come out all well at\nlast. Another is, that all things shall work together for our good.\nAnother is, that we shall grow up into Christ, increasing day by day.\nTo realise each and all is required of God. The track this takes Him\ninto for all is, as to each man, His path of judgment. Each such path\nHe must walk in strictly. To do so, He must watch the\nsaints.--_Miller._\n\nHe is not the guardian of the broad way--the way of the world and of\nsin. _That_ way Satan superintends, \"the god of this world\"--doing\neverything in his power, by all his various acts of enticement and\nintimidation, to keep his wretched subjects and victims from leaving\nit.--_Wardlaw._\n\nHe preserveth the way of His saints both from being drawn out of that\nway, and from all evil while they walk in it.--_Jackson._\n\nIf men will not keep their bounds, God will keep His. There is a\nright way for the saints to walk in. 1. Because else it were worse\nliving in God's kingdom than in any other kingdom. For all kingdoms\nhave rules of safety and of living. 2. God would be in a worse\ncondition than the meanest master of a family. He would have no\ncertain service.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 9. Not as standing in speculation, but as a rule of life.\nKnowledge is either apprehensive only, or effective also. This\ndiffers from that as much as the light of the sun, wherein is the\ninfluence of an enlivening power, from the light of torches.--_Trapp._\n\nNot only does it enlarge our _knowledge_ of God, but it brings us to\na full _understanding_ of every practical obligation.--_Bridges._\n\nGood signifies, 1. That which is just and right. 2. That which is\nprofitable. 3. That which is pleasing. 4. That which is full and\ncomplete (Gen. xv. 15). . . . Men must grow from knowledge of some\ngood duties to knowledge of others. They must go on till they know\nevery good path.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 10. Another picture of the results of living unto the Lord. Not\nthat only to which it leads a man, but that from which it saves him,\nmust be brought into view. Here, as before, there is a gradation in\nthe two clauses. It is one thing for wisdom to find entrance into the\nsoul, another to be welcomed as a \"pleasant guest.\"--_Plumptre._\n\nSpiritual joy mortifies sin. His mouth hankers not after homely\nprovision that hath lately tasted of delicate sustenance. Pleasure\nthere must be in the ways of God because therein men let out all\ntheir souls into God, the foundation of all good, hence they so\ninfinitely distaste sin's tasteless fooleries.--_Trapp._\n\nIt was to open thus thy heart for wisdom that Christ's heart was open\nupon the cross; it was to make an entrance for wisdom into thy heart\nthat the spear entered into the heart of thy Saviour. And what though\nwisdom enter thy heart at a breach, a wound? It is this that must\nheal thee and make thee sound.--_Jermin._\n\nHere only has it any life or power. While it is only in the head it\nis dry, speculative, barren. . . . Before it was the object of our\nsearch; now, having found it, it is our pleasure.--_Bridges._\n\nIt is pleasure that can compete with pleasure. It is joy and peace in\nbelieving that can overcome the pleasures of sin. . . . A human soul,\nby its very constitution, cannot be frightened into holiness. It is\nmade for being won, and won it will be, by the drawing on this side\nor the drawing on that.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 11. The man who has let knowledge come into his heart does but\nwatch afterwards as he does in common walking: \"discretion\" or\n\"reflection\" will keep him straight.--_Miller._\n\nMen are subject to many dangers till they get wisdom. 1. Their\nreputation is in danger. 2. The goods and estates are in danger.\n3. Their body and life are in danger. 4. The soul is in danger of\neternal misery. Therefore sin is called folly, and wicked men that go\nto hell are chronicled as fools all over this book.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nThough the heart of man by nature be a rebellious fort, so that\nwisdom at first must enter it by a kind of force, yet, being entered,\nit makes itself pleasant, and keeps out and preserves the soul which\nkept her out.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-20.\n\nTHE CHARACTER OF THOSE FROM WHOM WISDOM PRESERVES.\n\n+I. The evil man.+ 1. _His speech is corrupt_, verse 12. The closed\ngrave contains death and holds within it the seeds of pestilence, but\nwhile it remains unopened the corrupt influence remains enclosed in\nits narrow walls. But should it be opened, and its foulness allowed\nto fill the air, it begins to set in motion that will strike men down\nto its own level. The mouth of the wicked man while kept shut is a\nclosed grave, his iniquity is shut up within himself, but when he\nspeaks out the thoughts of his heart his mouth is as an open\nsepulchre, and he spreads around him moral disease and death. 2. _He\nis a man of progressive iniquity._ \"He walks in the ways of\ndarkness.\" When a stone is set in motion, the momentum given to it,\nif no other law comes into operation to prevent it, will carry it to\nthe lowest level in the direction in which it travels. The progress\nof wickedness is downhill, and walking in the ways of darkness\nimplies a destination which in Scripture is called \"outer darkness.\"\n3. _He delights in his downward progress._ Sorry and joy are reveals\nof human hearts. The saint rejoices in whatever things are pure,\nlovely, and of good report, and in his increase of power to do the\nsame. That which rejoices him reveals his heart. The sinner that\n\"rejoices to do evil and delights in the frowardness of the wicked,\"\nbrings to light the hidden things of darkness that are within him.\n\n+II. The wicked woman.+ 1. _She is, pre-eminently, a\ncovenant-breaker._ The ribs of a vessel hold and keep together the\nwhole structure, and enable it to keep its cargo safe. If the ribs\ngive way, all goes to pieces, and the precious things which have been\nstored up within the ship are lost in the ocean. Human society is\nbelted together--kept from going to pieces--by covenants. They are\nthe ribs which keep together the State. The marriage covenant holds\nthe first place. The woman whose character is here depicted has\nbroken the bonds of this most sacred covenant--to which God was a\nwitness (the covenant of an institution of His own ordination)--and\nhas taken to the \"strange\" way of the devil. Well may she be called a\n_strange_ woman. That a woman should be guilty of such a\ncrime--should choose such a course of life, so opposed to all that is\npure and womanly--is indeed a mystery. 2. _She is a destroyer, not\nonly of herself, but of others._ When the river has broken through\nits proper boundaries there is a _present_ and _continual_\ndestruction, of which the bursting of its banks was only the\nbeginning. This woman in the past broke the moral boundaries of her\nlife, and is now not content to go to ruin herself, but tries to take\nothers with her. To this end are her false and flattering words, of\nwhich we shall hear more in chapter v. 3. _She carries her victims\nbeyond hope of recovery._ There are no rules without exceptions. We\nknow that there are those who have for a time been under the\ninfluence of such characters, and have returned to the paths of\nvirtue and honour. But these are rare exceptions. In the main, it is,\nalas! true that \"none that go unto her return again.\" A vessel\nfounders at sea, and we say that the crew is lost, although one\nsurvivor may have been rescued. We speak of an army being destroyed\nif one escapes to tell the tale. Where one who has taken hold on her\npaths struggles back to life and purity, thousands go down with her\nto death, bodily, social, and spiritual.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. To _snatch_ (see \"Critical Notes\"). \"The way of evil.\" The\nterms begin gently. It is only the gentle aspects that are dangerous\nat first. These are so fascinating that it requires us to be\n_snatched_ to keep us out of the ways of darkness.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 13. Among the pests of men, none are such virulent pests of\neverything that is good as those that once made a profession of\nreligion, but have _left the way of uprightness._ The stings of\nconscience which such persons experience, instead of reclaiming them,\ntend only to irritate their spirits, and inflame them into fierce\nenmity against religion.--_Lawson._\n\nDarkness, as thus set in contrast with uprightness, may be\ninterpreted as descriptive both of the _nature_ of the ways, and of\ntheir _tendency_ and _end_. The man who walks in uprightness walks in\nlight. His eye is \"single.\" There is \"none occasion of stumbling in\nhim.\" He has but _one_ principle; his \"eyes look right on, his\neyelids look straight before him.\" He is not always looking this way\nand that, for devious paths that may suit a present purpose, but\npresses on ever in the same course; and this all is light, all plain,\nall safe. \"The ways of darkness\" are the ways of concealment,\nevasion, cunning, tortuous policy and deceit. He who walks in them is\never groping; hiding himself among the subtleties of \"fleshly\nwisdom\": and being ways of false principle and sin, they are ways of\ndanger, and shame, and ruin.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThere is a strictly casual and reciprocal relation between\nunrighteous deeds and moral darkness. The doing of evil produces\ndarkness, and darkness produces the evil doing. Indulged lusts put\nout the eye-sight of the conscience; and under the darkened\nconscience the lusts revel unchecked.--_Arnot._\n\nThe light stands in the way of their wicked ways as the angel did in\nBalaam's way to his sin.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 14. Though it be wormwood which they drink (Lam. iii. 15), yet\nbeing drunk with it, they perceive not the bitterness thereof, but\nlike drunken men rejoice in their shame and misery.--_Jermin._\n\nBetter is the sorrow of him that suffereth evil than the jollity of\nhim that doeth evil, saith St. Augustine.--_Trapp._\n\nHere is a note of trial to discern our spiritual estate. Wicked men\nrejoice in sin; good men sorrow more for sin than for troubles. . . .\nMany triumph in their evil deeds because they have no good to boast\nof. And men are naturally proud and would boast of\nsomething.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 16. There is no viler object in nature than an adulteress.\nThough born and baptised in a Christian land, she is to be looked\nupon as a heathen woman and a stranger, and as self-made brutes are\ngreater monsters than natural brute beasts, so baptised heathens are\nby far the worst of pagans.--_Lawson._\n\nThis strange woman is an emblem of impenitence. The passage 16-19,\nmeans the seductiveness and yet the betraying wretchedness of\nimpenitence. The woman who has left her husband has also left her\nGod; and the _nulla vestigia retrorsum_ witnessed in her dupes is the\nwarning for the saint by which he keeps clear of her undoing. No man\nwould err who would treat of adultery as having its lessons here. But\nno man would understand the passage who did not understand it further\nas a great picture of impenitence. The warnings are two: (1) the\nun-stopping-short character of sin; she who wrongs her husband will\nbe seen universally wronging God: and (2) the unrecuperative history\nof the lost.--_Miller_\n\nTwice Solomon uses a similar expression, \"the strange woman (even)\nthe stranger,\" to impress more forcibly on the young man the fact\n_that her person belongs to another._ The literal and spiritual\nadulteress are both meant. The spiritual gives to the world her\nperson and her heart, which belong by right to God. In this sense the\nforeign women who subsequently drew aside Solomon himself, were\n\"strange women,\" not so much in respect to their local distance from\nIsrael, as in respect to being utterly _alien to the worship of God._\nLust and idolatry were the spiritual adultery into which they\nentrapped the once wise king. How striking that he should utter\nbeforehand a warning which he himself afterwards\ndisregarded.--_Fausset._\n\nWe are not to forget that the accomplished seducer has herself\nperhaps been seduced. The fair and flattering words, the endless arts\nof allurement, are on both sides.--_Wardlaw._\n\nOne who is as it were, a stranger to her own house and husband by\nfaithlessness (Hitzig), and hence a type of anything that is false\nand seductive in doctrine or practice. . . . By God's goodness\nSolomon's words in this Divinely inspired book were an antidote to\nthe poison of his own vicious example.--_Wordsworth._\n\n\nVerse 17. False doctrine and false worship are in Scripture compared\nto harlotry and adultery. (Numb. xiv. 33; Judges ii. 17; viii. 33;\nPsa. cvi. 39; Rev. xvii. 1, 2; xviii. 3.)--_Wordsworth._\n\nIt is God that is the guide of her youth, whoever may be under Him;\nit is God's covenant that is made, whosoever may be the contractor in\nit. It is God who is first _forsaken,_ then _forgotten;_ forsaken in\nthe beginning of wickedness, forgotten in the hardened practice of\nit. God hath appointed guides for youth--to stay the weakness of it,\nand to which, as unto God, youth ought to yield obedience. For elder\nyears He hath appointed covenants as bonds and chains to hold them\nsure.--_Jermin._\n\nThere is no trusting them that will fail God and their near friends.\nIf they fail God, they will fail men for their advantage. If they\nfail friends--much more strangers.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 18. When you get into the company of the licentious, you are\namong the dead. They move about like men in outward appearance, but\nthe best attributes of humanity have disappeared--the best affections\nof nature have been drained away from their hearts.--_Arnot._\n\nHer house is not a building reared up, but inclined and bowed down,\nand she who dwelleth in it will, by her life, bring thee to the\ndead. . . . Death is here twice mentioned to show that it is a double\ndeath, a temporal death, and an eternal death, to which she bringeth\nmen.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 19. Who would cast himself into a deep pit in the hopes of\ncoming out alive, when almost all that fell into it were dashed in\npieces.--_Lawson._\n\nIt is as hard to restore a lustful person to chastity as it is to\nrestore a dead person to life.--_Chrysostom._\n\nA sin which, I am verily persuaded, if there be another that slays\nher thousands, may with truth be affirmed to slay its _ten_\nthousands.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 20. Here follows the whole ground of the exhibition: \"That,\"\n_for the very purpose_ that \"_thou_ mayest walk in the way of good\nmen.\" This is a grand, pregnant doctrine. This bad life was abandoned\nto its worst partly as a lesson.--_Miller._\n\nIt is not enough to shun the evil way, unless man walk in the good\nway.--_Muffet._\n\nHe that walks in the way of good men shall meet with good men, and\nthat shall keep him from the company of evil men and women. The paths\nof the righteous are too narrow for such: he shall not be troubled\nwith them.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-22.\n\nTHE CONTRAST IN THE END FROM THE CONTRAST IN THE WAY.\n\nIf men walk in two directly opposite directions they cannot possibly\narrive at the same goal. +I. The historic illustration of this\ntruth.+ The first inhabitants of Canaan were allowed to dwell in the\nland until they defiled it to so great an extent by their sins that\nthey were \"rooted out,\" to be replaced by the Hebrew people. These,\nin their turn, became \"transgressors\" of God's law, and consequently\nforfeited their inheritance. +II. The reasonableness of this\ndealing.+ Uprightness leads to industry, and the land which is\nindustriously cultivated fulfils the end for which God gave it to the\nchildren of men. Uprightness leads to the rightful dividing of the\nland or of its produce among all its inhabitants. It is God's will\nthat none of his creatures should suffer bodily want: if all men were\ntruly upright and godly, the poor and needy, if they did not cease\nout of the land (Deut. xv. 2) would have a much larger share of its\ngood things than they at present enjoy. The Hebrew civil and social\nlaws show us what God's intentions are in this matter. Therefore none\nought to complain if they are deprived of a gift which they have\nmis-used. +III. The typical suggestion of the subject.+ Dwelling in\nthe land of Canaan was typical of the eternal dwelling in the\nheavenly country. Some of the first inhabitants of _that_ country\nhave been \"rooted out\" because of sin (2 Pet. ii. 4), others have\ndwelt safely there for ages, because they are, literally, _perfect_.\nThis is the destined home of all just men made perfect (Heb. xii. 23;\nxi. 13-16. Matt. xxii. 32).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 21. The Israelite was, beyond the power of natural feeling,\nwhich makes home dear to every one, more closely bound to his\nancestral soil by the whole form of the theocracy: torn from it he\nwas in the inmost roots of his life itself, strained and\nbroken.--_Elster._\n\nAs surely as a righteous man hath this right unto temporal things\nwhich a wicked man hath not, that God doth account him to be worthy\nof them . . . . Wherefore it is observed, that in Scripture, although\nthe wicked are said to possess the things of the earth, they are\nnever said to inherit them; but the godly are said to inherit the\ngood things of the earth as receiving them from the love of their\nheavenly Father.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 22. The very earth casts out the wicked. . . . The whole has a\ntypical meaning. This earth, many conjecture is to be restored as\nheaven. In that event, the old Canaan types will be very\nperfect.--_Miller._\n\nMust not the righteous leave the earth too? Yes; but the earth is a\nvery different thing to the righteous and to the wicked. To the\nlatter it is all the heaven they will ever have; to the righteous it\nis a place of preparation for heaven.--_Lawson._\n\nThe event seemeth to be contrary to the promise here made, for the\nearth commonly is possessed by those who take evil ways, whilst in\nthe mean season the godly are tossed up and down with many\nafflictions. But we must consider for our comfort that, the wicked\nwrongfully and unlawfully as usurpers, possess the earth and the\ngoods of this world; and again, that by many troubles, and by death\nin the end, they are put out of possession at last. As for the godly,\nthey, by right, inherit the earth, so that, as Abraham was the heir\nto the land of promise even when he had not a foot of ground therein,\nin like manner all the godly are heirs of this world, according to\nthe saying of the apostle, that all things are theirs (1 Cor.\niii. 22); howsoever often here they possess little or nothing. In\nright they are heirs, and in part possessors, looking for a new\nheaven and a new earth, wherein the just shall dwell (2 Pet.\niii. 13).--_Muffet._\n\nSuddenly, when they have feathered their nests and set up their rest,\nthe wicked may die sinning. The saints shall not die till the best\ntime--not till the time when, if they were rightly informed, they\nwould desire to die.--_Trapp._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Keep.+ This word, says Miller primarily means to\nlook _hard at_, and generally to _keep watch over_, as over a\nvineyard. +2. Length of days,+ properly \"extension of days.\"\n+4. Good understanding,+ or \"good success,\" \"good reputation.\" Some\nread \"good _intelligence_,\" _i.e._, thou shalt be esteemed before God\nand man as one of good understanding. +6. Acknowledge,+ \"take notice\nof,\" \"recognise\" Him. +Direct,+ \"make level\" or \"smooth.\"\n+8. Navel,+ \"body\" or \"muscles.\" +Marrow,+ literally \"refreshing,\"\n\"moistening,\" in contrast to the condition described in Psa.\nxxxii. 3, 4. +11. Despise not,+ or \"loathe not,\" \"shrink not.\" The\nword, according to Miller, means \"to melt.\" +Chastening,+\n\"discipline,\" \"correction.\" +12.+ The latter clause of this verse\nshould be read, \"and holds him dear, or does him a favour, as a\nfather does his son.\" +13. Gets,+ \"draws out.\" +18. Lay hold,+\n\"grasp,\" from a Hebrew root _strong_. +Retaineth,+ \"holds her fast.\"\n+20. Depths,+ &c., \"were the floods divided\" into rivers and streams\nfor the blessing of man. +Dew,+ or \"gentle rain,\" or else the clouds\nsignify the lower regions of the atmosphere where the dew is formed.\n+21. Them,+ _i.e._ \"sound wisdom and discretion;\" +Sound wisdom,+ the\nsame word as in chap ii. 7 (see notes there). Miller translates here\nas there, \"_something stable_.\" +25. Desolation of the wicked.+ This\nis interpreted in two ways. 1. The desolation in which the wicked\nstrive to overwhelm the good; or, 2. The destruction which will sweep\naway the wicked, leaving the godly unharmed. \"A positive decision is\nprobably not possible\" (Lange's Commentary). Stuart, and most modern\ncommentators, adopt the latter view. +26. Confidence.+ \"Jehovah shall\nbe as loins to thee\" (Miller). +27. Withhold not, &c.,+ literally\n\"hold not good back from its master,\" _i.e._, from him to whom it\nbelongs. +31. Envy thou not, &c.,+ or \"emulate not\" (Vulg.) \"_Do_ not\nanxiously covet\" (Stuart). +32. Secret.+ His \"secret compact,\"\n\"familiar intimacy.\" +34.+ \"If,\" or \"Seeing that He scorneth the\nscorners,\" &c. +35. The promotion,+ &c., literally \"shame lifts up,\"\n_i.e._, in order to sweep away and destroy them; so Lange translates.\nMiller reads, \"fools are each piling shame.\" Stuart says on this\nverse, \"Glory means here honour or an exalted station. Ziegler and\nEwald render the next clause, 'Shame shall elevate fools,' spoken\nsarcastically. I prefer the meaning sanctioned by Ezek. xxi. 23; Is.\nlvii. 14, viz., to take off, to sweep away, as the dust which is\nelevated by the wind and is swept off, as may be seen in Isa.\nxvii. 13. Compare Isa. xxix. 5; Psa. xxxv. 5. At least, the image\nunderstood in this way is very vivid. It stands thus: 'Fools are\nelevated like the light dust, and then are _swept away_ in the same\nmanner.'\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.\n\nBLESSINGS FROM THE REMEMBRANCE OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS.\n\n+I. The natural desire of a moral instructor.+ Every teacher desires\nthat his pupil should remember his instructions, and unless that\nwhich has been given is remembered it is useless to carry him further\non. Memory holds a very important place in the formation of moral\ncharacter. \"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I\npreached unto you; . . . by which also ye are saved, if ye _keep in\nmemory_ what I preached unto you\" (1 Cor. xv. 1 and 2). Paul likewise\nexhorts his son Timothy by means of his memory (2 Tim i. 6). See also\nHebrews x. 32; 2 Pet. i. 15, iii. 1, etc. Solomon knew that his son\ncould only profit by his counsel so long as he remembered it.\n\n+II. When the memory does not retain moral teaching, it is a moral\nrather than an intellectual fault.+ \"Let thine _heart_ keep my\ncommandments.\" We find it difficult to forget where we love. If a\nchild loves his father, he is not likely to forget his words. Christ\nreminded his disciples that they did not \"remember\" because their\n_hearts_ were hardened (Mark viii. 17, 18).\n\n+III. When the heart keeps the Divine Word, mercy and truth will not\nforsake the character.+ Where God's precepts find a place of abode,\nthere will likewise be found a merciful disposition towards men, and\na truthful and sincere piety before God. If a tree has its roots in\nthe waters, we know that its greenness will not fail: \"its leaf shall\nnot wither.\" The freshness and beauty of the foliage is the necessary\noutcome of its roots dwelling in the stream. The mercifulness and the\ntruthfulness of a man's character will be in proportion to his\naffection for, and consequent retention of, the words of God.\n\n+IV. The blessings which will accompany a remembrance of the Divine\nteaching.+ 1. _Length of days._ We may infer from this that, as a\nrule, long life is to be desired. The longer distance a pure river\nruns through a country, the greater the amount of blessing which it\ndiffuses on its way to the ocean. The longer a man of \"mercy and\ntruth\" lives, the more he is enabled to bless his fellow-creatures. A\nlong life gives a man time to attain great knowledge of God, and thus\nenables him to glorify Him upon the earth. A long life is also to be\ndesired because the peculiar experience of earth belongs to the\npresent life only. When that is ended we have reason to believe that\nwe shall enter upon an entirely new experience; that which belonged\nto earth will have passed away with our earthly life. It has often\nbeen remarked that a godly manner of life is favourable to \"length of\ndays.\" Sin and anxious care tend to bring men to an early grave,\nwhile purity, and trust in a living and loving Father are promoters\nof bodily health. 2. _Divine and human favour._ The human ruler is\nfavourable to those who make it their business to obey his commands.\nA wise and good father makes a difference in his treatment of those\nchildren who seek to please him and those who defy his authority. God\nis the Father, and consequently the rightful Ruler of men, and having\nmade laws for the guidance of His children, it follows of necessity\nthat those who seek to obey those laws must find favour with Him. He\nis in this sense a respecter of persons. He has respect to those who\n\"have respect unto his commandments\" (Psa. cxix. 6). Favour in the\nsight of man is also promised. The value of a man's favour depends\nupon a man's character. To find favour with some men would be to be\nknown as an enemy of God (James iv. 4). It is written that Jesus\nincreased \"in favour with God and man\" (Luke ii. 52). But we know\nthat He found little favour with the rulers of the Jews. Therefore,\nthese words must be taken to refer to the favour of those whose\nfavour is worth having. 3. _Peace_ (Verse 2). Where the conscience\nand passions are at war there can be nothing but unrest, but when the\nconscience is reinforced by the Divine precepts, she rules, and the\nsoul, as a consequence, enjoys peace. Peace must flow from the\npossession of Divine favour, and also from the consciousness of the\ngood-will of good men.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 1. Here we advance another step. Not only is it necessary to\nrenounce and shun evil (i. 10) and to listen to the voice of Wisdom\nand go in quest of her (i. 20; ii. 1-4), but it is also requisite to\nhold her fast under trial and tribulation (ver. 11), and to practise\nher rules by love to God and man (verses 9, 27, 30).--_Wordsworth._\n\n\"My law.\" He who made us knows what is good for us. Submission to His\nwill is the best condition for humanity. Our own will leads to sin\nand misery. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the\nsoul. . . . Silently to forget God's law is a much more common thing\namongst us than blasphemously to reject it.--_Arnot._\n\nWhere love makes the impression, care locks it up. . . . Philo saith,\n\"Thou forgettest God's law, because thou forgettest thyself.\" For\ndidst thou remember thine own condition, how very nothing thou art,\nthou couldst not forget His law whose excellency exceedeth all\nthings; and therefore to fasten His law in our hearts, God saith no\nmore than that it is _my law_, as if the strength of that reason were\nsufficient to strike them into us not to be forgotten.--_Jermin._\n\nWe should be able to say to Wisdom as C\u0153nis did to her lady Antonia,\n\"You need not, madame, bid me do your business, for I so remember\nyour commands, as I need never be reminded of them.\"--_Trapp._\n\nThe mental faculties have a close relation and a mutual dependence\nupon each other. There are, without doubt, original diversities in\nthe power of memory. But memory depends greatly on _attention_, and\nattention depends not less upon the interest which the mind feels on\nthe subject. He who feels no interest will not attend, and he who\ndoes not attend will not remember.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 2. _Length of days_ is the promise to the righteous--whether\nfor earth or for heaven as their Father deems fittest for them. In\nitself, the promise, as regards this life, has no charm. . . . But\n_peace added_ forms the sunshine of the toilsome way.--_Bridges._\n\nThe original is \"length of days and years of lives.\" They are lives\nwhich religion promiseth, one on earth, another in heaven: here such\na long life as short days can make up, but there days shall be years:\nthere shall be but one day, lengthened into eternity.--_Jermin._\n\nWhere is the consistency of promising long life to wisdom? Where is\nthe truth of such an assurance? But certain grammatical endings give\nus immediate signs of another interpretation. The verb \"add\" is\nmasculine; the words \"law\" and \"commandments\" are feminine. On the\ncontrary, all are masculines among the nouns of the next clause.\nUnless there should be reason to do violence by an ungrammatical\nexception, the nouns should be the subjects rather than the objects\nof the verb. We translate therefore, \"For length of days, and years\nof life, and prosperity, shall make thee greater.\"--_Miller._\n\nSuch declarations are certainly not to be interpreted as a promise of\nlong life in this world in every instance, as the result of obedience\nto God's commands. There are promises to Israel of their days being\nprolonged in the land which are greatly mistaken when interpreted of\nthe life of individuals; and as pledging in every case its\nprolongation to all the good. Such passages relate to the continued\npossession of the land of promise by the people, if they, in their\nsuccessive generations, continued to serve God.--_Wardlaw._\n\nSimple duration of life in itself to Jewish mind, a great gift of\nGod. \"Years of _life_,\" _i.e._, of a life truly such, a life worth\nliving, not the lingering struggle with pain and sickness (compare\nthe use of \"life\" in Psalm xxx. 5, xliii. 8).--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 3. There was such a similitude of nature between the twins of\nlove that at once they wept, and at once they smiled; they fell sick\ntogether, and they recovered jointly. Such are these twins of grace.\nIn policy, mercy without truth is a sweet shower dropping upon barren\nsands, quite spilt, and no blessing following it; truth without mercy\nis extreme right and extreme injury. Consider them toward God and\nheaven. A faith of mere protestation without good works, such as\ntruth without mercy, and all the integrity of the heathen, all the\ngoodness that Socrates could teach, such is mercy without\ntruth.--_Bishop Hacket._\n\nThe _neck_ is, in Solomon's writings, the organ and symbol of\n_obedience_. To bind God's law about the neck is not only to _do_ it,\nbut to _rejoice_ in doing it; to put it on and exult in it as the\nfairest ornament.--_Wordsworth._\n\n+I. The matter to be recorded+--mercy and truth. These two, meeting and kissing\nin the Mediator, constitute the revealed character of God Himself; and He\ndesires to see, as it were, a miniature of His own likeness impressed upon His\nchildren. +II. The tablet for receiving it+--the human heart. The reference is\nobviously to the tables of stone. The tables were intended to be not a book\nonly, but a type. An impress should be taken on our own hearts, that we may\nalways have the will of God hidden within us.--_Arnot._\n\nLet these graces be, as with God, in combination. The want of one\nburies the commendation of the other. \"Such a one is merciful to the\npoor, but there is no truth in him.\" \"Such a one is very just in his\ndealings, but he is as hard as a flint.\" Nor must these virtues be in\noccasional and temporary exercise. \"Let them not _forsake_\nthee.\"--_Bridges._\n\nIntimating--I. Their forsaking us is more than our forsaking them.\nOur forsaking them may come of our weakness, but their forsaking us\ncomes of our wilfulness and hardness of heart in not entertaining\nthem. II. It sets out the easiness of the loss of them through our\ncorruption. III. It sets forth our great need of them. IV. It\nintimates our great care and pains needful for the retaining of them.\nThey are easily lost, but hardly kept. A hawk must be well tamed\nbefore he is let fly, else he will return no more. These graces must\nbe as carefully kept as providently gotten, like riches. And they\nmust both be kept together, else mercy may lie to do good, and truth\nmay reveal without cause what may do hurt. Therefore join both as God\ndoes (Ps. lxxxv. 10).--_Francis Taylor._\n\nMercy and truth are dear sisters, blessed companions in God, sweet\ncompanions in man. Mercy loveth truth, truth loveth mercy, God loveth\nboth; and if man love himself, he will do so likewise.--_Jermin._\n\nThese words correspond to the two tables of the law. Benevolence is\nat the bottom of the command, \"Thou shalt love thy neighbour,\" and\nwhat is right is that great glory which we are to love in\nGod.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 4. In other words, \"Thou shalt be favoured and truly prospered,\nGod and man both bearing witness to thy well-directed\nefforts.\"--_Stuart._\n\nHe that shows mercy to men shall find mercy with God . . . and men\nlove to be dealt truly and mercifully with themselves, even though\nthey deal not so with others; especially they that get good by our\nmerciful and just dealing will favour us.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nThis favour of God and man, _i.e._, not of all indiscriminately, but\nfirst and pre-eminently of the wise and devout, such as agree with\nGod's judgment, is evidently in the view of the poet the highest and\nmost precious of the multiform blessings of wisdom which he\nenumerates. What, however, is this favour of God and man but the\nbeing a true child of God, the belonging to the fellowship of God and\nHis people, the co-citizenship in the kingdom of truth and\nblessedness? We stand here manifestly at the point at which the Old\nTestament doctrine of retributions predominantly earthly begin to be\ntransformed into the supersensual or spiritual realistic doctrine of\nthe New Testament (Matt. v. 10-12; xix. 28-30).--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThe promise is all one with that of the Apostle Paul, when, speaking\nof righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, he saith, \"that\nhe which in these things serveth Christ, pleaseth God and is\nacceptable to men\" (Rom. xiv. 18).\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5 _and_ 6.\n\nEXHORTATION TO CONFIDENCE IN GOD.\n\nMan is so constituted that, in some respects, he must have objects\noutside of himself to lean upon. As a child, he leans upon a wisdom\nand strength which is superior to his own, and few men are so\nself-sufficient as entirely to lay aside this habit in after life. In\nmany things we must, whether we will or not, depend upon the guidance\nand help of others. Every man, in common with the lower creatures,\nmust of necessity lean upon a power greater than his own. \"The eyes\nof all wait upon Thee\" (Psa. cxlv. 15). But this is a leaning which\nneeds no exhortation: it springs from necessity. The exhortation of\nthe text implies that in some things men have to choose whether they\nwill lean upon God or not.\n\n+I. What is necessary in order to comply with the exhortation.+ 1. _A\nknowledge of God._ We cannot place entire trust in any person of\nwhose character we have no knowledge; or, if we do so, we show our\nwant of discretion. If a traveller across Central Africa were to give\nhimself up to the guidance of the first native whom he met, he would\nprobably find that his confidence had been misplaced. The youth who\ntrusts in the first companion who offers his friendship is like a\nblind man placing his hand in that of any stranger who may offer him\nguidance. All lasting trust is based upon knowledge. \"They that\n_know_ Thy name will put their trust in Thee\" (Psa. ix. 10). The\nconfidence of a wise man is born of knowledge of character. God can\nbe known. His only-begotten Son hath declared Him (Luke x. 22; John\ni. 18, xvii. 3). 2. _Love to God._ The character must be known, and,\nbeing known, must be loved, if there is to be a lasting confidence.\nWe shall not lean with much weight where we do not love. The trust of\na Christian will be in proportion to his love to his Lord. The more\nintimate the knowledge, the deeper will be the love; the deeper the\nlove, the more entire the trust. Our Lord Jesus Christ knew His\nFather (John xvii. 25) as no creature could know Him, and His love\nbeing based upon this profound knowledge, His trust was entire and\nHis obedience perfect, even in His darkest hours. \"But that the world\nmay know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me\ncommandment, even so I do.\" \"_Arise let us go hence_\" (John xiv. 31).\nWe cannot do better than write after this copy.\n\n+II. The necessary effect of such a confidence.+ We shall acknowledge\nGod in all our ways. This must mean--1. _A practical recognition of\nHis presence._ We may be in the presence of a superior, and know that\nwe are in his presence, without acknowledging it by showing him the\nrespect that is due to him. If this is the case, we virtually ignore\nhis existence. A child whose behaviour is not deferential to his\nparent practically ignores him. Acknowledging God in all our ways\nimplies a reverent attitude of soul towards Him. 2. _A belief in\nGod's care for the individual life._ God makes himself known as the\nGod of the individual man. The care of the individual is his\nself-imposed task. \"I am the Lord God of _Abraham_, thy father, and\nthe God of _Isaac_, . . . and behold I am with _thee_, and will keep\n_thee_ in all places whither thou goest\" (Gen. xxviii. 13, 15).\n3. _The reference of all our affairs to His guidance, and a\nsubmission of our will to His._ This will be easy and natural in\nproportion to our knowledge, and love, and conviction that God will\nnot think any of our concerns beneath His notice. Our submission will\nbe in the ratio of our confidence--our confidence in the ratio of our\nknowledge.\n\n+III. The promise of direction guaranteed to compliance with the\nexhortation.+ 1. _Men have many ways in life._ Man's many ways spring\nfrom his many needs. He has a living to earn in the world. His hunger\nmust be satisfied--his body must be clothed and fed. His social wants\nmust be met--he must have companions, form relationships. His mind\nmust have food as well as his body. The aspirations of his spirit\nform another way, and demand direction and enlightenment. But one\nway--the way of acknowledging God--is needful to make any and all the\nother ways profitable and pleasant. 2. _The certainty of right\nguidance from the foreknowledge and power of the guide._ An Alpine\nguide, who has traversed a road many times, knows from memory what is\nat the end of the journey. He sees the end while he is on the way.\nGod's foreknowledge answers to our memory. He sees the end to which\nHe is bringing us while we are on the way. And His power makes the\naccomplishment of His plans certain. He can speak of them as finished\nbefore the means are set in motion to bring them to pass. He said to\nJoshua: \"Behold, I have given into thine hand Jericho\" (Josh. vi. 2),\nbefore any steps had been taken to overthrow it. His guidance makes\nit certain that His designs will be accomplished, whatever becomes of\nour plans.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 5 and 6. The heart, the seat of the affections, and also, in\nHebrew psychology, the conscience, which is not a sure guide unless\nit is regulated by the Lord's will and Word.--_Wordsworth._\n\nOnce, indeed, man's understanding gave clear, unclouded light, as\nman's high prerogative--created in the image of God. But\nnow--degraded by the fall, and darkened by the corruption of the\nheart--it must prove a false guide. Even in a renewed man--a prophet\nof God--it proved a mistaken counsellor (2 Sam. vii. 2, 5). Yet throw\nit not away; cultivate it; use it actively; but _lean_ not to\nit.--_Bridges._\n\n\"He shall Himself,\" _i.e._, by His own Spirit. There is an emphatic\npronoun. When we walk, it is not we that walk, but God.--_Miller._\n\n\"Leaning to our own understanding\" is, as far as it prevails, a kind\nof practical atheism. To form and prosecute our plans in this spirit\nof self-confidence, is to act as if there were _no_ God--as if the\nfool's _thought_, or the fool's _wish_, were true.--_Wardlaw._\n\n+I. The duty enjoined.+ 1. _Entire._ 2. _Exclusive._ 3. _Uniform._\n+II. The blessing promised--Direction.+ _Necessary_ on account\nof--1. Our fallibility. 2. The hazards of the way. 3. False guides.\n_Promised._ 1. By the pointings of Providence. 2. By the lessons of\nthe Bible. 3. By the influences of the Holy Spirit.--_Outlines by\nRev. G. Brooks._\n\nThe fundamental principle of all religion, consisting in an entire\nself-commitment to the grace and truth of God, with the abandonment\nof every attempt to attain blessedness by one's own strength or\nwisdom.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThe distant and unconfiding will come on occasion of State\nformalities to the sovereign; but the dear child will leap forward\nwith everything. The Queen of England is the mother of a family. At\none time her ministers of State came gravely into her presence to\nconverse on the policy of nations; at another, her infant runs to her\narms for protection, frightened at the buzzing of a fly. Will she\nlove this last appeal because it is a little thing? We have had\nfathers of our flesh who delighted when we came to them with our\nminutest ailments. How much more should we bring all our ways to the\nFather of our spirits, and live by simple faith on Him.--_Arnot._\n\nWe may be led for the exercise of our faith into a way of\ndisappointment, or even of _mistake_. But no step well prayed over\nwill ever bring ultimate regret.--_Bridges._\n\nEvery enlightened believer trusts in a Divine power enlightening the\nunderstanding; he therefore follows the dictates of the understanding\nmore religiously than any other man.--_M. Cheyne._\n\nThe moralist, in preaching this trust in God, anticipates the\nteaching that man is justified by faith.--_Plumptre._\n\nSee your confidence be not divided, part on God and part on man. Such\na confidence may keep you from the lions (2 Kings xvii. 25) but it\ncannot keep you out of hell. A house built partly on firm ground,\npartly on sand, will fall. To trust in God is so to lean upon Him\nthat if He fail thee thou sinkest.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nHe shall direct, as He carefully chose out the Israelites' way in the\nwilderness; not the shortest, but the safest way.--_Trapp._\n\n1. That our reliance may be rational we should know what it is that\nGod has promised, and what we may expect from Him; else we may be\ndisappointed in all our hopes. 2. Reliance must be accompanied with\nobedience, with a purpose, and endeavour to do the things that are\npleasing to God. 3. Reliance must also be connected with particular\nsupplications to Him to bless us. 4. It must be accompanied with\ndiligence and prudence in our worldly affairs. 5. It excludes\nimmoderate cares, vain desires, fretful discontent. 6. Although\nreliance be so advantageous to us, even for the present, that it\nought to be considered rather as a privilege than a duty, yet it is a\nnoble virtue and a disposition of mind most agreeable to God. It is\nthe greatest honour we can pay to Him. By it we show our belief in\nHis wisdom, power, equity, and goodness.--_Jortin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-12.\n\nTHE WAY (1) TO HEALTH, (2) TO WEALTH, (3) TO ENDURANCE.\n\nThree exhortations are here given, to each of which is attached a\npromise on reason to induce the young man to obey. +I. An exhortation\nto humility.+ (Verses 7 and 8.) Its peculiar appropriateness and\nimportance will be seen if we consider--1. _The person to whom the\nexhortation is addressed._ \"My son\" (ver. 1). Lack of experience has\na great tendency to breed self-conceit. As a rule, those who have\nlived the longest and have most acquaintance with men and things are\nthe least disposed to be \"wise in their own eyes.\" Ignorance is the\nmother of self-conceit. These words are addressed to a young man,\nbecause his youth would render him very liable to this fault.\n2. _That self-conceit does not end with oneself but is dangerous to\nothers._ The man who insists upon the correctness of his knowledge of\na dangerous way, and will not listen to the experience of those who\nare better acquainted with it, is sure to find some who believe in\nhim and follow his guidance. Thus he may not only lose his own life,\nbut be the murderer of others. 3. _It shuts a man up to his\nignorance._ The only way to become wise is to feel we are ignorant.\nAs a lunatic must be shut up with others in a like condition while\nhis madness is upon him, so a self-conceited man must be imprisoned\nwith the fools of the universe while he remains in that condition.\n4. _The Divine woes which are levelled against such an one._ All the\nwoes pronounced by our Lord against the Scribes and Pharisees were\nagainst sins born of this sin. The charge against them was that they\nwere wise in their own eyes. \"For judgment am I come into this world,\nthat they which see not might see; and that they which see might be\nmade blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him said, Are\nwe blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have\nno sin: but now ye say, _We see;_ therefore your sin remaineth\" (John\nix. 39-41). \"Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and\nprudent in their own sight\" (Isa. v. 21). +II. The remedy against\nself-conceit.+ \"Fear _the Lord,_\" etc. When those who are wise in\ntheir own eyes begin to reverence those who are much wiser than they\nare, they will begin to depart from this evil which is the root of\nmany evils. Esteem for those who deserve esteem will lessen their\nesteem for themselves. A knowledge of the character and wisdom of God\nwill produce reverence. When a man renders to God the reverence which\nis due unto Him, and which is born of a right appreciation of what\nGod is, the scales of self-conceit will fall from his own eyes. As\nthe sun melts the hoar-frost from the windows and leaves a clear\nmedium for the rays of the sun to enter the chamber, so the contact\nof God with the human soul will melt away the self-esteem which shut\nHim out. How entrenched was Saul of Tarsus in his own opinions before\nhe met the Lord on the road to Damascus. How high an estimate he had\nof himself, but how great was the change which acquaintance with\nChrist wrought. When Job got an insight into God's greatness, he\nsaid, \"I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes\" (Job xlii. 6).\nSelf-conceit cannot live where there are right views of God.\n+III. The promise here given to those who walk reverently before\nGod.+ Certain it is that such a mode of life leads to bodily health.\nThose who walk in the fear of the Lord live lives of purity, of\ntemperance, of freedom from the consuming passions and corroding\ncares of the ungodly. Other things being equal, or anything like\nequal, godliness has the promise of the life that now is in this\nrespect as in others. But if we understand the words in this narrow\nsense only, they seem to express only a small part, and the inferior\npart, of the blessing that comes to a man from the \"fear of the\nLord.\" The bones here, as in Psalm xxxii. 3, xxxv. 10, are put for\nthe whole man. And as the Psalmist, in the first-mentioned psalm,\nexpresses his sad condition of soul as well as body when he says, \"My\nmoisture is turned to the drought of summer,\" so the \"marrow,\" or\n\"moisture,\" of the bones here expresses a vigour of the entire man.\nSin breaks the bones of a man's spirit; the consciousness of the\nDivine favour which will flow from a reverential walk with God makes\nthem \"to rejoice\" (Ps. li. 8).\n\nVerses 9 and 10 contain--+I. An exhortation to a right use of\ntemporal riches.+ 1. _Those who honour God with their gifts honour\nHim who has first honoured them with their stewardship._ The man who\nis entrusted with the property of others, has an honour put upon him\nby the trust. Potiphar put a great honour upon Joseph when he\ncommitted all that he had into his hand, and Joseph felt that it was\nso. This of itself should be a motive to a strict integrity and to\ndevotion to the interests of One who has thus honoured us with\nconfidence. All temporal, material blessings are given to men as\nstewards of God's property (Luke xvi. 1-12), and in this light they\nought to regard themselves. 2. _If men honour God with their\nsubstance, they turn what would otherwise be a snare into a\nblessing._ The tendency of wealth is doubtless to make men\ngod-forgetting, self-confident, selfish (Mark x. 23; Luke xii. 16;\nJas. v. 1). But those who use it for the advancement of God's\nkingdom--for the alleviation of human suffering--make a _friend_ of\nthis \"mammon of unrighteousness\" (Luke xvi. 9). 3. _God cannot be\nhonoured with our substance unless we first give ourselves to Him._\nThe great desire of a true father in relation to his children is to\nsecure their love. Having that, everything else that is theirs will\nbe his. Without that, no offering, no service, can be acceptable. God\nmust have the man before He will accept his wealth.\n\n+II. The promise annexed to this exhortation.+ This cannot be the\n_motive_, but it is the _consequence_. Any man who gave his wealth\nbecause he believed it was a good investment in this sense, would not\nbe honouring God with it. We must _give_, as we are commanded to\n_lend_, hoping for nothing again (Luke vi. 35). And, although the\nmaterial rewards which are appended to a certain line of conduct\nunder the old dispensation do not invariably follow it in the new and\nmore spiritual one, there is probably no Old Testament promise of\nearthly reward which is, and ever has been, fulfilled with so few\nexceptions.\n\nVerses 11 and 12. +I. An exhortation to patient endurance of\naffliction.+ 1. _From the constitution of our nature we can but\ndislike or loathe_ (_despise_, see \"Critical Notes\") _affliction\nitself._ There has never been one of the human kind who has welcomed\naffliction for its own sake; nay, more, there has never been one who\nhas not shrunk from it, considered by itself. No man can do other\nthan grieve for the death of his friend when he considers his own\nloss merely. No child of God can love pain or loss. The man who is\nunder the knife of the surgeon must groan in the unnatural condition\nin which he is placed. Even Christ Himself, though He delighted to do\nthe will of His Father (Psa. xl. 8), shrank from the bitter cup of\nsuffering. If, then, pain--probably mental pain--was felt to be\nbitter by the Sinless Man, how much more will a sinful man find it\nhard to bear. 2. _The pain itself is that which renders us unable to\nsee the connection between it and the benefit it is to work out._\nWhile a man is suffering pain of body or mind, his feelings, more or\nless, overpower his reason. Although we know that it is to work good\nin the future, we fail often to realise the fact--feeling holds us\ndown to the present.\n\n+II. Four considerations to help us in times of affliction.+ 1. _Its\nindividuality._ \"_My_ son, despise not _thou_,\" which implies that\nGod chastises men as individuals--that he distinguishes between them.\nThere may be many sons and daughters in a human home; no two are\nexactly alike, therefore a wise discrimination must be exercised with\nregard to the chastisement or the discipline administered. So God\ndiscerns the needs of His children. No son or daughter need think\nthat another cross would suit them better; they may be assured that\nthe one they bear is the one that has been especially prepared for\nthem and is therefore peculiarly adapted for them. 2. _Its end._ It\nis educational. It is correction, not destruction. Even if it is\nrebuke, or punishment for a particular sin, it is designed to\neradicate that sin, and thus add to the character; and we are\nassured, on the highest authority, that tribulation worketh patience,\nexperience, and hope--all of which graces go to form a higher type of\nman (Rom. v. 2, 3). 3. _Its signification._ It means son-ship,\nadoption. It means that God has taken us in hand; that He is Himself\npresiding over our education; that He loves us and desires our\nspiritual growth. 4. _Its Author._ \"The Lord.\" We accept that from\none who we know, which we would not from a stranger. If we can be\nsure that a man's motives are pure, we judge of his conduct\naccordingly. The consideration that affliction comes from the\n\"righteous Father,\" the King who cannot wrong any of His subjects,\nought to help us to take the rebuke with meekness,--to bear the pain,\nalthough we cannot now see the profit.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 7. This warning against self-confidence is closely connected\nwith the preceding verse. _The wise in his own eyes_ is he that\n_leans to his own understanding_. How striking is this connection\nbetween the fear of the Lord and the fear of sin (ch. xiv. 27;\nxvi. 6. Gen. xxxix. 9-10; Neh. v. 15).--_Bridges._\n\nGet all the wisdom thou canst. That is the very burden of these\nProverbs. But as thou gettest it if thou seemest wise, be sure that\nthou art weighed down with folly. Gabriel, who has never sinned, is\nfoolish because he knows not the end from the beginning, and we are\nfoolish from a further cause, that our wisdom has remains with it\nthat are corrupt.--_Miller._\n\nThe greatest hindrance to all true wisdom is the thought that we have\nalready attained it.--_Plumptre._\n\nFear God, and fear evil; fear God to go to Him, fear evil to depart\nfrom it. The wings of fear to carry thee to God are love and care,\nthe wings of fear to carry thee from evil are shame and\nsorrow.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 8. The constant, steadfast, self-diffident operation of the\nreligious principle is beneficial alike to _body_ and _soul_. It\npreserves the mind in tranquility and peace (Isa. xxvi. 3), and this\nis in a high degree conducive to the health and vigour of the bodily\nframe.--_Wardlaw._\n\nTwo sadnesses flow from not fearing Jehovah--worn muscles and dried\nbones (see \"Critical Notes\"). The two are perfectly distinct. One\nmeans \"aching labour,\" the other, \"horrible despondency.\" The fear of\nGod delivers from both.--_Miller._\n\nAll God's laws come from one source and conspire for one end. They\nfavour righteousness and frown on sin. The law set in nature runs\nparallel as far is it goes to the law written in the Word. Vice saps\nthe health both of body and mind.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 9. Works of piety and charity are evidently\nincluded.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWho art thou, that thou shouldest be able to honour Him, who is\nHimself of infinite honour? Who would not in this respect employ his\nsubstance in God's fear, seeing thereby thou dost honour Him, whom to\nserve is a high honour to the highest angels.--_Jermin._\n\nTo devote a portion of our substance directly to the worship of God,\nand the good of men, is a duty plainly enjoined in the Scriptures. It\nis not a thing that a man may do, or may not do, as he pleases. There\nis this difference, however, between it and the common relative\nduties of life. For the neglect of it no infliction comes from a\nhuman hand. God will not have the dregs that are squeezed out by\npressure poured into His treasury. He loveth a cheerful giver. He can\nwork without our wealth, but He does not work without our willing\nservice.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 10. At first sight the motive may be regarded as a selfish one.\nBut second thoughts give another view. _It is a trial of faith._ And\nit is a trial than which few are found more difficult. It is hard to\npersuade a man that giving away will make him rich. We look with new\nconfidence to bank interest, or the still better interest of a vested\nloan, than to a return of profit from what is wholly given\naway.--_Wardlaw._\n\nMen take care how to use their money to the best advantage by sea, by\nbuying land or cattle, or by usury, an easy trade; thy best trade\nwill be to maintain God's worship.--_Jermin._\n\nThe consecration of substance, as the seed-corn for the harvest, is\nas strange to the world as would be the casting of the seed in the\nearth to an untutored savage. Yet is the result secure in both cases:\nonly with the difference, the temper of the earthly sower has no\ninfluence on the harvest; whereas the fruitfulness of the spiritual\nharvest mainly depends on the principles of the work. Most important\nis that we _honour the Lord_--not ourselves.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 11. Two things are forbidden here. 1. Do not make light of\n(despise) the Lord's chastening, as if thou couldst easily cast it\noff--in insensibility to it, not recognising the Lord's hand in it,\nand not humbling thyself under it. 2. Do not, on the contrary through\npusillanimity, be weary, and impatient, and despondent under the\nburden.--_Cartwright._\n\nNot to feel thy evils would be inhuman; not to bear them,\nunmanly.--_Seneca_\n\nFainting and wearying may take place in two ways. The heart may be\noverwhelmed by sudden trials, giving an effect so stunning and\noverpowering that the spirit sinks into a temporary stupefaction,\nand, as the Apostle has it, \"we faint.\" Or it may become wearied out\nand exhausted by the long continuance of the same trial, or by a\nrapid succession of different strokes of the rod.--_Wardlaw._\n\nHaving stated the blessings of wisdom, it is logical to consider the\napparent exceptions.--_Miller._\n\nFor if God did despise thee, He would not chasten thee, if He was\nweary of thee, He would not correct thee.--_Jermin._\n\nSome think it a goodly thing to bear out a cross by head and\nshoulders, and wear it out as they may, never improving it. As a man\nthat, coming out of a shower of rain, dries again, and all is as\nbefore.--_Trapp._\n\nProsperity and adversity, in their wise mixture and proportion, for\nour present condition. Each is equally fruitful and honouring the\nLord; in prosperity, by a wise consecration of our substance; in\nadversity, by a humble and cheerful submission. . . . It is\ncorrection, this is for your humbling; it is only correction, this is\nyour consolation. It is the declared test of our legitimacy (Heb.\nxii. 7, 8). His discipline is that of the family, not of the school,\nmuch less of the prison.--_Bridges._\n\nSolomon here anticipates a covert objection, if all the favour in the\nsight of God and man, and the health which have been attributed to\nthe fearers of the Lord (ver. 1-10) really be theirs, how is it that\nwe see them so often sorely afflicted? The reason is, the Lord sends\nthese afflictions, not for evil, but for good to His\npeople.--_Fausset._\n\nConsider the afflictions we meet with in the character which the text\nassigns to them, viz., as _corrections_. What reasons have we for\nviewing them in this light? 1. They are _of God_, and God takes no\npleasure in the misery of His creatures. By some other demonstrations\nthan the dark demonstrations of sorrow, we know the benevolence of\nGod; and as afflictions are from Him, we have reason to deem them a\npart of the discipline of His love. 2. The rule or order of human\nafflictions indicates their corrective intent. All do not come under\nthis principle, but many do. It is manifest that many miseries of\nlife are the results of sin, and if we could see further, it is\nextremely probable that we should attribute many human miseries to\nhuman sin which we now attribute to the naked sovereignty of God.\n3. There is every reason to believe that a state of innocence would\nhave kept the world from all suffering. Evils that extend so far, or\nare of such a nature that our reformation could not shun them, are\ninstructive monitors that sin strikes deep, and requires for its cure\nthe hand that rules the world. 4. Our afflictions have many\nalleviations. If they were intended as mere punishments they would\nhave been made more destructive.--_Dr. Spencer._\n\nThe first distinct utterance of a truth which has been so full of\ncomfort to many thousands, the summing up of all controversies, like\nthose of Job's friends (Job v. 17) or our Lord's disciples (John\nix. 2) as to the mystery of suffering. It was the lesson which the\nbook of Job had proclaimed as the issue of so many perplexities. Here\nit enters into the education of every Jewish child taught to\nacknowledge a Father in heaven chastening him even as he had been\nchastened by an earthly father. The Apostle writing to the Hebrews\ncan find no stronger comfort.--_Plumptre._\n\nEspecially the well-beloved Son, who (ver. 12) was made \"perfect\nthrough sufferings.\"--_Wordsworth._\n\nGod's strokes are better than Satan's kiss and love; God smites for\nlife, Satan caresses for death.--_Egard._\n\nThe kingdom of God in this world is a kingdom of the cross; but all\nsuffering tends evermore to the testing and confirmation of faith\n(1 Pet. i. 6-7).--_Lange._\n\nGod's chastenings and corrections are no signs of anger, but of love;\nthey are the pains which our healing and cure demand. Those who lie\nunder the cross are often more acceptable to God than those who taste\nand experience His dainties. He finds pleasure in our crosses and\nsufferings for this reason, because these are His remembrance and\nrenewal of the sufferings of His Son. His honour is also involved in\nsuch a perpetuation of the cross in His members (Eph. iii. 13; Col.\ni. 24, etc.), and it is this that causes Him this peculiar\njoy.--_Berleburg Bible._\n\nGod loveth not thy correction, but thee He loveth.--_Jermin._\n\nHe that escapes affliction may well suspect his adoption.--_Trapp._\n\nThe same stroke may fall on two men, and be in the one case judgment,\nin the other love. \"In vain have I smitten your children, they\nreceived no correction\" (Jer. ii. 30). All were \"smitten,\" but they\nonly obtained paternal correction who, in the spirit of adoption,\n\"received\" it as such. You may prune branches lying withered on the\nground, and also branches living in the vine. In the two cases, the\noperation and the instrument are precisely alike; but the operation\non this branch has no result, and the operation on that branch\nproduces fruitfulness, because of a difference in the place and\ncondition of the branches operated upon.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-18.\n\nWISDOM AND HER GIFTS.\n\n+I. Wisdom is to be found.+ She does exist. Precious metals and\nchoice stones are to be found. They have an existence, and they exist\nin regions which may be reached by the exercise of man's intelligence\nand labour. Those who find them have to dig for them, to seek for\nthem, to give time, and strength, and wealth to the search. So\nWisdom, although she is within reach of man must be diligently sought\nafter, must be _drawn out_ (see \"Critical Notes\") by painstaking\ndiligence. 1. Wisdom is to be found in, and drawn out from\n_affliction_. The bee is said to suck honey from bitter herbs as well\nas from sweet flowers. The context to these words is closely\nconnected with them, and declare him to be truly blessed who becomes\nby affliction a wiser and a better man. It is within the reach of\nintelligent faith in God thus to extract the honey of wisdom from the\nsorrow which to \"the world worketh death\" (2 Cor. vii. 10). 2. Wisdom\nis to be found by _study of the Divine Word_. All Scripture is given\nby inspiration of God--they are able to make thee wise unto salvation\nthrough faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. iii. 15-16). The\nrecord which God has given of His Son is a revelation of His highest\nwisdom. A crucified Christ is a manifestation of the wisdom of God,\nand by the study of Him as revealed in Holy Scripture, we may \"draw\nout understanding\" of how a man may be \"just with God\" (Job ix. 2),\nand how a justified man may become a perfect man. 3. Wisdom is to be\nfound in the _practice of Divine precepts_. \"If any man will _do_ His\nwill, he shall know of the doctrine\" (John vii. 17). He shall know\nthe reality, the power, of the wisdom which cometh down from above by\npersonal and blessed experience. Understanding in these matters is\n\"drawn out\" by doing. 4. Wisdom is found by _communion with God_.\nThose who talk much with men who are their superiors in goodness and\nintelligence, and live on friendly terms with them, must become wiser\nand better through the intercourse. The stronger soul will mould the\nweaker. The man who holds converse with the highest and best\nIntelligence, with the Fountain of Wisdom, must draw understanding\nout of this Living Spring. 5. Wisdom for special needs, the\nunderstanding how to act in emergencies, is drawn out from God by the\n_confession of our ignorance and the pleading of God's promises_.\nSolomon was himself an example of this. By special prayer, by obeying\nhis own precept (verses 5-6), he obtained the gift of an\nunderstanding heart to judge the people (1 Kings iii. 5-12).\n+II. Wisdom is beyond comparison with anything outside herself.+ She\nis better than wealth because she gives blessings which wealth cannot\nbuy. 1. She gives real _heart-satisfaction_. Money will bring much\nease and luxury to the bodily life, but mere material comfort cannot\ngladden the inner man or keep away old age and sickness. But Wisdom\ngives a joy which has its home in the heart, and which increases with\nthe increase of years. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, because\nthey are ways of holiness. Love, and joy, and peace, and all the\ngraces which are the fruit of the Spirit of God are the very elements\nwhich in perfection constitute the blessedness of God Himself. They\nare the fruits which His servants pluck from the tree of life, which\nis in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. ii. 7). To be holy is to\nbe happy in the true, deep sense of the word. 2. She introduces to\n_better society_. Wealth will do much in this way. Gold is a passport\nto honour in the world generally, often to the Church in the world.\nBut the holy character which is born of heavenly wisdom is the only\npossession which will open the doors of the \"Church of the\nfirstborn,\" which will admit to the society of God, His angels, and\nHis redeemed ones. This is the true honour. 3. Her gifts are _for\neternity_. No matter how precious or how great the joy, the honour of\nearth passeth away (1 Cor. vii. 31). The gifts of Wisdom are for\never. The length of an eternity of days is in her hand.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 13. Never will this solid happiness be known without singleness\nof judgment and purpose. The inestimable blessing must have the\nthrone. The waverer and half-seeker fall short. Determined\nperseverance wins the prize (Phil. iii. 12-14).--_Bridges._\n\nIf God loves a son, He corrects him; and then, \"O the blessedness of\nthe man!\" It actually makes us wise. Let us not forget the doctrine\nthat affliction--as, indeed, everything--always benefits the\nChristian.--_Miller._\n\nThe coherence between this verse and the one preceding it is not to\nbe neglected. To persuade the more to patience under God's afflicting\nhand, he tells us, it is one way to get wisdom and happiness. What\nthough thou suffer chastisement, and that be bitter to thee! if thou\nget wisdom by it, thou art happy.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nSaving wisdom is to be \"found\" and \"gotten.\" It is not required that\nwe create it. We could not plan, we could not execute, a way of\nrighteous redemption for sinners. . . . This is God's doing, and it\nis all done. All things are now ready. . . . But we are required to\nseek the salvation which has been provided and brought near. . . .\nUnderstanding is a thing to be gotten. It comes not in sparks from\nour own intellect in collision with other human minds. It is a light\nfrom heaven. Religion is not all and only an anxious, fearful\nseeking: it is a getting too, and a glad enjoying.--_Arnot._\n\nIt was man who, by losing wisdom, became unhappy; and it is man who,\nby finding wisdom, or rather being found by the wisdom of God, is\nmade happy again. It was man whose understanding was deceived by the\nsubtle serpent: and it is man who, by getting understanding,\ndeceiveth the serpent of his prey.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. Here as in ii. 4, we have traces of the new commerce, the\nships going to Ophir for gold, the sight of the bright treasures\nstimulating men's minds to a new eagerness.--_Plumptre._\n\nWisdom brings more profit than any worldly riches, because it brings\nbetter things than riches can. 1. It can quiet a man's mind, which no\nwealth can do. Rich men have many cares--many griefs; crowns are\ncrowns of thorns: nothing but wisdom can poise the soul in all\ntempests. 2. It affords a ladder to climb to eternal things, like\nJacob's ladder, that did reach from Bethel on earth, to Bethel (God's\nhouse) in Heaven.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nOne grain of grace is far beyond all the gold of Ophir, and one\nhour's enjoyment of God to be much preferred before all the King of\nSpain's annual entradas. \"Let me be put to any pain, any loss, so I\nget my Jesus,\" said Ignatius. What is all the pomp and glory of the\nworld but dung? (Phil. iii. 7, 8). \"I esteem them no better\" (surely)\n\"that I may win Christ,\" said Paul, that great trader by land and\nsea. This gold we cannot buy too dear, whatever we pay for it. The\nwise merchant sells all to purchase it (Matt. xiii. 44, 46).--_Trapp._\n\nThe gain of fine gold weigheth very heavy in man's account; but the\ngain of fine wisdom is better, for that weigheth heavy in the balance\nof God's esteem. Tertullian, comforting the Christian martyrs,\nwrites: \"If you have lost some joys of this life, it is but a\nmerchandise--to lose something to gain greater.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. As in the vision of Solomon at Gibeon, so here; Wisdom\nbeing chosen does not come alone, but brings with her the gifts which\nothers who do not choose her choose in vain. The words are almost the\necho of those in 1 Kings iii. 11-13.--_Plumptre._\n\nIt is certainly not a uniform experience that a man lives long in\nproportion as he lives well. Such a rule would obviously not be\nsuitable to the present dispensation. It is true that all wickedness\nacts as a shortener of life, and all goodness as its lengthener; but\nother elements enter, and complicate the result, and slightly veil\nthe interior law. If the law were according to a simple calculation\nin arithmetic, \"the holiest liver, the longest liver,\" and\nconversely, the moral government of God would be greatly impeded, if\nnot altogether subverted. He will have men to choose goodness for His\nsake and its own, therefore a slight veil is cast over its present\nprofitableness. Some power is allowed to the devil, to try them that\nare upon the earth.--_Arnot._\n\nIf God give his people a crown, he will not deny them a crust. If\nthey have the good things of a throne, they shall be sure of the good\nthings of the footstool.--_Trapp._\n\nSt. Augustine telleth us that length of days is eternity, for\nwhatsoever hath an end is short: but riches and honour, which by men\nare esteemed good things, they are in the left hand. It is not\nforbidden thee to enjoy the good things of this life, but do not put\nthat in the right hand which should be in the left; do not prefer\ntemporal things before eternal. Let us use the left hand for a time,\nbut desire the right hand for eternity.--_Jermin._\n\nThe right hand in the Bible everywhere means one's highest\ninstrumentality or agency (Rev. ii. 1). We understand the text to\nmean, therefore, that wisdom is able to use long life as a splendid\nagency.--_Miller._\n\nIt is eternity that filleth the right hand of Wisdom. _Days_ for the\nclarity, _length_ for the eternity. As the glory is clear for the\ncountenance, so is it long for the continuance. The gift of the left\nhand is short and temporal. +I. Riches and honour are God's gifts,\ntherefore, in themselves, not evil.+ Saint Augustine: \"That they may\nnot be thought evil, they are given to good men; that they may not be\nthought the best good, they are given to evil men.\" Chrysostom\nremarks that Christ doth not say: \"Ye cannot _have_ God and mammon,\"\nbut, \"Ye cannot _serve_ God and mammon.\" +II. All are not so, but\nsome; and therefore it is necessary for us to learn whether God gave\nus the riches and honour which we have.+ They came from God if\n(1) _they are honestly gotten_, (2) _justly disposed_, (3) _patiently\nlost_. +III. Wealth and worship are, for the most part, companions;\nfor both those gifts lie in one and the same hand.+ Riches are the\nstairs whereby men climb up into the height of dignity, the\nfortification that defends it, the food it lives upon, the oil that\nkeeps the lamp of honour from going out. +IV. Though riches and\nhonour are God's gifts, yet they are but the gifts of His left hand.+\nTherefore it follows that every wise man will seek the blessings of\nthe right. Let us strive for the latter without condition; for the\nother, if they fall in our way, let us stoop to take them\nup.--_Thomas Adams._\n\nVerse 17. +I. The ways of religion are ways of pleasantness.+\n1. There is a pleasure in the duties relating immediately to God--in\n_love, faith, reliance, hope, prayer,_ and _thanksgiving_. 2. There\nis a pleasure in those occupations in which a religious man will be\nfrequently employed--_in studying the works of God and the Holy\nScriptures: in meditating on the perfections of the Almighty, etc._\n3. There is a pleasure in that behaviour towards others, and that\nmanner of prosecuting our worldly affairs, which ever accompany a\nreligious disposition--in _calm integrity, honest industry_, and\n_acts of beneficence_. 4. There is a pleasure in performing our duty\nto ourselves--in _temperance_ and _control of the passions_. +II. The\nways of sin are not ways of pleasantness.+ 1. No man can be happy who\nacts against his conscience. 2. If men persuade themselves that there\nis no future life, the expectation of perishing utterly presents no\nagreeable prospect to the soul, which has a natural desire of\nimmortality. 3. Every act contrary to reason and religion is, if not\nalways, for the most part, hurtful, even in this life.--_Jortin._\n\nThe excellency of the pleasure found in Wisdom's ways appears--+I. In\nthat it is the pleasure of the mind. II. That it never satiates nor\nwearies. III. That it is in nobody's power, but only in his that has\nit.+--_South._\n\nI am confident that the true Christian hath more true pleasure in\nsuffering for Christ, or in one act of mortification, or victory over\none lust, than the highest earthly potentate hath in all the honour\nthat is done him, or good things enjoyed by him all his\ndays.--_Swinnock._\n\n+I. Wisdom of itself is satisfactory, as it implies a revelation of\ntruth, and a detection of error to us.+ We are all naturally endowed\nwith a strong appetite to know, to see, to pursue truth; and with an\nabhorrency of being deceived and entangled in mistake. +II. In its\nconsequences it is pleasant and peaceable.+ 1. It assures us we take\nthe best course and proceed as we ought. He that knows his way and is\nsatisfied it is the true one, goes on merrily and carelessly, not\ndoubting he shall in good time arrive at his destined journey's end.\nWisdom therefore frees us from the company of anxious doubt in our\nactions, and the consequence of bitter repentance; for no man can\ndoubt of what he is sure, nor repent of what he knows good. 2. It\nbegets in us a hope of success in our actions, and is usually\nattended therewith. What is more delicious than hope? What more\nsatisfactory than success? And well-grounded hope confirms resolution\nand quickens activity, which mainly conduce to the prosperous issue\nof designs. 3. Wisdom prevents discouragement from the possibility of\nill success, yea, and makes disappointment itself tolerable. For we\nhave reason to hope that the All-wise Goodness reserves a better\nreward for us, and will some time recompense us, not only the good\npurposes we unhappily pursued, but also the unexpected disappointment\nwe patiently endured. 4. Wisdom makes all the troubles of life easy\nand supportable, by rightly valuing the importance and moderating the\ninfluence of them. . . . If sin vex and discompose us, yet this\ntrouble Wisdom, by representing the Divine Goodness and His tender\nmercies in our ever-blessed Redeemer, doth presently allay. And for\nall other adversities it abates their noxious power by showing us\nthey are either merely imaginary or very short and temporary: that\nthey admit of remedy, or at most do not exclude comfort. 5. Wisdom\nhath always a good conscience attending it, that purest delight and\nrichest cordial of the soul; that brazen wall and impregnable\nfortress against both external assaults and internal\ncommotions.--_Barrow._\n\nSome degree of comfort follows every good action, as heat accompanies\nfire, as beams and influences issue from the sun. Thus, saith one, is\na fore-reward of well-doing. \"_In_ doing thereof (not only _for_\ndoing) there is great reward\" (Psa. xix. 11).--_Trapp._\n\nThe paths of wisdom bring us to the peace of reconciliation with God;\nto the peace of society and friendship with the angels of God: to the\npeace of comfort and quietness in our own hearts.--_Jermin._\n\nThey must be \"ways of pleasantness\" because \"Thus saith the Lord.\"\nAnd if we feel them not to be so, we know them not.--_Bridges._\n\nHer ways are sometimes on hot coals and to burning stakes. If there\nis anything unpleasant in her way, it is to promote wisdom and so to\npromote more \"pleasantness\" another time. _All_ her paths peace, or\n\"prosperity.\" More thoroughly \"all\" of them than in the case of\npleasantness. While the happiness of a Christian may flag in this\nworld, his \"prosperity\" never stops a moment. His \"way\" is\nprosperous, _i.e._, he gains by every inch.--_Miller._\n\nBoth the way and the end to which the way leads is peace. There are\nmany ways in the world pleasant but not safe; others safe but not\npleasant.--_Fausset._\n\n\nVerse 18. Like that planted in Paradise and promised by Christ to all\nthat overcome.--_Wordsworth._\n\nIt is remarkable that this and other references in Proverbs xi. 30,\nxiii. 12, xv. 4, are the only allusions in any book of the Old\nTestament, after Genesis, to the \"tree\" itself, or to its spiritual\nsignificance. . . . The tree of life which Adam was not to taste lies\nopen to his children. No cherubim with flaming swords bar the\napproach. Wisdom is the tree of life giving true\nimmortality.--_Plumptre._\n\nWisdom beareth not her fruit for everyone. She is a tree of life to\nthem that _lay hold_ of her, not to them that touch her with a light\nhand, that seek after her in a perfunctory manner, that think a\nlittle wisdom, a little godliness, to be sufficient for\nthem.--_Jermin._\n\nThe tree of life was the means ordained of God for the preservation\nof lasting life, and continual vigour and health, before man sinned.\nSo true wisdom maintains man in the spiritual life of God's grace,\nand the communion of His Spirit.--_Diodati._\n\nOne view of man's true dignity arises from the amount of his\nsusceptibilities of enjoyment on the one hand, of suffering on the\nother. Think of what man was, of what he is, of what he is capable of\nbecoming. His capabilities are such that nothing beneath God Himself\ncan satisfy them. His soul can be filled from no created fountain.\nWisdom provides for him a portion adequate to his most unbounded\ndesires, to his most expanded capabilities.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAs the tree of life in Paradise, which was a sign of God's favour, or\nthe tree which sweetened the waters of Marah, or the tree seen in the\nRevelation, or any living or good tree which bringeth forth fruit\nwhereby men live.--_Muffet._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19, 20.\n\nONE OF THE PROOFS OF GOD'S WISDOM.\n\n+I. God had a personal existence before the world.+ If we say that a\nman founded an institution--built a house--we imply that he existed\nbefore the institution or the house, and that he exists as a separate\nentity from that which he has built or founded.\n\n+II. The world did not come by chance+--it is not an orphan; it had a\nCreator, a Father. The world is not eternal. The Lord founded it. He\n\"laid the foundations of the earth\" (Job xxxviii. 4).\n\n+III. That the world which God has made bears the impress of Infinite\nWisdom.+ Scientific investigation and discovery bear out the\nassertion of Solomon, that the Lord \"by wisdom founded the earth.\"\nThe discoveries of astronomers reveal to us more and more the\n\"understanding\" which \"established the heavens.\" Solomon here selects\none example of the wisdom of God, as displayed in relation to the\nearth, viz., the process by which it is watered--by which God \"maketh\nit soft with showers, and thus blesseth the springing thereof\" (Psa.\nlxv. 10), and so gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. This\n\"philosophy of rain,\" as it has been called, is one which illustrates\ncreative wisdom in a remarkable manner. Dr. Ure says, \"To understand\nthe philosophy of the beautiful and often sublime phenomenon, so\noften witnessed since the creation of the world, and essential to the\nvery existence of plants and animals, a few facts derived from\nobservation and a long train of experiments must be remembered.\n(1) Were the atmosphere everywhere at all times of a uniform\ntemperature we should never have rain, or hail, or snow; the water\nabsorbed by it in evaporation from the sea and the earth's surface\nwould descend in an imperceptible vapour, or cease to be absorbed by\nthe air when it was once fully saturated. (2) The absorbing power of\nthe atmosphere, and consequently its capability to retain humidity,\nis proportionately greater in warmer than in cold air. (3) The air\nnear the surface of the earth is warmer than it is in the region of\nthe clouds. The higher we ascend from the earth, the colder do we\nfind the atmosphere. Hence the perpetual snow on very high mountains\nin the hottest climate. Now, when from continued evaporation the air\nis highly saturated with vapour, though it be invisible and the sky\ncloudless,--if its temperature be suddenly reduced by cold currents\ndescending from above, or rushing from a higher to a lower latitude,\nits capacity to retain moisture is diminished, clouds are formed, and\nthe result is rain. Air condenses as it cools, and, like a sponge\nfilled with water and compressed, pours out the water which it cannot\nhold. How singular, yet how simple, the philosophy of rain. Who but\nOmniscience could have devised such an admirable arrangement for\nwatering the earth?\" Solomon could not have known _how_ the earth was\nwatered, but he knew enough to awaken his admiration of Providential\nlove and skill.\n\n+IV. The exhibition of God's wisdom in creation is intended to lead\nmen to listen to his Word of Revelation.+ To this end the subject is\nintroduced here by the preacher. When such a Being speaks, it must be\nworth men's while to listen and obey. The heavens and earth have a\nspeech or language (Psa. xix. 1, 2). They counsel us to seek Him \"who\nhath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out\nheaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a\nmeasure,\"--Him \"whose word shall stand for ever\" (Isa. xl.).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 19. Hitherto Wisdom has been thought of in relation to men. Now\nthe question comes: What is she in relation to God? and the answer\nis: That the creative act implies a Divine wisdom, through which the\nDivine will acts. We have, as it were, the first link of the chain\nwhich connects this wisdom with the Divine Word, the Logos of St.\nJohn's Gospel (John i. 3).--_Plumptre._\n\nThe wisdom, so spiritual as to belong only to the pious, nevertheless\nhas its reachings into all wisdom, as we saw in chap. i. 20, where it\nis called \"wisdoms,\" as embracing all forms of it. Creative wisdom,\ntherefore, is part of the broad array. But now, as a more important\nteaching, creative wisdom must include the spiritual. God could not\nfound the heavens without that holy character that makes the system\npossible. Its enormous intricacies could not be kept up without the\nharmonising influences of holiness. Government, of course, is built\nupon it; justice, of course, is part of it; and the whole world would\nbe an unmeaning mass unless Jehovah, by wisdom, shaped it, viz., in\nthose Diviner forms in which He is the governor as well as the\nbuilder and original schemer of the universe. God _would_ not have\nbuilt the world without holiness, and therefore, in the very\nstrictest sense, \"by wisdom He founded\" the heavens, because only\nthat holy light, which is the light of love, could be the inspiring\nmotive for building the habitations of His creatures. We are to\nunderstand this verse as meaning, therefore, first, that creative\nlight merges into all light, as one grand omniscience; but, second,\nthat creative light would be nothing without spiritual light; that\nGod's love and justice were the very spring and harmonious law\nwhereon all are builded.--_Miller._\n\nThe spirit of the recommendation seems to be that, as it is \"the Lord\nwhich giveth wisdom,\" that which comes from such a source must be\nworthy the desire and the solicitation. Think of what Wisdom, as it\nexists in Deity, has done!--the wonders it hath wrought! This will\nrecommend God's lessons.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe river and the fountain are both of one nature, and when pure\nwater hath been looked on in the stream, it is a pleasant thing to\nbehold it in the conduit head.--_Muffet._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-26.\n\nGOD'S KEEPING, THE REWARD OF MAN'S KEEPING.\n\nHere as we have the _keeping_ of the Divine commands resulting in a\n_being kept_ by Divine power and love.\n\n+I. There is a possibility of losing what has been attained.+ The\ninjunction here given is not, as in chap. ii. 10, to seek wisdom, but\nas in verse 18 of this chapter, to keep a hold upon what has been\nalready gotten. The Scriptures abound in such exhortations. Barnabas\nexhorted the Church at Antioch to \"cleave unto the Lord,\" and he and\nPaul, when in Pisidian Antioch, persuaded the disciples \"to\n_continue_ in the grace of God\" (Acts xi. 23; xiii. 43). The word of\nOur Lord to the Church at Thyatira was \"That which ye have hold fast\ntill I come\" (Rev. ii. 25). There is no safety but in continual\nwatchfulness and in constant study of Divine precepts. \"My son, let\nthem not depart from thine eyes.\" A mariner may set out on his voyage\nwith his vessel's head pointing in the right direction, but if he\ndoes not hourly keep consulting the compass, it will not avail him\nmuch that he started right. The Apostle speaks of men having \"made\nshipwreck of faith and a good conscience\" (1 Tim. i. 19). The world,\nthe flesh, and the devil are cross currents and contrary winds which\ncan only be met and overcome by constant, watchful reference to chart\nand compass.\n\n+II. The blessing which will result from \"keeping wisdom,\" viz.,\nSoul-life.+ As food and an observance of physical laws are the means\nby which the body is enabled to perform the functions which are\nnatural to it, so a constant receiving of God's thoughts and an\nobservance of God's laws will enable the soul--the spiritual man--to\nfulfil the end for which it was created--to glorify and enjoy God.\nSuch a man has the assurance that he is under the special\nguardianship of God. All the subjects of this realm are under the\nprotection of the monarch, but she has a special and personal care\nfor her own children. So God is the \"Saviour of all men, specially of\nthose that believe\" (1 Timothy iv. 10). This particular regard of God\nfor those who have become His children, by falling in with His method\nof making the right with themselves and with Him, is\nguaranteed.--1. _In the ordinary events of life._ As the heirs of the\nmonarch are always accompanied by those who count it an honour to\nserve them and, if needful, to protect them, so the heirs of\nsalvation are ever attended by their body-guard, the angels who are\n\"ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation\" (Heb. i. 14). In the\nnight not only do they encamp round about them that fear God (Psa.\nxxxiv. 7), but the Lord Himself is said to be their keeper (Psa.\ncxxi. 5). His peace \"keeps (lit. _garrisons_) the heart\" (Phil.\niv. 7) and gives the sweet sleep promised in verse 24, even although\noutward circumstances may be apparently adverse (_see illustration_).\nThis was the experience of David in the night of his adversity, even\nalthough he had brought it upon himself (Psa. iii. and iv). And the\ncertain guidance which is promised in verse 6 insures an avoidance of\nall real danger (ver. 23). 2. _In times of special visitation_ (ver.\n25). There was a \"desolation of the wicked\" in the days of Noah, but\nhe and his house were \"shut in\" the ark by God Himself (Gen.\nvii. 16). In the day when the Lord \"rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah He\ndelivered just Lot\" (2 Pet. ii. 6). When the \"abomination of\ndesolation stood in the holy place\" at Jerusalem as foretold by our\nLord (Matt. xxiv. 15), those who obeyed His command and fled to the\nmountains escaped the terrible fate of those who remained in the\ncity. (This is recorded by Eusebius). This assurance of constant\nguardianship and guidance is \"life\" to the soul (Psa. xxx. 5). Fear\nof the future paralyses a man's energies, but confidence in an\nover-ruling personal God gives him strength for action.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nTHE LAST HOURS OF THE NINTH EARL OF ARGYLE, EXECUTED BY JAMES II.\n\nSo effectually had religious faith and hope, co-operating with\nnatural courage and equanimity, composed his spirits that, on the\nvery day on which he was to die, he dined with appetite, conversed\nwith gaiety at table, and, after his last meal, lay down, as he was\nwont, to take a short slumber, in order that his body and mind might\nbe in full vigour when he should mount the scaffold. At this time one\nof the Lords of the Council, who had probably been bred a\nPresbyterian, and had been seduced by interest to join in oppressing\nthe Church of which he had once been a member, came to the castle\nwith a message from his brethren, and demanded admittance to the\nEarl. It was answered that the Earl was asleep. The Privy Councillor\nthought that this was a subterfuge, and insisted on entering. The\ndoor of the cell was softly opened, and there lay Argyle on the bed,\nsleeping, in his irons, the placid sleep of infancy. The conscience\nof the renegade smote him. He turned away, sick at heart, ran out of\nthe castle, and took refuge in the dwelling of a lady of his family,\nwho lived hard by. There he flung himself upon a couch, and gave\nhimself up to an agony of remorse and shame. His kinswoman, alarmed\nby his looks and groans, thought that he had been taken with sudden\nillness, and begged him to drink a cup of sack. \"No, no,\" he said,\n\"that will do me no good.\" She prayed him to tell her what had\ndisturbed him. \"I have been,\" he said, \"to Argyle's prison. I have\nseen him within an hour of eternity sleeping as sweetly as ever man\ndid. But as for me----.\"--_Macaulay._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 21. Simply attend to them. \"Watch\" like a sentinel, intently\neyeing. Solomon enjoins the voluntary, and promises the involuntary.\nThe voluntary we can do, save only for that grand helplessness, an\naversion of the will itself. The involuntary we cannot do, save only\nmediately through obedient acts. Attention is within our power if God\ngives grace to the will. This is the drift of the promise: You do\nyour part and God will do His.--_Miller._\n\nEye these things as the steersman doth the load-star, as the archer\ndoth the mark he shoots at, or as the passenger doth mark his way,\nwhich he finds hard to hit and dangerous to miss.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 22. Wisdom reveals the righteousness of God, whereby a believer\nlives before God. Without this the man is dead in sins (Heb. ii. 4,\nEph. ii. 1).--_Fausset._\n\nThere is no life in the soul till knowledge come into it. There was\nno living creature in the world till light was made. God clears the\nunderstanding before He rectifies the will and affections; He keeps\nthe same method in the little world that He did in the great\nworld.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 23. This promise has a direction embodied with it, \"Thou shalt\nwalk in thy way.\" We are required to keep the way of the Lord, and in\nthe affairs of life to attend to our own concerns, shunning the\ncharacter of busybodies by not meddling in the affairs of\nothers.--_Lawson._\n\nGood success in the way may be crossed again; what is crowned with\ngood success in the end can never by crossed.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nThere shall be no cause to make thee stumble. For he that is blind or\nweak may stumble, though he be never so careful; and he may stumble\nthat is careless, though he be never so well able to walk safely. But\nwisdom shall take away thy blindness, thy weakness, thy\ncarelessness.--_Jermin._\n\nThou shalt ever go under a double guard, the peace of God within thee\nand the power of God about thee.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 24. Peter in prison, in chains, between two soldiers, on the\neve of his probable execution, when there seemed but a \"step between\nhim and death.\" Yet in such a place, in such company, at such a\nmoment, did he lie down so fearlessly and sleep so sweetly, that even\nthe shining light failed to disturb him, and an angel's stroke was\nneeded to awaken him.--_Bridges._\n\nSurely the way to sleep quietly in this world is to be asleep to the\nworld; his sleep is sweetest, when he is asleep, who, when he is\nawake, doth sweetly sleep in a neglect of worldly crosses or\ncontentments.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 25. So safe will all thy ways be that to fear will be a\nsin.--_Plumptre._\n\nFrom the terms before used, respecting the final destruction of the\nwicked, it is most likely that to it the reference is in this\nverse.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\"Be not afraid\" is at once a precept and a promise to the godly. They\nshall have no cause to fear evil tidings, therefore it is their\nprivilege that they are not to fear them (Psa. cxii. 7;\nxci. 5).--_Fausset._\n\nThe Christian is threatened by the sinners in all their ills, whether\nfor them or by them. Sin breeds the whole of them; and the wise man\nwould magnify the grace by saying that they are all equally\nindifferent. \"Let cares, like a wild deluge come.\"--_Miller._\n\nLet a David \"walk through the vale of the shadow of death\" he will\nnot fear, no, though he should go back the same way; \"for Thou art\nwith me,\" saith he. He had God by the hand, and so long he feared no\ncolours.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 26. Beware of mistakes here. Do not say God is your confidence,\nif He be only your dread. An appalling amount of hypocrisy exists in\nChristendom, and passes current for devotion. He who is himself most\nworthy is often more disliked than any other being, and, as if this\ningratitude were not enough, men double the sin by professing that\nthey have confidence in Him. I have observed that sea-going ships do\nnot trust to themselves in the windings of a river. Where they are\nhemmed in between rock and quicksand, grazing now on the one and now\nthe other, they take care to have a steam-tug, both to bear them\nforward and to guide them aright. They hang implicitly upon its\npower. They make no attempt at independent action. But as soon as\nthey get clear of the narrows--as soon as they have attained a good\noffing and an open sea--they heave off and hoist their own sails.\nThey never want a steamer till they come into narrow waters again.\nSuch is the trust in God which the unreconciled experience. In\ndistress they are fain to lean upon the Almighty. While they are in\nthe narrows they would hang on the help of a Deliverer. . . . The\nline of their dependence seems ever tight by their constant leaning.\nBut when they begin to creep out of these shoals of life they heave\noff and throw themselves upon their own resources. . . . This is not\nto have confidence in God.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 27-29.\n\nDOING JUSTICE AND LOVING MERCY.\n\nTrue wisdom in the heart will show itself in right dealing between\nman and man. He who holds back any good thing by which it is in his\npower to bless another man is a thief. The withholding is a crime for\nwhich God will visit. This is true in relation not only to debts of\njustice (Jas. v. 4) but to so-called debts of mercy. When the Son of\nMan shall come in His glory, there will be some against whom He will\nbring the charge--\"I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat; I was\nthirsty, and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me\nnot in; naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick and in prison, and ye\nvisited Me not\" (Matt. xxv. 42, 43). There are _five_ reasons against\nthe postponement of any act of justice or mercy until the morrow.\n1. The person who is in need to-day may be beyond your reach\nto-morrow. Death may remove him from your reach, and he may go into\neternity your creditor. Men and women have been saved from taking a\nstep which would have been their ruin, by a kindly word or act which\nwould have come too late on the morrow. 2. If your needy friend does\nlive to be helped on the morrow, you may not live to give him help,\nand you will then enter the presence of God a debtor to your brother.\nTo-morrow is God's property, to-day is man's. 3. If your brother is\nnot beyond your reach to-morrow, his need has been increased by the\ndelay. If a man's condition calls for medical aid to-day, and it is\nwithholden, the disease will have a firmer hold to-morrow and will be\nharder to cure. What physician would say to a sick man in such a\ncase, \"Go, and come again?\" Human need is a disease that is increased\nby delay in dealing with it. It is a weed that grows apace. What is\nonly a seed to-day will be a sapling soon. If you delay the moral and\nintellectual training of the ignorant, the chains that bind them will\nbe harder to break to-morrow than they are to-day. So that delay\nmakes the demand greater, and the debt which might have been easily\npaid when it was due becomes hard to meet by withholding. 4. To do\nthe good to-morrow which might be done to-day is not to be an\nimitator of God. The Divine Father makes His sun to shine to-day upon\nthe evil and the good. He does not say, \"To-morrow I will give thee,\"\nbut, \"now is the accepted time.\" 5. The postponement of that which is\ndue is \"a devising of evil in the heart against thy neighbour\" (ver.\n29). Our Lord, in his parable of the good Samaritan, has answered for\nus the question, Who is my neighbour? (Luke x.). It is the man who is\nin need, and whose need we can relieve. It is not merely a negative,\nbut a positive sin to withhold help to such a one--it is a violation\nof that rule of life which Christ Himself declares \"is the law and\nthe prophets\" (Matt. vii. 12).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 27. The borrower is then to repay his debt to the lender; the\nfinder to restore that which he hath taken up to the loser; he which\nhath received anything into his custody, is to bring it forth to him\nwho reposed trust in him; the master is to pay the servant his wages.\nFinally, everyone is to practise that precept of the Apostle (Rom.\nxiii. 8).--_Muffet._\n\nThis practical injunction may be applied: 1. To all lawful debts, for\narticles purchased or work performed. 2. To government taxes, which\nought to be regarded as debts due to the community. 3. To debts of\ncharity and benevolence. For such debts there are. They cannot indeed\nbe claimed; they cannot be made good in law. But they are _due_--due\non the principle of the \"royal law\" (Matt. vii. 12).--_Wardlaw._\n\nHere Solomon passes from general recommendations of wisdom to\nparticular precepts of it. He reverts to instances of \"mercy and\ntruth\" (ver. 3). He who is in need has a claim of ownership upon our\nproperty by the law of love, which is the law of God. Need makes the\npoor the owner, and God makes thee the dispenser of the goods which\nthou hast and which he needs: so such benefits are called\n\"righteousness,\" _i.e.,_ a righteous debt or obligation (2 Cor.\nix. 9; Matt. vi. 1, \"alms;\" Greek, \"righteousness\"). The same\nprinciple applies in the case of spiritual knowledge which thou hast\nand thy neighbour has not.--_Fausset._\n\nWith the luxuries of grace, the wise man mixes in its conditions.\nThey are rugged like those of the Apostle (1 Cor. xiii). If we enjoy\nthe good of the Gospel, we are to render again according to the\nbenefits shown us.--_Miller._\n\nIt is the hungry man's bread which we hoard up in our own barns. It\nis his meat on which we glut, and his drink which we guzzle: it is\nthe naked man's apparel which we shut up in our presses, or which we\nexorbitantly ruffle and flaunt in: it is the needy person's gold and\nsilver which we closely hide in our chests, or spend idly, or put out\nto useless use. We are, in thus holding, or thus spending, not only\ncovetous, but wrongful, or havers of more than our own, against the\nwill of the rightful owners.--_Barrow._\n\n1. They who have had much experience in the world may be of infinite\nuse by giving _salutary advice._ 2. If we are afraid of being thought\nmeddling, we can benefit others by a _good example._ 3. By\n_vindicating the characters_ of those who have been unjustly defamed.\n4. By not only giving alms, but _attention, care,_ and _friendship_\nto the needy. 5. _By recommending_ our brethren to God in\n_prayer_.--_Bishop Porteous._\n\n\nVerse 28. This conduct is too common. It may arise--1. From an\navaricious reluctance to part with the money. The avaricious man is\nso loath to part with the object of his idolatry that even a day's\ndelay pleases him. 2. From indolent listlessness. The man is not in a\nmood to be troubled. He is occupied about something else, or he is\nnot disposed to be occupied at all. 3. From insolent\nsuperciliousness. This is often discovered towards inferiors, or\ntowards persons against whom there exists a grudge. It is the vice of\nlittle minds--ungenerous, unjust, unmanly.--_Wardlaw._\n\nHe gives twice to one in need who gives at once.--_Publius Syrus._\n\nKeep as few good intentions hovering about as possible. They are like\nghosts haunting a dwelling. The way to lay them is to find bodies for\nthem.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 29. This evil may be practised in a great variety of ways. As,\nfor instance--A man in business does what he can to obtain another's\nconfidence; or, whether he acts from this view or not, he knows that\nhe has that confidence, and he takes advantage of it to obtain large\nquantities of goods from him, when aware that his own affairs are\nprecarious and his credit sinking. There are not wanting cases in\nwhich the most nefarious crimes have been perpetrated through the\nmedium of unsuspecting confidence. The wife of a man's bosom, or the\nchild of his paternal love, has been seduced by the unwitting\nconfidence he has reposed in a seeming friend. It is the very sin by\nwhich \"the devil beguiled Eve through his subtilty.\". . . All\ntherefore who act such a part are of \"their father the\ndevil.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.\n\nUNLAWFUL STRIFE FORBIDDEN.\n\n+I. Strife is unlawful when no good can come from striving.+ The\npurpose or end of the strife must be the test as to whether it is\nright or wrong. Mere assertion of our rights or material gain is not\nthe highest good. If Abraham had pushed the quarrel between his\nherdsmen and those of Lot there can be no doubt that Abraham could\nhave established a lawful claim to a choice of the land. But the good\nto be gained by striving was not worthy to be compared with the harm\nthat would have been done, and therefore Abraham nobly forbore to\ninsist on his rights.\n\n+II. Causeless strife is a self-infliction.+ A man can hardly be\ninvolved in lawful strife without mental agitation, how much more\nwhen he strives without cause. When the four winds of heaven seem to\nmeet upon the sea, the waters foam and toss in ceaseless agitation.\nThe winds must cease to strive before the calm can come. A man\ninvolved in an unlawful quarrel is like such a troubled sea. Reason\nand passion, heaven and hell, contend within him for the mastery, and\nwhile the battle lasts he must be miserable.\n\n+III. Strife rarely ends with those who begin it.+ Man's relationship\nto his fellow renders it impossible for the results of his good or\nevil deeds to remain with himself alone. If the head of a family\nenters into a quarrel, the children will probably imbibe the spirit\nand suffer from the consequences. If kings and rulers involve a\nnation in unnecessary war, they bring needless suffering upon\nthousands of innocent people. This consideration alone ought to make\nmen beware of entering into a quarrel.\n\n+IV. Causeless strife in the children of God gives a false\nrepresentation of their Father's character.+ They are God's\nrepresentatives upon earth, they are expected to fashion their lives\nupon the Divine model (Matt. v. 48). God is a God of peace (1 Thess.\nv. 23). His contention is only with sin, and its end is the\nestablishment of peace upon earth by righteousness.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 31-35.\n\nTHE OPPRESSOR NOT TO BE ENVIED.\n\nThe children of Wisdom are strongly tempted sometimes to do this.\nLike Asaph (Psalm lxxiii.), they see the prosperity of the wicked\nencompassed with pride, and clothed, as it were, with violence (verse\n6), and they are tempted to say: \"Verily I have cleansed my heart in\nvain, and washed my hands in innocency.\"\n\nSuch a state of mind is--+I. Dangerous.+ It is the first step to\nbecoming like him. Envy of the oppressor may result in \"choosing his\nways.\" A conviction that there is anything belonging to the oppressor\nthat can be envied may lead to becoming oppressors ourselves.\n\n+II. Unwise.+ 1. _Because the oppressor is held in universal\nabhorrence by men._ True it is that he possesses power, or he could\nnot oppress, but sooner or later the power will be transferred to the\nhands of those whose rights he has trampled on, and the outburst of\nrejoicing at his overthrow is the revelation of the hidden hatred of\nwhich he has all along been the subject. 2. _Because he is an\nabomination to the Most High_ (verse 32). As there is in the noblest\nof human kind an intense loathing of those who use their power to the\ninjury of others, so this feeling exists more strongly in the mind of\nGod in proportion as his goodness and benevolence exceeds that of the\nmost perfect man. This is not only declared in revelation, but is\nmanifested in the retributions of Providence. Since Pharaoh and his\nhosts were overthrown in the Red Sea, God has been slaying \"mighty\nkings\" who have followed in Pharaoh's footsteps, because \"He is good,\nand His mercy endureth for ever\" (Psa. cxxxvi). 3. _Because of the\ncontrast in the character, and in the present and future reward of\nthe oppressor and the child of Wisdom._ The oppressor is \"froward.\"\nHe will not submit to the voice of instruction or correction, but\nwill be his own absolute lord and master. His actions, if not his\nwords, say: \"Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?\" The\nrighteous are submissive to the Divine will--they are the \"lowly,\"\nwho are willing to learn of Him who was meek and lowly in heart\n(Matt. xi. 29). Such opposite characters must necessarily meet with\nopposite dealing from a righteous Ruler. It is a righteous law that\n\"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap\" (Gal. vi. 7). With\nthe froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward--with the merciful Thou\nwilt show Thyself merciful--are the curse and the blessing which rest\nrespectively upon, not only the froward and lowly man, but upon those\nto whom they belong--their _house_--those who are bound to them in\nfamily relation. The scorn of the froward man reaps a harvest of\nscorn, but \"grace\" is the reward of lowliness and humility (verse\n34). The contrast in the future inheritance is still greater. The\npresent curse and blessing may not be always evident to onlookers,\nbut the future glory and shame will be manifest to the universe\n(Matt. xxv. 31-36).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 32. The Lord will freely reveal to the righteous what He keeps\nfrom others--the truths and promises, the blessings and joys of His\ncovenant of peace, secret to the soul that possesses them,\nintransferable, \"passing all understanding,\" \"unspeakable and full of\nglory.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nThere is no less a secret of godliness than there is of any other\ntrade or profession. Many profess an art or a trade, but thrive not\nby it because they possess not the secret or mystery of it, and many\nprofess godliness but are little the better for it, because they have\nnot the true secret of it. He hath that with whom God is in secret in\nhis heart, and he that is righteous in secret where no man sees him,\nhe is the righteous man with whom the secret of the Lord\nis.--_Jernim._\n\nThey shall be of His cabinet council who choose rather to lie in the\ndust than to rise by evil arts, by wicked principles.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 33. Whatever cost be there, there can be no true cheer, for\nGod's curse mars all; this will either rot the timber, and pull it\ndown, or undermine the foundation, and blow it up. Possibly there may\nbe in thy house a loving wife, loving children, many servants,\nstately rooms, costly furniture, dainty fare, great earthly delights;\nbut, man, the curse of God is there. A spoonful of this, like\ncopperas, will turn all thy wine into ink; thy sea of honey into gall\nand wormwood. How can thy sweetest dish be savoury, when the curse of\nGod is thy sauce: Or thy finest raiment delight thee when in every\nsuit there is the curse of God like a plague-sore? or how can thy\nmost beautiful building content thee, when this curse of God on thee\nfor thy wickedness turns it into a prison to keep thee, who art in\nthe bond of iniquity, till the hour of death, the time of thine\nexecution?--_Swinnock._\n\nThe houses of the wicked are of two kinds, some dwell in their\nmerits, others in their vices. The Pharisees of the world dwell in\nthe lofty houses of their own meritorious holiness. But as St.\nBernard saith, What more foolish than to dwell in a house yet hardly\nbegun? The debauched people of the world dwell in the dirty houses of\ntheir wicked lives, and cannot be gotten out of them. But the curse\nof God is upon both. The righteous dwell in God's mercy which\ncovereth them from the anger of His justice. . . . The rich glutton\nmay keep out Lazarus, but he keeps in God's curse.--_Jermin._\n\nHere are the gods--could the philosopher say of his poor habitation,\nmeaning his heathenish household gods--whatever else is wanting to\nme. How much more may the saint say so of his God.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 35. They shall be promoted, indeed, but their exaltation shall\nbe like that of Haman, who was exalted when he was hung upon a\ngallows fifty cubits high.--_Lawson._\n\nThis last contrast carries us forward to the coming day when all\nshall \"discern\" in the full delight of eternity (Mal. iii. 18). The\nwise--the heirs of glory--are identified with the lowly (verse\n34)--the heirs of grace. Self-knowledge--the principle of\nlowliness--is the very substance of wisdom. Their inheritance also is\none--grace and glory (Psa. lxxxiv. 11). For what higher _glory_ can\nthere be than the _grace_ which hath redeemed a worm of the earth and\nmade him a king and priest unto God?--_Bridges._\n\nHumility is both a grace and a vessel to receive grace.--_Trapp._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+2. Doctrine,+ Literally something received, handed\nover; the author so describes it because he received it from his\nfather. The Septuagint and the Vulgate translate by +donum,+ \"a\ngift.\" +3. Tender and only,+ \"dearly-beloved\"--not that Solomon was\nBathsheba's only son (1 Chron. iii. 5). +5. Get,+ Heb. \"acquire or\nbuy\"--spare no cost. The repetition of the verb makes the injunction\nmore imperative. +Forget+ is a word in Hebrew that takes the\npreposition _from_. In the idea of forgetting there is naturally\ninvolved that of turning aside or away from the object to be\nremembered. +6.+ Miller translates the last clause: \"Love her, and\nshe shall stand sentry over thee.\" +7.+ The first clause of this\nverse contains only four words, viz.: +Beginning,+ or \"principal\nthing;\" +Wisdom; get wisdom.+ Its terseness has led to various\ntranslations. Hitzig and others read: \"The highest thing is wisdom.\"\nMiller translates: \"As the height of wisdom, get wisdom.\"\nDelitzsch--The beginning of wisdom is: \"Get wisdom.\" +With,+ not to\nbe taken in the sense of \"in connection with,\" but \"by means of,\" or\n\"at the price of.\" +8. Exalt+ or \"esteem.\" +9.+ Last clause, or \"she\nshall compass thee with a crown of glory.\" +10.+ As is all other\ninstances (see Notes on Chap. iii. 2), Miller translates the promise:\n\"And they shall grow greater to thee through years of life.\" +14. Go\nnot.+ The Heb. is literally \"to go straightforward;\" also, \"to\npronounce happy.\" +15. Avoid,+ \"Let it go,\" \"reject it.\" +Turn from\nit,+ _i.e._, even if thou hast entered, turn back. +16.+ Miller here\nreads: \"For the mere reason that they sleep not, rest assured they do\nmischief; and that their sleep is stolen, rest assured they occasion\nstumbling:\" and understands it to mean that the more sleepless the\nindustrious impenitent, the faster he is carrying everything to\neternal ruin. But all other commentators of importance read as in the\nEnglish version. +18. Shining light,+ Lit. \"the light of dawn that\ngrows and brightens even to the establishment of the day.\"\n+19. Darkness,+ \"thick darkness,\" the gloom of midnight.\n+22. Health,+ or \"healing.\" +23.+ \"Above all other watching, keep thy\nheart,\" some read: \"Keep thy heart with all (kinds of) keeping.\"\n_Issues_--\"currents,\" \"outgoings.\" +24. Froward mouth,+ Lit.,\n\"distortion,\" \"crookedness.\" +26. Ponder,+ \"make level, or straight.\"\n\nNOTE ON VERSE 20.--There is an aspect of sameness in these\nbeginnings. But they _are_ beginnings. One of the characteristics of\nScripture is a division, like Childe Harold into cantos, or separate\nsonnets. They are most conspicuous in the prophet Isaiah; and, like\ngrapes upon a bunch, each wrapped in its individual rind, but all\nclustered on a common stem. If we ventured a conjecture, it would be\nthat this suited the Israelitish worship. The synagogue would take\none of these cantos and use it for the day. They were of irregular\nlength, but that would allow variety. They have some repetitions, but\nso have missals and breviaries, that allow of choice on different\noccasions. There was an aim to provide most of the points for\nrecitation on each occasion. What for one reading would seem very\nsame, for many readings would seem wonderfully diversified.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.\n\nTHE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.\n\n+I. Parental Duty.+ \"He taught me.\" Solomon, and all children, have\nmany claims upon their parents to receive from them instruction in\nthe revelation of God. 1. _Parents are responsible for the existence\nof their children._ They are the instrumental cause of their child's\nbeing in the world, and his being in that state of probation upon\nwhich hang such \"infinite possibilities.\" 2. _The child is so\nabsolutely ignorant of the life into which he comes._ Unavoidable\nignorance has always a claim upon knowledge, and the claim is\nassuredly increased in proportion as those who know and those who do\nnot know are related to each other by a divinely constituted bond. \"I\nam a stranger in the earth\" is the claim which every child puts in as\na reason why he should be instructed and taught in a way which he\nshould go. \"Hide not God's commandments from me\" is the appeal which\nthe child's ignorance makes to those who have had some experience in\nthe world. 3. _Children claim instruction because of their future\nrelationship to others._ The neglect of a child's education is a sin\nagainst more than himself. He will come, in his turn, to influence\nothers. Upon his character will depend, in a great degree, the\ncharacters and eternal destinies of many in generations yet to come.\n4. _Children have a claim upon their parents because they belong to\nGod._ If a proprietor of land hands over to the cultivator a piece of\nvirgin soil, he does not relinquish his own claim thereby--he demands\nthat his property shall be restored to him increased in value by\nbeing brought under cultivation. The child is given to its parent by\nGod in its undeveloped moral condition, but God retains His own\ninheritance in the gift. He looks for nurture, for cultivation; He\ndemands from the parent such a fulfilment of parental duties as will\nensure to Him that His gift shall grow of more and more worth in the\nmoral universe. A day of reckoning on this matter will assuredly\ncome. Solomon recognises the claim which children have upon their\nparents by recording his own parents' conduct in relation to himself\nand by giving us an example of his own method of instructing his\nchildren.\n\n+II. Filial Duty.+ \"Hear, ye children.\" Parents have claims upon\ntheir children. 1. _From the simple fact of the relationship._ A good\nfather claims the obedience of his son because he is that child's\nordained guide and ruler. He is to his son God's viceregent so long\nas his commands are in accordance with God's law. 2. _From their\nlarger experience._ They have trodden the path which the youth has\nyet to traverse, they have climbed the hill which rises yet before\nhim, they have tested the worth of the things which will allure him.\nTheir superior knowledge entitles them to say, \"Hear the instruction\nof a father.\" 3. _From the self-denial which, as parents, they have\nexercised._ All that a good mother and father have done and suffered\nin order to advance the welfare of their children, their toil and\nforbearing love, constitutes a powerful claim to their children's\ngrateful, reverential, attention and love. Solomon here gives an\nexample of the honour in which every child should hold godly parents.\n\n\nA PARENT'S MOST PRECIOUS GIFT.\n\n+Good Doctrine.+ Verse 2. 1. _Because without it there can be no good\ncharacter._ There can be no right feelings towards God unless there\nhas been right teaching about Him. True views of God can only come\nfrom true doctrine concerning Him. Without a right view of God there\nis no motive power to form character. A man must know God as He is\nbefore he can begin to follow Him. There must be a true mirror to\ngive a correct reflection. 2. _Because if there is not the beginning\nof a good character, there will be an increasingly bad one._ When men\nhave no right doctrine concerning God, in other words, when they do\nnot know Him as He is, they invariably make a God after their own\nconceptions. They bring God down to their level. \"Thou thoughtest\nthat I was altogether such an one as thyself\" (Psa. l. 21), has been\nthe fatal mistake of men in all ages. If a man falls overboard from\nthe deck of a vessel, he will not remain long at the level of his\nfirst fall. If he is not rescued he will sink to such a depth as will\nbe out of all comparison with it. He will go lower and lower till his\nbody finds the bottom of the ocean. Man's first fall from obedience\nto disobedience was a great fall, but he has not been content with\nthis moral distance between himself and his Maker, he has tried to\ndrag God down with him and thus has brutalised and demonised the\ndivine that was still within him. In more than a material sense he\nhas \"changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made\nlike unto corruptible man\" (Rom. i. 23). This changing of the truth\nof God into a lie will always take place where there is an absence of\nthe right conceptions of God, and the result must always be the moral\ndeterioration which Paul gives as the result in Rom. i. 26-32. There\nis as much relation between \"good\" or \"right\" doctrine and good and\nholy character as there is between good bread and pure water and a\nhealthy body. Good bread will make good muscles and sinew, bad bread\nwill not nourish the human frame. Pure water is indispensable to\nhealth, stagnant water will breed a hundred diseases. And mistaken\nviews about God must be fruitful of soul disease. Results prove this\nto be the case. National and individual history prove the truth of\nit. \"By their fruits ye shall know them\" (Matt. vii. 20). As we can\nforetell what the quality of the harvest will be from the seed sown,\nso can we tell what has been the character of the seed from that\nwhich it brings forth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 2. The common cry is \"Who will show us any good?\" and every man\nwill lend both ears to a good bargain. The doctrine here delivered is\ngood every way, whether you look to the _author, matter_, or _effect_\nof it.--_Trapp._\n\nGod's commandments are not like the commandments of any other, which\nare directed to the benefit of the commanders: but God's commandments\ndo only bring good to him that is commanded. . . . What is there so\nabsurd, as to despise His commands who doth command that He may have\nmatter for rewarding: for God doth not want our obedience, but we do\nwant His commanding. Therefore it is said, \"As the eyes of servants\nlook unto the hand of their master, and the eyes of a maiden to the\nhand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he\nhave mercy upon us,\" that is, until He command us something, and\nthat, thou, O David, callest mercy.--_Jermin._\n\nGood. +I. In itself.+ It is most majestic, as containing not trivial\nand common sentences, but high parables and extraordinary mysteries.\nIt gives the highest direction in the greatest things. +II. It is\ngood to us.+ Good for profit and pleasure. Good for soul and body\n(1 Cor. xv. 2; Deut. xxviii. 1). Good for this life and the life to\ncome (1 Tim. iv. 8). Good when it pleaseth us (Psa. cxix. 7). Good\nwhen it crosseth us (Isa. xxxix. 8).--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 3. Noteworthy is the prominence given to the mother's share in\nthe training of the child. Among the Israelites and the Egyptians\nalone of the nations of the old world, was the son's reverence for\nthe mother placed side by side with that which he owed to his\nfather.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 4. Training, discipline, not foolish indulgence, is the truest\nevidence of affection to our tender and beloved ones (chap. xiii. 24;\nwith 1 Kings i. 6).--_Bridges._\n\n\"He taught me.\" The prayer of Solomon, at Gibeon, for wisdom, as the\nprincipal of God's gifts, was suggested to him by his father David,\njust before his death. (See 1 Chron. xxviii. 9,\nxxix. 19).--_Wordsworth._\n\nHere Solomon again commands the involuntary, because he has shown the\nsteps to it. We cannot, of all other things in the world, _live_ by a\nvoluntary act, but we can \"keep watch over the commandments.\" I mean,\nwe can, as it is a voluntary act, if God makes us willing. But we\ncannot live as a voluntary thing except through some form of anterior\nobedience.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-13.\n\nTHE ONE THING NEEDFUL.\n\n+I. Human nature has many needs.+ 1. _There are the needs of the\nbody, which begin upon our entrance into life, and never cease until\nthe day of our death._ These are common to all men, and keep every\nman in an attitude of getting all through his life. It is the demand\nof these needs--the effort to get what will supply them--that is the\nmotive-power which keeps the world of men in motion. 2. _Men's needs\nare multiplied in proportion to the greatness of their sphere and\ntheir intellectual activity._ The needs of a judge upon the bench are\nmore than those of a crossing-sweeper. Both have some wants in\ncommon, but the intellectual and social position of the former has\nmultiplied his needs far beyond those of the latter. The needs of a\nmaster in a house of business, or of a mistress in a family, are more\nthan those of their servants. They have more claims to meet--more\nresponsible positions to fill. But the aim of each individual man,\nwoman, or child is to supply their natural or acquired--their real or\ntheir supposed--wants, whether material, or intellectual, or\nspiritual.\n\n+II. There is one need above all other needs--one thing to be gotten\nbefore all other gettings--viz.: Wisdom, taking the word to mean\ngodliness.+ The husbandman finds that the field that has been given\nhim to till needs many things before it will yield him a golden\nharvest. But there is one thing, among others, that is indispensable,\nviz.: the sunlight. He will plough, and harrow, and sow in vain if\nthis want is not supplied. So all a man's gettings will fail to bring\nhim a harvest of soul-satisfaction if this primal element be wanting.\n\n+III. The blessings which follow the getting of godliness.+ They have\nalready been enumerated in chap. iii. 21-26. See homiletics on that\nparagraph. On verse 9 see homiletics on chap. i. 9.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 5. We cannot do it directly, but there immediately follow the\nrules to be observed, \"forget not,\" etc. It is astonishing how much\nis made of attention. It is the only voluntary thing, not\nmuscular.--_Miller._\n\nFor so much a man learns as he remembers. The promise also of\nsalvation is limited to \"keeping in memory what we have received\"\n(1 Cor. xv. 2).\n\n1. Because of the _excellency_ of it. Things of high birth are\nexcellent. This wisdom is from above (James iii. 17). Things rare are\nprecious. True wisdom is not found in many. 2. Because of the\n_pleasure_ of it (chap. iii. 17). No content in the world like that\nwisdom gives. 3. Because of the _profit_ of it. Every trade will tell\nyou that wisdom thrives, and folly beggars men. So in spiritual\nthings. 4. Because of the _necessity_ of it, which is the strongest\nargument. Without it die, nay be damned.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 6. Jerome wrote to a friend, \"Beg now for me, who am\ngrey-headed, of the Lord, that I may have Wisdom for my companion, of\nwhich it is written, 'Love her and she shall keep thee.'\"\n\nForsake her not, and thou will love her, for love is bred by\ncontinuing together; love her and thou will not forsake her, for love\nliketh not of parting. The manner of speech seemeth to intimate a\nunion of marriage, and indeed Wisdom is a fit spouse for man's noble\nsoul.--_Jermin._\n\nWe turn an eye to Wisdom, and she turns an eye to us. We watch and\nshe watches. In our ungodly state we cannot think of Wisdom that she\ndoes not turn and step back to us by common grace. And, if we think\nso long, and strive so earnestly as that she comes to us and is full\nin sight, then each new fondness fascinates her and brings her close.\nEach wise thing that we do makes us wiser.--_Miller._\n\nIt is worse with him that leaves good, than with him that never did\nit (2 Pet. ii. 21). One goes blindfold to hell and hath less pains\nthere; another, seeing, hath more.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 7. Make religion thy business, other things do by the bye. As\nC\u00e6sar, swimming through the waters to escape his enemies, carried his\nbooks in his hand above them, but lost his robe.--_Trapp._\n\nIt can have no place if it has not the first place. If it be anything\nit will be everything.--_Bridges._\n\nThe mistake of the principal thing is that which maketh the principle\ndisorder in man's heart. . . . But as that is light which showeth the\nlight unto us, so that is the principal thing which showeth the\nprincipal thing unto us, even wisdom alone.--_Jermin._\n\nI. _What_ we are to acquire. Both divine and human learning, which\ndiffer as means do from the end. Were there no Divine learning, human\nlearning would lose great part of its value: limited to the present\nlife, it must terminate on the confines of the grave. And had we no\nhuman learning, now that the days of inspiration have passed, we\nshould not be able to attain that which is divine. II. _How_ we are\nto acquire it. We must be taught by those who were in the world\nbefore us. Weeds and thistles only will be the spontaneous produce if\nthe ground is _not_ broken up and good seed sown. III. _Why_ we are\nto acquire it. The pleasures of wisdom exceed all others--in kind,\ndegree, and duration.--_Bishop Horne._\n\nThe world's maxim, on the contrary, is--money is the principal thing;\ntherefore get money; and with all thy getting, get more.--_Fausset._\n\nAmidst all thy other acquisitions acquire this, without which all\nothers will be useless and even hurtful.--_Menochius._\n\n\"With,\" rather \"by means of\" (see \"Critical Notes\"). We are to turn\nall our gettings into the channel of more grace. We are to use all\nour properties for growing wiser. We are to grind up all our corn\ninto the bread of spiritual nourishment.--_Miller._\n\nVenture all for wisdom rather than miss it. 1. What we lose is\ntransitory, what we get is durable. A fee-simple is better than a\nleaf. 2. What we lose is hollow and empty, what we get is full and\nsubstantial. A sound timber tree is better than one hollow within,\nthough the latter make a bigger show. 3. What we lose is vain, what\nwe get is profitable. A piece of gold is better than a counter.\n4. What we lose is often matter of danger, what we get is matter of\nsafety and security.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 8. Of this recommendation of religion it is the more necessary\nto fix our attention because it is often refused to it by men of the\nworld. Their notions of honour are apt to run in a very different\nchannel. . . . A distinction must be made between fame and honour.\nThe former is a loud and noisy applause; the latter a more silent and\ninternal homage. Fame floats on the breath of the multitude; honour\nrests on the judgment of the thinking. Fame may give praise while it\nwithholds esteem; but honour implies esteem mingled with respect. The\none regards particular distinguished talents; the other looks up to\nthe whole character. It follows, therefore, that in order to discern\nwhere man's true honour lies, we must look at the whole of what forms\na man. A mind superior to fear, to selfish interest, and corruption;\ngoverned by this principle of uniform rectitude, the same in\nprosperity as in adversity, such is the mind which forms the\ndistinction and eminence of men. And such a character is formed\nsolely by the influence of true religion. II. The honour which man\nacquires by religion and virtue is independent and complete. It is\nindependent of anything foreign or external. Wherever fortune is\nconcerned it is the rank which commands our deference. Where some\nshining quality attracts admiration, it is only to a part of the\ncharacter that we pay homage. But with goodness, it is the whole man\nwhom we respect. III. This honour is divine and immortal. It is\nhonour not only in the sight of man, but of God, whose judgment is\nthe standard of truth and right. It enters with man into a future\nstate; and continues to brighten through eternal ages.--_Blair._\n\nNot only \"get,\" \"keep,\" and \"love\" her, but also \"exalt her.\" We are\napt to think less of those things which we have, however precious,\nafter the novelty has worn off. Beware of this feeling in religion.\nReligion richly repays in kind all that we can do to \"embrace\" her.\nShe exalts them who exalt her (Psa. xxx. 1), and gives them fresh\nreason for exalting her (Psa. xxxvii. 34).--_Fausset._\n\n\nVerse 9. She is the diadem which bindeth up the shattered thoughts of\nman's understanding: she it is which covereth and succoureth the\nbroken cracks of man's invention: she it is which delivereth the\nauthority of sovereignty to the head, and maketh the head to be the\nhead, in bearing rule and commanding the inferior affections and\nlusts of the heart and other members.--_Jermin._\n\nCrowns were anciently given to many sorts of persons as tokens of\ngeneral favour and esteem. 1. To wise men and learned; to those who\nexcelled in the arts and sciences. Godly-wise men deserve them much\nbetter. 2. To men famous for justice and other moral virtues; to good\nlawmakers and judges. Godly-wise men excel in theological virtues,\nwhich are far more excellent. 3. To conquerors. A wise man is a\nconqueror over his passions and affections, which make other men, and\ngreat ones too, very slaves. 4. To bridegrooms when they were\nmarried. A wise man is married to Wisdom, the fairest bride in the\nworld. 5. To kings on their coronation day. So shall godly men be\ncrowned when they die. They know how to rule their own souls here,\nand to direct others, and to get an eternal crown in Heaven. A beggar\nbeing once asked what he was, answered: \"I am a king!\" \"Where is thy\nkingdom?\" \"It is in my soul. I can so rule my external and internal\nsenses that all the faculties of my soul are subject to me.\" And who\ndoubts that this kingdom is better than all the kingdoms of the\nworld?--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 11. He may boldly call to be heard who himself doth what he\nteacheth. Christ placeth doing before teaching (Matt. viii. 19), for\ngood doing leading the way, though teaching doth not follow, yet good\nworks can, as clear as the light, teach those that look upon us. Paul\nsaith, \"We have received grace and apostleship to the _obedience_ of\nfaith;\" one would have thought he should have said rather to the\ngovernment and direction of faith, but he saith, _obedience_, because\nexamples do direct and govern better than words.--_Jermin._\n\nThe two branches which constitute the sum of parental\ntuition--_instruction_ and _direction_--teaching truth and guiding to\nduty. The one part relates to _knowledge,_ the other to _practice._\nIn all rightly conducted education, the two should never be\ndisjoined. To teach duty without truth is to teach action without\nmotive--virtue without its principle. To teach truth without duty is\nto teach motive without the practice to which it should lead. They\nare both partial, and, if kept asunder, both worthless.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 12. Having a good mixture of zeal and knowledge; so that thy\nzeal doth quicken thy knowledge, and thy knowledge guide thy\nzeal.--_Trapp._\n\nThe way of wisdom is indeed narrow, but in a narrow way there may be\nlarge steps; for though our feet may be straightened from going\naside, yet they are not straightened from going on apace.--_Jermin._\n\nAs \"goest\" refers to the ordinary course, so \"runnest\" refers to\nextraordinary undertakings, wherein the believer has to put forth\nmore than common energy.--_Fausset._\n\nThe word _straightened_ seems to express the case of one in difficulty\nand perplexity--contradictory impulses and obstacles pressing and\nhindering him on every side, perpetually producing embarrassment and\napprehension--hedging up the way, and hemming us in, and destroying\nthe freedom and comfort of advancement. Such is the case of a man who\nwalks according to a worldly and carnal policy. He is ever at a loss.\nAs circumstances are ever shifting, he is ever shifting his\nprinciples and plans to suit them. But the \"wisdom from above\"\ninspires a simplicity and a unity of principle by which a vast amount\nof this painful and agitating perplexity is taken away.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 13. Often a ship's crew at sea are obliged suddenly to betake\nthemselves to their boats, or abandon the sinking ship. Such a case\nwas recently reported of an American whale-ship in the South Seas.\nThe huge leviathan of the deep, wounded by the art of man, ran out\nthe distance of a mile by way of getting a run-race, and thence came\nup with incredible velocity against the devoted ship. She began to\nfill. . . . The word was given. All hands went to work, and soon all\nthe seaworthy boats were loaded to the gunwale with the prime\nnecessaries of life. The deck was now nearly level with the water,\nand the boats shoved off for safety. After they had pulled a hundred\nyards away, two resolute men leaped from one of the boats into the\nsea, and made towards the ship. They disappear down a hatchway. In a\nminute they emerge again, bearing something in their hands. As they\nleap into the water the ship goes down; the men are separated from\neach other and their burden in the whirlpool that gathers over the\nsinking hull. They do not seem to consult their own safety. They\nremain in that dangerous eddy until they grasp again the object which\nthey had carried over the ship's side. Holding it fast, they are seen\nat length bearing away to their comrades in the boat. What do these\nstrong swimmers carry, for they seem to value it more than life? It\nis the compass! It had been left behind, and was remembered almost\ntoo late. Now they have taken fast hold of it, and will not let it\ngo. Whatever they lose, they will at all hazards keep it, for \"it is\ntheir life.\" When shall we see souls, shipwrecked on the sea of time,\ntake and keep such hold of the truth as it is in Jesus?--_Arnot._\n\nFasten and do not let slack. One rough grapple is not enough. Wisdom\ninsidiously glides away if we give time to the arch deceiver. We are\nlike a child trying to wake: he grasps the apple that one gives, but\n_slackens_ as drowsiness creeps back.--_Miller._\n\n+I. Because many thieves lie in the way to rob us of what wisdom\nteaches.+ 1. _The devil steals away the seed of the word_ (Matt.\nxiii. 9). 2. _Wicked men also, by seducing us._ Sometimes by\npersecuting us to make us forsake the truth (Matt. xiii. 21). 3. _The\nworld with its cares and profits seek to take this treasure from us_\n(Matt. xiii. 22). The flesh presents many pleasures to us which drown\nour wits. +II. Because we may lose wisdom ourselves by\nnegligence.+--_F. Taylor._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-19.\n\nCONTRASTED PATHS AND OPPOSITE CHARACTERS.\n\n+I. The just man's path.+ 1. It is a _pre-ordained_ one. The path\nwhich the sun takes through the heavens, the path in which our earth\nencircles the sun, are the paths which God has pre-ordained for them.\nThey are the only paths which they could take and preserve the\nharmony of the system to which they belong. They are the orbits which\nare exactly adapted to the fulfilment of the end for which God\ncreated them. So the path--the manner of life--of the godly man is\nthe path in which God intended man to walk when He created him. He\ncalled him into being in order that he might \"walk before Him and be\nperfect\" (Gen. xvii. 1). \"The highway of holiness\" is the\nGod-ordained path of man, the old way which was trodden by His\ncreatures for ages before man had any existence. 2. It is a\n_blessing-dispensing_ path. The sun, by keeping God's pre-ordained\npath, is a blessing to the world. Its rays possess a quickening power\nwhich develops the hidden life of the plant, and so clothes the earth\nwith beauty and fruitfulness. Without its heat and light our globe\nwould be a great Sahara--a vast wilderness of black barrenness. It\nlikewise brings into operation a sense in man which would otherwise\nbe dormant. The light of the body is the eye, but where would sight\nbe without sun? Creatures who have lived for years in darkness appear\nto lose the power of sight, even if light shines upon their\neye-balls. The constant contact of the eye with light keeps alive the\npower of vision. So with the just man's path. Without the godly this\nworld would be a moral wilderness. All the beauty of goodness there\nis in it comes from the life of the children of wisdom. \"They that\ndwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn\nand grow as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of\nLebanon\" (Hosea xiv. 7). And He keeps alive the inner eye of man--the\nconscience. It, too, needs external light to play upon it to keep it\nalive. And the holy walk of the godly does this for the ungodly, it\nprevents the conscience from being utterly stifled by sin. 3. It is a\n_progressive_ path. It shines more and more. The light of dawn has\nglories all its own, but it is not strong enough to do the work of\nthe noon-day rays, its heat is not able to penetrate beneath the\nsurface of the earth and wake up the life out of the seed-corn hidden\nthere; its brightness touches the mountain-tops, but does not scatter\nthe shadows in the valleys. But when the sun reaches its meridian\n\"there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.\" So with the children of\nwisdom. When they first set out upon their journey their godliness is\nnot so manifest to others, nor does it yield so much comfort to\nthemselves as when they have trodden the path for years. But it must,\nfrom a necessity of nature, go on unto perfection. \"Just men will be\nmade perfect\" (Heb. xii. 3). \"They go from strength to strength\"\n(Psa. lxxxiv. 7). They come \"to the perfect day.\"\n\n+II. The wicked man's way.+ It is in every point the converse of that\nwhich has just been sketched. 1. _It is his own way_ (chap. i. 31):\n_not God's way, not the way in which he was destined to walk_. It is\nan _old_ way (Job. xxii. 15), but not the _oldest_ way; it is a path\ncast up by the will of man and pre-Adamite sinners. 2. _It is a way\nof darkness, because it is a way of blindness._ Blindness puts a man\nin the dark, and, being in the dark, he has only the experience that\nsprings from darkness. Wickedness puts out the eyes of the soul, and,\nlike a blind Samson, it sits in darkness and the shadow of death. A\nstate of blindness is a state of _ignorance_. A blind man cannot\navoid objects that come in his way, and when he falls in consequence,\nhe knows not the object that caused him to fall. So the wise man here\ndescribes the ungodly as one \"who knows not at what he stumbles\"\n(verse 19). He has no realisation of the real character of his\ntempters, no insight into the sinfulness of sin; the lack of a\nguiding principle turns his walk into a series of stumblings. It\nfollows of necessity that such a path is one of _danger_. It is more\ndangerous to walk in the night than in the day. The footpad or the\nhighwayman can hide himself from our view in the darkness, and come\nupon us unawares. We may fall over the precipice at night that we\ncould easily avoid in the day. So it is in a course of sin. A man who\nshuts his eyes to the light within him, and rejects the light which\nis to \"lighten every man\" (John i. 9), will, unawares, be overtaken\nby retribution, and fall into depths of remorse upon which he little\ncounts. 3. _Like the path of the just, it is a progressive path._ No\nman stands still in it. The darkness thickens as the blindness\nincreases, and the blindness grows the longer men refuse to \"come to\nthe light\" (John iii. 20). Men do not at once come to the height or\ndescend to the depth of iniquity described in verse 16, when, unless\nthey have done some iniquitous act, they feel that they have lost a\nday. The merchant may feel he has lost a day when he has failed to\nmake a good bargain; the scholar feels it when he has not added to\nhis stock of knowledge; the heathen emperor reckoned a day lost when\nhe had not benefited some one; but for a man not to sleep except he\nhas done a mischief, surely expresses as \"perfect a night\" as it is\npossible for human nature to attain to. Surely he then proves himself\nto be a child of him whose business it is to \"go about seeking whom\nhe may devour\" (2 Pet. v. 8). 4. _It is a path which is destructive\nto others._ As the good man, by walking in God's path, blesses his\nfellow-creatures as well as himself, so the wicked man, in his path\nof darkness, is a curse to others as well as himself. The force of\nevil example alone is pernicious to all who surround him, but\nalthough he may begin in this negative way, he soon advances to\npositive acts of sin, until he lives upon the misery of others. It\nbecomes his meat and drink to drag others to destruction with him,\nor, failing that, to do them as much injury as he can (verses 16 and\n17).\n\n+III. The means of escape from this path of darkness and ruin.+\n\"Enter it not,\" and, to make sure of not entering it, give it a wide\nberth--\"pass not by it, turn away\" (verses 14, 15). When we see those\nwhom we love in danger, we multiply words of warning, and are not\ncareful to avoid repeating words which may have little or no\ndifference in their meaning. So Solomon's anxiety shows itself here\nin the repetition of his exhortations. But there is some gradation\nobserved in them. 1. _We are not to enter the paths, not even to set\none foot upon the forbidden way._ Men may be tempted to venture a\nstep or two just to take a glance, and intend to turn back as soon as\nthey have done so, but it is enchanted ground, and it is more than\nlikely if they are once upon the track they will go further than they\nat first intended. But if they do not _enter_ it, they cannot _walk_\nin it. 2. _If you have already entered, do not persevere another\nmoment, turn from it at once._ If the captain of a ship becomes all\nat once aware that he is steering his vessel upon the rocks, he puts\nabout at once. The next best thing to not going wrong at all is to\nturn back--in Bible language, to repent, to put the face in the\nopposite direction, to turn the whole man back to the opposite goal.\n3. _In order to escape the danger of entering at all, or of\nre-entrance after having once forsaken it, avoid its very\nneighbourhood, pass not by it, go not in the way of temptation._ If a\nyouth has been induced to gamble, and has resolved to give up the\nhabit, let him not go near the gambling house--let him give up all\nintercourse with gamblers; if he has been once under the fatal\ninfluence of strong drink, he must taste it no more--not even \"_look\nupon_ the wine when it is red\" (ch. xxiii. 31). He must \"flee\nyouthful lusts\" and the most certain method of doing this is to\nstrike out another course--to \"follow after righteousness\" (1 Tim.\nvi. 11, 12), to get well into the way of wisdom, to know from\nexperience the blessedness of the path of the just. Men must have a\n\"way\" in life, there is no neutral ground; or if some men seem for a\ntime to be living in the border-land, a time will come when they must\ndeclare for one side or the other.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 14. We must all \"enter\" somewhere. We are all travelling. We\nall necessarily follow something. Don't take the path of the wicked\nfor it. That is the doctrine.--_Miller._\n\nSin is like a whirlpool. He who once ventures within the circle of\nits eddying waters in the self-sufficient assurance that he may go a\ncertain length, and then turn at his pleasure and stem the current\nback, may feel the fancied strength of the sinews of his moral\nresolution but weakness in the moment of need, and may--nay, almost\ncertainly will--be borne on further and further, till, all power of\nresistance failing, he is carried round and round with increasing\ncelerity, and sucked into the central gulf of irrecoverable\nperdition.--_Wardlaw._\n\nJortin, in his remarks upon Ecclesiastical History, relates the story\nof a colloquy between a Father of the second century and an evil\nspirit in a Christian, whom he sought to expel. Upon inquiring how he\ndared be so impudent as to enter a Christian, the evil spirit\nreplied, \"I went not to church after him, but he came to the\nplayhouse after me, and, finding him upon my own ground, I sought to\nsecure him for myself.\" Whatever becomes of the story, the moral of\nit deserves attention.--_Leifchild._\n\nWe pray to be kept from temptation, and our practice ought not to\ncontradict our prayers; otherwise, it is evident that we mock God by\nasking from Him what we do not wish to have.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 15. This triple gradation of Solomon showeth, with a great\nemphasis, how necessary it is to flee from all appearance of\nsin. . . . Entireness (_friendship_) with wicked consorts is one of\nthe strongest chains of hell, and binds me to a participation of both\nsin and punishment.--_Brooks._\n\nCome not near. 1. Because our corruption is so great that, if we come\nnear it, we will both smell it with delight and smell of it.\n2. Because wicked men stand upon the edge of their way to draw others\ninto it, as thieves watch for their prey. 3. We may stumble into that\nway ourselves, if we be not pulled into it by others. He that walks\non the brink of a river may fall in. There is but a narrow bridge\nbetween lawful and unlawful. And that which is lawful to-day may, by\na circumstance, be made unlawful to-morrow.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nIt would not be complaisance, but cowardice--it would be a sinful\nsoftness which allowed affinity in taste to imperil your faith or\nyour virtue. It would be the same sort of courtesy which, in the\nequatorial forest, for the wake of its beautiful leaf, lets the\nliana, with its strangling arms, run up the plantain or orange, and\npays the forfeit in blasted boughs and total ruin. It would be the\nsame sort of courtesy which, for fear of appearing rude or\ninhospitable, took into dock the infected vessel, or welcomed, not as\na patient, but as a guest, the plague-stricken stranger.--_Jas.\nHamilton._\n\n\nVerses 16 and 17. The devil, their taskmaster, will not allow them\ntime to sleep, which is very hard bondage.--_Trapp._\n\nThe character of the wicked is here drawn in their father's\nimage--first sinners; then tempters. . . . Judas with his midnight\ntorches (John xviii. 3); the early morning assembly of the Jewish\nrulers (Luke xxii. 66); the frenzied vow of the enemies of Paul (Acts\nxxiii. 12); and many a plot in after ages against the Church--all\nvividly pourtray this unwearied wickedness.--_Bridges._\n\nThe fearful stage of debasement when the tendency to sin is like the\ncraving for stimulants, as a condition without which there can be no\nrepose.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe trouble of others is the rest of the wicked.--_Jermin._\n\nJust as bread forms the flesh, and makes it grow, according as it is\neaten, so wickedness is the food of the spirit. \"My meat is,\" says\nChrist, \"to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work\"\n(John iv. 34). \"Thy words were found, and I did eat them\" (Jer.\nxv. 16). So in chap. i. 31. \"Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of\ntheir own way\"--the meaning being, that a man's way, spiritually\nconsidered, is all that forms him. He feeds upon it. If it is\nrighteous, it nourishes him in life. If it is wicked, it nourishes\nhim in death. He feeds on food of wickedness, and grows exactly in\nproportion as he sins. His very life is in its very self a deadly\nself-banqueting.--_Miller._\n\nThey sin, not of frailty, but of malice; not by occasion, as it were,\nbut by an insatiable desire of committing wickedness.--_Muffet._\n\n\nVerse 18. He sets forth betime in the morning and travels to meet the\nday.\n\nThe sun is an emblem, not of the just, but of the Justifier. Christ\nalone is the light of the world. The just are those whom the Sun of\nRighteousness shines upon. . . . When any portion of the earth's\nsurface begins to experience a dawn diminishing its darkness, it is\nbecause that portion is gradually turning round towards the sun, the\ncentre of light fixed in the heavens. When any part of the earth lies\naway from the sun, and in proportion to the measure of its aversion,\nit is dark and cold, in proportion as it turns to him again its\natmosphere grows clearer, until in its gradual progress it comes in\nsight of the sun, and its day is perfect then. So is the path of the\njust. Day is not perfect here in the believer's heart . . . but the\nmachinery of the everlasting covenant is meantime going softly and\nsilently as the motion of the spheres; and they that are Christ's\nhere, whatever clouds dim their present prospect, are wearing every\nmoment farther from the night, and nearer to the day.--_Arnot._\n\nThere is a day to be which shall be a day indeed, without cloud,\nwithout night, without morning, without evening. Unto this day\nleadeth the path of the righteous, and which going on, shineth more\nand more, until at last when it seemeth to go out, it shall be\nreceived into that light which never goeth out.--_Jermin._\n\nLight is emblematical of _knowledge, holiness_, and _joy._ The three\nbear invariable proportion to each other--holiness springing from\nknowledge, and joy from both. . . . \"The entrance of God's word gives\nlight.\" But the entrance of this light into the mind is often, like\nthe early dawn, feeble, glimmering, uncertain. . . . But it does not\nabide so. . . . He who is enlightened from above is eager for more of\nthe blessed light. He thirsts for knowledge, and is on the alert to\nobtain it. . . . With growth in knowledge there is growth in\nholiness. At the first dawn of spiritual light some faint desires are\nfelt after God and sanctity. These progressively increase, and they\nshow their influence in the increase of practical godliness. . . .\nAnd joy is the natural attendant of spiritual illumination and inward\nsanctity. It, too, is progressive. Like the sun in every stage of his\ndiurnal course, it may be overcast by occasional clouds. But as the\nsun appears the brighter on his emerging from the cloudy veil, so the\ntrials of the just serve to give lustre to their virtues.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 19. It is interesting to note the resemblance between these\nwords and those of our Lord (John xi. 10; xii. 35).--_Plumptre._\n\nStrange enough: it is a confessed darkness. There is a sort of common\nlight that tells a man that impenitence is darkness. And yet it does\nnot teach him better. Like mere physical light at times, some\nchemical ray is absent. The darkness that remains is a darkness that\nmay be felt. It constitutes our eternal chains (2 Pet. ii. 4); it\nbinds a man on the car of ruin. And like a Christian, who, in his\npartial light, may fail to know what is blessing him, so the sinner\nin his absolute darkness, takes industry for virtue, and family love\nfor wholesome righteousness; and does not know the incidents of life\nthat are stumbling blocks to eternal ruin.--_Miller._\n\nSinners are in such darkness that they are insensible to the objects\nthat are leading them to ruin, thus they stumble--1. At the great\ndeceiver. 2. At one another. 3. At Divine Providence. 4. At their\ncommon employments. 5. At the nature and tendency of their religious\nperformances. 6. At the preaching they hear. 7. At the blindness of\ntheir hearts.--_Emmons, from Lange's Commentary._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-27.\n\nTHE PATH OF SAFETY.\n\n_For Homiletics on Verses_ 20-22, _see chap._ ii. 1-5, _etc._\n\nVerses 23-27. +I. A man's most precious and real possession.+ \"Thy\nheart.\" The heart here, and in other parts of Holy Scripture, is that\npart of a man for which the Bible exists, that in man to which the\nrevelation of God appeals, that which places a great gulf between him\nand all other creatures in the world, that which links him to the\nangels of God, that which entails upon him responsibilities and\nendows him with capabilities which will last throughout all the ages\nto come. It is that spiritual nature which our Lord calls a man's\n\"own soul\" (Matt. xvi. 26), which Paul speaks of as the \"inner man\"\n(Ephes. iii. 16).\n\n+II. The need of \"keeping,\" or \"guarding\" the heart.+ There are\nelements of evil as well as good in it. In any kingdom where there\nare bad subjects as well as good, there must be a watch kept over\nthose out of whom submission to law is not to be got voluntarily.\nThey must be guarded lest they get the upper hand and overpower and\ntyrannise over the peace-loving obedient citizens. In every human\nbody there is some organ which is more prone to disease than others.\nWhile some are strong and vigorous, others are more or less delicate;\ntherefore a man needs to exercise care over his body. So in the heart\nof the child of wisdom there is an evil element as well as a good\none. \"I see another law in my members,\" says Paul, \"warring against\nthe law of my mind\" (Rom. vii. 23). Every godly man has a tendency to\nmoral weakness, some opening in his spiritual armour, some weak part\nin his moral constitution. Therefore it behoves him to keep guard\nover, to watch vigilantly, the lawless, rebellious, or diseased\nelements within him, lest sin have dominion, if only for a time,\nwhere grace ought to rule.\n\n+III. The importance of keeping the heart.+ \"Out of it are the issues\nof life.\" The physical heart of man is well defended by nature,\nbecause it is the spring of our bodily life. From it, as from a well,\nissues life-blood, which flows into every part of the body, and\nwithout which a man ceases to live. The strong ribs and the inner\ncoverings of the heart which so well defend it show the necessity\nthere is that it should be free to do its work without let or\nhindrance. \"A sound heart is the life of the flesh,\" says Solomon\n(chap. xiv. 30). If the heart is healthy, the benefit is felt to the\nextremities of the body; if it is diseased, the whole physical frame\nsuffers. Out if _it_ are the issues of animal life. A man who has\ncharge of a well of water is bound to keep it covered and secured\nagainst the entrance of anything that might poison or even defile it.\nUpon its safe keeping depends, perhaps, not only the health of\nhimself and his household, but that of an entire district. It is a\ncentre of health if pure, of disease if impure. So upon the condition\nof the inner man depends the character of the outward life. It is a\nwell-spring of life in the sense that it determines the character of\nthe life. The streams which issue from it are the actions of man,\nactions repeated are habits, and habits form character; and character\ninfluences other lives. What a man _is_ blesses or curses those\naround him, and entails blessing or curse upon generations to come. A\ngood man in a neighbourhood is like a well of living water, he\ndiffuses and preserves moral health all around him.\n\n+IV. The way to keep the heart.+--The vigilance of a sentinel is\nmanifested by his notice of the distant motion of the grass under\ncover of which the enemy is creeping towards the citadel. He is ever\non the look-out for the distant enemy. The watchful general notes the\nfirst symptom of mutiny in the army, and treads out the spark before\nit becomes a flame. So the watchful heart-keeper takes notice of the\nfirst movement of rebels within. The thoughts take their rise in the\nsoul under the eye of none but God and the keeper, and he must be on\nthe alert at the first motion. And as when the sentinel sees the\nfirst movement of the enemy he never thinks of advancing to fight him\nalone, but communicates with one who has the power to overthrow him,\nso when a man becomes aware of the first motion of evil in his heart,\nGod must receive the information--He must be called upon to exercise\nHis power to disperse or take prisoners the thoughts before they can\nbecome actions. Keeping of the heart includes a guarding of every\ninlet of temptation, a watchfulness over the senses, and any organ of\nthe outward man which might lead us into temptation. Hence Solomon\nexhorts his son to guard his _eyes_ and his _feet._ It has been\nasserted by some that there is nothing in the mind which has not\nfirst been in the senses; and though this is a disputed point, we are\nquite sure that there is much in the heart, both of good and evil,\nwhich entered by those gates. There are thoughts there which have\nbeen kindled by what we have seen, as Achan's covetous desires were\ncreated by the sight of the goodly spoils of Jericho. The eye of\nDavid was the entrance-gate of the thought which ended in adultery\nand murder. And the feet may lead us in forbidden paths--into the way\nof temptation--into the society of those whose words, finding\nentrance by the ear, may sow seeds of impurity within.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 20. Still he calls for attention. It fares with many of us as\nwith little children, who, though saying their lessons, must needs\nlook off to see the feather that flies by them.--_Trapp._\n\nThe former verse having spoken of hearing God's Word, this speaketh\nof reading it. For the beginning of obedience is to be willing to\nknow what is commanded, and it is a part of performance to have\nlearned what is to be performed. . . . Let God's Word be in our\nheart, it will be in the midst of it. For the heart hath no outside,\nall is the midst there: the heart hath no outward show, all there is\ninward truth.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 21. The terms of this verse may be compared, for illustration,\nwith those of Deut. vi. 6, 8: \"And these words, which I command thee\nthis day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt bind them for a\nsign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine\neyes.\" Amongst the Jews there was a sad propensity to take the latter\ninjunction _literally_ and _externally._ Hypocrites and formalists\nsatisfied themselves with having little scraps of the law written on\nparchment, and worn as frontlets on the forehead. But this was a\ndelusion. The laws of God are never rightly \"before the eyes\" unless\nthey are \"in the heart.\" The meaning of the former clause of the\nverse is, that the commandments of God should be kept _constantly in\nview_ as the guides of the whole conduct. And this will be the case\nwhen they are kept \"in the midst of the heart.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 22. Some medicines are good for one part of the body, some for\nanother. This is good for all the body, and all the\nsoul.--_Cartwright._\n\n\nVerse 23. That thou mayest keep thy heart sincere, to use the\nsimilitude of a castle, for so the heart is,--1. Repair and fortify\nit diligently. Weak walls are soon broken down. Breaches give\noccasion for an enemy to enter. Thou wilt find something to mend\nevery day in the understanding, or conscience, or memory, or will, or\naffections, if not in all of them. 2. Victual this fort, else it\ncannot hold out against a siege. Feed it with good meditations from\nthe creatures, and out of the Scriptures. Starved soldiers cannot\ndefend a fort. 3. Set up a regiment in thy soul. No fort can be kept\nwithout government; soldiers, else, will rebel and betray the fort.\nCommit that charge to a well-informed conscience; submit all\nthoughts, and words, and deeds to it. 4. Get arms in it to keep out\nenemies; to wit, God's prohibitions and threats in His Word. This is\nthe _sword of the Spirit_ (Ephes. vi. 17).--_Francis Taylor._\n\nThe man is as his heart is. The heart is the spring and fount of all\nnatural and spiritual actions, it is the _primum mobile,_ the great\nwheel that sets all other wheels agoing; it is the great monarch in\nthe isle of man, therefore, keep it with all custody and caution, or\nelse bid farewell to all true joy, peace, and comfort. When the heart\nstands right with Christ He will pardon much and pass by much. . . .\nTherefore we should keep our heart as under lock and key, that they\nmay be always at hand when the Lord shall call for them. . . . The\nword heart is here put comprehensively for the whole soul, with all\nits powers, noble faculties, and endowments, together with their\nseveral operations, all which are to be watched over. . . . It is a\nduty incumbent upon every Christian to keep his own heart. Thou\nmayest make another thy park-keeper, thy housekeeper, thy shopkeeper,\nthy cash-keeper, but thou must be thy own heartkeeper. \"With all\ndiligence.\" Some understand this of all kind of watchfulness. 1. As\nmen keep a prison. How vigilant are they in looking after their\nprisoners. 2. As they keep a besieged garrison, or castle, in time of\nwar. A gracious heart is Christ's fort-royal. Against this fort Satan\nwill employ his utmost art, therefore it must have a strong guard.\n3. As the Levites kept the sanctuary of God and all the holy things\ncommitted to their charge (Ezek. xliv. 8-15). Our hearts are the\ntemples of the Holy Ghost, and therefore we should keep a guard about\nthem, that nothing may pass in or out that may be displeasing,\ngrieving, or provoking to Him. 4. As a man keeps his life. The same\nword (_shamar_) is used in Job. x. in reference to life. With what\ncare, what diligence, do men labour to preserve their natural lives.\n5. As men keep their treasures. There are few men who know how to\nvalue their hearts as they should. It is that pearl of price for\nwhich a man should lay down his all. 6. As spruce men and women do\ntheir fine clothes. They won't endure a spot upon them. Let not\nothers be more careful to keep their outsides clean, than you are to\nkeep your insides clean.--_Brooks._\n\nThe fountains and wells of the East were watched over with special\ncare. A stone was rolled to the mouth of the well, so that \"a spring\nshut up, a fountain sealed,\" became the type of all that is most\njealously guarded (Song Sol. iv. 22). So it is here. The heart is\nsuch a fountain--out of it flow \"the issues of life.\" Shall we let\nthe stream be tainted at the fountain head?--_Plumptre._\n\nKeep the heart. 1. Because it falls directly under the inspection of\nGod. Man can judge only by what is external, but \"I, the Lord, search\nthe heart.\" 2. Because of the influence the heart has upon the life.\nHe that is concerned about making the tree good will probably make\nthe fruit so. 3. Care in keeping the heart is greatly to be regarded\nfor itself. Is there nothing pleasant, nothing honourable in being\nmasters at home--in being possessors of our own spirits? Is it\nnothing that the peace of the kingdom is broken, even though the\nconstitution of it be not overthrown?--_Doddridge._\n\nA heart purified by the grace of God, and firmly rooted in truth as\nits ground, is the source and common fountain for the successful\ndevelopment of all the main activities and functions of human life,\nthose belonging to the sphere of sense, as well as to the psychical\nand spiritual realms, and this must more and more manifest itself as\nsuch a centre of the personality, sending forth light and\nlife.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThough to keep the heart be God's work, it is man's agency. Our\nefforts are his instrumentality.--_Bridges._\n\nAll vital principles are lodged there, and only such as are good and\nholy will give you pleasure. The exercises of religion will be\npleasing when they are natural, and flow easily out of their own\nfountain.--_John Howe._\n\nAlthough Solomon repeats himself, he always advances upon the\nthought. There is always some characteristic novelty: and that\nnovelty is the hinge of the purpose, and imbeds its meaning in the\nlife of the passage. Here it is the function of the heart. It\ncirculates life. Give it good blood, and it will throw off disease;\ngive it bad blood, and it will produce disease. Give it health\nenough, and it will throw off incipient mortification; give it no\nhealth, and it will produce mortification. Solomon weaves this into\nexperimental godliness. . . . Guard the great central guard-post, and\nno out-station will be cut off. If it be, for a time, the heart will\nwin it again.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 24. While we speak, we should never forget that God is one of\nthe listeners. . . . Take the principle of Hagar's simple and sublime\nconfession, accommodated in thought to the case at hand \"Thou, God,\n_hearest_ me.\" If our words were all poured through that strainer,\nhow much purer and fewer they would be.--_Arnot._\n\nIt is true that vigilance over the heart is vigilance over the\ntongue, inasmuch as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth\nspeaketh. . . . There is no surer index of the state of the \"inner\nman.\" As is the conversation, so is the heart.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhile a fire is confined to one man's house, even if it burns that\nhouse to its foundation, all other dwellings are unharmed; but when\nit lays hold of surrounding buildings, all the city is endangered.\nWhen an evil thought is confined to a man's own spirit, kept within\nthe limits of thinking or desiring, though it may char his own soul\nwith the blackness of perdition, the evil ends with himself. But when\nhe allows his thought to become words, he kindles a fire outside\nhimself which may go on burning even after he has forgotten it\nhimself.\n\n\nVerse 25. Let them be fixed upon right objects. . . . Be well skilled\nin Moses' optics (Heb. xi. 27). Do as mariners do that have their eye\non the star, their hand on the stern. A man may not look intently\nupon that he may not love.--_Trapp._\n\nLike one ploughing, who must not look back.--_Cartwright._\n\nHad Eve done so she would have looked at the command of God, not at\nthe forbidden tree. Had Lot's wife looked straight before her instead\nof behind her, she would, like her husband, have been a monument of\nmercy. . . . In asking the way to Zion, be sure that your _faces are\nthitherward_ (Jer. i. 5). The pleasures of sin and the seductions of\nthe world do not lie in the road. They belong to the bye-paths. They\nwould not, therefore, meet the eye looking right on.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 26. Lift not up one foot till you find firm footing for\nanother, as those in Psa. xxxv. 6. The way of this world is like the\nvale of Siddim, slimy and slippery.--_Trapp._\n\nThe habit of calm and serious thinking makes the difference between\none man and another.--_Dr. Abercrombie._\n\nThe feet of the soul are generally understood to be the affections.\nAnd surely we have need to ponder the path of them before we give\naway to them. St. Bernard maketh the two feet to be nature and\ncustom, for, indeed, by them we are much carried, and great need we\nhave to ponder the path of them, so that they do not lead us\namiss.--_Jermin._\n\nThe best time to ponder any path is not at the end, not even in the\nmiddle, but at the beginning of it.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 27. It is as if the royal way was hemmed in by the sea, and a\nfall over either side were danger of drowning. Some are too greedy;\nothers ascetic. Some are too bold; others too diffident. Some neglect\nthe one Mediator; others seek more mediators than one. Some flee the\ncross; others make one. Some tamper with Popery; others, from dread\nof it, hazard the loss of valuable truth.--_Cartwright._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+2. Discretion,+ Lit. \"reflection,\" \"prudent\nconsideration.\" +3. Drop as an honey-comb,+ \"distil honey.\"\n+4. Wormwood.+ In Eastern countries this herb, the _absinthum_ of\nGreek and Latin botanists, was regarded as a poison. It has a bitter\nand saline taste. +6.+ This verse is rendered in two ways. The forms\nof the two verbs may be in the second person masculine, and so apply\nto the tempted youth, or in the third person feminine, and so be\nunderstood to refer to the harlot. Most modern commentators take the\nlatter reading. Delitzsch translates: \"She is far removed from\nentering the way of life: her steps wander without her observing it.\"\nStuart: \"That she may not ponder the path of life, her ways are\nbecome unsteady, while she regards it not.\" The rendering in _Lange's\nCommentary_ is, \"The path of life she never treadeth, her steps\nstray, she knoweth not whither.\" The Authorised Version is, however,\nsupported by Rosenmuller and Michaelis. +9. Honour,+ or \"power,\"\n\"bloom,\" or \"freshness.\" +11. Mourn,+ or \"groan,\" \"_at the last,_\"\nlit. \"at thine end.\" +14.+ Readings here again vary. Miller\ntranslates: \"I soon became like any wicked man.\" _Lange's\nCommentary:_ \"A little more, and I had fallen into utter\ndestruction.\" The renderings of Stuart and Delitzsch are\nsubstantially the same as the Authorised Version. +16.+ In order to\nmake the idea in this verse agree with those preceding and following\nit, Stuart and other commentators insert a negative: \"Let (not) thy\nfountains,\" &c. _Lange's Commentary_ considers this needless, and\nretains the same idea by conceiving the sentence to be an\ninterrogative indicated, not by its _form,_ but by its _tone:_ \"Shall\nthy fountains?\" etc. So also Hitzig. Holden, Noyes, Wordsworth,\nMiller, &c., read as in the Authorised Version. +19. Be ravished,+\nlit. \"err,\" used in the next verse in a bad sense, and in chap xx. 1,\nand Isa. xxviii. 7, of the staggering gait of the intoxicated. It\nseems to express a being transported with joy. +21. Pondereth,+ or\n\"marketh out.\" +22. Shall be holden,+ rather \"is holden.\"\n+23. Without,+ \"for lack of.\"\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 19.\n\nHere we have started up, and sent leaping over the plain, another of\nSolomon's favourites. What elegant creatures those gazelles are, and\nhow gracefully they bound. We shall meet them all through Syria and\nPalestine, and the more you see of them the greater will be your\nadmiration. Solomon is not alone in his partiality. Persian and Arab\npoets abound in reference to them. The fair ones of these fervid sons\nof song are often compared to the coy gazelle that comes by night and\n_pastures_ upon their hearts. They are amiable, affectionate, and\nloving, by universal testimony, and accordingly no sweeter comparison\ncan be found than that of Prov. v. 19.--Thompson's _Land and the\nBook._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-20.\n\nBITTER AND SWEET WATERS.\n\n+I. A wrong relation.+ The relationship here forbidden is wrong.\n1. _Because it is a sin against the tempter._ The tempter in Eden had\nhis load of iniquity increased by the yielding of the tempted one to\nhis persuasion. He increased his crime when he made another a\npartaker of his disobedience. Satan, doubtless, becomes worse every\ntime that he persuades another to sin. The gambler's guilt and misery\nis increased in proportion to his success in bringing others to ruin.\nThe young man in the text increases the guilt of the \"strange woman\"\nby yielding to her enticements. He burdens her with new guilt and\nintensifies her iniquity, and therefore helps to treasure up for her\na greater remorse when her conscience shall awake and arise from the\ngrave of sensuality. 2. _Because it is a sin against a man's own\nbody._ That which is our own is generally valued by us, and there is\nnothing material which is ours in a more exclusive sense than our\nbodily frame. It is nearer to us than any other material possession,\nand to sin against _it_ is to sin against that which stands in the\nnearest relation to our personal moral individuality. There are sins\ndone in the body by the mind which are purely mental, from which the\nbody does not suffer; but adultery forces the body into a relation\nwhich brings misery and disease upon it, and in due season consumes\nand destroys it like a devouring flame. \"Every sin that a man doeth\nis without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth\nagainst his own body\" (1 Cor. vi. 18). 3. _Because it is a sin\nagainst human nature in general, and national life in particular._\nHuman nature is like the human body, every man is linked to his\nfellow-men as the several members of the body are parts of one whole.\nThis _solidarity_--this union of interest--is more obvious when\nconsidered in relation to a particular community or nation; and, as\nno member of the human body can be disfigured without bringing the\nwhole frame into a state of imperfection and loss of dignity, so no\nman can degrade himself without bringing degradation upon the whole\nrace. The fornicator is a plague-spot upon the body of humanity; and\nalthough other sinners bring disfigurement upon the body universal,\nthere is none who defiles it as he does. God has written His mark\nupon the crust of the earth against this enormous sin (Gen. xix. 24,\n25). 4. _Because it makes God, in a sense, to bear the iniquity with\nthe transgressor._ The youth who spends the money his father gives\nhim in furthering his own wicked purposes makes his father an\nunwilling partaker of his crimes, because the money was supplied by\nhim. God made this complaint against sinners in the olden time. The\ngood gifts of the earth which God bestowed upon the Hebrew people\nwere used by them in their debasing idol-worship. God gave them the\nmeans of honouring Him, and they used His gifts in dishonouring His\nname. So God gives to every man power to glorify Him and to bless\nhimself and the world by the formation of right relations. When the\npower thus given is used in an unlawful manner, God's own gift is\nused against Himself. The sinner turns the Divine gift against the\nDivine Giver; and while in God he lives, and moves, and has his\nbeing, he lives and moves but to sin against his Maker. Thus in\nScripture language God \"is made to serve\" with the sinner, while He\nis \"wearied with his iniquities\" (Isa. xliii. 22-24).\n\n+II. The bitter waters which flow from this wrong relation.+ (Verse\n4.) 1. _The loss of honour._ (Verse 7.) To some men this is dearer\nthan life. The captain would rather go to the bottom of the sea with\nhis ship than live with a shadow upon his good name and reputation.\nThe man who has lost his honour in the eyes of others has lost his\nhonour in his own eyes, and the loss of self-honour or self-respect\nis a calamity that is very bitter to the soul. The man who will\nindulge in unlawful intercourse, will find that he not only loses the\nrespect of others, but he will be unable to respect himself, and this\nloss is the greatest that a man can sustain on this side of hell. It\nis a draught which, although there might be pleasure in the\n_drawing_, will be very bitter in the _drinking_. 2. _The loss of\nmanhood's vigour and opportunities._ He will \"give his years to the\ncruel, his strength to the stranger.\" The loss of youthful strength\nand energy is the loss of years, the youth becomes old before he is a\nman. The vessel or the mansion that is charred by fire before it is\ncompleted presents a strange contrast. The newness and freshness of\nthe walls or the timbers that have escaped make the destruction of\nthe rest more lamentable. The building has been marred just upon the\nverge of completion, the ship has been spoiled when she was all but\nready for the voyage. It is sad to see an old tree blasted by the\nlightning, but it is a greater misfortune when the tree is in its\nprime, when it is laden with fruit about to come to perfection. But\nthese are faint shadows of the sad spectacle which is presented by a\nyouth who has become prematurely old by unlawful indulgence before he\nhas reached his prime. He is unfit to battle with the sea of life at\nthe very time when he ought to be setting out on his voyage. He falls\nshort of fulfilling the demands of God and man at the moment when he\nought to be bringing forth abundant fruit. Surely such a\nconsciousness must be as bitter waters to the spirit. 3. _The action\nof conscience and memory in a dying day._ \"And thou mourn at the\nlast,\" etc. (Verse 11.) The lamp that hangs from the stern of the\nvessel throws a light upon the wake of the ship and reveals the path\nthat she has travelled. Memory is such a lamp to the human soul. In\nthe parable of the rich man and Lazarus we find memory throwing such\na light upon the past, and enabling him to look back upon the path\nwhich had brought him to his present abode. Conscience sat in\njudgment upon it and united with memory to make his present cup a\nbitter one. The bitterness that is always mingled with the life of\nthe profligate becomes doubly bitter at the end. Memory throws her\nlight upon his past, and shows him the strength, and honour, and\nopportunities of life squandered in licentiousness, and conscience\nanticipates future retribution and makes him feel the truth of the\nword of warning. \"Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge\" (Heb.\nxiii. 4). The bitterness is increased by the reflection that the sin\nwas committed in defiance of counsel to act differently. And thou\nsay, \"How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof\"\n(verse 12). Those who sin against the light of nature _only,_ find a\nrecompense which is terrible, yet which an inspired Apostle declares\nto be \"meet\" (Rom. i. 27). The sins here mentioned are sins against\nnature, and nature asserts her right to punish her broken law and\nleave her mark upon the fornicator. But when revelation, and\ninstruction, and good example are added to the light of nature, the\ncup contains ingredients of tenfold bitterness. \"Whoso breaketh one\nhedge, a serpent shall bite him\" (Eccles. x. 8). How much sharper\nwill be the sting if a double--a threefold--hedge is broken through.\n\n+III. Sweet waters flowing from a right relationship.+ The waters are\nsweet or living--1. _From a consciousness that a chaste wife belongs\nto him alone_ (ver. 15). The profligate can lay no such claim for the\nwoman of his choice; she is, by her own consent, common to all. The\nhusbandman has a very different feeling concerning his own field,\nwhich he alone has a right to till, and the common land which is open\nto all comers. So the true husband has a feeling towards his wife to\nwhich the licentious man is an entire stranger. 2. _Because such a\nlife is in harmony with the rights of society._ The brooks and rivers\nof the land cannot be pure if the springs are defiled. The social\nlife of a nation can only be healthy while the purity of the marriage\nrelation is maintained. God has written his doom whenever and\nwherever this sacred bond has been violated. The consciousness of\nbeing a blessing to the world swells the stream of satisfaction which\narises from a faithful observance of this relationship. 3. _Because a\ntrue marriage is man's completion._ The sinless man in Eden felt a\nwant until Eve was given to him, even though God had created him in\nHis own image. How much more does man now feel the need of a\n\"helpmeet for him,\" such as he finds only in a faithful wife. 4. _The\nwaters are further sweetened by the reflection that this relationship\nis used to symbolise that existing between Christ and His Church._\nChrist is the Head of His Church for her good. The true husband feels\nthat he is the head of the wife for the same end. The relationship\nbecomes doubly blessed when looked at from this point of view.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 1 and 2. When the Word of God enters the heart, it will banish\nall pollution from the tongue.--_Lawson._\n\nPerhaps painful experience (1 Kings xi. 1-8, Eccles. vii. 26) had\ngiven the wise man _wisdom_ and _understanding._ Therefore let us\nattend to it with fear and trembling.--_Bridges._\n\nGod allows us to call that knowledge ours which originally is His.\n1. Because God give it us, and that he gives a man land allows him to\ncall it his. 2. Because it is given for our good as well as other\nmen's. We are not like the builders of Noah's ark, that could not be\npreserved in it.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 3. The \"strange woman\" occurs so often in this book, that it is\nnot probably she is introduced simply to denounce licentiousness.\nIndeed, she so stands twin picture to wisdom, that we come to a firm\nbelief that she is introduced as the picture of\nimpenitence.--_Miller._\n\nTo hear her one would suppose that she was possessed of the most\ngenerous and disinterested spirit. Her tongue is taught by him who\nbetrayed Eve to paint the vilest sin with the most beautiful\ncolours.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 4. The wise counsel of the father puts those things together,\nin his words which the folly of sinners putteth far asunder in their\nthoughts, the beginning and end of lustful wantonness. He that by\nforesight shall taste the bitter end will never lick the honeycomb.\nHe that by a wise consideration shall feel the sharp edges of the\nissues of it, will never delight to smooth himself with the flat\nsides of the sword.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 5. Possession of hell is taken by the wicked before they come\ninto it; the devil giveth them that when he by wickedness possesseth\ntheir hearts. There is no more to be done than to set up their abode\nin it.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 6. The words, if taken to refer to the woman, describe with a\nterrible vividness the state of heart and soul which prostitution\nbrings upon its victims; the reckless blindness that will not think,\ntottering on the abyss, yet loud in its defiant mirth, ignoring the\ndreadful future.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 7. Let no one think what he will do when he is in danger, and\nhow he will get from her, when once she hath got him to her, but hear\n_now_ what ye are to do to keep out of danger.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 8. The devil will tempt you enough without your own help. To\ntempt is his business. As you love your life and your own soul, give\nhim no assistance in the work of destruction.--_Lawson._\n\nHe that is the farthest from fire is safest from the burning of it;\nhe that is most remote from the way and course of the river is in\nless danger from the overflowing of it. It argues too much mind to be\nin the house, for anyone to come near the door of it. It is more safe\nnot to be in danger of perishing, than being in danger not to perish.\nChrysostom, speaking of Joseph, saith, \"It doth not seem so wonderful\nto me, that the three children in the furnace overcame the fire, as\nthat Joseph, being indeed in a more grievous furnace than that of\nBabylon, came forth untouched.\"--_Jermin._\n\n1. Because of thy proneness to evil. Straw will quickly take fire.\nGunpowder is no more pat to take fire than our corrupt nature to be\nprovoked to this sin. 2. Because flight is the best fight here. No\nstruggle comparable to a safe retreat.--_F. Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 10. It is said that Demosthenes gave this answer to a harlot\nwho desired to seduce him from the path of virtue, and demanded a\nhundred talents for her hire: \"I will not buy repentance so\ndear.\"--_Jermin._\n\nOne keenest torment of the damned will be to find that they are\nworking hard in the very pit of the universe; submitting to the\nsentence (Matt. xxv. 28), \"Take, therefore, the talent from him and\ngive it to him that hath ten talents.\" The adulterer might make\nhimself a bankrupt, and get himself sold for his transgression; but\nthat is a trifle compared with the sweeping surrender that must be\nmade of all by the finally impenitent.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 12. The climax goes on. Bitterer than slavery (ver. 9); poverty\n(ver. 10); disease (ver. 11) will be the bitterness of self-reproach,\nthe remorse without hope, that worketh death.--_Plumptre._\n\nThough in respect of God's infinite mercy, it be never too late in\nthis life, yet take heed how we stay too long. It is true that the\nthief on the cross found mercy at the last hour; but it hath been\nwell remarked, \"It was not the last hour, but the first, of the\nthief's knowing God; as soon as he knew Christ he was converted.\" If,\ntherefore, thou hast long known Christ, and hast not repented, do not\npresume too rashly of mercy at last.--_Jermin._\n\nThere are no infidels in eternity, and but few on a\ndeath-bed.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerses 11, 12. _Dying regrets._ +I. The subject of these regrets.+ It\nis a man who has disregarded through life the means employed to\npreserve or reclaim him. What instructors has a man living in a\ncountry like this? _First,_ Your connections in life. You may have\nbeen a member of a pious family, or had an instructor or a reprover\nin a brother, friend, or religious neighbour. _Second,_ The\nScriptures. _Third,_ Ministers. _Fourth,_ Conscience. _Fifth,_\nIrrational creatures. Can you hear the melody of the birds and not be\nashamed of your sinful silence? Can you see the heavenly bodies\nperform unerringly their appointed course and not reflect on your own\nnumberless departures from duty? _Sixth,_ The dispensations of\nProvidence. God has chastened you with sickness. You have stood by\ndying beds. +II. The period of these regrets.+ It is a dying hour. It\nis \"at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed.\" Such a\nperiod is _unavoidable._ The last breath _will_ expire, and the last\nSabbath _will_ elapse, and the last sermon _will_ be heard. Such a\nperiod cannot be _far off._ \"For what is our life? It is a vapour\nthat appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.\" It is a\nflood. It is a flower. It is a tale that is told. It is a dream. Such\na period _may be very near._ Such a period is sometimes _prematurely\nbrought on by sin._ +III. The nature of these regrets.+ This mourning\nis (1) _dreadful._ A dying hour has been called an honest hour. The\nworld then recedes from view. The delusions of imagination give way.\nCriminal excuses vanish. Memory goes back and recalls the guilt of\nthe former life, and conscience sets the most secret sins in the\nlight of God's countenance. (2) _It is useless._ Not as to others,\nbut as regards the individuals themselves. We are to describe things\naccording to their natural and common course, and not according to\noccasional exceptions. And in this case exceptions are unusual. And\nwe are borne out in this assertion (1) _By Scripture._ There we find\n_only one_ called at this hour. (2) _By observation._ We have often\nattended persons on what seemed their dying bed: we have heard their\nprayers and their professions; we have seen their distress and their\nrelief, and, had they died, we should have presumed on their\nsalvation. But we have never known one of these, who, on recovery,\nlived so as to prove the reality of his conversion! We have often\nasked ministers concerning the same case, and they have been\ncompelled to make the same awful declaration.--_Jay._\n\n\nVerse 14. In a spiritual sense this may be applied to those who \"hold\nthe truth in unrighteousness\" (Rom. i. 18), and who, although they\ndwell in the midst of holy men in the Church of God, set their\nexample at defiance by evil lives.--_Bede._\n\n\nVerse 15. Desire after forbidden enjoyments naturally springs from\ndissatisfaction with the blessings already in possession. Where\ncontentment is not found at home it will be sought for, however\nvainly, abroad. Conjugal love is chief among the earthly gifts in\nmercy granted by God to His fallen creatures. . . . Whatsoever\ninterrupts the strictest harmony in this delicate relationship, opens\nthe door to temptation. Tender domestic affection is the best defence\nagainst the vagrant desires of unlawful passion.--_Bridges._\n\nDo not steal water from others. Although the strange woman saith,\n\"Stolen waters are sweet,\" yet remember that the dead are there (ch.\nix. 17, 18). The wife is called a vessel in 1 Pet. iii. 7. These\nwords also have been expounded by ancient interpreters in a spiritual\nsense, which may well be present to the reader's mind; and they have\nbeen applied to the pure waters of Divine wisdom, a sense which is\nsuggested by Jer. ii. 13.--_Wordsworth._\n\n If God had laid all common, certainly\n Man would have been th' incloser: but since now\n God hath impaled us, on the contrary,\n Man breaks the fence, and every ground will plough.\n O what were man, might he himself misplace!\n Sure to be cross he would shift feet and face.--_George Herbert._\n\n+Spiritual Self-helpfulness.--I. Man has independent spiritual\nresources.+ He has a \"cistern,\" a \"well\" of his own. First: He has\nindependent resources of thought. Every sane man can and does think\nfor himself. Thoughts well up in every soul, voluntarily and\ninvoluntarily. Secondly: He has independent resources of experience.\nNo two have exactly the same experience. Thirdly: He has independent\npowers of usefulness. Every man has a power to do a something which\nno other can--to touch some soul with an effectiveness which no other\ncan. Wonderful is this well within--inexhaustible and ever active.\n+II. Man is bound to use these resources.+ \"Drink waters out of thine\nown cistern;\" do not live on others. Self-drawing--First: Honours our\nown nature. Secondly: Increases our own resources. Self-helpfulness\nstrengthens. The more you draw from this cistern the more comes.\nThirdly: Contributes to the good of the universe. The man who gives\nonly what he has borrowed from others adds nothing to the common\nstock. The subject--First: Indicates the kind of service one man can\nspiritually render another. To priest, rabbi, sectary, I would\nsay--Man does not require your well; he has a cistern within. What he\nwants is the warm gospel of love to thaw his frozen nature, and to\nunseal the exhaustless fountain within, to remove all obstructions\nfrom its out-flow, and to make it as pure as the crystal. The\nsubject--Secondly: Suggests an effective method to sap the foundation\nof all priestly assumptions. Let every man become self-helpful, and\nthe influence of those who arrogate a lordship over the faith of\nothers will soon die out. The subject--Thirdly: Presents a motive for\nthankfully adoring the Great Creator for the spiritual constitution\nHe has given us. We have resources not, of course, independent of Him\nthe primal fount of all life and power, but independent of all other\ncreatures. We are not like the parched traveller in the Oriental\ndesert, who, because he cannot discover water, dies of thirst.\nSpiritually, we can walk through sandy deserts bearing an exhaustless\nspring within.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\n\nVerse 18. It is not only to feed and clothe her, and refrain from\ninjuring her by word or deed. All this will not discharge a man's\nduty nor satisfy a woman's heart. All the allusions to this relation\nin Scripture imply an ardent, joyful love. To it, though it lie far\nbeneath heaven, yet to it, as the highest earthly thing, is compared\nthe union of Christ and His redeemed Church. Beware where you go for\ncomfort in distress, and sympathy in happiness. The Lord Himself is\nthe source of all consolation to a soul that seeks Him; yet nature is\nHis, as well as redemption. He has constructed nether springs on\nearth and supplied them from His own high treasures; and to these He\nbids a broken or a joyful spirit go for sympathy. To \"rejoice in the\nwife of thy youth\"--this is not to put a creature in the place of\nGod. He will take care of His own honour. He has hewn the cistern,\nand given it to you, and filed it, and when you draw out of it what\nHe has put in, you get from Himself and give Him the glory.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 19. In a spiritual sense, this imagery, derived from the limpid\nfountains and beautiful animals of the natural world, is regarded by\nthe ancient expositors as descriptive of the delicious refreshment\nand perfect loveliness of Divine truth, and the infinite blessings\nwhich it bestows on those faithful souls which are united to it in\npure and unsullied love.--_Wordsworth._\n\n\nVerse 20. A rare instance in which a canto does not begin with \"My\nson,\" but with \"Why.\" The question is intended to be pressed. The\ncommerce with \"the strange woman\" is so plainly mad that the rightly\neducated impenitent cannot possibly answer the wise man's\nquestion.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-23.\n\nTHREE REASONS FOR AVOIDING THE WAY OF SIN.\n\nThese verses contain three reasons why the way of sin should be\navoided, and the way which God has appointed should be followed.\n\n+I. Because there is no place secret enough to commit sin.+ The\nsinner often comforts himself with the thought that what he has done,\nor is in the habit of doing, is not known--that the actors of the\ndeed were the only persons privy to it. The text declares that there\nis no such thing as a secret place, because there is no place where\nthe eyes of the Eternal do not penetrate. God is a witness of every\ncrime committed in secret. He is not only a witness _after_ the\n_deed_, but _of_ the deed. Therefore there is no place secret enough\nto be a place of sin. The thought of the ever-present God should\ndeter the sinner. 1. _Because the Divine presence is a_ pure\n_presence._ People who are in the habit of committing the sin against\nwhich the whole of this chapter is directed, would possibly shrink\nfrom being guilty of it in the presence of a pure man or woman. How\nmuch more should they be deterred by the fact that the eye of the\npure and holy God is upon them. 2. _Because the presence of God is\nthe presence of One_ who has authority to punish. The presence of the\nchief magistrate of a nation would be sufficient to prevent the most\nhardened criminal from committing crime. A thief would not steal\nbefore the face of the man whom he knew could punish him. The\npresence of God is the presence of the highest authority in the\nuniverse, of One who is irresponsible to any other for His acts (Job.\nix. 12), of One who hast power most terrible, of One who has always\nvisited this sin with penalty. The presence of such an Authority\nought surely to make the adulterer quake at the very thought of his\nsin.\n\n+II. Because, though the sinner may not be apprehended by human law,\nhe shall be laid hold of and bound by his own deeds+ (verse 22). Many\nsinners of this kind go at large in the world, and are never reached\nby human law. No officer of justice will ever lay his hand upon them,\nand no material chains will ever bind them. But they are already\ntaken and imprisoned by their own evil habits, which have bound them\nin chains of increasing thickness as the acts of sin have been\nrepeated. This is a thraldom from which escape can come in only two\nways. A man must either _cease to be,_ or he must _repent,_ before he\ncan be free. Annihilation would set him free, because in ceasing to\nbe he would cease to sin. But the repentance demanded by God is the\nonly thing which will break his chains and permit him to retain his\nexistence. We have no proof that there will ever be any way of escape\nby the first means, but we have abundant proof that the second is\nopen to all men on this side of death.\n\n+III. Because the unrepentant adulterer will die as he has lived--a\nfool+ (ver. 23). A fool is a man without knowledge, one who acts from\nimpulse rather than from reason. The sinner here pourtrayed is not a\nfool because he had not had instruction, but because he has not\nheeded it. Nature, History, Revelation and Conscience were his\ninstructors, but he has disregarded them all. If he had listened to\nthem he would have gained an experimental knowledge of the\nblessedness of godliness and purity, of which he must now go out of\nthe world as ignorant as he entered it.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 21. Practical atheism is the root of human depravity. The eye,\neven of a child, is a check upon a man, but the thought of an\nall-seeing God inspires no alarm.--_Bridges._\n\nThe sin is not against man, nor dependent on man's detection only.\nThe secret sin is open before the eyes of Jehovah. In the balance of\nHis righteous judgement are weighed all human acts, this not\nexcepted. There is a significant emphasis in the recurrence of the\nword used of the harlot herself in verse 6: \"She ponders not, but God\ndoes.\"--_Plumptre._\n\nBecause the ways of a sinful man are not before his own eyes,\ntherefore are they before the eyes of God: because sinful man doth\nnot ponder his goings, therefore the Lord pondereth them; because man\ndoth not look on his ways with the eye of care, therefore the Lord\nlooketh on them with the eye of wrath; because man doth not weigh his\ngoings in the balance of due consideration, therefore God doth weigh\nthem in the balance of severe justice. The opening of our eyes over\nour sins is the shutting of God's eye towards them; the shutting of\nour eyes upon them is the opening of God's eyes against them. For\nthough we hide our ways from ourselves, we cannot hide them from God.\nWe hide Him from ourselves; we do not hide ourselves from\nHim.--_Jermin._\n\nThe meaning is, that directly in God's eyes are the ways of every\nman, as though there were no other creature in the universe; as\nthough the wise man were saying, \"Why, because the way seems smooth,\nand you seem helped in your folly, do you go on in your impenitency,\nand embrace the bosom of this wanton?\" \"For\" the way of every man is\ndirectly in the sight of God. He takes the most emphatic interest in\nour schemes, whether we are doing well or ill. He helps us either in\nsinning or doing right, for \"He levels all (one's) paths\" (see\nCritical Notes). Not that we are to involve Him in the folly of any\nsin, but if a man desires to drink, He levels the way for Him. If he\nwishes liquor, He gives it; if he desires to steal, He gives the eye\nand the nerve. . . . The Divinity seems to help the struggling,\nwhether saint or sinner, but the impenitent must not therefore\nimagine that it is righteous to go on.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 22. The licentious flatter themselves that in old age, when the\npassions are less fiery, they will easily extricate themselves from\nthe dominion of their lusts, and repent and seek salvation. But Job\nxx. 11 declares that the old sinner's \"bones are full of the sins of\nhis youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.\" Augustine,\nafter experience, says: \"While lust is being served the habit is\nformed, and whilst the habit is not being resisted necessity is\nformed.\"--_Fausset._\n\n\nVerse 23. Surely it is most just that he who lived without following\ninstruction should die without having instruction; he that in his\nlife would not do as he was instructed, deserveth that at death he\nshould not be instructed what to do.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. With+ a stranger, rather, \"for\" a stranger.\n+3. When thou art come,+ rather, \"for thou hast come.\" +Humble\nthyself,+ literally \"let thyself be trodden under foot.\" +Make sure,+\n\"importune,\" \"urge.\" +11. One that travelleth,+ \"a highwayman,\" \"a\nfootpad.\" +Armed man,+ literally, \"a man of the shield.\" +12. A\nnaughty person,+ \"a worthless man.\" +13. Teacheth,+ \"motions.\"\n+14. Frowardness,+ \"perverseness.\" +16.+ Six, yea, seven. \"A peculiar\nproverbial form, for which Arabic and Persian gnomic literature\nsupply numerous illustrations.\" Elster probably gives the simplest\nand most correct explanation, deriving it \"purely from the exigencies\nof parallelism.\" \"The form of parallelism could not, on account of\nharmony, be sacrificed in any verse. But how should a parallel be\nfound for a number? Since it was not any definite number that was the\nimportant thing, relief was found by taking one of the next adjacent\nnumbers as the parallel to that which was chiefly in mind\" (_Lange's\nCommentary_). +17. A proud look,+ literally, \"haughty eyes.\"\n+21. Continually,+ \"for evermore.\" +22.+ _Lange's Commentary_\ntranslates into the imperative form, \"+let+ it lead thee,\" etc.\n+24. Evil woman,+ literally \"the woman of evil.\" +26.+ Last clause\nmeans \"an adulteress allures to that which may cost a man his life\"\n(_Stuart_). +30. Despise.+ Some translators render this word \"scorn,\"\nothers \"disregard.\" Stuart, Wordsworth, and others adopt the former\nand understand the words to mean \"men do not despise the thief, they\ndo despise the adulterer.\" Noyse and others, adopting the latter\nrendering, take the sentence to mean \"men punish even a thief, how\nmuch more an adulterer.\" +32.+ Last clause, literally \"Whoso will\ndestroy his life, he does it.\" +34. Jealousy,+ _i.e._, of the injured\nhusband.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-5.\n\nSELF-IMPOSED BONDAGE.\n\n+I. Man's highest glory may become the chief instrument of his\ntrouble.+ The human tongue, or rather the power of speech, is a gift\nthat stands preeminent among the good gifts of God to His creatures.\nIt is man's most potent instrument of good or evil. The tongue of the\nstatesman, when used wisely, may bring blessings on millions, but\nwhen it is made the tool of ambition it may entail misery upon\ngenerations. The tongue of a Christian, when used wisely, may be the\nmeans of bringing others into the way of life, but his unguarded\nwords may be a stumbling-block in the way of many. The warning of the\ntext reminds us that when the tongue is not kept in check by reason\nand consideration the glory becomes the means of ensnaring the whole\nman. The horse is a most useful servant to man, but the creature must\nbe under proper control or he may be the means of inflicting the most\nserious injury upon his rider. If the rudder of a vessel is left to\nthe guidance of the waves, the vessel is very likely to find herself\nupon the rocks. So with the tongue of man, it must be under the\ncontrol of reason or it may bring its owner into danger and disgrace.\nWhen a man binds himself by solemn promises to a stranger of whose\ncharacter he must be ignorant, he is very likely to involve himself\nand those dependent on him in much trouble, and perhaps in dishonour.\nA promise hastily made without due consideration of the consequences\nhas often entailed upon a man years of suffering.\n\n+II. The same instrument which, thoughtlessly used, brings a man into\na snare, may, when rightly guided, be the means of his deliverance.+\nThe promise made by Herod to Herodias (Matt. xiv. 7) was one which\nought never to have been made. The king was ensnared by allowing his\ntongue to utter rash words, of which even _he_ upon reflection\nrepented. In his case, without doubt, it would have been a much less\nsin to have broken his promise than to keep it. But in the case\nbefore us, the advice given by Solomon to his pupil is, not to break\nhis word, but to use the same instrument by which he bound himself,\nto obtain, if possible, a release. This he is to do--1. _By means\npurely moral._ There are other means which a man might try. He might\nuse threatening; he might employ falsehood; but these would be\nsinful. The only lawful means are those here implied, viz., words of\npersuasion and entreaty. 2. _Without delay._ He must endeavour to\nrectify his error at once; every day that passes over his head may be\nbringing nearer the day when he may be called upon to redeem his\npromise, and so he is to give \"no sleep to his eyes nor slumber to\nhis eyelids.\"\n\n+III. This advice is to be followed as a matter of duty.+ The man who\nhas acted imprudently is bound to endeavour to deliver himself by\nlawful means. He is not to allow pride to hinder him (ver. 3). He is\nbound to try and prevent his life from being marred in the\nfuture--perhaps to its very close. For a man who is fettered by a\npromise which ought never to have been made, is like a creature born\nto enjoy freedom who has been taken captive by the hunter or the\nfowler. And as it is more than lawful for the roe or the bird (ver.\n5) to try to regain its freedom, so is it the duty of man to use all\nright means to the same end.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nThe custom of striking hands at the conclusion of a bargain has\nmaintained its ground among the customs of civilised nations down to\nthe present time. To strike hands with another was the emblem of\nagreement among the Greeks under the walls of Troy, for Nestor\ncomplains, in a public assembly of the chiefs, that the Trojans had\nviolated the engagements which they had sanctioned by libations of\nwine and by giving their right hands. (Iliad, Book II. i. 341, see\nalso Book IV. i. 139). The Roman faith was plighted in the same way;\nfor in Virgil, when Dido marked from her watchtowers the Trojan fleet\nsetting forward with balanced sails, she exclaimed, \"Is this the\nhonour, the faith, _En dextra fidesque?_\" Another striking instance\nis quoted by Calmet from Ockley's _History of the Saracens._ Telha,\njust before he died, asked one of Ali's men if he belonged to the\nEmperor of the Faithful, and being informed that he did, \"Give me,\nthen,\" said he, \"your hand, that I may put mine into it, and by this\naction renew the oath of fidelity I have already made to him.\"\n(Calmet, vol. iii). See also Job xvii. 3; 2 Kings x. 15.--_Paxton's\nIllustrations of Scripture._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 1. The two characters are carefully distinguished. 1. The\ncompanion, on whose behalf the young man pledges himself. 2. The\nstranger, probably the Ph\u0153nician money-lender, to whom he makes\nhimself responsible.--_Plumptre._\n\nGod graciously directs our temporal affairs by His providence, and\ncondescends, in His word, to give us instructions concerning them. If\nwe regard not these, we need not be surprised though His providence\nconvince us, by dear-bought experience, of our folly and\nsin.--_Lawson._\n\nThe son has just been warned against the deadly wound of a stranger.\nHe is now cautioned against a hurt from in imprudent friend. . . .\nOur God, while he warns against _suretyship,_ has taken it upon\nHimself. He has given His word, His bond--yea, His blood--for\nsinners: a security that no powers of hell can shake.--_Bridges._\n\nSolomon, on different occasions, condemns the practice of suretyship.\nThis condemnation is general. It does not follow, however, that what\nhe says is to be taken as an unqualified prohibition, to which there\nare no circumstances that can constitute an exception. . . . There\nare cases in which it is unavoidable; and there are cases in which\nthe law requires it; and there are cases in which it is not only in\nconsistence with law, but required by all the claims of prudence,\njustice, and charity. These, however, are rare. And it may be laid\ndown as a maxim regarding the transactions of business, and all the\nmutual dealings of man with man, that _the less of it the better_. In\nsuch cases as the following, it is manifestly inadmissible, and may\neven, in some instances, involve a large amount of moral turpitude.\n+I. It is wrong for a man to come under engagements that are beyond\nhis actually existing means.+ Such a course is not merely of\nimprudence, but there is in it a _threefold injustice._ First, to the\ncreditor for whom he becomes surety. Secondly, to his family, if he\nhas one, to whom the requisition of payment must bring distress and\nruin. Thirdly, to those who give him credit in his own transactions,\nwith the risks of his own trade. +II. The same observations are\napplicable to the making of engagements with inconsideration and\nrashness.+ The case here supposed is evidently that of suretyship\n_for_ a friend _to_ a _stranger._ And the rashness may be viewed\neither in relation to the _person_ or to the _case._--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt may at first excite surprise that Solomon should have thought it\nneedful to dwell so much as he does in the Proverbs on the evil of\nsuretyship (xi. 15; xvii. 18; xx. 16; xxii. 26; xxvii. 13), and that\nin his lessons of moral prudence he should assign the first place to\ncautions against it. The reason is probably to be found in the\npeculiar circumstances under which the Proverbs were written, and the\nspecial design of the author in writing them; although, doubtless,\nSolomon had a general and universal purpose in composing them, and\nthe Holy Spirit, who employed his instrumentality in the work, looked\nfar beyond Solomon and his times, and extended his view to all ages\nand nations of the world. . . . But the occasion which gave rise to\nthe writing of the Proverbs was a personal and national one. Many\nstrangers resorted to Jerusalem in the days of Solomon from all parts\nof the civilised world, for the purpose of commerce and trade.\nBorrowing and lending money was much in vogue; and many shrewd and\ncrafty adventurers speculated on the credulity of rich capitalists.\nSolomon addresses his _son_ Rehoboam (ver. 3). He was born before his\nfather's accession to the throne, and Solomon reigned forty years. We\nhear nothing of him until his ripe maturity, and then we are told of\nan act of egregious folly. It was evident he was just the person to\nbe the dupe of licentious spendthrifts and griping usurers. The\ncourtly parasite who desired to find means for paying his own debts,\nor indulging his own vices, and the avaricious money-lender, would\nfind a victim in the princely heir to the throne, whom they would\nflatter with eulogies on his generosity, and would puff up with proud\nnotions of the exhaustless wealth to which he was the\naspirant.--_Wordsworth._\n\n\nVerse 2. In the passage before us the warning is not so much against\nsuretyship in general as merely against the imprudent assumption of\nsuch obligations, leaving out of account the moral unreliableness of\nthe man involved; and the counsel is to the quickest possible release\nfrom every obligation of this kind that may have been hastily\nassumed. With the admonitions of our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount,\nto be ready at all times for the lending and giving away of one's\nproperty, even in cases where one cannot hope for the recovery of\nwhat has been given out (Luke vi. 30-36: comp. with 1 Cor. vi. 7),\nthis demand is not in conflict. For Christ also plainly demands no\nsuch readiness to suffer loss on account of our neighbour, as would\ndeprive us of personal liberty, and rob us of all means of further\nbeneficence.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nFor bills and obligations do mancipate the most free and ingenuous\nspirit, and so put a man out of aim that he can neither serve God\nwithout distraction nor do good to others, nor set his own state in\nany good order, but lives and dies entangled and puzzled with cares\nand snares; and after a tedious and labourious life passed in a\ncircle of fretting thoughts, he leaves at last, instead of better\npatrimony, a world of intricate troubles to his posterity, who are\nalso taken \"with the words of his mouth.\"--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 3. This appeal is not, obviously, to the bond-giver, who has\nseduced us to endorse him, and is as helpless as we to get anybody\noff; but the bond-holder, for a securityship is to beg off in the\nmost unspeakable abjectness, and to press and to urge the credit to\nrelease our name. Now, I say, this is not _simpliciter_, the gist of\nthe inspiration. But if we introduce the Gospel; if we see in this a\ngreat picture of our guilt; if we see in the bond-holder the Friend\nto whom we are to appeal; if we see in the bond-giver sin in all the\nseductive forms in which it has come down to us from the original\ntransgressor; if the grip of the suretyship is the law, and the form\nof the law is the broken covenant; if the act of our \"striking hands\"\nis the way we have accepted the curse of Adam, and the way we have\nvolunteered under this _stranger's_ burdens, then the whole passage\nbecomes complete, and we are ready for the appeal, \"Go, humble\nthyself,\" &c. That is the very Gospel.--_Miller._\n\n\nSt. Gregory, Bede, and other ancient expositors, apply these\ninjunctions in a spiritual sense. \"To be a surety for a friend is to\ntake upon thee the charge of looking to another's soul,\" says St.\nGregory, who also, reading the latter clause of the verse in the\nsense of _\"urging\"_ and _\"importuning\"_ (see Critical Notes),\nexplains it thus: \"Whosoever is set before others for an example of\ntheir living is admonished, not only to watch himself, but to rouse\nup his friend: for it sufficeth not that he doth watch well, if he do\nnot rouse him also over whom he is set from the drowsiness of sin.\"\n\n\nVerse 4. Has this precept any connection with our spiritual\ninterests? It has. It is a part of the eighth commandment, and though\nmen regard it rather as a loss than as a sin to endanger their\noutward estate, it is both a sin and a temptation. Men who once\nseemed upright in their dealings have brought reproach upon religion\nby living and dying in other men's debt, and by having recourse to\nunjustifiable methods, suggested by distress, to relieve themselves.\nThe effect of suretyship, even with the most upright men, has often\nproved hurtful to their souls, embittering their days, and unfitting\nthem for the cheerful service of religion. We are the servants of\nChrist, and must not disqualify ourselves for His service by making\nourselves needlessly the servants of men.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 5. It is evident, however, that the language implies, If, with\nall your efforts, you are unsuccessful in obtaining your discharge\nyou must stand to your engagement. Treachery would be a much greater\nloss in character.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-11.\n\nINDUSTRY AND INDOLENCE.\n\nA contrast. +I. The industrious insect.+ 1. _Nature is intended to be\na moral teacher to man._ The most saintly natures of ancient and\nmodern times have regarded God's works in this light, and God Himself\nhas led the van in so often pointing man to animate and inanimate\nNature for instruction and comfort. He first announced this truth\nwhen He said to Noah, \"I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be\na token of a covenant between Me and the earth\" (Gen. ix. 13). This\nis the first record of the enlistment of Nature as a helper to the\nhuman soul, the first recorded instance of God's pointing out to man\nwhat He intended all natural objects to become to his spiritual\nnature. Here the son of Solomon is exhorted to gain instruction--to\nbe stirred up to a sense of duty--from a study of one of God's\ninferior creatures. _2. Nature becomes the instructor of those only\nwho consider her ways._ The existence, within a man's reach, of the\nmost beautiful painting in the world will be of no advantage to him\nunless he studies it. It is only as he _considers_ it that it will\nconvey to him the thought of the painter. The works of God are within\nthe reach of men, but they must be looked at and _considered_ if they\nare to be to him what God intended them to be. God placed the bow in\nthe cloud and the tiny ant upon the ground to be subjects of\nmeditation. The Psalmist _considered_ the heavens before he was moved\nwith a sense of his own littleness and God's majesty (Psalm viii.).\nSolomon's precept is, \"Consider the ant.\" 3. _The lessons which are\nto be learned from the study of the ant._ Industry, improvement of\nopportunities, and individual action. The amount of work done by this\ninsignificant insect ought to be enough to shame an indolent man into\nactivity. Her care in embracing present opportunities is a loud\nrebuke to those who would put off until to-morrow what, perhaps, can\nonly be done to-day. She says, by her diligent use of present hours,\n\"I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night\ncometh, when no man can work\" (John ix. 4). Especially her individual\neffort is held up as worthy of imitation (ver. 7). While some men\nwait for another to take the initiative, to clear the path for them,\nshe puts forth her own individual effort without guide, overseer, or\nruler. Each man must do his own work in the world, each one has\nresponsibilities of his own which will not admit of being discharged\nby proxy. He must find out his individual duty, and not try to shift\nthe burden upon the shoulders of another, or wait for another to go\nbefore him in the way.\n\n+II. The indolent man.+ 1. _He does the right thing at the wrong\ntime, or indulges to excess in a gift of God which is intended to be\nused in moderation._ Sleep is one of God's most precious gifts to man\nin his present condition. It is a necessity of human nature. The\nprophet Elijah had an angel of God to watch over him while he slept.\nGod saw that it was the medicine he most needed in that hour of\nbodily fatigue and mental depression. But if he had been sleeping at\nthe hour of evening sacrifice, when the nation had to choose between\nGod and Baal on Mount Carmel, he would have been guilty of a great\nsin against himself, his nation, and his God. Israel was promised the\nland of rest after they had fought their way through the desert. Rest\nis the reward of labour and not to be substituted for it. And\nalthough intervals of rest are necessary and right, life is meant for\nwork, and the motto of every man ought to be that of the famous\ncoadjutor of the great William of Orange, St. Aldegonde, \"Repos\nailleurs\" (rest elsewhere). The sin of the sluggard is the abuse of a\ngreat blessing, the doing of a right thing at the wrong time. 2. _The\nconsequence of such conduct._ This can be abundantly illustrated from\nhuman experience. If the farmer rests when, regardless of cold and\nstorm, he ought to be ploughing or sowing, poverty will be coming\nupon him when his barns ought to be filled with plenty. The man who\nlets slip his spiritual opportunities through soul-indolence, will\nfind himself in a state of soul-poverty at the end of life. When he\nought to be reaping an abundant harvest of soul-satisfaction from a\nlife whose energies have been used to bless himself and others, he\nwill find himself in a state of soul-destitution. The rich man said\nto his soul, \"Take thine ease,\" when he ought to have aroused it to\nprepare for the future which was coming up to meet him. But for the\nneglect of this God branded him as a \"fool\" (Luke xii. 20).\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATIONS OF VERSES_ 6-8.\n\nWhen I began to employ workmen in this country, nothing annoyed me\nmore than the necessity to hire also an _overseer,_ or to fulfil this\noffice myself. But I soon found this was universal, and strictly\nnecessary. Without an overseer very little work would be done, and\nnothing as it should be. The workmen will not work at all unless kept\nto it and directed in it by an overseer who is himself a perfect\nspecimen of laziness. He does absolutely nothing but smoke his pipe,\norder this, scold that one, discuss the how and the why with the men\nthemselves, or with idle passers-by. This overseeing often costs more\nthan the work overseen. Now the ants manage far better. Every one\nattends to his own business and does it well. In another respect\nthese provident creatures read a very necessary lesson to Orientals.\nIn all warm climates there is a ruinous want of calculation and\nforecast. Having enough for the current day, men are reckless as to\nthe future. . . . Now the ant \"provideth her meat in summer.\" All\nsummer long, and especially in harvest, every denizen of their\npopulous habitation is busy. As we ride or walk over the grassy\nplains, we notice paths leading to their subterranean granaries; at\nfirst broad, clean and smooth, like roads near a city, but constantly\nbranching off into smaller and less distinct, until they disappear in\nthe herbage of the plain. Along these converging paths hurry\nthousands of ants, thickening inward until it becomes an unbroken\ncolumn of busy beings going in search of or returning with their\nfood. I read lately, in a work of some pretension, that ants do not\ncarry away wheat or barley. This was by way of comment on Prov.\nvi. 8. Tell it to these farmers, and they will laugh at you. Ants are\nthe greatest robbers in the land. Leave a bushel of wheat in the\nvicinity of one of their subterranean cities, and in a surprisingly\nshort time the whole commonwealth will be summoned to plunder. A\nbroad, black column stretches from the wheat to the hole, and, as if\nby magic, every grain seems to be accommodated with legs, and walks\noff in a hurry along the moving column.--_Thompson's Land and the\nBook._\n\nSolomon's lesson to the sluggard has been generally adduced as a\nstrong confirmation of the ancient opinion, that ants have a magazine\nof provisions for winter; it can, however, only relate to the species\nof a warm climate, the habits of which are probably different from\nthose of a cold one; so that his words, as commonly interpreted, may\nbe perfectly correct and consistent with Nature, and yet be not at\nall applicable to the species that are indigenous to Europe. But\nSolomon does not affirm that the ant laid up in her cell stores of\ngrain, but that she gathers her food when it is most plentiful, and\nthus shows her wisdom and prudence. The words thus interpreted will\napply to the species among us, as well as to those that are not\nindigenous.--_Kirby and Spence's Entomology._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 6. We may _infer_ Rehoboam's character from such exhortations\nas these. And these and following precepts derive much interest from\nwhat we have reason to believe was his character. His position bore\nsome resemblance to that of our own Charles II., at the voluptuous\ncourt of Versailles, before his accession to the throne, and the\ncharacter of the one was in some respects similar to that of the\nother. The unhappy example of his own father Solomon, in his old age,\nwas more potent for evil than the precepts of the Proverbs were for\ngood. At the age of forty-one Rehoboam was a feeble libertine. The\nwarnings of the _Ic\u00f3n Basilik\u00e9_ fell flat on the ears of the royal\nauthor's own son, and Rehoboam derived little benefit from the book\nof Proverbs.--_Wordsworth._\n\n\nVerses 6 to 8. Our whole present life is the time for action; the\nfuture for retribution, which shall be ushered in by the judgment:\nthe latter is the harvest (Matt. xxv. 3, 4).--_Fausset._\n\nHow is man degenerated from the nobility of his creation, that an\ninsect must be a pattern unto him. He that goes well without a guide\nis fit to be a guide, he that does well without an overseer is fit to\nbe an overseer, he that orders himself well without a ruler is fit to\nbe a ruler. Let the ant, therefore, be a guide unto the sluggard, and\nteach him to guide himself, who guides herself so carefully. Let the\nant be his overseer, which he sees to overgo himself so much in pains\nand labour. Let the ant be his ruler, and by her example command him\nto work which rules herself so well in working.--_Jermin._\n\nFirst, as the ant in summer gathereth whereupon to live in winter, so\nevery Christian in a time of quietness should gather out of God's\nword, that in trouble and adversity he may have wherewith to live\nspiritually. Secondly, we ought to labour by the example of the ant,\nthat we get the fruit of good works, in the harvest of this present\nlife, so sedulously and diligently, that in the time of winter and\njudgment we perish not with hunger.--_St. Augustine._\n\nThese precepts have a spiritual meaning and are to be applied to the\nsoil of the heart and mind. As Bede says here, \"The present life is\ncompared to summer and harvest, because now, in the heat of trials,\nwe must reap and lay up for the future, and the day of death and\njudgment is the winter for which we must prepare, and when there is\nno more any time for preparation.\"--_Wordsworth._\n\nMan, that was once the captain of God's school, is now, for his\ntruantliness, turned down into the lowest form, as it were to learn\nhis A B C again; yea to be taught by these meanest creatures. . . .\nLet no man here object that word of our Saviour, \"Take no thought for\nthe morrow.\" There is a care of _diligence,_ and a care of\n_diffidence;_ a care of the head and a care of the heart; the former\nis needful, the latter sinful.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 9. Much more loudly would we call to the spiritual\nsluggard--thou that art sleeping away the opportunities of grace; not\n\"striving to enter in at the strait gate\" (Luke xiii. 24); taking thy\nsalvation for granted; hoping that thou shalt \"reap where thou has\nnot sown, and gather where thou hast not strawed\" (Matt. xxv. 26);\nimprove, after this pattern, the summer and harvest season--the time\nof youth, the present, perhaps the only moment. _The ant hath no\nguide._ How many guides have you?--conscience, the Bible, ministers!\n_She has no overseer._ You are living before Him \"whose eyes are a\nflame of fire.\" _She has no ruler_ calling her to account. \"Every one\nof us must give account of himself to God.\"--_Bridges._\n\nEpaminondas, finding one of his sentinels asleep, thrust him through\nwith his sword; and, being chidden for so great severity, replied, \"I\nleft him but as I found him.\" It must be our care that death serve us\nnot in like sort, that we be not taken napping. . . . Our Saviour was\nup and at prayer \"a great while before day\" (Mark i. 45). The holy\nangels are styled \"watchers\" (Dan. iv. 10), and they are three times\npronounced happy that _watch_ (Luke xii. 37, 38, 43).--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 11. Two things are denoted in this imagery. 1. That idleness\nwill _quickly_ bring poverty. 2. That it will come as a\n_destroyer._--_Stuart._\n\nI look upon indolence as a sort of suicide, for the man is\neffectually destroyed, though the appetite of the brute may\nsurvive.--_Lord Chesterfield._\n\nGod will not support thee without work, but by work, that is His holy\nordinance (Gen. iii. 19): Do thy part, and God will do His.--_Egard._\n\nA most dreadful simile! One who has waited for a fight knows how\nslowly the armed men seem to come up. They may be hours passing the\nintervening space. There is no sound of them. They are not on the\nroads, or on the air, either in sight or echo; and yet they are\n_coming on!_ The intervening time is the sluggard's sleeping time;\nand it seems an age. But his want will come. . . . All slothfulness\nis, no doubt, rebuked; but especially that which has all heaven for\nits garnered stores; all hell for its experience of want; all time\nfor its season of neglect; and all eternity to break upon its\nsleep.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-19.\n\nA STUDENT OF INIQUITY.\n\n+I.+ We have in these words a picture of a man so wicked that he\nmakes it his study how to commit sin. The sin of many men, perhaps of\nmost men, arises from thoughtlessness, weakness, or slothfulness (see\nverses 9, 10), but there are others who make sin their business, and\napply themselves to it with as much diligence as the merchant gives\nto his trade, or the man of letters to his pursuit of knowledge. \"He\ndeviseth mischief\" (verse 14), \"his heart deviseth wicked\nimaginations\" (verse 18). 1. _Those who wish to compass any\nparticular end must think upon the means by which they can accomplish\nit._ Progression in iniquity is not always accomplished without\nthought, and wicked men have to plan much and think deeply sometimes\nbefore their malicious devices are ripe for execution. The thief has\nto study his profession before he can become an accomplished burglar.\nThe sharper must spend much time in acquiring the skill by which he\npreys upon less experienced gamblers. The murderer must ponder deeply\nhow he is to do his bloody deed without detection. It cost Haman a\ngood deal of thinking before he could devise a scheme likely to\ninjure Mordecai. The chief priests and scribes held many\nconsultations before they compass the death of Christ (Mark xi. 18,\nxiv. 1-55, etc.). The wicked man of the text is a student of ways and\nmeans. 2. _He is constant in his studies._ If a man professes to make\nany branch of knowledge his particular study and only applies himself\nto it by fits and starts, we know he is not much in earnest about it,\nbut if he is constant in his application, he demonstrates by his\nperseverance that he intends, if possible, to excel. The wicked man\nhere pictured by Solomon has made up his mind not to fail through\nlack of continuous application, \"he deviseth mischief _continually_\"\n(ver. 14). If one plan fails, he begins to form another; when one\nscheme has brought the desired end, he at once sets to work at a\nfresh one; as a natural consequence--3. _He makes progress,_ \"he\nwalks with a froward mouth\" (ver. 12), his feet become \"swift in\nrunning to mischief\" (ver. 18). The man who is always in the practice\nof any art can hardly stand still in it. He can hardly fail to become\nmore and more of an adept. He sees where he might have done better\nyesterday and supplies the deficiency next time. And this is true of\nthe work of wickedness as of any other work, \"practice makes\nperfect.\" There are men, for instance, who from constant practice\n\"lie like truth.\" The more the man studies how to injure his\nfellow-creatures, the more easily he can plan; the oftener he plans,\nthe easier he finds it. 4. _In order to carry out his designs he\ninvents an original language_ (ver. 13) There is no member of the\nbody which cannot become a medium to convey thought. The eye is very\neloquent in this work, the hand, the lip, the finger, the whole body\nmay do this to some extent, and are sometimes blessedly so employed\nwhen affliction has shut out our fellow-man from hearing the human\nvoice, but this man of wickedness makes his whole body a medium for\nthe conveyance of his evil plans and desires. He yields his \"members\nas instruments of unrighteousness unto sin\" (Rom. vi. 13). The common\nevery-day language of outspoken honest men will not do to convey his\nthoughts, because his thoughts are against the welfare of his fellow\ncreatures. This compels him to use a language which is comprehended\nonly by those who are like himself. The eye can be used in this way\nas a more safe and swift instrument than the tongue. A look may\nembody a thought that would need many words to express. The glance of\none wicked man to another has often been the sentence of death to\nmany. And so, in a less degree, perhaps, with the foot and the hand,\nas Matthew Henry says, \"Those whom he makes use of as the tools of\nhis wickedness understand the ill meaning of a wink of his eye, a\nstamp of his feet, the least motion of his fingers. He gives orders\nfor evil-doing, and yet would not be thought to do so, but has ways\nof concealing what he does, so that he may not be suspected.\"\n\n+II. The end of such a man.+ (Verse 15.) 1. _His very success will\nbring his ruin._ The man who makes it the business of his life to lay\nplans against the comfort of his fellow-creatures may succeed for a\ntime, but by-and-by he will find himself so famous, or infamous, that\na reward may be offered for his person, and his very success in\ndeceiving others in the past will possibly so throw him off his guard\nas to make him an easy prey to those who now lie in wait to bring him\nto justice. But if he escape the messenger of human retribution, he\nis sure of the Divine Nemesis. God's law and the universe are against\nhim. In sowing discord in the world, he has sowed destruction for\nhimself, and he must reap it. However cleverly he may have outwitted\nhis fellow-men, he has not deceived God, and _His_ law is that\n\"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap\" (Ephes. vi. 7).\n2. _The punishment will come when least expected._ \"Suddenly shall he\nbe broken\" (verse 15). The thief makes it his study to find an\nentrance into his victim's house when he least expects him, and he\nfinds himself one day repaid in his own coin. When he is enjoying his\nfancied security an officer of justice visits him, and suddenly he is\nsummoned to answer for his crimes. This we find is generally the case\nwith retribution; it not only comes certainly, but at a time when it\nis least looked for. 3. _His ruin will be complete._ \"He shall be\nbroken without remedy\" (verse 15). The crime of murder is regarded by\nour code of law as one which deserves the extremest penalty which man\ncan inflict upon man. The murderer, as a rule, is visited with a\npunishment which, so far as his earthly existence goes, cuts off all\nhope for the future. The man who is pictured to us in these verses is\none who appears to have completed his character as a sinner. The\nnumber seven is often used in Scripture to denote\nperfection--completion; and this student of iniquity appears to have\nsucceeded so well in his studies that there is no vice which is not\nfound in one of the seven things which go to make up his character.\nHis pride leads him to refuse God's yoke, and to carve out for\nhimself a way without reference to the will of Him in whom he lives\nand moves. But his lying tongue betrays a sense of weakness. He fears\nthat his plans, though so skilfully laid, may not succeed, and\ntherefore he has recourse to deception to help him out with them. And\nso cruel is he that he shrinks from no misery that he may bring upon\nothers in the furtherance of his own designs; neither the character\nnor the life of his victims is spared. He is \"a false witness that\nspeaketh lies and soweth discord,\" his \"hands shed innocent blood.\"\nFor so diseased a member of the body politic there seems nothing left\nbut amputation. So complete a sinner must suffer a complete ruin.\n_Finally,_ that such a character should be an abomination to the Lord\n(verse 16) is most natural, if we consider how entirely it is at\nvariance with what God is Himself. Like seeks and loves like. The\nmusical soul seeks and delights in those who love music. The\ncourageous Jonathan delights in the courageous David. God is humble.\nHe makes a right estimate of Himself and others. This is true\nhumility. \"Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,\nwho humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in\nthe earth\"? (Psa. cxiii. 5, 6). How great a contrast is He in this\nrespect to the man of \"proud look\"? God is a \"God of truth\" (Psa.\nxxxi. 5), it is a blessed impossibility with Him to lie (Titus i. 2).\nHow can He do other than abominate a \"lying tongue\"? He is the\nSaviour of men (1 Tim. iv. 10); this sinner seeks to destroy them. He\nis the Author of peace and the lover of concord; this man's aim has\nbeen to \"sow discord\" even \"among brethren.\"\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nIt should be remembered that, in the East, when people are in the\nhouse they do not wear sandals, consequently their feet and toes are\nexposed. When guests wish to speak so as not to be observed by the\nhost, they convey their meaning by the feet and toes. Does a person\nwish to leave the room in company with another? he lifts up one of\nhis feet; and should the other refuse, he also lifts up a foot and\nsuddenly puts it down again. When merchants wish to make a bargain\nwith others without making known their terms, they sit on the ground,\nhave a piece of cloth thrown over the lap, and then put a hand under,\nand thus speak with their fingers. When the Brahmins convey religious\nmysteries to their disciples, they teach with their fingers, having\nthe hands concealed in the folds of their robe.--_Roberts, in\nBiblical Treasury._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. He who is nobody in deeds is often strong in words. He\nwhose hands are idle has a tongue anything but idle; and he tries by\nwords suited to men's humours to win that favour which he cannot by\ndeeds.--_Cartwright._\n\n\"Walketh\" implies _progress_ in _evil,_ as the tendency of all sin is\nto grow more and more inveterate.--_Fausset._\n\nEvery idle man is a \"naughty\" man; _is_, or ere long, _will be_, for\nby doing nothing men learn to do evil. And \"thou wicked and slothful\nservant,\" saith our Saviour (Matt. xxv. 26). He putteth no difference\nbetween the idle person and the wicked person. The devil will not\nlong suffer such an one to be idle, but will soon set him to work.\nIdleness is the hour of temptation.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 13. He conveys his meanings, and carries on his scheme, and\npromotes his ends, in every sly, covert, unexpected way.--_Wardlaw._\n\nNot speech only, but all other means by which man holds intercourse\nwith man, are turned to instruments of fraud and falsehood. The wink\nwhich tells the accomplice that the victim is already snared, the\ngestures with foot and hand, half of deceit, half of mockery--these\nwould betray him to anyone who was not blind.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 14. The wise man had showed before the outward rivulets, now he\nshows the inward fountain, a corrupt heart. This is added lest we\nshould think that only outward signs and gestures are evil. If\nneither by outward signs nor gestures a wicked man dare express\nhimself, yet his heart is evil.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nAs the agriculturist applies himself wholly to the ploughing and\nsowing of his land, so the froward gives himself wholly to iniquity,\nseeking his harvest of gain, or of enjoyment of malignity, in\ntraducing or lying, or in praising with words whilst all the time\ntraducing by signs.--_Fausset._\n\nWhere frowardness soweth the field, what can grow but contentions\nonly? But these are first sown in the heart by mischievous devices,\nand their being come to a ripeness, then are they gathered, and are\nagain sown in the outward actions of discord, one harvest serving to\nbring on another until they bring the seedsman to the harvest of\ndestruction. The force of the verse is, that when wickedness is\nsilent outwardly, it is devising mischief inwardly, that it may\npractice it the more abundantly.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 15. _Therefore_, if a thing be so ruinous; if it be a fountain\nof sin; if it be sending forth corruption in such a manner as to\nincrease the mass of it, and never diminish it; if it be putting\nforth causes of quarrel both with God and man, then that thing must\nbe crushed. We would expect a sharp, clean end. If it be a root, it\nmust be threaded to its very eye, and all the life of it must be\ntraced and crushed quite out of it in the soil.--_Miller._\n\nThe word \"suddenly\" shows the vanity of the sinner's hope that he\nshall have the time or the gift of repentance (Job. xxi. 17, 18; Psa.\nlxiii. 19).--_Fausset._\n\nIt were pity such a villain should go without his reward. The wise\nman, therefore, doth not leave him without his judgment denounced,\nand it is a grievous one. For he that spendeth time to devise\nmischief shall not have time at last to devise help for the\npreventing of his own sudden mischief. He that by plots maketh the\nbreaches of strife, shall at length be broken suddenly into pieces,\nwithout hope of piecing himself together again. . . . Of Satan it is\nsaid that he fell like lightning from heaven, the fall whereof is\nmost sudden, and so that it never riseth again. And so cometh the\ncalamity of malicious, froward hearts: such is the breaking fall of\ntheir destruction.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. This, curtly, is a restatement of the picture just passed;\nnot exactly, but ripened a little, and advanced into a more mature\nexpression.--_Miller._\n\nIt is an evidence of the good-will God bears to mankind, that those\nsins are in a special manner provoking to Him which are prejudicial\nto the comfort of human life and society.--_Henry._\n\nThe things which God hateth are the things which the devil maketh. He\ncannot be the author and hater of the same thing. And therefore it is\nnot man, but the wicked things in man, which God abhorreth, and\nwhich, did not man love, God would still love man, although He hateth\nthem.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 17. A proud look or \"lofty eyes\" might seem to have little to\ndo with a \"worthless man\" (see Critical Notes on verse 12), but a man\nis a man of emptiness solely because he is depending, in divers ways,\nupon himself. Humility is the very first lesson towards salvation. A\nman could not live a whole long life taking \"a little more sleep\" if\nhe was not arrogantly depending upon something within himself. \"Hands\nthat shed innocent blood:\" The movements of such a man are all\ndeadly. The amiable may be fairly stung by such rude speech, but the\nwise man intends to imply that a deceived impenitence deceives and\nfesters all about it. The worldly father that misguides his son sheds\nhis blood. It is astonishing how much there is in the Bible of this\ncruel language (Psa. v. 9; Isa. i. 21, &c.).--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 18. The heart underlies the seven vices which are an\nabomination to God, and in the midst, because it is the fountain from\nwhich evil flows in all directions.--_Starke._\n\n\nVerse 19. If the heavenly \"dew descends upon the brethren that dwell\ntogether in unity\" (Psa. cxxxiii.), a withering blast will fall on\nthose who, mistaking prejudice for principle, \"cause divisions\" for\ntheir own selfish ends (Rom. xvi. 17, 18). If we cannot attain unity\nof opinion, \"perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the\nsame judgment\" (1 Cor. i. 10), at least let us cultivate unity of\nSpirit (Phil. iii. 16).--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerses 12-19. As respects the arrangement in which the seven\nmanifestations of treacherous dealing are enumerated in verses 16-19,\nit does not perfectly correspond with the order observed in verses\n12-14. There the series is--mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, heart,\ndevising evil counsels, stirring up strifes; here it is eyes, tongue,\nhands, heart, feet, speaking lies, instigating strife. With reference\nto the organs which are named as the instruments in the first five\nforms of treacherous wickedness, in the second enumeration an order\nis adopted involving a regular descent; the base disposition to stir\nup strife, or to let loose controversy in both cases ends the\nseries. . . . The six or seven vices, twice enumerated in different\norder and form of expression, are, at the same time, all of them\nmanifestations of hatred against one's neighbour, or sins against the\nsecond table of the Decalogue; yet it is not so much a general\nunkindness as rather an unkindness consisting and displaying itself\nin falseness and malice that is emphasised as their common element.\nAnd only on account of the peculiarly mischievous and ruinous\ncharacter of just these sins of hatred to one's neighbour, is he who\nis subject to them represented as an object of especially intense\nabhorrence on the part of a holy God, and as threatened with the\nstrongest manifestations of His anger in penalties.--_Dr. Z\u00f6ckler, in\nLange's Commentary._\n\n\nVerses 16-19. There is one parallel well worthy of notice between the\nseven cursed things here and the seven blessed things in the fifth\nchapter of Matthew. In the Old Testament the things are set down in\nthe sterner form of what the Lord hates, like the \"Thou shalt not\" of\nthe Decalogue. In the New Testament the form is in accordance with\nthe gentleness of Christ. There we learn the good things that are\nblessed, and are left to gather thence the opposite evils that are\ncursed. But, making allowance for the difference in form, the first\nand the last of the seven are identical in the two lists. \"The Lord\nhates a proud look\" is precisely equivalent to \"Blessed are the poor\nin spirit;\" and \"He that soweth discord among brethren\" is the exact\nconverse of the \"peacemaker.\" The coincidence must be designed. When\nJesus was teaching His disciples on the Mount He seems to have had in\nview the similar instructions that Solomon had formerly delivered,\nand, while the teaching is substantially new, there is as much of\nallusion to the ancient Scripture as to make it manifest that the\nGreat Teacher kept His eye upon the prophets, and sanctioned all\ntheir testimony.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-23.\n\n_On verses 20 and 21, see Homiletics on_ chap. i. 7-9, _and_ iv. 1-4.\n\nTHE LAW OF GOD'S WORD.\n\n+I. The Divine law as a lamp.+ 1. _It is like a lamp because it is\nportable._ A light that cannot be carried from place to place will be\nuseless to a man who has to find his way home in the dark on an\nuneven road. Life is such a journey, and the commandment of the Lord\ncan be carried in man's memory and heart: \"Thy Word have I hid in\nmine heart, that I might not sin against Thee\" (Psa. cxix. 11).\n2. _Its existence declares that men need light from a source outside\nthemselves._ A man's eyes on a dark night are not sufficient to\nenable him to find the right road. If he depends simply upon them he\nwill find that the \"light within him is darkness\" (Luke xi. 35). He\nmust have external help. The existence of God's revelation in the\nworld proves that man has not enough light within him to guide his\nfeet into the way of peace. His own spiritual perception will not\nenable him to find his way through the night to eternal day. 3. _It\nis in constant requisition._ The position and relation of our globe\nto the sun makes it certain that night will constantly succeed the\nday. And while the night continues to follow day the lamp will be\nneeded to illumine the darkness. The Divine lamp will never be out of\nuse while temptation, and doubt, and sin, and ignorance beset the\npath of man, as certainly as the revolution of the globe brings the\nnight.\n\n+II. The commandment as a guide.+ \"When thou goest, it shall lead\nthee\" (verse 22). Where leading is promised ignorance is implied. The\nman who trusts to another to guide him acknowledges by the act that\nthe guide knows more than he does. Scripture takes for granted that\nman is ignorant. Its existence implies that man needs information and\ndirection concerning his life.\n\n+III. The commandment as a guard.+ \"When thou sleepest, it shall keep\nthee.\" A keeper, or guard, implies danger in general, and in this\ninstance in particular. There is a general danger in times of\npestilence, and there is a special danger in some places and under\nsome circumstances. There is a danger common to all vessels when\nsailing the ocean, but there are some parts which are especially\ndangerous. So it is with men in relation to sin. There is the general\nliability to fall into sin common to all men, but there are dangers\nwhich more especially beset youth and inexperience, and there is one\nsin above all others which is terrible in its effects and ruinous to\nthe whole man. The text applies to a general keeping from the common\ndanger and to a special keeping from this special danger (verse 24).\n\n+IV. The commandment is a keeper, a guide, and a lamp to those only\nwho keep it.+ A man binds his sandal upon his foot and it keeps his\nfoot, because it has itself been kept in its right place. There is a\nmutual keeping. There can be no keeping _by_ the word unless there is\na keeping _of_ the word. A greater than Solomon has told us this\ntruth. Our Lord, in His parable of the sower, reminds us of those\nwayside hearers who, not keeping the word, were not kept by it, and\nof those who, like the rocky or thorny ground, kept it only for a\nwhile and were only kept by it until the time of temptation scorched\nthem, and their profession withered away (Matt. xiii. 1-7). And our\nLord Himself used the commandment in the hour of His temptation to\nkeep Him. To all the advances of the tempter he replied, \"It is\nwritten.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 20. The first feature that arrests attention in this picture\nis, that effects are attributed to the law of a mother which only\nGod's law can produce. The inference is obvious and sure. It is\nassumed that the law which a mother instils is the Word of God\ndwelling richly in her own heart, and that she acts as a channel to\nconvey that Word to the heart of her children. To assume it as\nactually done is the most impressive method of enjoining it. Parents\nare, by the constitution of things, in an important sense mediators\nbetween God and their children for a time. . . . Your children are,\nby grace, let into you, so as to drink in what you contain. The only\nsafety is, that you be by grace let into Christ, so that what they\nget from you shall be, not what springs within you, but what flows\ninto you from the Springhead of holiness. To the children it is the\nlaw of their mother, and therefore they receive it; but in substance\nit is the truth from Jesus, and to receive it is life.--_Arnot._\n\nWe have already noticed (ch. i. 8) the fifth commandment as\ncomprehending the first five; just as the tenth commandment\ncomprehends the latter five. They ought to be painted so in churches.\nHanded down so, we verily believe, to Moses, each table must have\ncarried five commandments. Honouring our father, in all the broad\nmeaning of that term, is the first commandment \"_in,_\" not \"_with_\"\n(as in Eng. version), \"promise\" (Eph. vi. 2).--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 21. \"Bind them continually\" signifieth such a care of firm\nbinding as when one, to be sure of binding strong, doth as it were\nalways hold the strings in his hands, and is continually pulling\nthem. And surely we had need so to bind continually God's\ncommandments and law to our hearts and necks, for they are but loose\nknots which the best of us make, and they are ever and anon slipping\nback, unless our diligence be still pulling hard to keep them close.\nTo bind that to our hearts which bindeth us to godliness, is to loose\nourselves; to tie that about our necks which ties us to religion, is\nto free ourselves. A good father's commandment, a good mother's law,\ndoth tie us in observance unto God's law; if, therefore, we shall\nbind the one upon our hearts continually, if we shall tie the other\nabout our necks, this will give us the freedom of true sons, both\nwith God and man. This hearty binding, and willing tying of\nourselves, taketh away all burdensome feeling of any tie or binding\nfor us.--_Jermin._\n\nBind them upon thine heart \"for ever,\" because through all eternity\nthese commandments will be the very highest objects of affection.\nHoliness will be the greatest treasure of the blessed. And, second,\n\"tie them about thy neck\" for a still higher reason Holiness is a\nbright ornament. It is precious on its own account. It is worthy, not\non account of what it does, or of what it seems, but of what it is.\nThat is, if we neither had joy in it or won profit by it, it would be\nglorious like a necklace upon the blind, intrinsically, and on its\nown account.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 22. No such guide to God as the Word, which, while a man holds\nto, he may safely say, \"Lord, if I be deceived, Thou hast deceived\nme; if I be out of the way, Thy Word has misled me.\" If thou sleep\nwith some good meditation in thy mind it shall keep thee from foolish\nand sinful dreams and fancies, and set thy heart in a holy frame when\nthou awakest. He that raketh up his fire at night shall find fire in\nthe morning. \"How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God\" (Psa.\ncxxxix. 17). What follows? \"When I awake, I am still with Thee\"\n(verse 18).--_Trapp._\n\n+I. The thing to be done.+ The Word of God is to talk with us. A\nman's character is obviously much influenced by his habitual talk.\nSentiments received in conversation powerfully affect the mind. . . .\nThe idea of dealing with the Holy Scripture as a conversible\ncompanion is implied in the very name, \"The Word of God,\" and in the\nstatement that \"God, who in sundry times, and in divers manners,\n_spoke_ to the Fathers, by the prophets, has _spoken_ to us by His\nson\" (Heb. i. 1). 1. _The Word of God will talk to us instructively._\nNo part is addressed to mere speculation or curiosity. It has always\nin view the object of furnishing the mind with that which shall be\nuseful in the highest sense, and for the longest duration. 2. _It\nwill talk without flattery._ Our best friends seldom dare to tell us\nall that is thought of us. But the Word of God tells us what we\nactually are, and where our faults and danger lie. 3. _It will talk\nwith us affectionately._ \"Faithful are the wounds of a friend,\" yet\nthey may be \"wounds\" after all, to minds too susceptible. But there\nis a depth of love even in the sternest rebukes of the Word of God.\n+II. The particular time when the Word of God may talk with us.+\n\"When thou wakest.\" 1. _To forewarn us._ Every day is a little life,\nand who can say what the coming hour may bring forth. 2. _To fore-arm\nus._ There is not an hour in which some temptation may not present\nitself, or some principle be severely tried. A spiritual armour is\ntherefore necessary, while a part of that armour, which is\nindispensable, is \"the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God\" (Eph.\nvi. 17). 3. _To pre-occupy us._ \"How is it,\" said a friend to a\nlearned physician, \"that amidst such employment and continual\nexercise of mind you preserve such unruffled tranquillity?\" \"It is,\"\nsaid he, \"because I give the first hour of every morning to the Holy\nScriptures and to prayer.\" Much benefit may well be expected from a\npre-occupation of the mind and heart, so entirely consonant to the\nwhole tenor of man's relations to his Maker and perpetual\nbenefactor.--_Bullar._\n\nObserve three benefits of keeping instruction, and in each the fit\ntime and the act. A man walking, needs a guide; sleeping, needs a\nwatchman; awaking, needs a friend to talk with him.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 23. The reproofs of the law may alarm and terrify, but they are\nnot to be less valued on that account. The threatenings of hell guard\nthe way to heaven, and strongly urge us to keep the King's highway,\nthe only way of safety.--_Lawson._\n\nThe parallelism with Psalm cxix. 105, deserves special notice. The\nalliteration, \"the law is light,\" like the Vulgate, \"lex, lux,\"\nreproduces a corresponding _paronomasia_ in the Hebrew.--_Plumptre._\n\nHe that hath the word of Christ richly dwelling in him, may lay his\nhand upon his heart and say, as dying Ecolampadius did: \"Here is\nplenty of light.\" Under the law all was in riddles; Moses was veiled;\nand yet that saying was then verified. There was light enough to lead\nmen to Christ \"the end of the law\" (Rom. x. 4). \"Reproofs of\ninstruction,\" or \"corrections of instruction.\" A lesson set on with a\nwhipping is best remembered.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 24-35.\n\nA SPECIAL SIN AND ITS PENALTIES FROM WHICH HE WHO KEEPS GOD'S LAW\nWILL BE KEPT.\n\n+I. From the huntress of souls.+ The animals of tropical jungles are\ncompelled at intervals to forsake their safe retreats and come down\nto the brink of the river to quench their thirst. This necessity of\ntheir life involves them in danger. The instinct of the lion tells\nhim that the antelope will be compelled, by the cravings of his\nnature, to come to the place of water, and therefore he lies in wait\nthere to make him an easy prey. And the hunter, being fully aware of\nthe same fact, crouches by the river-side and takes both the lion and\nhis prey. Thus the natural bodily instincts are used as means by\nwhich the lives of the creatures are destroyed. The danger of which\nthe young man is here warned arises out of the existence of a\nGod-given and, therefore, lawful desire. The huntress of souls--as\nshe is well named in verse 26--takes advantage of this lawful\npropensity and uses it as a means of the destruction of her victim.\nShe knows that the young man, from the strength of his lawful\ndesires, is, comparatively, an easy prey to the seducer, hence it is\nto him that she points her weapons. These weapons are: 1. _Flattery._\nFair words cost nothing. A score of base coin can be purchased for a\ncopper, and are worth exchanging for one golden piece. The dogs lick\nthe hand of the vendor of their meat, but this not out of any\naffection for him. They do not use their tongue out of any affection\nfor _him_, but for _what he has._ So the adulteress, and so indeed\nall flatterers. They give the base coin only in the hope of getting\ngold in return--fair words for real benefits. They will lick the back\nof the hand in order to get something out of the palm. 2. _Her\nbeauty._ The beauty of a woman is a powerful weapon, and, if rightly\nused, may be a means of greatly blessing others. But, alas, how often\nhas it been debased to the vilest purposes, how many times have\nstrong men been cast down by it, how many sons of the mighty has it\nbrought low, even to the dust! The keeping in the heart of the law of\nGod's word will teach the young man to estimate flattering words and\nmere external beauty at their real worth.\n\n+II. From the inevitable marks left upon both constitution and\ncharacter by unlawful intercourse+ (vers. 27, 28). A man's raiment\ncannot be kindled into a flame without its retaining the marks after\nthe fire has been extinguished. The scar of the burn will remain even\nafter the wound is healed. So those who yield to the solicitations of\nthe \"strange woman\" will find that soul and body will suffer from the\neffects of the sin long after the action has been committed.\n\n+III. From the deserved contempt of all the pure-minded+ (vers. 30,\n31). It is a sin compared with which a theft is a light crime in the\neyes of God, and therefore in the eyes of the best men. A thief may\nmake restitution for his crime, but this sin cannot be atoned for by\nan after act. Gold may be repaid fourfold, but dishonour brought upon\na husband by a wife's infidelity is a blot which cannot be effaced.\nThe loss of the poor man's ewe-lamb might be atoned for, but David\ncould not have restored to Uriah an innocent wife. (See 2 Sam.\nxii. 1-6). Hence the much heavier punishment under the Mosaic law for\nadultery than for theft. (See Exod. xxii. 1-4; Lev. xx. 10.)\n\n+IV. From the fury of a lawful jealousy+ (ver. 34). Where there is\ntrue love there is a jealousy for the honour and reputation of the\nobject loved. The man who is not jealous for the honour of his\ncountry is not a patriot. The father who is not jealous for the\nreputation of his family is not worthy of the name. And so the\nhusband who is not jealous of his own and his wife's honour is a\nstranger to real love. There is a right and lawful jealousy. God\ncalls Himself \"a jealous God\" (Exod. xx. 5). There are rights which\nbelong to Him alone, and He is justly displeased if they are given to\nany other being. Paul tells the Corinthian Church that he was\n\"jealous over them with a godly jealousy\" (2 Cor. xi. 2). He was\ntheir father in Christ, and he felt that his honour as well as theirs\nwas staked upon their living holy lives. And the righteous jealousy\nof the injured husband spoken of in the text is to be dreaded,\nbecause _it is righteous_--because it has just grounds for its\nexistence, and because God will see to it that the wrong is avenged.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nThis probably refers to the care with which women in the East paint\ntheir eyelids, in a great measure in order to captivate the men, who,\nfrom the manner in which they are muffled up, can often see no more\nof their persons than their eyes--which may, indeed, be one reason\nwhy so much pains are taken to set them off.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nThe image would hardly occur to us, who never go barefoot, and are\nnever or rarely exposed to any liability of _treading_ upon burning\ncoals. If we decided to expose the same sentiment by a similar image,\nwe should say, \"Can one _handle_ hot coals and not be burned?\" But in\nthe East travelling parties kindle fires in the open air for cooking\nand for warmth, and a passenger might easily burn his naked foot by\ntreading inadvertently upon the hot but not glowing place of one of\ntheir recently quitted fires.--_Kitto._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 24. Bound and kept in the heart as a friend, that law will\nprevail to keep the youth \"from the strange woman.\" Observing a great\nswelling wave rolling forward to devour him, this faithful teacher\nimparts to the young voyager on life's troubled sea a principle which\nwill bear him buoyant over it. A slender vessel floats alone upon the\nocean, contending with the storm. A huge wave approaches, towering\nhigh above her hull. All depends upon how the ship shall take it. If\nshe go under it she will never rise again: if she is so trimmed that\nher bows rise with the first approaches, she springs lightly over it,\nand gets no harm. The threatening billow passes beneath her, and\nbreaks with a growl behind her, but the ship is safe. The law and\nlove of the Lord, taught by his mother in childhood, and maintaining\nits place yet as the friend of his bosom and the ruler of his\nconscience, will give the youth a spring upward proportionate to the\nmagnitude of the temptation coming on.--_Arnot._\n\nThat which is said of Jael is true of the strange woman. She brought\nforth soft words, but a hard nail; in her mouth was a gentle hammer,\nbut in her hand a heavy one. Open force is more easily resisted, but\nthat which is hid in the beginning with fair words in the end\nstingeth most cruelly.--_Jermin._\n\n\"_Flattery._\" That constitutes the risk. If impenitence would tell\nthe truth, or even if we would allow the truth, there would be no\ndanger. But hers is an alien tongue in this,--that though we\ndeliberately admit it is a cheat, we accept its flattery.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 26. A famine of bread followeth the gluttony of lust, and it is\nlife itself that is destroyed by it. He that is thus brought to a\nmorsel of bread on earth, shall be brought to a drop of water in\nhell, if repentance do not in time beg a gracious pardon for him.\nThat man's life is precious, the devil himself affirmeth, who seeketh\nto make it vile; he saith, who laboureth to destroy it, that \"Skin\nfor skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life\" (Job ii. 4).\nHow unworthy valuers are they therefore of their own lives who esteem\nthem less than the devil does, and who makes them a prey to the\nadulteress, who as a lion hunteth after them.--_Jermin._\n\nNothing is so bewitching as womanly enchantment. Nothing _in esse,_\nwhen it is base, is so contemptible. Nothing sweeps a man with such a\nperfect storm of influence. Nothing leaves him so perfectly defrauded\nand unpaid.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerses 27 and 28. \"_Fire_\" is a favourite emblem for wickedness.\n\"Wickedness burneth as the fire\" (Isa. ix. 18, see also Isa. lxv. 5).\nThe (1) _pain,_ the (2) _waste,_ the (3) _growth,_ and the (4) _small\nbeginnings_ of sin are all instanced in the fire. \"Bosom.\" Here is\njust where sin is taken. Sin is not only the inward but the outward\nenemy, not only the coals in our bosom but the coals (or fierce\ntempting occasions) in the midst of which we walk.--_Miller._\n\nSin and punishment are linked together by a chain of adamant. \"The\nfire of lust kindles the fire of hell,\" says Henry. He cannot\nafterwards plead the strength of the temptation. Why did he not avoid\nit? Who that knows how much tinder he carries about with him would\nwilfully light-up the sparks?--_Bridges._\n\nPerhaps such an one may think to tread upon coals, thereby to tread\nthem out, but he will first tread the fire into his own feet: perhaps\nsuch an one may think to walk in the ways of lust, thereby to walk\nthem out, but he will first walk out the strength of his body and\nmeans. The affections are the feet of man's soul, and if they walk\nupon this fire they will be inflamed suddenly.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 29. Though the plea of a sleepy conscience be _not guilty,_ the\nsentence of God is, _not innocent._ It was for this wickedness that\nGod destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; it was for it He brought the deluge\nof waters upon the world, and as it is observed, for no other sin do\nwe read, that God is said to have repented to have made man, but for\nthis.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 30. Compared with an adulterer, a thief is not treated with so\nmuch ignominy. The laws of modern society have reversed the maxims of\nSolomon; and, to the dishonour of Christian nations, an adulterer,\nwho steals what is most precious to a man, and what is irretrievable,\nis treated by the law with more lenity than a thief, who robs him of\nwhat is comparatively of little value and may be easily\nreplaced.--_Wordsworth._\n\nAdultery is worse than theft. It is before us in the commandments as\nthe greater sin (Exod. xx. 14, 15). 1. It is a far greater theft.\n2. The provocation to theft is greater. What drives the one,\nwantonness draws the other. One may preserve his bodily life by his\nsin, the other destroys it. Hunger is a great provocation to evil\n(ch. xxx. 9). Necessity is a sore weapon.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 33. The three things here mentioned may be referred to three\ncauses. The wound to the devil, the enemy of mankind, the dishonour\nto God, dishonoured by the adulterer, the reproach to sin, which is\nthe true object of reproach. The devil woundeth out of malice, God\ndishonoureth in justice, sin reproacheth by nature; and where nature\nhath fastened the reproach or stain it is not any art that can take\nit out or wipe it away. He that giveth this good counsel was himself\nan example of what he writeth. As Jerome saith, Solomon, the sun of\nmen, the treasure of God's delights, the peculiar house of wisdom,\nblurred with the thick ink of dishonour, lost the light of his soul,\nthe glory of his house, the sweet perfume of his name, by the love of\na woman.--_Jermin._\n\nWhat an indelible blot is the matter of Uriah upon David\nstill.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 34. Howbeit he may not kill the adulterer, but if no law will\nrelieve a man, yet let him know that he shall do himself no\ndisservice by making God his chancellor.--_Trapp._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+2. Apple of the eye,+ the \"pupil,\" literally the\n\"little man\" of the eye, referring to the reflected image of a man\nseen in that organ. +3. Bind them+ \"refers to the rings with large\nsignets, upon which maxims were inscribed\" (_Stuart_).\n+4. Kinswoman,+ rather, \"an acquaintance, a familiar friend.\"\n+7. Simple,+ \"inexperienced.\" +8. Went,+ \"moved leisurely,\nsauntered.\" +9. In the black and dark night,+ literally, \"in the\napple,\" or \"pupil\" of the night. +10.+ Literally, \"a woman, the\nattire of a harlot,\" with no connecting word between, as though the\nwoman were nothing but such a dress. +Subtil,+ \"guarded.\" Wordsworth\nrenders \"her heart is like a walled fortress.\" +11. Stubborn,+ rather\n\"boisterous, ungovernable.\" +14.+ The offerings here named are those\nof thanksgiving for blessings received. Of such offering, which, in\naccordance with the law (Lev. vii. 16), must be eaten by the second\nday, the guests partook, so that a rich feast is here offered to the\nyoung man under the garb of religious usage. +16. With carved works,+\nrather, \"variegated coverlets of Egyptian linen.\" +20. The purse,\netc.,+ indicating long delay; +the day appointed,+ rather, \"the day\nof the full moon.\" +22. Straightway.+ \"The Hebrew implies that he had\nat first hesitated, until the fear of his to take the decisive step\nwas overcome by evil appetite, and he now, with passionate\npromptness, formed the vile purpose and executed it at once, to cut\noff all further reflection. Here is evidently a stroke in the picture\nof the profoundest psychological truth\" _(Lange's Commentary)._ The\nlatter clause of the verse is literally, \"and as fetters for the\npunishment of a fool.\" It has been variously rendered. Many\nexpositors read, \"As the obstinate fool is suddenly caught and held\nfast by a trap lying in a forbidden path, so has the deceitful power\nof the adulteress caught the young man.\" +23.+ \"The +liver+ stands\nhere as representative of the vitals in general as in Lam. ii. 11, as\nin some instances the heart, or again, the reins\" (Psa. xvi. 7;\nlxxiii. 21, etc.). According to Delitzsch, the liver is here made\nprominent as the seat of sensual desire. \"Since the ancient Greeks,\nArabians, and Persians, in fact, connected this idea with the organ\nunder consideration, this view may be received as probably correct\"\n_(Lange's Commentary)._ +Knoweth not that it is for his life,+ _i.e._\n\"that his life is at stake.\"\n\n\nNOTE ON THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE \"STRANGE WOMAN\" OF THIS CHAPTER, AND\nOF MANY KINDRED PASSAGES IN THE BOOK.--Although most modern\ncommentators attach no other meaning to this woman than that which\nwould occur to the general reader, there are some who, as will be\nseen from the comments, agree with most of the early expositors in\nattaching to the representation an ideal meaning also. Wordsworth,\nreferring to the original meaning of the word _mashal,_ or proverb\n(see preface), says, \"By a consideration of the proper meaning of\nthis word _mashal,_ used in the title of the book, and by reflecting\non the use made of it in the Gospels, we are led to recognise in the\nProverbs or Parables of Solomon not only moral apothegms for\npractical use in daily life, but to ponder deeply upon them as having\nalso a typical character and inner spiritual significance concerning\nheavenly doctrines of supernatural truth, and as preparing the way\nfor the evangelical teaching of the Divine Solomon, Jesus Christ, in\nparables on the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.\" Following out\nthis principle of interpretation, he continues, \"As in Solomon's\ndelineation of Wisdom we recognised Christ, so in the portraiture of\nthe 'strange woman,' who is set in striking contrast to Wisdom in\nthis book, we must learn to see something more than at first meets\nthe eye. Doubtless we must hold fast the literal interpretation, and\nmust strenuously contend for it; . . . but in the gaudy and garish\nattire and alluring cozenage of the strange woman we may see a\nrepresentation of the seductive arts with which the teachers of\nunsound doctrine, repugnant to the truth of Christ, endeavour to\ncharm, captivate, and ensnare unwary souls, and to steal them away\nfrom Him. There is a harlotry of the intellect--there is an adultery\nof the soul, and this harlotry and adultery are not less dangerous\nand deadly than the grossest sins and foulest abominations. Indeed\nthey are more perilous, because they present themselves in a more\nspecious and attractive form.\" Hengstenberg, commenting on Eccles.\nvii. 26, says, \"There are strong grounds for thinking that the woman\nof the Proverbs is the personification of heathenish folly, putting\non the airs of wisdom and penetrating into the territory of the\nIsraelites. . . . The key to Prov. ii. 16, 17, is Jeremiah iii. 4-20.\nIn Prov. v. the evil woman must needs be regarded as an ideal person,\nbecause of the opposition in which she is set to the _good_ woman,\nWisdom. If Wisdom in chap. vii. 4, 5 is an ideal person, her opponent\nmust be also. . . . In chap. ix. again, the evil woman is put in\ncontrast with Wisdom; . . . the explanation is, in fact, plainly\ngiven in verse 13. Last of all, in chap xxii. 14, we read, 'the mouth\nof a foreigner is a deep pit,' etc. That the writer here treats of\nfalse doctrine is clear from the mention of the mouth. Nahum iii. 4,\npresents an analogous instance of such a personification. . . . To\nthe woman here, corresponds in Rev. ii. 20: 'the woman Jezebel,' a\nsymbolical person.\" Miller, as will be seen in the suggestive\ncomments on chap. ii. 16, looks upon this woman as an emblem of\n_impenitence._\n\nThe following comment is by Professor Plumptre: \"The strange woman,\nthe 'stranger,' may mean simply the adulteress, as the 'strange gods'\nthe 'strangers' (Deut. xxxii. 16; Jer. iii. 13), are those to whom\nIsrael, forsaking her true husband, offered an adulterous worship.\nBut in both cases there is implied also some idea of a foreign\norigin, as of one who by birth is outside the covenant of Israel. In\nthe second word used, this meaning is still stronger. It is the word\nused of the strange wives of Solomon (1 Kings xi. 1-8), and of those\nof the Jews who returned from Babylon (Ezra x.), of Ruth, as a\nMoabitess (Ruth ii. 10), of heathen invaders (Isa. ii. 6). Whatever\nform the sin here referred to had assumed before the monarchy (and\nthe Book of Judges testifies to its frequency), the intercourse with\nPh\u0153nicians and other nations under Solomon had a strong tendency to\nincrease it. The king's example would naturally be followed, and it\nprobably became a fashion to have foreign wives and concubines. At\nfirst it would seem this was accomplished by some show of\nproselytism. The women made a profession of conformity to the\nreligion of their masters. But the old leaven breaks out. They sin\nand 'forget the covenant of their God.' The worship of other gods, a\nworship in itself sensual and ending in the foulest sin, leads the\nway to a life of harlotry. Other causes may have led to the same\nresult. The stringent laws of the Mosaic code may have deterred the\nwomen of Israel from that sin, and led to a higher standard of purity\nthan prevailed among other nations. Lidonian and Tyrian women came,\nlike the Asiatic hetaer\u00e6 at Athens, at once with greater importunity\nand with new arts and fascinations to which the home-born were\nstrangers.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.\n\nTHE SOURCE OF TRUE LIFE, ETC.\n\n+I. The true life of man depends upon his relation to the Word of\nGod.+ \"Keep my commandments, and live\" (verse 2). The life which is\ngiven to man upon his entrance into this world is not life in its\nhighest sense, but an existence in which he is to obtain life. \"It is\nnot all of life to live.\" Those who do not keep God's commandments\nare living existences, but in the moral signification of the word\nthey are _dead._ It was said by the highest authority--by the Son of\nGod Himself--that \"it had been good for Judas Iscariot if he had not\nbeen born\" (Matt. xxvi. 24). Existence is not a blessing, oftentimes\na curse, unless a man is \"born again,\" \"not of blood, nor of the will\nof the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God\" (John i. 13).\nChrist taught the same truth when He said, \"Man shall not live by\nbread alone, but by every word of God\" (Luke iv. 4). Man is not flesh\nand blood only, he has not a mere animal existence, but moral\ncapabilities and needs, which must be nourished by the thoughts of\nGod. If this is not done, he has no life worth the name.\n\n+II. The relation that a man should have to the Word of God is like\nthat which a rich man has to his banked money.+ \"Lay up my\ncommandments with thee.\" The best place for money which the merchant\nwishes to use constantly is a safe bank, from which he can draw out\nat any time of need. So the Word of God must be laid up in the mind\nready for constant use. The Word of God must \"dwell in us\" (Col.\niii. 16). It must be stored up to furnish us with encouragement and\nadmonition in the unceasing warfare with temptation which we are\ncalled upon to wage. It must be at hand at the moment of need.\n\n+III. It is to be guarded with the same care as the eye is guarded by\nthe eyelid.+ \"As the apple of thine eye.\" The eye is carefully\nprotected by nature because it is the organ of a most precious\nsense--of a sense of which we stand in the greatest need--without\nwhich we walk through the world in darkness. The revelation of God in\nthe Holy Scriptures is the only light which enlightens us amid the\ndarkness of ignorance and mystery by which we are surrounded. Without\nit all our future would be darkness indeed. Hence its preciousness,\nand hence the value we ought to set upon it.\n\n+IV. It is to hold to us a relation like that of a pure, and tender,\nand beloved sister.+ \"Say unto Wisdom, Thou art my sister.\" The Word\nof God is the highest wisdom. The relationship of brother and sister,\nwhere it is what God intended it to be, is a very tender and pure\nrelationship, involving willingness to undergo self-denial for the\nsake of her who is loved, to listen to her advice, to seek her\nwelfare. In this light we must regard the wisdom of God as revealed\nin the Word of God if existence is to become _life_ to us. We must\nexercise self-denial for her sake. \"I prevented the dawning of the\nmorning, and cried: I hoped in Thy word\" (Psa. cxix. 147).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 2. As God would have us keep His law as the apple of our eye,\nso He keeps His people (Deut. xxxii. 10), in answer to their prayer,\nas the apple of His eye (Zech. ii. 8). We guard the eye as our most\nprecious and tender member from hurt, and prize it most dearly. As we\nguard the pupil of the eye from the least mote, which is sufficient\nto hurt it, so God's law is so tender and holy a thing that the least\nviolation of it in thought, word, or deed, is sin; and we are so to\nkeep the law as to avoid any violation of it. The law resembles the\npupil of the eye also in its being spiritually the organ of light,\nwithout which we should be in utter darkness.--_Fausset._\n\nThe instruction of the Word is the same to the soul which the eye is\nto the body. For as the body without the sight of the eye runneth\nupon many things that hurt it, and falleth at every little\nstumbling-block, so the soul most fearfully runneth into sins if it\nwant the light and direction of the Word.--_Muffet._\n\nMan are off and on in their promises: they are also slow and slack in\ntheir performances. But it is otherwise here: the very \"entrance of\nThy Word giveth light\" (Psa. cxix. 130), and the very onset of\nobedience giveth life. It is but \"_Hear,_ and your soul shall live\"\n(Isa. lv. 3). Sin is homogeneous, all of a kind, though not all of\nthe same degree. As the least pebble is a stone as well as the hugest\nrock, and as the drop of a bucket is water as well as the main ocean,\nhence the least sins are in Scripture reproached by the names of the\ngreatest. Malice is called manslaughter, lust, adultery, etc.\nConcupiscence is condemned by the law; even the first motions of sin,\nthough they never come to consent (Rom. vii. 7). Inward bleeding may\nkill a man. The law of God is spiritual, though we be carnal. And as\nthe sunshine shows us atoms and motes that till then we discerned\nnot, so doth the law discover and censure smallest failings. It must\ntherefore be kept curiously, even \"as the apple of the eye,\" that\ncannot be touched, but will be distempered. Careful we must be, even\nin the punctilios of duty. Men will not lightly lose the least ends\nof gold.--_Trapp._\n\nIn some bodies, as trees, etc., there is life without sense, which\nare things animated, but not so much with a soul as with a kind of\nanimation; even as the wicked have some kind of knowledge from grace,\nbut are not animated by it. Or rather the wicked do not live, indeed,\nfor life consisteth in action, and how can he be said truly to live\nwhose words are dead? But keep God's commandments, and live indeed,\nlive cheerfully with the comfort of this life, which makes life to be\nlife; live happily in the life of glory hereafter, which is the end\nfor which this life is lent us.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 4. Since, O youth, thou delightest in the intimacy of fair\nmaidens, lo! here is by far the loveliest one, Wisdom.--_Cartwright._\n\nWisdom has been represented as a wife, and here she is called a\nsister. As Didymus says (in _Caten\u00e2,_ p. 104), \"Wisdom is called a\nmother, a sister, and a wife.\" She is a mother, because, through her,\nwe are children of Christ; she is a wife, because, by union with her,\nwe ourselves become parents of that which is good; she is our sister,\nbecause our love to her is chaste and holy, and because she, as well\nas ourselves, is the offspring of God. Such is the love of Christ,\nwho is the true Wisdom, and who is all in all to the soul. Compare\nHis own words, applied to every faithful and obedient soul: \"The same\nis my brother, and my sister, and mother\" (Mark iii. 35). \"Do thou\nlove the true faith with sisterly love, it shall keep thee from the\nimpure love of the strange women of false doctrine\"\n(Bede).--_Wordsworth._\n\nHoliness is positive. Sin is negative. The one is to love God, and\nalso our neighbour. The other is not to love God or our neighbour.\nThe one shows itself in a positive delight in the abstract holiness;\nthe other not in a positive delight in the opposite, viz., in an\nabstract sin, but a delight in women, a delight in money, a delight\nin praise, a delight in everything except moral purity, and therefore\na delight in things which are innocent when in limits, and that are\nonly guilty when the soul is let in upon them without curb of\nsuperior affection. If a man calls Wisdom his kinswoman, then he may\nlove wine or love without moral danger.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-27.\n\nA PICTURE DRAWN FROM LIFE.\n\nThe woman depicted here has been before us twice before. (See on\nchap. ii. 16-19 and vi. 24.) We will therefore confine ourselves in\nthis chapter to the picture of her dupe. He fully justifies his right\nto the title here given to him, viz., \"a young man void of\nunderstanding.\"\n\n+I. Because he did not wait for temptation to seek him, but went\nwhere he knew it would meet him.+ Those who carry gunpowder upon\ntheir persons ought never to go into a blacksmith's forge, ought\nnever even to approach the door lest some sparks fall upon them. How\nmuch more foolish is he who, knowing that there is a tendency to sin\nwithin him, seeks out the place where the spark will be fanned into a\nflame. This young man is found \"near the corner\" of the house of his\ntemptress, \"he went the way to her house.\"\n\n+II. He goes to ruin with his eyes wide open.+ The woman's character\nis plainly written upon her dress and upon her face. There is no\npretence at disguise. She boasts of her infidelity to her husband.\nYet he yields to her invitation; yet he believes her professions of\nattachment to himself. The most silly fish that swims will not bite\nif the steel hook gleams through the bait, but this simpleton takes\nthe hook without any bait. The ox resists when he feels that he is\nbeing driven to death, but this fool goes deliberately to the house\nof death. He walks into the snare which he knows has been the death\nof myriads of his fellow creatures. The remedy for this folly is\nfound in vers. 1-4.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 5-27. From the earlier and copious warnings against adultery\nthe one now before us is distinguished by the fact, that while\nchapter v. contrasted the blessings of conjugal fidelity and chaste\nmarital love with unregulated sexual indulgence, and chapter\nvi. 20-35 particularly urged a contending against the inner roots and\ngerms of the sin of unchastity, our passage dwells with special\nfulness upon the temptations from without to the transgression of the\nsixth commandment. It also sets for the folly and the ruinous\nconsequences of yielding to such temptations, by presenting an\ninstructive living example. . . . Aside from the fact that it is\nnocturnal rambling that delivers the thoughtless idle youth into the\nhands of temptation (verse 9), and aside from the other significant\nfeature that after the first brief and feeble opposition, he throws\nhimself suddenly and with the full energy of passion into his\nself-sought ruin (verse 22, comp. James i. 15), we have to notice\nhere chiefly the important part played by the luxurious and savoury\nfeast of the adulteress, as a co-operating factor in the allurement\nof the self-indulgent youth (verse 14 seq.). It is surely not a\nfeature purely incidental, without deeper significance or design,\nthat this meal is referred to as preceding the central or chief sin;\nfor, that the tickling of the palate with stimulating eats and drinks\nprepares the way for lust is an old and universal observation (comp.\nExod. xxxii. 6, 1 Cor. x. 17, as also similar passages from the\nclassical authors).--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nApart from the external blandishments which are portrayed in this\npassage, there belongs to them a power of internal deception the most\nfallacious and insinuating--and this not merely because of their\nstrength, and of their fitness to engross the whole man when once\nthey take possession of him, and so to shut out all reflection and\nseriousness--those counteractives to evil passions; but because of\ntheir alliance with, and the affinity which they bear to, the kindly\nand benevolent and good feelings of our nature. As the poet\nsays--himself a wild and wayward, and most dangerously seductive\nwriter--the transition is a most natural one, from \"loving much to\nloving wrong.\" Let all such affections be sedulously kept at bay, and\nthe occasions of them shunned and fled from, rather than hazarded and\ntampered with. Let them never be wilfully encountered, or\npresumptuously braved and bid defiance to, lest the victory be\ntheirs; and no sooner do they win the heart than they war against the\nsoul.--_Chalmers._\n\n\nVerse 5. This woman not only represents the harlot and the adulteress\nliterally, but it is also a figure of whatever seduces the soul from\nGod, whether in morals or religion, and whether in doctrine and\npractice, or in religious worship.--_Wordsworth._\n\n_Strange,_ indeed, if she alienate us from the very God that made\nher, and stir the jealousy of the very Being that gives us our power\nto love her. (Hosea ii. 8.)--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 6. God is ever at His window, His casement is always open to\nsee what thou dost.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 8. Circumstances which give an occasion to sin are to be\nnoticed and avoided. They who love danger fall into it. The youth (as\nverse 21 shows) did not go with the intention of defiling himself\nwith the \"strange woman,\" but to flatter his own vanity by seeing and\ntalking with her, and hearing her flatteries. It is madness to play\nwith Satan's edged tools.--_Faussett._\n\n_The beginning of the sad end._ The loitering evening walk, the\nunseasonable hour (Job xxiv. 15; Rom. xiii. 12, 13); the vacant mind.\n\"The house was empty,\" and therefore ready for the reception of the\ntempter (Matt. xii. 44, 45), and soon altogether in his possession.\nHow valuable are self-discipline, self-control, constant employment,\nactive energy of pursuit, as preservatives under the Divine blessing\nfrom fearful danger.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerses 7-9. The first character appears on the scene, young, \"simple\"\nin the bad sense of the word; _open_ to all impressions of evil,\nempty-headed and empty-hearted; lounging near the place of\nill-repute, not as yet deliberately purposing to sin, but placing\nhimself in the way of it; wandering idly to see one of whose beauty\nhe has heard, and this at a time when the pure in heart would seek\ntheir home. It is impossible not to see a certain symbolic meaning in\nthis picture of the gathering gloom. Night is falling over the young\nman's life as the shadows deepen.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 9. He thought to obscure himself, but Solomon saw him; how much\nmore God, before whom night will convert itself into noon, and\nsilence prove a speaking evidence. Foolish men think to hide\nthemselves from God, by hiding God from themselves.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 10. A careless sinner shall not need to go far to _meet_ with\ntemptation. The first woman met with it almost as soon as she was\nmade, and who meets not everywhere with the woman\nTemptation?--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. Though I indulge in amours, do not think I am averse to the\nworship of God; nay, I offer liberally to Him: He is now therefore\nappeased, and will not mind venial offences.--_Cartwright._\n\nIt is of course possible that the worship of Israel had so\ndegenerated as to lose for the popular conscience all religious\nsignificance; but the hypothesis stated above (see note at the\nbeginning of the chapter), affords a simpler explanation. She who\nspeaks is a foreigner who, under a show of conformity to the religion\nof Israel, still retains her old notions, and a feast-day is nothing\nto her but a time of self-indulgence, which she may invite another to\nshare with her. If we assume, as probable, that these harlots of\nJerusalem were mainly of Ph\u0153nician origin, the connection of their\nworship with their sin would be but the continuation of their\noriginal _cultus._--_Plumptre._\n\nAn awful portraiture of the mystery of iniquity. It is applicable\nalso to corrupt churches, especially to the spiritual harlot\ndescribed by St. John in the Apocalypse. She professes zeal for God's\nhouse and service, while she is offending Him by heretical doctrine,\nand insulting Him by the fascinations of idolatrous worship, with\nwhich she beguiles unwary souls to commit spiritual fornication with\nher. (See Rev. xvii. 1-5; xviii. 9.) As Bede says, following in the\nsteps of Basil and others: All the description which is here given is\ntrue, in a literal sense, of the meretricious allurements of an\nadulteress; but it is to be interpreted also spiritually. False\ndoctrine tricks herself out with the embellishments of worldly\nrhetoric and spurious philosophy, and is ever lurking at the corners\nof the streets, to allure and deceive the simple, and to caress them\nwith her embraces; and she makes religious professions. She has her\ncouch adorned with heathen embroidery, and yet sprinkles with the\nodours of spiritual virtues; but Christ says of her in the\nApocalypse, \"I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit\nadultery with her into the great tribulation, except they repent of\ntheir deeds\" (Rev. ii. 22).--_Wordsworth._\n\n_The immoral devotionist._ 1. The absurd conduct of those who indulge\nin immorality, and think to compound with God for so doing, by paying\nHim outward forms of worship. 2. All external observances vain and\nuseless unless they are accompanied with purity of heart, and real\ngoodness of life. True religion is an end, and all external\nobservances are only means leading to that end. (See Micah. vi. 5.)\nAgreeably to this St. Paul assures us that the end of the Christian\nrevelation is to teach men to \"live soberly, righteously, and godly\nin this present world\" (Titus ii. 12). And Christ assures us that no\nceremonious method of atonement without practical goodness will\nentitle us to the rewards of Christianity (Matt. vii. 21). All duties\nenjoined by God can be enjoined by Him only for the good they do us.\n\"Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise is profitable\nto himself?\" (Job xxii. 2). And in which way can we possibly conceive\nhow an immoral man can reap any benefit from the mere forms and\nceremonies of religion? Is there any reason to think that God will\naccept this religious flattery instead of purity of life? No, rather\nit is an aggravation of his crimes. (See Isa. i. 11.)--_N. Ball._\n\n\nVerse 15. O how diligent is wickedness, thinking that thing never\ndone soon enough which is too soon done at any time! O how diligent a\nhelper is Satan of wickedness, administering all opportunities for\nit! And, therefore, as the harlot seeketh diligently, so she findeth\nreadily. Which is the shame of religion in many that profess it, and\nwho are so slow in the performance of religious duties, as if they\nwere both servants and masters, and had the commandments of God at\ntheir own command, to do them at their pleasure; which is a great\nreason that they are so ill observed. But if they would use their own\ndiligence, they should find God much more diligent to give a blessing\nto it.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. Her coverings of tapestry could not cover her naughtiness,\nher carved work could not embellish her own deformed work, her white\nEgyptian linen could not make white her black Egyptian\nsoul.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 17. This might have minded the young man that he was going to\nhis grave, for the bodies of the dead were so perfumed. Such a\nmeditation would much have rebated his edge--cooled his\ncourage.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 18. But what if death draw the curtains, and look in the while?\nIf death do not, yet guilt will.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 19. Instead of saying, \"_My_ husband,\" she contemptuously calls\nhim \"_the_ goodman,\" as though he were unconnected with\nher.--_Fausset._\n\nMan may not be at home, but God is always at home, whose house is the\nworld: man may be gone a far journey, but God's journey is at once to\nbe everywhere; His farthest off, to be present always. . . . She\ntalketh that the goodman was not at home, but the good woman was not\nat home either; she saith that her husband was gone a far journey,\nbut she herself was gone much farther from her duty. If she had been\nat home, to have heard her conscience the home reprover of\nwickedness, the goodman, though not at home, had not been so much\nwronged; if she had not gone far from her covenant, her husband,\nthough gone far, had still been near and present in her\nheart.--_Jermin._\n\nOur hearts must be guarded against the admission of sin by stronger\nmotives than the fear of detection and disgrace, for artful\nsolicitors to evil will easily baffle such restraints as these.\nJoseph might have expected his master's favour by complying with the\nwishes of his mistress, but the motive that induced him to decline\nher company was irresistible,--\"How can I do this great wickedness,\nand sin against God?\"--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 22. He goeth to the slaughter when he thinketh he goeth to the\npasture; or as those oxen brought forth by Jupiter's priests, with\ngarlands unto the gates, but it was for a slain sacrifice (Acts\nxiv. 13).--_Trapp._\n\nThe butcher's yard would show the meaning of this first similitude.\nIn every sort of way the ox may be coaxed, and apparently to no\npurpose. But though he may stand, ox-like, like a rock, yet the\nexperienced herdman knows that he will suddenly start in. This is his\nnature. One inch may cost a hurricane of blows; but at a dash, as the\nbutcher expects, he will suddenly rush in to his doom.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 25. Cut off the beginnings of desire. The first trickling of\nthe crevasse is the manageable, and therefore, more culpable, period\nof the difficulty.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 26. As Solomon himself subsequently was (Neh. xiii. 26). So\nSamson and David previously. It is better to learn by the awful\nexample of others than by our own suffering. Experience keeps a dear\nschool, but fools will learn in no other.--_Fausset._\n\nThe house of the harlot had been compared before to the grave, to the\nworld of the dead; now it is likened to a battle-field strewn with\nthe corpses of armed men. The word speaks rather of the multitude\nthan of the individual strength of those who have\nperished.--_Plumptre._\n\nIn a figurative sense, some of the greatest teachers of Christendom\nhave been seduced by the allurements of heresy, and have been cast\ndown from their place in the firmament of the Church, like stars\nfalling from heaven.--_Wordsworth._\n\nThe valour of men hath oft been slaved by the wiles of a woman.\nWitness many of your greatest martialists, who conquered countries,\nand were vanquished of vices. The Persian kings commanded the whole\nworld, and were commanded by their concubines.--_Trapp._\n\nThe secret thought that one can saunter toward her house (verse 8),\nand at any time turn back, is cruelly met by most discouraging\nexamples. The whole passage is the more impressive, if we consider it\nas a warning against confidence in strength, and particularly grand,\nif we mark the second clause. . . . All men are strong, and strong in\nthe most substantial sense. All men, saved, are princes (Rev. i. 6);\nand they are offered the second place in God's kingdom (Isa. lxi. 7.)\nAll men are bone of Christ's bone; all men are born with a birthright\nto be kings and priests, if they choose to be, and brothers of\nEmmanuel.--_Miller._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+Places of the paths+ \"in the midst of the\nhighways.\" \"These ways are roads, solitary paths, not streets in the\ncity, and the delineation proceeds in such an order as to exhibit\nWisdom; first, in verse 2, as a preacher in the open country, in\ngrove and field, on mountains and plains, and then in verse 3, to\ndescribe her public harangues in the cities, and in the tumult of the\nmultitudes\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_). +3. At the entrance of its doors,+ _i.e._\n\"standing on the further side of the gateway\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_) \"at the\nentrance of the avenues\" (_Stuart_). +4.+ The Hebrew words for men\nare different in the two clauses, \"the first signifies men of high\nposition, the second men of the common sort\" (Psa. xlix. 2)\n(_Fausset_). +5. Wisdom.+ This is a different word from the one used\nin verse 1, and may be translated \"subtilty,\" or \"prudence,\" and\nthough it is here used in a good sense, may, when the context\nrequires it, be translated \"artful cunning.\" +6. Excellent,+\nliterally \"princely,\" generally rendered \"plain,\" \"evident,\"\n\"obvious.\" +7. Mouth,+ lit. \"palate.\" +Speak,+ literally \"meditate;\"\nthe word originally meant \"mutter,\" and grew to mean \"meditate,\"\nbecause what a man meditates deeply he generally mutters about\n(_Miller_). +8. Froward,+ literally \"distorted,\" or \"crooked.\"\n+9.+ \"Right to the man of understanding, and plain to them that have\nattained knowledge\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_). \"To the men of understanding they\nare all to the point\" (_Delitzsch_). +11. Rubies,+ \"pearls.\"\n+12. Dwell with+ or \"inhabit.\" +Witty inventions,+ \"skilful plans\"\n(_Stuart_), \"sagacious counsels\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_). +14. Sound wisdom,+ the\nsame word as in chap. ii. 7 (see note there). Stuart reads here, \"As\nfor me, my might is understanding;\" Delitzch, \"Mine is counsel and\npromotion.\" +17. Early,+ _i.e._, \"earnestly\" (see on ch. i. 28).\n+18. Durable.+ Z\u00f6ckler thinks this rather signifies \"growing.\"\n+21. Inherit substance,+ \"abundance.\" +22. Jehovah possessed me.+ The\nsignification of this verb has been the subject of much discussion;\nancient expositors, believing Wisdom here to be the eternal Son of\nGod, deemed it necessary to reject the translation of the Septuagint,\netc., who rendered it _created_, as the text then became an argument\nwith Arians against the eternal co-existence of the Son. But most\nmodern commentators, whatever view they take of the signification of\n\"Wisdom,\" agree in rejecting the reading of the Authorised Version.\nThe majority render it, \"created;\" Delitzch reads, \"brought me\nforth;\" Wordsworth and Miller, \"got possession of,\" or \"acquired.\"\nWordsworth says, \"The word occurs about eighty times in the Old\nTestament, and in only four places beside the present it is\ntranslated 'possess;' viz., Gen. xiv. 19-22; Psa. cxxxix. 13; Jer.\nxxxii. 15; Zech. xi. 5; in the last two it may well have the sense of\ngetting, and in the former of creating.\" +23. Set up,+ Stuart,\nMiller, and early expositors render \"anointed;\" Delitzch and Z\u00f6ckler\nprefer the Authorised rendering. +26. Earth, etc.,+ \"the land and the\nplains, or the beginning of the dust of the earth.\" +27. Set a\ncompass, etc.,+ \"marked out a circle,\" _i.e.,_ \"when He fixed the\nvault of heaven, which rests on the face of the ocean.\" +30. As one\nbrought up,+ \"as director of His work,\" or, \"as a builder at His\nside.\" +36. Sinneth against,+ \"misseth,\" so Stuart, Delitzsch, and\nMiller.\n\nNOTES ON THE PERSONIFICATION OF WISDOM.--There has been great\ndiscussion among expositors as to who, or what, is to be understood\nby this personification. Many modern and all ancient expositors\nconsider that it refers exclusively to the Divine Word, the Eternal\nSon of God, others understand it as relating entirely to an attribute\nof the Divine nature. There is a middle view, which is thus put by\nDr. John Harris in his sermon on verses 30-36: \"Others, again reply\nthat it refers exclusively to neither--but partly to that wisdom\nwhich begins in the fear of the Lord, partly to the Divine attribute\nof wisdom, and partly to the Son of God, the second person in the\nGodhead.\" We cannot do better than give the views of a few eminent\nexpositors and writers. Delitzsch thus comments on verse 22: \"Wisdom\ntakes now a new departure in establishing her right to be heard and\nto be obeyed and loved by men. As the Divine King in Psa. ii. opposes\nto His adversaries the self-testimony: 'I will speak concerning a\ndecree! Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I\nbegotten Thee;' so Wisdom here unfolds her Divine patent of nobility;\nshe originates with God before all creatures, and it the object of\nGod's love and joy, as she also has the object of her love and joy on\nGod's earth, and especially among the sons of men. (See his\ntranslation of the verb in this verse--Critical Notes). Wisdom is not\nGod, but is God's; she has personal existence in the Logos of the New\nTestament, but is not herself the Logos; she is the world idea,\nwhich, once projected, is objective to God, and not as a dead form,\nbut as a living spiritual image; she is the archetype of the world,\nwhich originating from God, stands before God, the world of the idea\nwhich forms the medium between the Godhead and the world of actual\nexistence, the communicated spiritual power in the origination and\nthe completion of the world as God designed it to be. This wisdom the\npoet here personifies; he does not speak of the personal Logos, but\nthe further progress of the revelation points to her actual\npersonification in the Logos. And since to her the poet attributes an\nexistence preceding the creation of the world, he thereby declares\nher to be eternal, for to be before the world is to be before time.\nFor if he places her at the head of the creatures, as the first of\nthem, so therewith he does not seek to make her a creature of this\nworld having its commencement in time; he connects her origination\nwith the origination of the creature only on this account, because\nthat _\u00e0 priori_ refers and tends to the latter; the power which was\nbefore heaven and earth were, and which operated at the creation of\nthe earth and of the heavens, cannot certainly fall under the\ncategory of the creatures around and above us.\" Wordsworth, in\naccordance with the principle of interpretation set forth in the note\nat the beginning of chapter vii. says, \"We should be taking a very\nlow, unworthy, and inadequate view of the present and following\nmagnificent and sublime chapters. . . . If we did not behold Him who\nis essential wisdom, the co-eternal Son of God, and recognise here a\nrepresentation of His attributes and prerogative.\" The arguments in\nfavour of this view are thus summed up by Fausset: \"Wisdom is here\npersonal Wisdom--the Son of God. For many personal predicates are\nattributed to Him: thus, _subsistence by or with God,_ in verse 30;\njust as John i. 1 saith, 'The Word was with God,' which cannot be\nsaid of a mere attribute. Moreover, the mode of subsistence imparted\nis _generation_, verse 22, 24, 25 (see CRITICAL NOTES). In verse 22\nGod is said to have _possessed_ or _acquired_ wisdom, not by\n_creation_ (Psa. civ. 24), nor by adoption, as Deut. xxxii. 6, Psa.\nlxxiv. 2, but by _generation._ The same verb is used by Eve of her\nfirstborn (Gen. iv. 1). Moreover, other attributes are assigned to\nWisdom, as if she were not an attribute but a person--'counsel,'\n'strength,' etc. Also, she has the feelings of a person (verse 17):\n'I love them that love me.' She does the acts of a person. She\nenables kings to rule, and invests them with authority (verses 15,\n16). She takes part in creation, as one brought up, or _nursed_, in\nthe bosom of the Father, as the only-begotten of His love (John\ni. 18). She cries aloud as a person (verses 1-4), and her 'lips' and\n'mouth' are mentioned (verses 6, 7). She is the _delight_ of the\nFather, and she in turn delights in men (verses 30, 31), answering to\nthe rapturous delight into which the Father breaks forth concerning\nMessiah (Isa. xliii. 1; Matt. iii. 17, xvii. 5; Eph. i. 6). She\nbuilds a house, prepares a feast, and sends forth her maidens to\ninvite the guests (ch. ix. 1-3). All which admirably applies to\nMessiah, who builds the Church, as His house, upon Himself the rock\n(Matt. xvi. 8, etc.), and invites all to the Gospel feast (Luke\nxiv. 16, etc.). He is Wisdom itself absolute, and as the Archetype,\nfrom Him wisdom imparted flows to others. As such, He invites us to\nlearn wisdom from Him who is its source, 'counsel' and 'sound wisdom'\n(ver. 14), are in Him as attributes are in their subject, and as\neffects are in their cause. The parallel (ch. i. 20, 23), 'I will\npour out my spirit unto you' (see John vii. 38), conforms the\npersonal view. The same truth is confirmed by the reproof (ch.\ni. 24), 'Because I have called,' etc., compared with Christ's own\nwords (Matt. xi. 28, etc.) So Christ is called the Wisdom of God\n(Col. ii. 3). As Wisdom here saith 'I was set up,' or 'anointed from\neverlasting,' so the Father saith of Messiah, 'I have set' or\n'anointed my king' etc. (Psa. ii. 6). As in verse 24, Wisdom is said\nto be 'brought forth' or _begotten_ by God before the world, and to\nhave been _by Him in creating all things_ (verses 27-30), so Messiah\nis called the 'Son of God,' and is said to have been _with God in the\nbeginning_, and to have _made all things_ (John. i. 1-3) and to have\nbeen begotten before every creature (Col. i. 15-17); and His _goings\nforth_ are said, in Mic. v. 2, _to have been from of old, from\neverlasting._\" The argument for the opposite view is thus stated by\nDr. Wardlaw: \"The objections to its meaning Christ, or the Word, are,\nto my mind, quite insuperable. For example: (1) The passage is not so\napplied in any part of the New Testament. I do not adduce this\nconsideration as any _direct objection_ to the interpretation in\nquestion. I mean no more than this, that from its not being so\nexplained there, we are relieved from any _necessity_ of so\nexplaining it. Such necessity, then, being thus precluded, the direct\nobjections may be allowed to have their full force. Observe, then\n(2), Wisdom here is a _female personage._ All along this is the case.\nNow, under such a view, the Scripture nowhere else, in any of their\nfigurative representations of 'the Christ,' ever thus describe or\nintroduce Him. The application, on this account, appears to be\nexceedingly unnatural. (3) Wisdom does not appear intended as a\n_personal_ designation, inasmuch as it is associated with various\nother terms, of synonymous, at least, of corresponding import (verse\n1, chap. iii. 19, 20). Were it meant for a _personal_ designation,\nlike the _Logos_ or _Word_ in the beginning of John's Gospel, this\nwould hardly have been admissible. (4) That the whole is bold and\nstriking _personification_ of the attribute of Wisdom, as subsisting\nin the Deity, appears further from what she is represented as saying\nin verse 12: 'I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge\nof witty inventions.' Here Wisdom is associated with prudence; and\nthe import of the association is, that Wisdom directs to the best\nends, and to the choice of the best means for their attainment; and\n_prudence,_ or _discretion,_ teaches to shun whatever might, in any\nway or degree, interfere with and impede, or mar their\naccomplishment. This is precisely what wisdom, as an attribute or\nquality, does. And it is worthy of remark, that this association of\nwisdom with prudence, is introduced by the Apostle as characterising\nthe greatest of the Divine inventions and works--that of our\nredemption. Wisdom was associated with prudence in framing and\nperfecting that wonderful scheme (Ephes. i. 7, 8). (5) It is very\ntrue that there are many things here, especially in the latter part\nof the chapter--indeed through the whole--that are, in a very\ninteresting and striking manner, applicable to the Divine Messiah.\nBut this is no more than might have been anticipated, that things\nwhich are true of a _Divine attribute_ should be susceptible of\napplication to a _Divine person._\" We quote, in conclusion, the\nremarks of Dr. Aiken, the American editor and translator of this\nportion of Lange's Commentary: \"The error in our English exegetical\nand theological literature with respect to our passage has been, we\nthink, the attempt to force upon it more of distinctness and\nprecision in the revelation of the mysteries of the Divine Nature\nthan is disclosed by a fair exegesis. . . . If it be not unworthy of\nthe Holy Spirit to employ a bold and graphic personification, many\nthings in this chapter may be said of and by the personified Wisdom\nwhich these authors regard as triumphantly proving that we have here\nthe pre-existent Christ, the Son of God. . . . We can, to say the\nleast, go no farther than our author has done in discovering here the\nforeshadowings of the doctrine of the Logos. We are inclined to\nprefer the still more guarded statements, _e.g.,_ of Dr. Pye Smyth\n(_Scripture Testimony to the Messiah_), that this beautiful picture\ncannot be satisfactorily proved to be a designed description of the\nSaviour's person; or that of Dr. John Harris (Sermon on chap.\nviii. 30-36): 'At all events, while, on the one hand, none can\n_demonstrate_ that Christ is here directly intended, on the other,\nnone can prove that He is not contemplated; and perhaps both will\nadmit that, under certain conditions, language such as that in our\ntext may be justifiably applied to Him. One of these conditions is,\nthat the language be not employed _argumentatively,_ or in _proof_ of\nanything related to Christ, but only for the purpose of illustration;\nand another is, that when so employed, it be only adduced to\nillustrate such views of the Son of God as are already established by\nsuch other parts of Scripture as are admitted by the parties\naddressed.'\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.\n\nTHE NATURE OF WISDOM'S CALL.\n\nEven if we reject the direct Messianic interpretation of this\nchapter, and understand Wisdom here to be only a poetical\npersonification of an abstract attribute of God, it would be\nimpossible, we think, for any minister of the New Testament to teach\nfrom it, and not find his way to Him who was \"in the beginning with\nGod\" (John i. 2), to the Christ who is the \"Wisdom of God\" (1 Cor.\ni. 24), \"in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge\"\n(Col. ii. 3). To say the least, the language is admirably adapted to\nset forth the Incarnate Son, the Saviour of the world. The\nintroductory paragraph reveals _the intense desire of Wisdom to win\ndisciples._\n\n+I. From her taking the initiative.+ Wisdom addresses man first. When\ntwo persons have become estranged by the wrong-doing of one, he who\nis in the wrong will be slow to find his way back to the other to\nacknowledge his fault. Because he is in the wrong he may conclude,\nand in many cases would rightly conclude, that an advance on his side\nwould be useless. But an advance from him who is in the right would\nbe more likely to be successful; such a course of conduct on his part\nwould carry with it a powerful magnetic force to draw the offender\nback, and would be a most convincing proof of the desire of him who\nhad been rightly offended to effect a reconciliation. And if the\noffence had been committed, not once, but many times, the reluctance\nof the offender to face his offended friend would be increased in\nproportion to the number of times the act had been repeated, and if,\nnotwithstanding these repeated offences, advances should continue to\nbe made from the other side, the desire for reconciliation would be\nmade more and more manifest. Wisdom is here represented in this\nlight, and God in Christ did take the initiative in \"reconciling the\nworld unto Himself\" (1 Cor. v. 19). The Incarnate Wisdom _came_ to\nmen because men would not, and could not, by reason of their moral\ninability, come to Him first. In proportion to the distance men\nwander from God do they feel the impossibility of returning to Him\nunless they can receive from Him some encouragement to do so. This\nencouragement they have in the fact that \"the Son of Man came to seek\nand save that which was lost\" (Matt. xviii. 11), that, \"while we were\nyet sinners, Christ died for us\" (Rom. v. 8).\n\n+II. From the variety of places where Wisdom's voice is heard+\n(verses 2 and 3). If a man has goods to sell, he seeks those places\nwhere he will be most likely to find buyers; if he has thoughts which\nhe wishes to make public, he goes where he will find the most\nhearers. The pilot has wisdom which he wants to sell the less\nexperienced ship-master, and he runs his cutter out into the highway\nof the channel. He is found at \"the entrance of the gates\" of the\nwater-ways, at the mouths of the rivers; he places himself in the way\nof those who need his wisdom, and who will pay a good price for his\nskill. In proportion to a man's earnestness to obtain a market, or a\nhearing, will be his endeavour to seek out the places where he will\nmost likely succeed. Wisdom is here represented as frequenting the\nmost conspicuous places, the most crowded thoroughfares, to find\nbuyers for that spiritual instruction which is to be had \"without\nmoney and without price\" (Isa. lv. 1). Christ was found imparting the\ntreasures of His wisdom wherever men would listen to His words. He\n\"went up into a mountain and taught\" (Matt. v. 1). He was found in\nthe streets of the cities, in the temple, at the publican's feast\n(Luke v. 27), in a boat on the shore of the lake. When multitudes\nwere gathered at Jerusalem at the feasts, He was among them (John\nvii. 14 and 37). At other times \"He went about all the cities and\nvillages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of\nthe kingdom\" (Matt. ix. 35). And thus He revealed His intense desire\nto give unto men those words which He declares to be \"spirit and\nlife\" (John vi. 63).\n\n+III. From the earnest tone of her call.+ \"Doth not Wisdom _cry._\"\nWhen the voice of Christ was heard upon earth it was in no\nindifferent tone He addressed His hearers. He was \"moved with\ncompassion\" towards the multitudes who followed Him (Matt. xiv. 14).\nOn the \"great day of the feast He stood and _cried_, saying, If any\nman thirst, let him come unto Me and drink\" (John vii. 37). With what\nearnestness must He have uttered His lament over Jerusalem: \"If thou\nhadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things which belong unto\nthy peace\" (Luke xix. 42). A man's tone is more or less earnest to us\nin proportion as he gives proof that he is willing to follow up words\nby deeds. Judged in this light, how earnest must the call of Christ\nto men sound when they consider that He was willing to face\nGethsemane and Calvary to give effect to His words. On this subject\nsee also Homiletics on chap. i. 20, 21.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 1. She crieth by the written word, by ministers, and by the\ndealings of Providence. Instead of the clandestine whisper of the\nadulteress in the dark, Wisdom \"puts forth her voice\" openly in the\nday, and in a style suitable to every capacity, so that all are left\nwithout excuse if they reject her, preferring darkness to\nlight.--_Fausset._\n\nThe eternal Son of God gathers, plants, builds His church by a voice\n_i.e.,_ His Word. All true teachers of the Word are crying voices\nthrough which Christ calls. Out of Christ's school is no true wisdom.\nSo long as Christ's wisdom is still speaking outside thee it avails\nthee nothing; but when thou allowest it to dwell in thee it is thy\nlight and life.--_Egard._\n\nWe cannot promulgate as doctrine, but we think the last day will show\nthat wisdom plied every art; that what was, \"all things working\ntogether for good\" in behalf of the believer, was something analogous\nin tendency in the instance of the sinner; that if the sinner thought\nhis lot defeated repentance, he was mistaken; or that, could he have\nfared otherwise, his chances would have been improved: all this was\nlargely error; moreover, that he will be held accountable at last for\nquite the opposite, and punished for a life singularly favoured and\nfrequently adapted as the very best to lead him to\nsalvation.--_Miller._\n\nIn her ministers, who are criers by office, and must be earnest (Isa.\nlviii. 1). See an instance in holy Bradford. \"I beseech you,\" saith\nhe, \"I pray you with hand, pen, tongue, and mind, in Christ, through\nChrist, for Christ, for His name, blood, mercy, power, and truth's\nsake, my most entirely beloved that you admit no doubting of God's\nfinal mercies towards you.\" Here was a lusty crier indeed.--_Trapp._\n\nThis form of interrogation, which expects as its answer an assenting\nand emphatic \"yes, truly,\" points to the fact clearly brought to view\nin all that has preceded, that Wisdom bears an unceasing witness in\nher own behalf in the life of men.--_Z\u00f6ckler._\n\n\nVerse 2. \"Standeth\" implies assiduous perseverance. Instead of taking\nher stand in dark places, in a corner, like the harlot (chap.\nvii. 9), she \"standeth\" in the top of high places.--_Fausset._\n\nWisdom is representing as haunting all human paths. Folly lives upon\nthem, too. Wisdom does not claim them as her own; Folly does. Wisdom\nhas but one path. And she haunts every other to turn men out of such\ndiverse journeyings into the one great track of holiness and\ntruth.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 3. Thereby intending (1) to reach the whole concourse of the\nlost, and (2) to make human life at these great rallying places of\nmen, speak its own lessons, and utter the loudest warnings against\nthe soul's impenitence.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 4-9.\n\nGOD'S SPEECH MEETING MAN'S NEED.\n\n+I. Divine Wisdom has spoken because God's silence would be human\ndeath.+ When a man is lying in prison awaiting the execution of the\nextreme penalty of the law, after he has petitioned the monarch for a\nreprieve, the silence of the monarch is a permission that the\nsentence is to be carried out. His silence is a death-knell to the\ncriminal who has asked for pardon. It is an anticipation of the steel\nof the executioner, of the rope of the hangman. He longs for the word\nthat would bring pardon. There is _death_ in the _silence._ In the\nhistory of men's lives there are many other instances when the\nsilence of those whom they desire to speak embitters their life.\nThere are many who keep silence whose speech would fall upon the\nheart of those who long for it, as the dew and gentle rain falls upon\nthe parched earth. A word or a letter would be like a new lease of\nlife, but the silence brings a sorrow which is akin to death, which\nperchance is the death of all that makes life to be desired. A parent\nwho has no word from his absent son goes down in sorrow to the grave.\nJacob was thus going down mourning when the words of Joseph reached\nhim. Then \"his spirit revived\" (Gen. xlv. 27), and the aged,\nsorrowful patriarch renewed his youth. The life of man--all that is\nworth calling life--depends upon God's breaking the silence between\nearth and heaven. His silence is that which is most dreaded by those\nwho have heard His voice. Hence their prayer is, \"Be not _silent_\nunto me; let, if Thou be silent unto me, I become _like them that go\ndown into the pit_\" (Psa. xxviii. 1). If a man had been left without\nany communication from God, he must have remained spiritually dead\nthroughout his term of probation. For he is by nature what is called\nin Scripture, \"carnally-minded,\" which \"is death\" (Rom. viii. 5).\nEvery man, if left to himself, forms habits of thinking and of acting\nthat cause him \"to be tied and bound with the chain of his sins.\" And\nif God had not spoken he must have remained in this condition, which\nis spiritual death. Therefore, God has broken this silence with an\n\"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead\" (Ephes. v. 14).\nThe nations were walking in the darkness and the shadow of death when\nthe \"light shined\" upon them (Luke i. 79), in the person of Him who\nis the Word and the Wisdom of God, who, Himself, declared \"_The words\nthat I speak unto_ you, they are spirit, and they are _life;_\" \"I am\ncome that they might have life, and that they might have it more\nabundantly\" (John vi. 63, x. 10).\n\n+II. Human nature needs the voice of Divine Wisdom because the soul\ncannot rest upon uncertainties+ (verses 6-8). If a man is in the dark\nupon any subject, he is in a condition of unrest; there is a desire\nwithin him to rise from the state of probability to one of certainty.\nIf a boy works a sum and does not know how to prove that it is right,\nhe does not feel that satisfaction at having completed his task that\nhe would do if he could demonstrate that the answer was correct.\nAfter all his labour he has only arrived at a may-be. So the result\nof all efforts of man's unaided reasonings concerning himself and his\ndestiny was but a sum unproved. There was no certainty after ages of\nlabourious conjecture. There might be a future life and immortality,\nbut it could not be positively affirmed. Although the sum _might be\nright_ there was a possibility that it was wrong. The world by wisdom\narrived at no certain conclusions in relation to the Divine character\nand the chief end of man, and uttered but an uncertain sound on the\nlife beyond the grave. \"How can man be just with God?\" \"If a man die\nshall he live again?\" were never fully and triumphantly answered\nuntil the Incarnate Word stood by His own empty grave and said, \"I\nascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God\"\n(John xx. 17). He brought \"rest\" to the weary and heavy laden (Matt.\nxi. 28), because His words were truth, and plainness, and certainty\n(see verses 6-8); before they had been only error, or obscurity, or\nconjecture.\n\n+III. The wisdom of God is appreciated by those who have realised its\nadaptation to human needs.+ (Ver. 9.) There is a twofold knowledge,\nor \"understanding,\" of Divine truth, as there is of much else with\nwhich we are acquainted. There is an acquaintance with the general\nfacts of Divine revelation--a theoretical understanding of its\nsuitableness to the needs of men, and there is a knowledge which\narises from an experience of its adaptation to our personal need--a\npractical understanding which springs from having received a personal\nbenefit. The chemist knows that a certain drug possesses qualities\nadapted to cure a particular malady, but if he comes to experience\nits efficacy in the cure of the disease in his own body, he has a\nknowledge which far surpasses the merely theoretical. It is then\n\"plain\" to him from an experimental understanding. The wisdom of God\nin the abstract, or in the personal Logos, is allowed by many to be\nadapted to the spiritual needs of the human race. They see the\nphilosophy of the plan of salvation in the general, but its wonderful\nadaptation and \"rightness\" is only fully revealed when they have\n\"found\" the \"knowledge\" by an experimental reception of Christ into\ntheir own hearts. To him that thus \"understands\" all is \"plain.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 4. Christ offers Himself as a Saviour to all the human race.\n+I. The most awakening truth in all the Bible.+ It is commonly\nthought that preaching the holy law is the most awakening truth in\nthe Bible, and, indeed, I believe this is the most ordinary means\nwhich God makes use of. And yet to me there is something far more\nawakening in the sight of a Divine Saviour freely offering Himself to\nevery one of the human race. . . . Does it not show that all men are\nlost--that a dreadful hell is before them? Would the Saviour call so\nloud and so long if there was no hell? +II. The most comforting truth\nin the Bible.+ If there were no other text in the whole Bible to\nencourage sinners to come freely to Christ, this one alone might\npersuade them. Christ speaks to the human race. Instead of writing\ndown every name He puts all together in one word, which includes\nevery man, woman, and child. +III. The most condemning truth in all\nthe Bible.+ If Christ be freely offered to all men, then it is plain\nthat those who live and die without accepting Christ shall meet with\nthe doom of those who refuse the Son of God.--_McCheyne._\n\nThey are called to repentance, they are called to the remission of\ntheir sins; they may and must repent, and they, by repentance, are\nsure of pardon for all their sins. The good angels have not sinned,\nthe bad angels cannot repent; it is _man_ that hath done the one, it\nis _man_ that must do the other.--_Jermin._\n\n\"O men.\" Some render it, \"O ye eminent men,\" (see Critical Notes),\nwhether for greatness of birth, wealth, or learning. But \"the world\nby wisdom knows not God\" (1 Cor. i. 21); and \"not many wise men, not\nmany mighty, not many noble, are called\" (verse 26). And yet they\nshall not want for calling, if that would do it. But all to little\npurpose, for most part. They that lay their heads upon down pillows\ncannot so easily hear noises. \"The sons of men,\" _i.e.,_ to the\nmeaner sorts of people. These, usually, like little fishes, bite more\nthan bigger. \"The poor are gospelised,\" saith our Saviour. Smyrna was\nthe poorest, but the best of the seven churches.--_Trapp._\n\n_Several ways whereby God addresses Himself to men._ How different\nthe method which God uses towards the _rational_ from that which He\nuses towards the _material_ world. In the world of matter God has not\nonly fixed and prescribed certain laws according to which the course\nof nature shall proceed, but He is Himself the sole and immediate\nexecutor of those laws. . . . It is to Himself that He has set those\nlaws, and it is by Himself that they are executed. But He does not\ndeal so with the world of _spirits._ He does not here execute the\nlaws of _love,_ as He does there the laws of _motion._ He contents\nHimself to prescribe laws, to make rational applications, to _speak_\nto spirits. He speaks to them because they are _rational,_ and can\nunderstand what He says, and He does _but_ speak to them because they\nare _free._ And this He does in several ways. 1. _By the natural and\nnecessary order and connection of things._ God, as being the Author\nof nature, is also the author of that connection that results from it\nbetween some actions and that good and evil that follows upon them,\nand which must therefore not be considered as mere natural\nconsequences, but as a kind of rewards and punishments annexed to\nthem by the Supreme Lawgiver, God having declared by them, as by a\nnatural sanction, that 'tis His will and pleasure that those actions\nwhich are attended with good consequences should be done, and that\nthose which are attended with evil consequences should be avoided.\nNot that the law has its obligation from the _sanction,_ but these\nnatural sanctions are _signs_ and _declarations_ of the will of God.\n2. _By sensible pleasure and pain._ A thing which everybody feels,\nbut which few reflect upon, yet there is a voice of God in it. For\ndoes not God, by the frequent and daily return of these impressions,\ncontinually put us in mind of the nature and capacity of our souls,\nthat we are thinking beings, and beings capable of happiness and\nmisery, which because we actually feel in several degrees, and in\nseveral kinds, we may justly think ourselves capable of in more,\nthough how far, and in what variety, it be past our comprehension\nexactly to define. 3. _By that inward joy which attends the good, and\nby that inward trouble and uneasiness which attends the bad state of\nthe soul._ This is a matter of universal experience. It is God that\nraineth this pleasure or this pain in us, and that thus differently\nrewards or punishes the souls of men, and thus, out of His infinite\nlove, is pleased to do the office of a private monitor to every\nparticular man, by smiling upon him when he does well, and by\nfrowning upon him when he does ill, that so he may have a mark to\n_discern,_ and an encouragement to _do_ his duty.--_John Norris._\n\n\nVerse 5. A man may be acutely shrewd and yet be a fool, and that in\nthe very highest sense. Nor is this a mere mystic sense. He must be a\nfool actually, and of the very plainest kind, who gives the whole\nlabour of a life, for example, to increase his eternal\nagonies.--_Miller._\n\nThe _heart_ is frequently used, simply for the mind or seat of\nintellect as well as for the affections; so that \"an understanding\nheart\" might mean nothing different from an _intelligent_ mind. At\nthe same time, since the state of the heart affects to such a degree\nthe exercise of the judgment, \"an understanding heart\" may signify a\nheart freed from the influence of those corrupt affections and\npassions by which the understanding is perverted, and its vision\nmarred and destroyed.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 6. The discoveries of Wisdom relate to things of the highest\npossible _excellence_; such as the existence, character, works, and\nways of God; the soul; eternity; the way of salvation--the means of\neternal life. And they are, on all subjects, \"_right._\" They could\nnot, indeed, be excellent themselves, how excellent soever in dignity\nand importance the subjects to which they are related, unless they\nwere \"right.\" But all her instructions are so. They are _true_ in\nwhat regards _doctrine,_ and \"holy, just, and good\" in what regards\n_conduct_ or _duty._ There is truth without any mixture of error, and\nrectitude without any alloy of evil.--_Wardlaw._\n\nRight for each man's purposes and occasions. The Scriptures are so\npenned that every man may think they speak of him and his affairs. In\nall God's commands there is so much rectitude and good reason, could\nwe but see it, that if God did not command them, yet it were our best\nway to practise them.--_Trapp._\n\nThe teaching is not _trifling,_ though addressed to _triflers._\n\"Right things\"--things which are calculated to correct your false\nnotions, and set straight your crooked ways.--_Adam Clarke._\n\n\nVerse 9. If aught in God's Word does not seem to us right, it is\nbecause we, so far, have not found true knowledge. \"To those who have\nbloodshot eyes, white seems red\" (Lyra). He who would have the sealed\nbook opened to him must ask it of the Lamb who opens the book (Rev.\nv. 4-9).--_Fausset._\n\nThe first part of this verse wears very much the aspect of a\n_truism._ But it is not said, \"They are plain to him that\nunderstandeth _them;_\" but simply to him that \"_understandeth._\" It\nseems to signify, who has the understanding necessary to the\napprehension of Divine truth--spiritual discernment. \"He who is\nspiritual _discerneth all things._\" \"They are all plain\" to him who\n_thus_ understandeth. It may further be observed, how very much\ndepends, in the prosecution of any science, for correct and easy\napprehension of its progressive development to the mind, on the clear\ncomprehension of its _elementary principles._ The very clearest and\nplainest demonstrations, in any department of philosophy, will fail\nto be followed and to carry conviction--will leave the mind only in\nwonder and bewildering confusion, unless there is a full and correct\nacquaintance with principles or elements, or a willingness to apply\nthe mind to its attainment. So in Divine science. There are, in\nregard to the discoveries of the Divine Word, certain primary\nprinciples, which all who are taught of God know, and which they hold\nas principles of explanation for all that the Word reveals. They who\n_are_ thus \"taught of God,\" perceive with increasing fulness the\ntruth, the rectitude, the unalloyed excellence of all the dictates of\nDivine wisdom. All is \"plain\"--all \"right.\" The darkness that brooded\nover the mind is dissipated. They \"have an unction from the Holy One,\nand know all things\" (1 John ii. 20).--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen a man gets the knowledge of himself, then he sees all the\n_threatenings_ of God to be _right_. When he obtains the knowledge of\nGod in Christ, then he finds that all the _promises_ of God are\n_right_--yea and amen.--_Adam Clarke._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10, 11.\n\nWISDOM BETTER THAN WEALTH.\n\n+I. Wisdom is to be preferred to wealth because it belongs to a\nhigher sphere.+ The wisdom by which men succeed in finding gold and\nsilver reveals the superiority of mind over matter. The apparatus of\nthe miner or digger reveals that his thought, by which he is enabled\nto find the precious metal, is more than the metal itself. The\nprecious stones which the merchant gains by trading are inferior to\nthe wisdom he puts in operation to gain them, even though it is a\nwisdom which is only devoted to gaining money. The mental power which\nhe puts forth shows that he is possessed of intelligence, which,\nbelonging to the region of mind, belongs to a higher sphere than\nmaterial wealth. When the wisdom is that spoken of in the text, the\nwisdom which springs from the very Fountain of goodness, it is not\nonly preferable because it is the offspring of mind, but because it\nbelongs to the higher region of spiritual purity.\n\n+II. Wisdom is to be preferred to wealth, because it had an existence\nbefore wealth.+ The world, with all its precious stones, and rich\nmines of gold and silver, is but of yesterday compared with wisdom.\nThe mental and spiritual wealth of God was before matter; upon that\nwisdom--as we learn in this chapter--depended the existence of the\nmaterial (vers. 22-32; chap. iii. 19, 20). Mental wealth is eternal,\nmaterial wealth belongs only to time. Gold had a beginning, because\nthe earth had a birthday, but wisdom is as old as God.\n\n+III. Wisdom is to be preferred to wealth, because it is an absolute\nnecessity to man's well-being, which gold is not.+ The first man, in\nhis state of sinlessness, had no need of what men now call wealth,\nbut wisdom--spiritual wisdom--was absolutely necessary to his\ncontinuation in a state of blessedness. Men need worldly,\nintellectual wisdom, even to make money. Many who inherit wealth lose\nit because they lack wisdom to use it rightly. But they can be blest\nwithout wealth, but not without the wisdom which leads to holiness.\nWealth may bring pleasure with it, but to do so it must be united to\ntrue wisdom. Many who roll in riches have no pleasure in them;\nsometimes their very wealth adds to their unhappiness. Mental wealth\nenables men to extract some enjoyment from material wealth, but the\nriches of goodness makes gold and silver a means of increasing men's\nhappiness.\n\n+IV. Wisdom is to be preferred to wealth, because the latter may be\ndestructive to character, and the former is its constructive power.+\nMany men have been morally destroyed by their riches. But true wisdom\nis that by which a holy character is formed, the sustenance of the\nspiritual life. Riches may ruin; the wisdom which God gives to those\nwho seek it at His hand can but bless.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 10. Thou canst not make as thy chief aim the acquisition of\nsilver and that of true wisdom at one and the same time, for those\naims mutually conflict, and each claims the whole man (Matt. vi. 24).\nTo accept the one involves the rejection of the other as the chief\nportion. He who lives for money is void of wisdom (Luke xii. 16, 20),\nand is called in Scripture a \"fool.\"--_Fausset._\n\nHad it been said, Receive silver, who would not have held out his\nhand to receive it? Had it been said, Receive gold, who would not\nhave been forward and glad with both his hands to have taken it? But\nit is instruction and not silver, wherein, lest a worldly heart be\nafraid that the taking of silver were forbidden him, the next words\nshow the meaning, that is but instruction _rather_ than silver, as it\nis knowledge _rather_ than gold. . . . He that seeketh gold and\nsilver diggeth up much earth, but finds little of them, but he that\nreceiveth instruction and knowledge, which are, indeed, of a golden\nnature, even in a little shall get and find much. Wherefore Clemens\nAlexandrinus saith, \"It is in the soul that riches are, and they\nalone are riches whereof the soul alone is the treasure.\"--_Jermin._\n\nThe first warning uttered by this wisdom from above is the repetition\nof a former word. The repetition is not vain. Another stroke so soon\non the same place indicates that he who strikes feels a peculiar\nhardness there. The love of money is a root of evil against which the\nBible mercifully deals many a blow. There lies one of our deepest\nsores. Thanks be to God for touching it with \"line upon line\" of His\nhealing Word. . . . A ship bearing a hundred emigrants has been\ndriven from her course and wrecked on a desert island, far from the\ntracks of men. The passengers get safe ashore with all their stores.\nThere is no way of escape, but there are means of subsistence. An\nocean unvisited by ordinary voyagers circles round their prison, but\nthey have seed, with a rich soil to receive, and a genial climate to\nripen it. Ere any plan has been laid, or any operation begun, an\nexploring party returns to head quarters reporting the discovery of a\ngold mine. Thither instantly the whole company resort to dig. They\nacquire and accumulate heaps of gold. The people are quickly becoming\nrich. But the spring is past, and not a field has been cleared, not a\ngrain of seed has been committed to the ground. The summer comes, and\ntheir wealth increases, but the store of food is small. In harvest\nthey begin to discover that their stores of gold are worthless. A\ncart-load of it cannot satisfy a hungry child. When famine stares\nthem in the face a suspicion shoots across their fainting hearts that\ntheir gold has cheated them. They loathe the bright betrayer. They\nrush to the woods, fell the trees, till the ground, and sow the seed.\nAlas! it is too late! Winter has come, and their seed rots in the\nsoil. They die of want in the midst of their treasures. This earth is\na little isle--eternity the ocean round it. On this shore we have\nbeen cast, like shipwrecked sailors. There is a living seed; there is\nan auspicious spring time; the sower may eat and live. But gold mines\nattract us; we spend our spring there--our summer there: winter\novertakes us toiling there, with heaps of hoarded dust, but destitute\nof the bread of life.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 11. First, because everything else without it is a curse, and\nwith it just what is needed; second, because it is necessary to all\nbeings, and even to God himself, as the spring of action; third,\nbecause it is glory and wealth in its very nature.--_Miller._\n\nSurely he that thinketh himself adorned with precious stones, showeth\nhimself to be of less price than the stones are. To whom Clemens well\napplieth that saying of Apelles, who, when one of his scholars had\npainted Helena set out with much gold, said unto him, \"Alas, poor\nyoung man, when thou could'st not draw her fair thou hast made her\nrich.\" for so, when many have neglected the jewel of the soul they\nseek to prank out the body with jewels.--_Jermin._\n\nThe wisdom of goodness, or virtue. 1. _Is absolutely and without any\nlimitation good, absolutely and without any limitation useful and\ndesirable._ It alone can never be misapplied, can never be criminal.\nThis we cannot pronounce of any other good. Riches may be a snare,\nhonours a burden, even the endowments of the mind may be a snare to\nus. 2. _It is far more unchangeable than the value of all other goods\nand endowments._ The value of riches is regulated by our wants and\nthe wants of the society in which we live. The value of honour\nchanges according to the opinions, the usages, the political\ninstitutions of mankind. The value of sensual pleasure depends much\non our constitution, age, and health. Even the value of mental\nendowments is subjection to vicissitudes. The value of true wisdom\nalone is invariably the same. 3. _It is much more independent of\nstation than any other good._ Riches would cease to be riches if all\nmen lived in abundance. Honour would lose much of its value if it\ngave us no precedence over others. A great proportion of the value of\nsensual and mental pleasures would be reduced to nothing if every man\npossessed them, and each in the same degree. But no man loses\nanything if another be virtuous likewise, but if all were virtuous\nall would infinitely profit thereby. 4. _It has a pre-eminent value,\nby the effects it produces in us._ It renders us: (1) much better,\n(2) more useful, (3) more happy. 5. _It alone fits us for a better\nlife._ It passes for as much in heaven as it does upon earth, and\nmuch more. It alone assimilates us with God. What we call riches,\npower, and knowledge, are poverty, weakness, and darkness, with\nHim.--_Zollikofer._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12, 13.\n\nWISDOM AND PRUDENCE.\n\n+I. Wisdom and prudence are here represented as dwelling together in\nexpress unity of action.+ Elster remarks upon this passage: \"Prudence\ndenotes here right knowledge in special cases, in contrast with the\nmore comprehensive idea of intelligence in general; the practical\nrealisation of the higher principle of knowledge found in wisdom.\"\nPrudence is as necessary to wisdom, as the hand is to the will.\nPrudence asks what is the best time, the best place, and the best\nmanner in which to carry out what wisdom has designed. It has\ntherefore been defined as \"wisdom applied to practice.\" Wisdom\ndecrees that a certain word is to be spoken. Prudence decides upon\nthe best time, place, and manner in which to say it. Prudence must\nalways dwell with wisdom, if the designs of a wise man are to be\nbrought to a successful issue. In all God's plans both are always in\noperation. Consider their manifestation in the plan of redemption.\nThe wisdom of God is manifested in the conception of plan. His\nprudence was shown in the choice of the _time,_ _place,_ and _manner_\nof the manifestation. 1. The _time_ was \"the fulness of time\" (Gal.\niv. 4), when all the streams of human wisdom and greatness which had\nbeen flowing through the world for ages, had converged into one head\nand were seen to be powerless to accomplish the regeneration of the\nworld. Then \"God sent forth His Son.\" 2. The _place_ of the\nmanifestation. When the wisdom of a commander has decided that a\nbattle must be fought, his prudence is called in to decide where it\nmust take place, where all lawful advantage will be upon his side.\nOur world was chosen by Divine prudence as the scene of the battle\nbetween the powers of Good and Evil because, seeing that here the\nhuman race had been most shamefully defeated by the devil, it was\nmost fitting that here the Prince of Darkness should be defeated by\nOne in human form--that the victory should be won where the defeat\nhad been sustained. 3. _The manner in which, or the means by which,\nman's redemption was accomplished._ The life of the Incarnate Son of\nGod was adapted to influence the hearts of men. His death for their\nsins was calculated as probably no other event could have been, to\nbeget within them a love which is powerful enough to make them new\ncreatures. The fact that millions of men and women have been thus\nborn to a new life through the cross of Christ is a revelation of its\nadaptation to human needs, and a manifestation that Divine wisdom\ndwelt with Divine prudence in the plan of redemption; that in this,\nas in all His other workings, there is no exhibition of \"sagacious\ncounsels\" (see Critical Notes).\n\n+II. Divine wisdom and prudence act in union for the promotion of\nmoral ends+ (verse 13). There is a wisdom and prudence which do not\nact in concert for this purpose, but for the very opposite. There is\na manifestation of prudence choosing the best time, place, and method\nin which to work out an evil design. The plan of the tempter to ruin\nour first parents was a great display of united wisdom and prudence.\nThe _time,_ the _place,_ the _means_ chosen were all calculated to\neffect the purpose. But the wisdom and prudence of God unite to put\ndown sin, to banish its evil influence from the universe. As we see\nthe combination of wisdom and prudence in the Father's plan of\nredemption, so we see them combined in every act and word of the Son\nof God while He was manifest in the flesh. The means He used to\nsilence His enemies, to instruct His disciples, to enlighten the\nignorant multitude, were all revelations of His Divine wisdom and\nprudence.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. That is, this spiritual light, which the very first proverb\n(ch. i. 2, 3) says is holiness; takes possession of any _intellect;\ndwells in it;_ nay, _makes a dwelling in it;_ for holiness can dwell\nin nothing else; and that intellect, though it may be the very mind\nof God, is stirred up by nothing else to _do_ all that is grand in\nits total history (verses 22-30). Satan, with such splendid\nintellect, what is he but the universe's insanest fool? He toils for\nworse wages than anybody in the whole creation. But could wisdom get\na lodging in that peerless intellect, what different results! She\ngets a lodging in our earthly faculties, and turns us about from\nsowing to our death, to a splendid harvest of eternal\nfavour.--_Miller._\n\nWisdom, in the most comprehensive aspect, is to be regarded as giving\norigin to all arts and sciences, by which human life is improved and\nadorned; as by her inventive skill developing all the varied\nappliances for the external comfort and well-being of mankind; as\nplanning the \"wondrous frame\" of universal creation, which, with all\nits varied beauty, fills us, in the view with astonishment and\ndelight; and conceiving, in the depths of eternity, the glorious\nscheme--a scheme \"dark with brightness all along\"--which secures the\nhappiness of man for ever, and in which she appears in her noblest\nand most attractive display, the whole, from first to last,\ndiscovering \"the manifold wisdom of God.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nIn the first address of Wisdom (ch. i. 22-33), her words were stern\nand terrible. The first step in the Divine education is to proclaim\n\"the terrors of the Lord,\" but here she neither promises nor\nthreatens, but, as if lost in contemplation, speaks of her own\nexcellence. \"Prudence.\" The subtilty of the serpent, in itself\nneutral, but capable of being turned to good as well as evil. Wisdom,\nhigh and lofty, occupied with things heavenly and eternal, does not\nexclude, yea, rather, \"dwells with\" the practical tact and insight\nneeded for the common life of men.--_Plumptre._\n\nWisdom here beginneth to draw her own picture, and with her own\npencil. . . . The force of the verse is, that Wisdom is there where\nthere is a fitness of worth to entertain her.--_Jermin._\n\nI draw all into practice, and teach man to prove by their own\nexperience, what is \"that good, and holy, and acceptable will of God\"\n(Rom. xii. 2).--_Trapp._\n\nAll arts among men are the rays of Divine wisdom falling upon them.\nWhatsoever wisdom there is in the world, it is but a shadow of the\nwisdom of God.--_Charnock._\n\nPrudence is defined, _wisdom applied to practice;_ so, wherever true\nwisdom is, it will lead to action. . . . The farther wisdom proceeds\nin man the more practical knowledge it gains, and, finding out the\nnature and properties of things, and the general course of\nProvidence, it can contrive by new combinations to produce new\nresults.--_Adam Clarke._\n\n\nVerse 13. To fear retribution is not to hate sin. In most cases it is\nto love it with the whole heart. It is a solemn suggestion that even\nthe _religion_ of dark, unrenewed men is in its essence a love of\ntheir own sins. Instead of hating sin themselves, their grand regret\nis, that God hates it. If they could be convinced that the Judge\nwould regard it as lightly as the culprit, the fear would collapse\nlike steam under cold water, and all the religious machinery which it\ndrove would stand still.--_Arnot._\n\nThe godly avoid evil and do good--not merely from habit, education,\nthe hope of reward, or the fear of punishment, but from hatred of\nevil and love of goodness.--_Cartwright._\n\nThe affection of hatred as having sin for its object is spoken of in\nScripture as no inconsiderable part of true religion. It is spoken of\nas that by which true religion may be known and distinguished.--_Jon.\nEdwards._\n\nWisdom having shown where she dwelleth, she showeth likewise where\nshe dwelleth not. . . . He that saith, \"The fear of the Lord is to\nhate evil,\" is Himself the Lord that hateth evil. And, doubtless,\nevery one should hate that which He hateth, whom all must love. Now,\nin an evil way, there be some ringleaders, and such are \"pride,\narrogancy, and the froward mouth,\" for these draw many other after\nthem. . . . And as for the Eternal Wisdom, how much He hateth them,\nHis little regard of Himself showeth plainly and fully. For it was\nHis hatred of Satan's pride, reigning in wickedness, as well as His\nlove to man captivated by it, that made Him to become man; yea, a\nworm, and no man, and by His humility to destroy pride, which He so\ngreatly hated.--_Jermin._\n\nIt is not only Divine _holiness,_ observe, that \"hates evil,\" it is\nDivine _wisdom._ This conveys to us the important lesson that the\nwill of God, along with his abhorrence of all that is opposed it, is\nfounded in the _best of reasons._ All that is evil is contrary to His\nown necessary perfection, and, consequently, to \"the eternal fitness\nof things.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nAs it is impossible to hate evil without loving good; and as hatred\nto evil will lead a man to abandon the evil way, and love to goodness\nwill lead him to do what is right in the sight of God, under the\ninfluence of that Spirit which has given the hatred to evil, and the\nlove to goodness; this implies the sum and substance of true\nreligion, which is here termed the fear of the Lord.--_Adam Clarke._\n\nGod's people partake of the Divine nature, and so have God-like\nsympathies and antipathies (Rev. ii. 6). They not only leave sin, but\nloathe it, and are at deadly feud with it. They purge themselves--by\nthis clean fear of God (Psa. xix. 7)--from all pollutions, not of\nflesh only, worldly lusts, and gross evils, but of spirit also, that\nlie more up in the heart of the country, as pride, arrogancy,\netc.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-16.\n\nTHE SOURCE OF TRUE POWER.\n\n+I. Moral wisdom is the strength of kings.+ \"I have strength; by me\nkings rule.\" There is a kind of strength in all wisdom. The serpent's\nstrength is in his subtlety. The strength of the kingdom of darkness\nconsists in a kind of wisdom of which our Lord speaks, when He says,\n\"The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the\nchildren of light\" (Luke xvi. 8). Many kingdoms have been founded and\ngoverned upon the basis of merely human sagacity. But in all such\ngovernment there are elements of weakness. The foundation of all\nlasting, true government is to be found only in moral wisdom, in\nother words, in holiness. That king or ruler will in the long-run\nhave the firmest hold upon his subjects who is himself ruled by\nDivine wisdom. His strength will be found in the fact, that he rules\nhimself before he attempts to rule others. His personal character\nwill be his chief strength. Christ Himself is strong to rule, because\nHe is pre-eminently the \"Holy One.\"\n\n+II. Without moral wisdom there can be no righteous government.+ \"By\nme princes decree justice.\" A man's laws will be the outcome of his\ncharacter. He will not make righteous laws unless he has himself\nsubmitted to moral rule. We are assured that all God's decrees in\nrelation to all His creatures are righteous, because we know Him to\nbe altogether righteous. He was been declared by Him who knows Him\nbest to be the \"righteous Father\" (John xvii. 25), therefore we know\nthat only righteous laws can be decreed by Him. And it is only in\nproportion as rulers are influenced by Him, and partake of His\ncharacter, that they rule in righteousness.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 14. Wisdom's life is a thing of system. It has an assured\nresult. It is the card-building of the spirit. One card supports\nanother. It builds out with a declared dependence to the very\nend.--_Miller._\n\nThe Son of God is a counsellor, as Isaiah calleth Him; for He is both\nof the privy council of His Father, and the adviser of His Church.\nMoreover, He hath strength in Him, being the arm of God to conquer\nsin, with hell and Satan, and is able to do whatsoever He will.\nSubstance (sound wisdom, see Critical Notes), or the being of things,\nis likewise His, for He causeth all creatures to be and\nsubsist.--_Muffet._\n\nDirection how to act in all circumstances and on all occasions must\ncome from wisdom: the foolish man can give no counsel, cannot show\nanother how he is to act in the various changes and chances of life.\nThe wise man alone can give this counsel, and he can give it only as\ncontinually receiving instruction from God: for this Divine Wisdom\ncan say, substance, reality, essence, (see Critical Notes on Sound\nWisdom), all belong to me: I am the fountain whence all are derived.\nMan may be wise, and good, and prudent, and ingenious; but these he\nderives from me, and they are _dependently_ in him. But in me all\nthese are independently and essentially inherent.--_Adam Clarke._\n\nMany things are done, but not having _counsel_ for the foundation of\nthem, are weak and rotten and fall again to nothing. Many have\n_understanding_ what is to be done, and how to do it, but have not\n_strength_ to effect it: again many have _strength_ of effecting, but\nhave not _understanding_ how to go about it. But the eternal wisdom\nhath all. It is no strength which by His strength is not supported,\nno understanding which by His understanding is not enlightened, no\ncounsel which by His counsel is not guided.--_Jermin._\n\n\"Knowledge is power,\" and knowledge in union with wisdom--the ability\nto use knowledge aright--multiplies the power. In proportion as there\nis \"understanding\" and \"wisdom,\" is there \"strength\"--moral and\nspiritual strength--strength to act and to suffer, to _do_ and to\n_bear._--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerses 15, 16. The chief monarchs of the world come unto their\nsceptres by the power and permission of the Son of God. Lawgivers and\ncounsellors, by His direction and inspiration, give advice and invent\npolitic laws. Inferior rulers keep their places, countenance, and\nauthority by His assistance, whereunto they also rise by His secret\ndisposing of matters. Finally, judges and justices who used to keep\ncourts and sit on benches, do by Him, from Him, and for Him,\npronounce sentence, handle matters of state, execute laws, and\nfinally determine all cases.--_Muffet._\n\nHere is a Divine prophecy concerning Him who said, \"All power is\ngiven unto me in heaven and in earth\" (Matt. xxiii. 18), and who has\n\"on His head many crowns\" (Rev. xix. 12), and \"on his vesture and on\nHis thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords\" (Rev.\nxix. 16), and of whom it is written, \"that by Him were all things\ncreated, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and\ninvisible, and He is before all things, and by Him all things\nconsist\" (Col. i. 16, 17).--_Wordsworth._\n\nKings are kings only as they are wise, that is, wise in the sense of\nholiness. It does not mean holiness as altogether distinct from\nvirtue, but holiness as that moral right which belongs to all ranks\nof moral intelligences. The virtue that belongs to God, and the\nvirtue that belongs to Gabriel, and the virtue that remains in man,\nand the virtue that is wrecked in hell, are not all different\nqualities of moral right, but are all identically the same. One moral\nquality inheres in all. Government being a moral work, the man that\ngoverns must have a moral heart. And, as there are no two sorts of\nvirtue, he truly exercises his kingship just in proportion as he is\nholy, _i.e.,_ in the language of this inspired book, just in\nproportion as he is spiritually wise.--_Miller._\n\nEvery kingdom is a province of the universal empire of the \"King of\nKings.\" Men may mix their own pride, folly, and self-will with this\nappointment. But God's providential counter-working preserves the\nsubstantial blessing.--_Bridges._\n\nThis language may be considered as implying 1. That human government,\nin all its branches, is the appointment of Divine wisdom. 2. That all\nwho sustain positions of authority and power should set habitually\nunder the influence of Divine wisdom. 3. That no authority can be\nrightly exercised, and no judicial process successfully carried out,\nwithout the direction of Wisdom. 4. That Divine wisdom exercises\ncontrol over all human agents in the administration of public\naffairs.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\"By me kings reign,\" not as if men did behold that book, and\naccordingly frame their laws, but because it worketh in them when the\nlaws which they make are righteous.--_Hooker._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-21.\n\nTHE REWARD OF EARNEST SEEKERS.\n\n+I. The mutual love which exists between Wisdom and her children.+\nThere is always a mutual love between a true teacher and a diligent,\nreceptive pupil, and the love on each side has a reflex influence on\nboth master and pupil, and renders it more pleasant to teach, and\nmore easy to learn. When a child loves his parent, and the parent is\nteaching the child, love oils the wheels of the intellectual powers,\nand furnishes a motive power to conquer the lesson. And when the\nparent feels that he is loved by his child and pupil, the love is a\npresent reward. There is such a love between Christ and His\ndisciples. Peter appealed to Christ's consciousness of being loved by\nhim when he said, \"Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I\nlove Thee\" (John xxi. 17). And Christ loves His pupils. \"Greater love\nhath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.\"\n\"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you\" (John xv. 9, 13).\nThis mutual love imparts patience on the one side and perseverance on\nthe other. It was Christ's \"first love to us\" that gave Him patience\nto \"endure the cross and despise the shame\" (Heb. xii. 2). And it is\nthe responsive love of the disciple that enables Him to endure unto\nthe end. It is the love that is born of the consciousness of being\nloved that stirs up to the _diligent seeking_ of the latter clause of\nthe verse, which expresses--\n\n+II. A certain success to the seekers of wisdom.+ In Holy Scripture\nearnest seeking and finding are complements of each other. The one\ndoes not exist without the other. Seeking ensures finding. Finding\nimplies seeking. \"If any man lack _wisdom,_ let him ask of God, who\ngiveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not\" (Jas. i. 5). God's\npromise is absolute. It can only fail on one of three suppositions.\n1. That when God made the promise He had no intention of keeping it,\nor--2. That unforeseen circumstances have since arisen which render\nHim unable to fulfil His word, or--3. That the conditions have not\nbeen fulfilled on the part of the seeker. We know that God's holiness\nand omnipotence render the first two impossible, and therefore,\nwhenever there is no finding, we are certain that there has been no\nreal, earnest seeking. For the promise is limited by the condition,\n\"they that seek me early, or earnestly.\" If a traveller has a long\njourney to perform and many difficulties to overcome in the way, he\nshows his determination to arrive safely at his destination by\nsetting out at early dawn. Those who are anxious to make a name, or a\nfortune, show their anxiety by rising early and sitting up late.\nThere are degrees of earnestness in seekers after Divine wisdom as in\nall other seekers. But those whose seeking is the most earnest will\nreceive the most abundant reward. The Syro-Ph\u0153nician woman who\nbesought Christ to heal her daughter was a type of earnest seekers.\nShe redoubled her efforts as the apparent difficulties increased. She\n_asked,_ she _sought,_ she _knocked._ And she received not only what\nshe sought, but a commendation from the Lord for her earnest seeking\n(Matt. xv. 28).\n\n+III. What those find who find God.+ The reward promised to those who\nseek God is God Himself. In finding Him they find 1. _The lasting\nriches of righteousness_ (vers. 18, 19). This a wealth which will\n_last._ However great the satisfaction, however many the blessings\nwhich may flow from the riches of the earth, \"passing away\" is\nwritten upon all. Yea, long before the end of life the riches may\n\"make themselves wings\" (chap. xxiii. 5). Among many other qualities\nthat make moral wealth incomparably superior to material wealth, not\nthe least is its _durability._ (See on vers. 10, 11; also chap.\niii. 15, 16.) 2. _Guidance,_ ver. 20. (See on chap. iii. 6, etc.)\n3. _Reality in opposition to shadow,_ ver. 21. The hungry man who\ndreams that he is feasting experiences a kind of pleasure. But the\nfeast is only in vision. There is no power in it to appease his\nhunger, or nourish his frame. But, if on awaking, he finds a table\nreally spread with food, he then has the substance of that of which\nin his dreams he had only the shadow. Worldly men walk, the Psalmist\ntells us, in a \"vain show,\" _i.e.,_ in an \"image,\" an \"unreality\"\n(Psa. xxxix. 6). \"They walk,\" says Spurgeon on this verse, \"as if the\nmocking images were substantial, like travellers in a mirage, soon to\nbe filled with disappointment and despair.\" There are many who dream\nthat they are being satisfied while they are morally asleep. But by\nand by they awake and find that they have been feeding on visions of\nthe night, that they have been spending their money for \"that which\nwas not bread, and their labour for that which satisfieth not\" (Isa.\nlv. 2). To all who are conscious of this soul-hunger, eternal wisdom\nhere offers substantial heart satisfaction, \"a well of water\nspringing up into everlasting life.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 17. The philosopher could say, that if moral virtue could be\nseen with mortal eyes, she would stir up wonderful loves of herself\nin the hearts of the beholders. How much more, then, would \"the\nwisdom of God in a mystery!\" (1 Cor. ii. 7), that essential wisdom of\nGod especially, the Lord Jesus, who is \"altogether lovely,\" \"the\ndesire of all nations.\" \"My love was crucified,\" said Ignatius, who\n\"loved not His life unto the death\" (Rev. xii. 11). Neither was there\nany love lost, or can be, for \"I love them that love me.\" Men do not\nalways reciprocate, or return love for love. David lost his love upon\nAbsalom; Paul upon the Corinthians; but here is no such\ndanger.--_Trapp._\n\n+The characters whom Christ loves.+ _Christ loves those who love\nHim._ (1) _Because He has done and suffered so much for their\nsalvation._ We naturally prize any object in proportion to the labour\nand expense which it cost us to obtain it. How highly, then, must\nChrist prize, how ineffably must He love His people. For this, among\nother reasons, His love for them must be greater in degree, and of a\ndifferent kind from that which He entertains for the angels of light.\n(2) _Because they are united to Him by strong and indissoluble ties._\nThe expressions used to describe this union are the strongest that\nlanguage can afford. The people of Christ are not only His brethren,\nHis sisters, His bride, but His members, His body, and He\nconsequently loves them as we love our members, as our souls love our\nbodies. (3) _Because they possess His Spirit, and bear His image._\nSimilarity of character tends to produce affection, and hence every\nbeing in the universe loves his own image when he discovers it.\nEspecially does Christ love His own image in His creatures, because\nit essentially consists in holiness, which is of all things most\npleasing to His Father and Himself. (4) _Because they rejoice in and\nreturn His affection._ It is the natural tendency of love to produce\nand increase love. Even those whom we have long loved become\nincomparably more dear when they begin to prize our love and to\nreturn it. If Christ so loved His people before they existed, and\neven while they were His enemies, as to lay down His life for their\nredemption, how inexpressibly dear must they be to Him after they\nbecome His friends.--_Payson._\n\nSeeking wisdom early implies 1. That it engages our first concern and\nendeavour, while matters of an inferior consideration are postponed.\n2. The constant use of the proper means to obtain it. If we see one\ncontinually practising any art, we judge that it is his intention to\nbe master of it. 3. The using them with spirt and vigour. The\nsuperficial and spiritless performance of duty is as faulty as the\ntotal omission.--_Abernathy._\n\nAll fancy that they love God. But those who either do not seek God at\nall, or seek Him coldly, whilst they eagerly seek the vanities of the\nworld, make it plain that they are led by the love of the world more\nthan by the love of God.--_Fausset._\n\nIt is His love to us that makes us to love Him; and, doubtless, He\nthat loves us so as to make us to love Him, cannot but love us when\nwe do love Him.--_Jermin._\n\nSeek early, as the Israelites went early in the morning to seek for\nmanna (Exod. xvi. 21), and as students rise early in the morning and\nsit close to it to get knowledge. To seek the Lord early is to seek\nthe Lord (1) _firstly;_ (2) _opportunely._ There is a season wherein\nGod may be found (Isa. lv. 6), and if you let this season slip, you\nmay seek and miss Him. (3) _Affectionately, earnestly_ (Isa.\nxxvi. 6). That prayer that sets the whole man a-work will work\nwonders in Heaven, in the heart, and in the earth. Earnest prayer,\nlike Saul's sword and Jonathan's bow, never returns empty.--_Brooks._\n\n\nVerse 18. Spiritual riches are durable. 1. Because they are gotten\nwithout wronging any man. Temporal riches are often gotten by fraud\nand violence, and, therefore, are not lasting. The parties wronged\nuse all means to recover their own, and God punishes unjust persons.\nSpiritual riches no man can challenge from us. 2. They are\neverlasting riches, and therefore durable. That must needs last long\nwhich lasts ever. These are true, not transitory riches, which often\nchange their masters. They will swim out of the sea of this world\nwith us, out of the shipwreck of death. Neither fire nor sword can\ntake them from us.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nIn the matters of rank and riches, the two strong cords by which the\nambitious are led, the two reciprocally supporting rails on which the\ntrain of ambition ever runs,--even in these matters, that seem the\npeculiar province of an earthly crown, the Prince of Peace comes\nforth with long challenge and conspicuous rivalry. Titles of honour!\ntheir real glory depends on the height and purity of the foundation\nwhence they flow. They have often been the gift of profligate\nprinces, and the rewards of successful crime. And the best the\nfountain is low and muddy: the streams, if looked at in the light of\nday, are tinged and sluggish. Thus saith the Lord, \"Honour is with\nme.\" He who saith it is the King of Glory. To be adopted into the\nfamily of God,--to be the son or daughter of the Lord Almighty,--this\nis honour. High born! We are all low-born until we are _born_ again,\nand then we are the children of a King.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 20. Christ guides infallibly by--1. _His Word._ It is all\ntruth. 2. _His Spirit._ Men mistake and think they are guided by\nGod's Spirit when they are guided by their own, or by a worse spirit.\nBut certainly when Christ's Spirit guides He guides aright. 3. _His\nexample._ All other men have their failings, and must be followed no\nfurther than they follow Christ. He is the original copy; others are\nbut blurred abstracts.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\"I lead in the way of righteousness,\" which is to say, I got not my\nwealth by right and wrong, by wrench and wiles. My riches are not the\nriches of unrighteousness, the \"mammon of iniquity\" (Luke xvi. 9);\nbut are honestly come by, and are therefore like to be \"durable\"\n(ver. 18). St. Jerome somewhere saith, that most rich men are either\nthemselves bad men or the heirs of those that have been bad. It is\nreported of Nevessan, the lawyer, that he should say, \"He that will\nnot venture his body shall never be valiant; he that will not venture\nhis soul never rich.\" But Wisdom's walk lies not any such way. God\nforbid, saith she, that I, or any of mine, should take of Satan,\n\"from a thread even to a shoelatchet, lest he should say, I have made\nyou rich\" (Gen. xiv. 23).--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 21. The great \"I AM\" (Exod. iii. 14) is the only substantial\nreality to satisfy the disciples of Wisdom.--_Fausset._\n\nThe followers of Christ shall be no losers by Him. They shall not\ninherit the wind, nor possess for their portion those unsubstantial\nthings, of which it is said, _they are not_ (chap. xxiii. 5), because\nthey are not the true riches. It is not for want of riches to bestow,\nnor for want of love to His people, that He does not bestow upon\nevery one of them crowns of gold and mines of precious\nmetals.--_Lawson._\n\nHere is no yawning vacuum, but a grand object to give interest to\nlife, to fill up every vacancy in the heart--perfect happiness. All\nthat we could add from the world would only make us poorer, by\ndiminishing that enjoyment of God for the loss of which there is no\ncompensation. There is one point--only one--in the universe where we\ncan look up and cry with the saintly Martyn, \"With Thee there is no\ndisappointment.\"--_Bridges._\n\n\"I will fill their treasures.\" This is a great promise. It is made in\na kingly style. There is no limit. It will take much to fill these\ntreasures, for the capacity of the human spirit is very large. God\nmoulded man after His own image, and when the creature is empty,\nnothing short of His Maker will fill him again. Although a man should\ngain the whole world, his appetite should not be perceptibly\ndiminished. The void would be as great and the craving as keen as\never. Handfuls are gotten on the ground, but a soulful is not to be\nhad except in Christ. \"In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead\nbodily, and ye are complete (_i.e.,_ full) in Him.\"--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 22-31.\n\nTHE PERSONAL WISDOM OF GOD.\n\n+I. The antiquity of the Personal Wisdom of God.+ Wisdom in the\nabstract must have existed before the creation of the world, because\nthe world bears marks of wisdom. There must have been in Solomon the\nwisdom to design the temple before it took the form of beauty which\nmade it so famous. There is skill hidden in the artist's mind before\nit is manifested upon his canvas--the very existence of the picture\nproves the pre-existent skill. The world is a temple of large\nproportions, the beauty of which man can but copy afar off, and its\nexistence proves the pre-existence of wisdom resident in a\npre-existent person. As the world bears evident marks of great\nantiquity it proclaims an All-wise Cause which must necessarily be\nolder still. There is no person known to the human race who claimed\nto have an existence before the world except Jesus Christ. He\nclaimed--and it is claimed for Him by those who bore witness to\nHim--to have been before the world was, and to have been conscious of\nHis divinity before the foundation of the world. He claims to have\nbeen possessor of \"a glory with the Father before the world was\"\n(John xvii. 5), a glory which included intellectual and moral wisdom.\nAnd the claim of His apostle concerning the pre-existence of the\n\"Word of God\" is most unmistakable (John i. 3). The existence of\nother and inferior \"sons of God\" before the creation of this world is\nimplied in Scripture (Job. xxxviii. 7), but we have no direct\nrevelation concerning them. We feel that we could not apply to them,\nor to any creature, the words of the text, \"The Lord possessed me in\nthe beginning of His way,\" etc. But, in the light of the New\nTestament revelation, if we give them a personal application, we must\napply them to the Son of God, the Eternal Word, and to Him alone. The\nwords point to an existence _distinct from_ God. \"I was by Him,\" and\n\"I was with Him.\" And yet the intimate relationship and fellowship\ndescribed does not express _inferiority,_ but finds its fulfilment\nonly in Him who not only \"was in the beginning with God,\" but who\n\"was God.\" (On this subject see note.)\n\n+II. The Personal Wisdom of God the delight of the Eternal Father.+\n\"I was daily His delight\" (verse 30). (1) Likeness in character is a\nfoundation of delight. A man who is godly delights to see his own\ngodly character reflected in his son. The recognition of moral\nlikeness in the uncreated Son gave delight to the Eternal Father.\nNothing gives God so much joy as _goodness_. Hence His joy in His\nonly-begotten Son. (2) Equality of nature is a source of delight to\nthe good and true. Fellowship with an equal gives joy. Christ, when\non earth, ever claimed this equality with the Father. He claimed an\n_eternity of being._ \"Before Abraham was, I am\" (Exod. iii. 14; John\nviii. 58). _Omniscience_ is claimed for Him, and He gave evidence\nthat He possessed it. \"He knew what was in man\" (John ii. 25). \"And\nJesus knowing their thoughts,\" etc. (Matt. ix. 4). _Divine energy._\n\"My Father worketh hitherto and I work\" (John v. 17). _Independent\nexistence._ \"As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to\nthe Son to have life in Himself\" (John v. 26). _Holiness._ \"Which of\nyou convinceth me of sin?\" (John viii. 46). _Almighty power._ \"All\npower is given unto me in heaven and in earth\" (Matt. xxviii. 18). In\nthe eternal ages, before the creation of the world, the Father looked\nupon this \"brightness of His glory and express image of His person\"\n(Heb. i. 3), and this Divine Equal gave joy to the uncreated God\n(Isa. xlii. 1).\n\n+III. The delight of the Personal Wisdom of God in the creation of\nthe home of man.+ \"Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth\"\n(verse 31). The artist has joy in the thought of his completed work\nwhile it is in progress. He joys in that which _is not_ as yet in\noutward form, but which _is,_ in the completeness within his mind.\nThe architect, who sees day by day the building being reared which he\nknows will be the wonder of coming ages and the means of yielding\ncomfort to thousands, rejoices in the thought of the blessing that is\nto come out of his work. He experiences an emotion, with which a\nstranger cannot intermeddle (Prov. xiv. 10). And so Eternal Wisdom is\nhere represented as regarding the future home of man. He saw its\nadaptability to the wants of the creatures who were to inhabit\nit--its inexhaustible resources for the supply of all man's physical\nand many of his intellectual wants, and the thought of the missions\nto whose happiness the earth's riches and beauties would minister\nthroughout the ages gave Him joy. The best natures among human-kind\ndelight when they are able to produce what will increase the\nhappiness of their fellow-creatures. The poet rejoices when he feels\nthat his thought will cheer the hearts of other men. The inventor is\nglad when he has made a discovery which he knows will be a boon to\nhis race. And so the Eternal Wisdom of God looked with joy upon the\nearth which He had called into being for the habitation of the race\nwhom He was about to create. The joy that would be theirs gave Him\njoy when He looked upon creation with their eyes.\n\n+IV. The special delight of Personal Wisdom in man himself.+ \"My\ndelights were with the sons of men.\" 1. _His delight in man would\narise from the fact that he was a creature different from all\npre-existing creatures._ Man is a link between mind and matter. He is\na compound of the animal and the angel, of the dust of the earth and\nthe breath of God. The material creation was called into being before\nman. The angelic and spiritual creatures existed before man. Man was,\nas it were, the clasp which united the two, and his unique character,\nwe may well believe, made him a special object of interest to his\nCreator. New combinations give joy to those who, by combining forces,\nor material, or thoughts for the first time, bring about a new thing\nin the earth. They create a power or an idea which would not have\nexisted if these elements had remained separate. Man, as he came\noriginally from the hand of God, was such a perfectly balanced\ncompound of mind and matter, of body and spirit, that his Creator had\njoy in the contemplation of His work, and declared it to be \"very\ngood\" (Gen. i. 31). If we apply the words of the text to the second\nperson of the Godhead, we know, from Scripture testimony, that He was\nthe Creator of man, for \"without Him was not anything made that was\nmade.\" He is as rich in invention as He is in goodness. 2. _The\ndelight of Christ would be especially with men, because in His own\nnature God and man would meet in an eternal combination._ The\ncommander who can pluck victory out of the jaws of defeat, by the\ncombination of certain forces not yet brought upon the field with\nothers which have been already defeated, is allowed to give evidence\nof the highest military skill. The statesman who, anticipating the\ndefeat of one measure, reserved another method of tactics in the\nbackground which he knew would ensure an ultimate success, and who\nused the very means by which he had been defeated as a lever to\nestablish a better law and a more lasting benefit, would be\nconsidered to display ability of the first degree, and to be a\nbenefactor of his race. And the contemplation of such a victory\nbeforehand must be an occupation of the deepest interest to the mind\nwhich originates the plan and carries it into action. Christ is,\nbeyond all comparison, the leader of men. He saw beforehand that\nhuman nature would be defeated in its first conflict with evil. He\nknew that Satan would enter in and spoil this new principality of\nGod. But He had already made preparation for this defeat, and He\npurposed, by means of the very human nature which would be thus\ndefeated, in combination with His own divinity, to spoil the spoiler\nand lead captivity captive. By the eternal union of His own nature\nwith the human He purposed to place man on a firmer standing ground,\nand gain for him the power of an endless life. Christ becoming the\nhead of the race has defeated sin in the human nature that was itself\ndefeated, and the grace which He has thus imparted to man has lifted\nhim to a higher level than that in which he was created. And if the\nfirst edition of man, which was \"of the earth, earthy\" (1 Cor.\nxv. 47), gave joy to his Creator, how much more must He have rejoiced\nin the prospect of that second edition which was to be made after His\nown likeness, and to be the reward of \"the travail of His soul\" (Isa.\nliii. 11), although even then He knew at what a cost this work would\nbe accomplished (1 Pet. i. 20).\n\n\nNOTE ON THE RELATION OF THE SON OF GOD TO THE FATHER. (Verses 22-30,\nJohn i. 1). On this subject Dr. John Brown says, \"That the Son is\nessentially and eternally related to the Father, in some real sense,\nas Father and Son; but that while _distinct_ in person (for 'the Word\nwas with God'), He is neither _posterior_ to Him in time (for 'in the\nbeginning was the Word'), nor _inferior_ to Him in nature (for 'the\nWord was God'), nor _separate_ from Him in being (for 'the same was\nin the beginning with God'), but _One Godhead_ with the Father;\" this\nwould seem to come as near to the full testimony of Scripture on this\nmysterious subject as can be reached by our finite understanding,\nwithout darkening counsel with words without knowledge.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 22. \"The beginning of His way\" evidently means the commencement\nof creation, when Jehovah set out in His course of creative and\nconsequently of providential manifestation of His eternal\nperfections. _When_ this was we cannot tell. We may know the age of\nour own world, at least according to its present constitution. But\n_when_ the universe was brought into being, and whether by one\nomnipotent _fiat,_ or at successive and widely varying periods, it is\nbeyond our power to ascertain. One thing we know for a certainly\nrevealed fact, that there were angelic creatures in existence\nprevious to the reduction of our globe to order and to the creation\nof man upon it. These holy intelligences contemplated the six days of\nwork of Divine wisdom and power in this part of the universe with\nbenevolent transport. \"The morning stars sang together, and all the\nsons of God shouted for joy.\" How many other creatures, and of what\ndescriptions--how many other worlds, and how peopled, might have\nexisted before man and his earthly residence we are unable to affirm.\nWhen men, indeed, begin to talk of its being absurd to suppose the\nuniverse so recent as to have been only coeval with our own globe, or\nour own system, they forget themselves. They do not speak\nconsiderately nor philosophically. There is no lapse of ages or any\npoint of measurement in eternity. . . . Beginning is as inconsistent\nwith the idea of eternity as termination is. Go as far back as\nimagination, or as numbers heaped on numbers, can carry you, there\nstill remains the previous eternity, during which our speculative and\npresumptuous minds may wonder that Divine power had not been put\nforth.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 23. It was in the last times, that the Eternal Wisdom was set\nforth unto us, but it was _from everlasting,_ that He was set up to\nbe a king over us. It was in the fulness of time that He offered\nHimself for us, but it was from the beginning that He was anointed to\nbe priest unto us. It was upon the earth that His gracious lips\ntaught us, but it was before the earth was that He was ordained to be\na prophet for us. It is in Him that all are chosen who come unto\neternity, and He Himself was chosen from eternity. From everlasting\nhe was set up our King, to set us up an everlasting kingdom. From the\nbeginning was He anointed our priest, to anoint us in a priesthood\nthat shall never end. Before the earth was, He was ordained our\nprophet, to order our feet in that way which shall bring us from\nearth to heaven; He was chosen that we might be the chosen people of\nGod.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 24. The order of creation corresponds to that which we find in\nGenesis i. Still more striking is the resemblance with the thoughts\nand language of the book of Job, chap. xxii., xxvi., xxxviii. A world\nof waters, \"great deeps\" lying in darkness--this was the picture of\nthe remotest time of which man could form any conception, and yet the\nco-existence of the uncreated wisdom with the eternal Jehovah was\nbefore that.--_Plumptre._\n\nAt the period referred to here, creation was not yet actually framed\nand executed, it was only framed and planned; the whole being at\nonce, in all its magnificence and in all its minuteness, before the\neye of the omniscient mind, in its almost _infinite_ complexity,\nextent, and variety, yet without the slightest approach to confusion!\nAll there, in one vast and complicated, yet simple idea!--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 27. God's \"setting a compass upon the face of the deep\" seems\nto refer to His circumscribing the earth when in its fluid state,\nassigning to it its spherical form, and fixing the laws by which that\nform should be constantly maintained. I think it probable that this\nrefers to the earth in the state in which it is described previous to\nthe beginning of the six days' work, by which it was reduced to\norder, and fitted for and stocked with inhabitants. How was the fluid\nelement held together in the spherical form? The answer is, God \"set\na compass upon the face of the deep, saying, This be thy just\ncircumference, O World!\" By the power of gravitation, affecting every\nparticle, drawing it to the common centre, the equilibrium was\nmaintained, the globular form effected and kept; which may here be\nmeant by the poetical conception of sweeping a circle from the\ncentre, and defining the spherical limits of the world of\nwaters.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 29. Though great be the noise of the roaring of the sea, great\nthe inconstancy of the tumbling waves, great the looseness of the\nflowing waters; yet the voice of God's decree is easily heard by\nthem, constant is their obedience unto God's commandment, firmly do\nthey keep the bounds of His law. But in the noise of our disorders,\nlittle is God's Word heard by us, in the lightness of our hearts,\nmuch is the will of God slighted, in the looseness of our lives every\nway doth a careless regard of God's law spread itself, which could\nnot but drown us in a sea of God's wrath, did not He who was when the\nbounds of the sea were decreed, purchase by the red sea of His blood\na gracious pardon for us. . . . Fitly is God said to appoint the\nfoundations of the earth only; for that alone founded the whole\nearth, no more was needful for it. But how little doth God's\nappointment prevail with man, a little piece of earth. How often are\nGod's purposes in the means of salvation disappointed by him. To lay\nfirm the foundations of grace in man's heart, the Eternal Wisdom, who\nwas when the foundations of the earth were appointed, came down from\nHeaven, and here was pleased to work out His life thereby to\naccomplish the work of our redemption. And shall not this, then, make\nus to work out our salvation with fear and trembling?--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 30. To Wisdom the work was no laborious task. She \"sported,\" as\nit were, in the exuberance of her strength and might.--_Plumptre._\n\n\nVerse 31. What was it that here attracted His interest? Man had been\ncreated in the image of God--free to stand or fall. This freedom was\nthe perfection of his nature. His fall was permitted as the\nmysterious means of his higher elevation. His ruin was overruled for\nhis greater security. This _habitable earth_ was to be the grand\ntheatre of the work that should fill the whole creation with wonder\nand joy. Here the serpent's head was to be visibly bruised, the\nkingdom of Satan to be destroyed, \"precious spoil to be divided with\nthe strong\" (Isa. liii. 12). Here was the Church to be framed, as the\nmanifestation of His glory, the mirror of His Divine perfections\n(Ephes. iii. 10, 21). Considering the infinite cost at which He was\nto accomplish this work, the wonder is that He should have _endured_\nit; a greater wonder that, ere one atom of the creation was\nformed--ere the first blossom had been put forth in Paradise, he\nshould have _rejoiced_ in it.--_Bridges._\n\nOf all earthly creatures, Christ delights most in men. 1. Because man\nis the chief of God's creatures upon earth, made after God's image,\nand for whom all the rest were made. 2. Because He took on Him the\nnature of men, and not of angels (Heb. ii. 16). 3. He conversed most\nfamiliarly with men when He was incarnate. Men only had reason and\nwisdom to delight in Christ's company, and to give Him occasion to\ndelight in theirs. 4. Because He gave His life for them, that they\nmight live with Him for ever. It seems, then, that He took great\ndelight in them, and means to do so for ever.--_Francis Taylor._\n\nDid our Saviour, before His incarnation, rejoice in the habitable\nparts of the earth, and delight in visiting and blessing the sons of\nmen? Then we may be certain that He still does so; for He is,\nyesterday, to-day, and for ever, the same. Still, He prefers earth to\nheaven; still, His chief delights are with the sons of men; and\nwhile, as man, He intercedes for them in Heaven, He still, as God,\nvisits our world, to meet with and bless His people. . . . And how\ngreat will be our Saviour's happiness after the final consummation of\nall things! . . . If He loved, and rejoiced, and delighted in them\nbefore they knew and loved Him, how will He love and rejoice in them,\nwhen He sees them surrounding His throne, perfectly resembling\nHimself in body and soul, loving Him with unutterable love,\ncontemplating Him with ineffable delight, and praising Him as their\ndeliverer from sin, and death, and hell, as the author of all their\neverlasting glory and felicity.--_Payson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 32-36.\n\nEXHORTATION FOUNDED ON HUMAN OBLIGATIONS TO DIVINE WISDOM.\n\n+I. Because Christ, the Eternal Wisdom, has manifested His sympathy\nwith man, we are under obligations to come into sympathy with Him.+ A\nman who has manifested his sympathy with, and delight in, another's\nwelfare by most substantial acts of benevolence and self-denial, has\ntaken the most reasonable method of awakening an answering sympathy\nin the breast of him whom he has thus regarded. And the obligation on\nthe part of the recipient is increased in proportion to the amount of\nself-sacrifice undergone on his behalf. If such a benefactor desires\nand asks for the friendship of him whom he has befriended, it would\nseem impossible that such an appeal could be made in vain. The\neternal wisdom of God has gone to the utmost of even His infinite\ncapacity of self-denial to show His delight in, and regard for the\nhuman race. This, coupled with His eternal existence and His almighty\npower, is here made the basis for an exhortation to men to listen to\nHis words, \"Now, therefore, hearken unto me, O ye children!\"\n\n+II. Those who are thus drawn into sympathy with Eternal Wisdom come\nunder conditions of life.+ Here is a repetition of an oft-repeated\ntruth of revelation, that life and God's favour are\ninseparable--identical (ver. 35). We can see shadows of this truth in\nthe intercourse of men with their fellow-creatures. If a poor outcast\nchild, surrounded by influences of evil to which he must yield if\nleft to fight them single-handed, is lifted out of his degradation\ninto a godly home, the favour of the friend who thus raises him\nchanges his miserable existence into something worth calling life in\ncomparison. The child who, by wilfulness, has forfeited the favour of\na good parent, feels his entire existence clouded, but forgiveness\nthrough reconciliation brings light and life back to his life. How\nmuch more is it so when we come into sympathy with Christ by\nhearkening to His voice and taking His yoke, and are by Him lifted\nout of a life of bondage to sin into the glorious liberty of the sons\nof God.\n\n+III. Those who refuse thus to come into sympathy with Eternal Wisdom\nare self-destroyers, because they are God-haters.+ He who refuses to\ndrink of the Fountain of Life, must, of necessity, be left to\nsoul-death. There is nothing that gives more sorrow to a human being\nthan to know that the evil from which he is suffering is\nself-inflicted. If a man loses his sight through a wound which he\nreceives from another, although he feels his blindness to be a\nterrible calamity, it lacks the element of bitterness which would be\nadded to it if it had been brought about by his own wilfulness. The\nman who loses a limb in lawful battle looks upon his loss as an\nhonour, because it was inevitable. But his feeling would be very\ndifferent if he knew that he had been crippled for life by his own\nfolly. It will be the main ingredient in the bitter cup of those who\ndisregard the invitations of Divine Wisdom that they are moral\nsuicides. The consciousness of this is a perpetual hell to the human\nspirit. And the mere neglect is sufficient to give the death-blow. It\nis not necessary to be in positive opposition to God and goodness.\nNot to listen is to refuse. Not to wait on God is to sin against\nHim--is to despise the provisions of His mercy.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 34.\n\nHovering about the avenues of a royal residence, there are in Eastern\nas well as in other countries, always to be seen groups of people,\nsome of whom are attracted by the impulse of curiosity, others by the\nhope of obtaining some mark of royal favour. The assiduity and\nperseverance requisite for succeeding in their suit, and waiting the\npropitious moment of presenting themselves in the presence of their\nsovereign, is not, as may be easily supposed, at all times consistent\nwith personal ease and convenience, and, accordingly, here and there\nmay be observed individuals seated upon a stone, or reclining upon\nthe grass, in anxious expectation for the appearance of the sovereign\non his way to daily exercise. To sit at the gates of a king is a\ncustom of great antiquity.--_Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 32. O sweet courtesy! as if it were but a small matter that the\nEternal Wisdom should become our Master, and teach us as His\nscholars; or that, being our Lord, He should teach us as His\nservants; or that, being God, He should teach us as men; yet greater\nis His love, and, as a Father He teacheth us as His children. And\nwell may He call us His children, for it is He that teacheth us who,\nby adoption, hath made us to be His children, which by hearkening\nunto Him we show ourselves to be.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 34. Uriah watched at David's gate as a token of service (2 Sam.\nxi. 9). Lazarus watched at Dives' gate as a token of dependence (Luke\nxvi. 20). Courtiers at royal entrances for smiles of favour. Let the\nsinner do all these things.--_Miller._\n\nNot watching awhile, and then going away if they be not let in\npresently, but waiting patiently till they be let in. Not only taking\noccasion of learning offered, but waiting to find occasions, as\npetitioners wait on great men till their causes be ended.--_Francis\nTaylor._\n\nWisdom here appears as a sovereign, separate and secluded, in the\nstyle of Oriental monarchs, so that only those know anything of her\nwho diligently keep watch at her doors. Wisdom, who is universal in\nher call and invitation (verses 1-3), yet, in the course of\ncommunication in order to test the fidelity of her admirers, veils\nherself at times in a mysterious darknesss, and reveals herself only\nto those who never intermit their search (Matt. vii. 7).--_Von\nGerlach, in Lange's Commentary._\n\nThere ought to be an expectation raised in us that the vital savour\ndiffused in and by the Word may reach us; and many are ruined for not\nexpecting it--not waiting at the posts of Wisdom's door.--_John Howe._\n\n\nVerse 35. 1. _Natural life_ is found by it, not in regard to the\nbeginning of it, but in regard of the comfort and continuance.\n2. _Spiritual life,_ or the life of grace. Wisdom is the life of the\nsoul, and what were the world worth if there were no light?\n3. _Eternal life,_ or the life of glory. This is indeed the life that\nChrist, the wisdom of God, died to purchase for us, and lived among\nus to show us the way to it.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 36. Doing without is a stupid misery; but hating wisdom is an\ninsane marvel.--_Miller._\n\nNot to love and earnestly seek Wisdom is to _sin against her._ To\ndisregard her is to _hate_ her, and is virtually, though\nunconsciously, to love death; for it is loving things, which as being\nopposed to wisdom, bring with them death.--_Fausset._\n\nWhat meaneth this _all_ where one would think there could be none?\nCan there be an all to hate Him who loveth all that is? But if it\nwere not so, why do so many resist His holy will, despise His\nheavenly laws, rebel against His sacred pleasure? Are not these\neffects of hatred? Besides, so doth He challenge the _all_ of our\naffection, as not to hate all things for His sake, is to hate Him.\nNow they that hate Him, which can they love? Surely it must needs be\n_death,_ because in all things else He is. But that is the fruit of\nsin, and they that love the tree must needs love the fruit also. But\nto whom do we speak these things, or why do we speak them? Where\nshall we find open ears, or seeing eyes, when now almost men care not\nwhom they look after, so that they do not look after\nthemselves?--_Jermin._\n\nA child or an idiot may kindle a fire which all the city cannot\nquench. In spite of their utmost efforts, it might destroy both the\nhomes of the poor and the palaces of majesty. So a sinner, though he\ncannot do the least good, can do the greatest evil. The Almighty only\ncan save him, but he can destroy himself.--_Arnot._\n\n_Sin is a self-injury._ There are three facts implied in these words:\nFirstly, _That man is capable of sinning._ This capability\ndistinguishes man from the brute, and belongs to all moral\nbeings. . . . It is our glory that we _can_ sin; it is our disgrace\nand ruin that we do so. Secondly, _That sin is something directed\nagainst God._ All the laws of man's being--physical, organic,\nintellectual, and moral--are God's laws, and violating of them is\nrebellion against heaven. Thirdly, _That sin against God is a wrong\ndone to our nature._ This is true of all sin, physical as well as\nspiritual. We cannot violate the laws of physical health, without\nlosing at the same time something of the life, elasticity, and vigour\nof the mind. That sin injures the soul admits of no debate: it is a\npatent fact written on every page of history, and proclaimed by the\ndeep consciousness of humanity. From this unquestionable fact we may\nfairly deduce three general truths. I. _That God's laws are\nessentially connected with the constitution of man._ From this fact\ntwo things follow. (1.) That all sin is unnatural. (2.) That an\nevasion of the penalties of sin is beyond the power of the creature.\nII. _That God's laws are the expression of benevolence._ We wrong our\nsouls by not keeping God's laws. Obedience to them is happiness. The\nvoice of all Divine prohibitions is, \"Do thyself no harm,\" the voice\nof all Divine injunctions is, \"Rejoice evermore.\" We infer from this\n_fact_--III. _That God's laws should be studiously obeyed._\n(1.) Right requires it. All God's laws are righteously binding upon\nthe subject, and disobedience is a crime. (2.) Expediency requires\nit. A life of sin is a life of folly, for it must ever be a life of\nmisery.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\n\nVerses 30-36. I. From the beginning, the welfare of man engaged the\ncomplacent regard of God our Saviour. He derived delight from the\n_material_ creation because it was to be subservient to man. II. We\nmay therefore expect that all His communications and intercourse with\nus would be made to harmonise with our welfare also. We are warranted\nin expecting that all His communication with us will harmonise with\nthe wants of our nature--that the means will be adapted to the end.\nAccordingly verses 35 and 36 imply that so perfect is that adaptation\nbetween the provisions of mercy and the necessity of man, that he who\nrejects them wrongs his own soul, that who receives them receives\nlife. III. May we not infer that, even of this habitable part, He\nwould rejoice in some spots more than in others, especially in such\nas are set apart for the diffusion of His truth and the promotion of\nHis designs.--_Dr. J. Harris._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Wisdom,+ in the plural, as in chap. i. 20, to\nexpress excellence and dignity. +2. She hath mingled her wine.+ Some\ncommentators understand the mingling to be with water, others with\nspices; both were customary among ancient Orientals. +7.+ Latter\nclause. Most commentators translate, \"he that rebuketh the wicked, it\nis his dishonour,\" or, \"it is a dishonor to him,\" _i.e._, to the\nwicked man. +10. The Holy,+ generally understood to stand in\napposition to Jehovah. +13. A foolish woman,+ rather, \"the woman of\nfolly,\" an exact opposition of the personified wisdom of the former\npart of the chapter. +Clamorous,+ \"violently excited\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_).\n+15.+ Who go right on their ways. \"Who are going straightforward in\ntheir paths\" (_Stuart_).\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-12.\n\nWISDOM'S FEAST.\n\n+I. The home to which Divine Wisdom invites her guests is one which\nhas cost time and labour in the preparation.+ \"Wisdom hath _builded_\nher house.\" The building of anything implies the expenditure of time\nand labour. When the eagle builds her nest and prepares a house for\nher yet unborn young she spends much time in her work and bestows\nmuch labour upon it. In the building of a house for human habitation,\nwhether it be a palace or a cottage, time and care, and thought and\nlabour must be given to the building. And so it is in mental\nbuilding; when thoughts are to be gathered together and fashioned\ninto a book, the gathering and the building involves the expenditure\nof mental labour, and of many hours and days, and sometimes years,\nbefore the work is completed. And God has not departed from this rule\nin the works which He has wrought for the benefit of His creatures.\nThe house which He has built for the habitation of man was not\nbrought into its present form all at once. God did not create the\nheavens and the earth in one day or in a short period of time. We\nread that \"in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and\nall that in them is\" (Exod. xx. 2), and the record of the rocks\nconfirms the testimony of revelation that the preparation of the\nearth for man was a work of time. In creation Divine Wisdom \"builded\nher house.\" And what is true of creation is true also of redemption.\nThe incarnation of the Son of God took place in the days of Tiberius\nC\u00e6sar, but the process of building the plan of redemption had been\ngoing on for ages. In the Mosaic dispensation it was seen in outline.\nIts sacrifices were shadows of the house which God intended hereafter\nto build in the human nature of the man Christ Jesus. The temple of\nHerod was forty-six years in building (John ii. 20), but the temple\nof God was in course of preparation for more than forty-six\ngenerations before it was brought to completion in \"the Word made\nflesh\" (See Hebrews, chap. ix).\n\n+II. That which has been long in preparation is strong and enduring\nin character.+ It hath \"seven pillars.\" The snow-flake is not long in\nbeing formed, and it is not long in duration. The bubble upon the\nstream is built in an instant, and passes away as quickly. But the\ncoral island has taken many years, and cost a million lives, to build\nit, and now it stands a rock in the midst of the ocean, and has\nbecome the home of man. All that is strong and lasting in the world\nhas taken time in its formation. So is it in the refuge where that is\nfound which will satisfy the soul of man. It was long ere it was\ncompleted, but it is a lasting edifice, built upon a sure foundation\n(Heb. vi. 18, 19).\n\n+III. The house which Wisdom has builded contains that which will\nsatisfy human need.+ The soul-blessings which God offers to men are\noften compared to a feast (Isa. xxv. 6; Matt. xxii. 4). Here Wisdom\nis spoken of as having \"killed her beasts, mingled her wine,\nfurnished her table.\" 1. _It is plain that the human spirit needs a\nfeast from the fact that God has spread the board._ When the Lord\nJesus furnished a table in the wilderness for the multitude it was to\nsupply a manifest need. It was to meet Israel's need that God fed\nthem with manna in the wilderness. Man's spiritual nature must starve\nwithout the feast which God's wisdom has prepared. The existence of\nthe feast proves the existence of the need. 2. _This feast is of the\nbest quality._ The man who prepares a feast for his guests prepares\nof his best. The feast prepared by a poor man will be the best at his\ncommand; the banquet of a king will be such as befits his rank and\nresources. The banquet to which Divine Wisdom invites her guests is\nfurnished with the most costly provisions that even God has to give.\nChrist, who declares Himself to be meat and drink to the spirit of\nman (John vi. 51, 54, 56) is the best gift that God can bestow upon\nman--the best food that Heaven could furnish. 3. _Wisdom's feast is\none in which there is variety._ There is _flesh_, _wine_ and _bread_\n(verses 2 and 5). The feasts of the rich and great consist of many\ndifferent dishes, and the variety adds to the enjoyment of the\nguests. God has provided many different kinds of food to satisfy our\nbodily appetite. Although they are all adapted to the same end, viz.,\nto the nourishment of the body, the difference in the composition and\nflavour adds much to man's enjoyment. The human spirit, like the\nhuman body, craves a variety in its food, and God has satisfied that\ncraving. The revelation of God in Christ (in other words, the Gospel)\nreveals a great variety of spiritual truths upon which the spiritual\nnature of man can feed. There are things \"new and old\" in the Gospel\ntreasury (Matt. xiii. 52). And new revelations of life and\nimmortality will be brought to light throughout the coming ages, and\nthe feeling of those who partake of the royal banquet will be like\nthat of the ruler of the feast at Cana: \"Thou hast kept the good wine\nuntil now\" (John ii. 10).\n\n+IV. Those who invite to Wisdom's feast must be pure in character.+\nThe sending forth of \"maidens\" seems to convey this idea. Maidenhood\nis a type of purity. The character of the inviter must be in keeping\nwith the nature of the invitation. If a man gives an invitation to\nthe Gospel-feast, he will find that those whom he invites will look\nat the invitation through the glass of his character, and unless it\nis one through which the invitation can be favourably viewed, there\nwill be little hope of his words proving effectual. Character and\ndoctrine are inseparable. God intends the first to be a\nrecommendation of the last. The invitation to \"Come,\" from the lips\nof the Lord Jesus, was mighty in its power, because the purity of His\nteaching was equalled by the purity of His life. The great power of\nthe invitation to Wisdom's feast in the mouths of the first Christian\nteachers sprang from the character of those who gave the invitation\n(see 2 Cor. i. 2).\n\n+V. The means by which the guests are brought in.+ They are\n_invited._ There can be no compulsion in bringing men to the feast of\nWisdom. No man can be compelled to partake of a feast. Persuasion can\nbe used, and men can be induced to eat of it from a sense of need,\nbut force is useless. A man may be placed at the board and kept there\nagainst his will, but the eating must ever be his own act. And so it\nis with the spiritual blessings which God has prepared for men. All\nthe force that can be exercised is the force of persuasion. The first\nservants who went forth to invite men to the Gospel-feast were fully\nconvinced that the weapon which they were to use was that of\n_persuasion._ \"Now then _pray you_ in Christ's stead, be ye\nreconciled to God\" (2 Cor. v. 20). \"Knowing the terrors of the Lord\nwe _persuade men_\" (2 Cor. v. 11).\n\n+VI. The publicity and general nature of the invitation.+ \"She crieth\nupon the highest places of the city.\" On this head see Homiletics on\nchaps. i. 20, 21; viii. 2, 3.\n\n+VII. The different characters with whom Wisdom's servants meet in\ngiving her invitation.+ They meet with the wise and just man (ver.\n9), and with the wicked, who are again classified as the _simple_\n(ver. 4), and the _scorners_ (ver. 7). There is often a great\ndifference in things of the same class and kind. All the fruit upon a\ntree may be bad, but all may not be equally bad. So among sinners are\nmen of different degrees of sinfulness. There are the _simple_--those\nwho are merely heedless of Divine teachings through a culpable\nignorance and thoughtlessness, there are men so bad that they _scorn_\nall God's invitations and set at nought His threatenings. This\ncharacter is held up in Scripture as having reached the climax of\niniquity, (See Homiletics on chap. i. 22.) The just man (ver. 9), is\nhere synonymous with the wise man. He only is a wise man who has a\nworthy end which he sets himself to attain, and who uses the best\nmeans to attain that end. Hence the good or just man is the only\ntruly wise man. He lays hold of all the means within his reach to\nincrease his godliness, to get power to enable him to do justly, to\nlove mercy, and to walk with God, and thus shows himself to be a\nmember of the kingdom of the good which is the kingdom of the wise.\nHe must be a _just_ man, one who is upright in all his relations in\nlife, one who will not knowingly leave undone his duty to his\nfellow-men. A man who is right in his relations towards God will not\nfail in his relations towards men. Simeon was a _devout_ man,\ntherefore he was a _just_ man (Luke ii. 25), so was Cornelius (Acts\nx. 2, 22). But these wise men are not all equally wise, and none are\nso wise that they cannot increase in wisdom, and therefore Wisdom\nsends forth her invitations to all to the wise and just men as well\nas to the simple and the scorner.\n\n+VIII. The opposite effects of the invitation upon opposite\ncharacters.+ The scorner _hates_ it--the wise men _loves_ it (ver.\n8). When the sun shines upon a diseased eye it produces a sense of\ndiscomfort, but the same light falling upon a healthy eye gives a\nsensation of pleasure. The opposite feelings are the results of\nopposite conditions. The different receptions which are given to\nGod's invitations arise from the different spiritual conditions of\nthe men who hear them. The man who \"loves darkness rather than light\nbecause his deeds are evil\" is pained when he receives wisdom's\ninvitation, because the very invitation condemns him. It is a rebuke\nto him (verses 7 and 8) for continuing to reject the feast for husks,\nfor preferring to spend \"money upon that which is not bread and his\nlabour upon that which satisfieth not.\" Hence he who thus reproveth a\nscorner gets to himself shame, and he that rebuketh a wicked man\ngetteth himself a blot (verse 7). The preacher of the Gospel endures\nthe shame of the cross when he delivers his message to such an one,\nbut it meets with quite an opposite reception from the wise and just.\nA wise man because he is wise desires more wisdom. Those who know\nmost about a good thing are those who desire to know more, and this\ndesire prevents them from being offended with those who offer to give\nthem more knowledge. Even if Wisdom's invitation takes the form of a\n_rebuke_ (ver. 8), the wise man, considering that the end of the\nrebuke is to do him good, loves the ambassador of Wisdom who\nadministers it. When a sick man receives severe treatment from a\nphysician, he accepts it patiently because he bears in mind the end\nin view, viz., his restoration to health. And this is the light in\nwhich all wise men regard Divine reproof, whether it comes directly\nfrom Himself in the form of providential dispensations, or through\nthe medium of the lips of one of His servants. The message which is a\n\"savour of death\" to the scorner, is a \"savour of life\" to them.\n\n+IX. If the invitation is effectual, there will be a forsaking and a\nfearing.+ \"Forsake the foolish and live\" (verse 6). \"The fear of the\nLord is the beginning of wisdom\" (verse 10). A forsaking of the wrong\npath must go before the entrance into the right one, and a fear that\nwe may go wrong will help to keep us in the right way. A wholesome\ndread of God's displeasure will lead a man to repentance, which is\nbut another name for a change in life's end, and aims, and purposes.\nA conviction that he has been going in the wrong direction will cause\nhim to lend a willing ear to those who invite him to set out on the\nright path; and the acceptance of the invitation is the beginning of\na life of true wisdom, because it is the beginning of the only safe\nand satisfying course of life.\n\n+X. Whatever reception is given to the invitations of Divine Wisdom,\nGod is above all human approbation.+ \"If thou be wise, thou shalt be\nwise for thyself; but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it\"\n(verse 12). The sun will go on shining, whatever men think or say\nabout it. All the approbation of all the world will not add to the\nglory of the light that rules the day, and if men were to find fault\nwith the manner in which it dispensed its light and heat, it would\nstill hold on its way \"rejoicing, as a strong man to run a race.\" The\nchildren of Wisdom, who accept the Divine invitation, and fall in\nwith God's way of saving them, do not make God their debtor in any\nway. He would still be the moral Sun of the universe, if all mankind\nwere to turn a deaf ear to His invitation, and all the praise of all\nthe good in Heaven and earth cannot add one ray to the moral glory of\nHis being. The scorn of the scorner cannot harm the God whose\nrevelation he scorns, any more than a man could injure the wind that\nblows upon him by beating it. If men disapprove of God's way of\ngoverning the world, or of His conditions of salvation, it cannot\nharm the Divine Being in any way. He is above all the approval or\ndisapproval--all the rejection or acceptance of any finite creature.\nEliphaz, the Temanite, spoke truly when he said, \"Can a man be\nprofitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?\nIs it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous? Or is it\ngain to Him that thou makest thy ways perfect?\" (Job xxii. 2, 3). It\ntherefore follows, as a matter of course, that the Divine plan of\nredemption has been devised solely out of regard to His creatures;\nthat love is the only motive that prompts Him to multiply invitations\nand warnings; and that the sufferings which are entailed upon men by\ntheir rejection of His provisions spring from nothing selfish or\narbitrary in the Divine character.\n\n+XI. The acceptance of the Divine invitation is an obedience to the\nlawful instinct of self-love.+ Self-love is often confounded with\nselfishness, but they are widely different. The principle of\nself-love is recognised as lawful and right throughout the Bible. God\ncommands a man to love his neighbour _as_ he loves himself, thereby\nlaying down the principle that self-love is necessary and right. Our\nSaviour appeals to this Divinely-implanted instinct when He urges men\nto save their souls, because of the infinite _profit_ which they will\nthereby gain (Mark viii. 36). And the fact that God has made\nself-love the standard whereby we are to measure our love to others,\nand that it is urged upon men as a motive by the Divine Son, at once\nplaces a great gulf between it and selfishness. Obedience to\nself-love leads men to obey Wisdom's invitation and thus to become\ntruly wise themselves. Self-love leads men to desire to make the best\nof their existence, and no man can do this unless he accepts the call\nto the feast which Wisdom has prepared. The Hebrew nation thought\nthey could get profit to themselves apart from the acceptance of the\nDivine proposals. They persuaded themselves that they could do\nwithout God's way of life, and that the feast which He had prepared\ncould be neglected with impunity. But they found when too late they\nhad done themselves an eternal wrong by \"making light\" of the call of\nthe king's servants. (See Matt. xxii. 14). But \"Wisdom is justified\nof her children,\" and although our Lord likens the men of that\ngeneration to children who neither dance to the sound of joyful music\nnor mourn to strains of lamentation (Luke vii. 31-35), there have\nalways been some who have so regarded their real interest as to be\nwilling guests of the Divine Inviter. Obeying His call they come into\npossession of a righteous character, the only attainment of real\nprofit which can be gotten out of existence. It is the only end worth\nliving for. The end of a true soldier's existence is not the _keeping\nof his bodily life._ That with him is quite a secondary\nconsideration. Neither is it his _happiness._ These things are\nnothing to him in comparison with the attainment of a character for\nbravery and fidelity to his trust. And so with every man in God's\nuniverse. Not ease and comfort, nor fame or high position, but\n_character_ is that only which will make existence really profitable,\nwhich will make it a gain to life. Happiness will, of necessity,\nfollow godliness, but it is not the thing to be aimed at. The\nattainment of the highest earthly fame, or the amassing of vast\nriches, will not necessarily make a man a good companion for\n_himself,_ and if he is not this, he has failed to draw true profit\nout of his existence. He may be a wise man according to men's\njudgment, but if he has failed to consult his own true self-interest,\nhe is a fool. A position in heaven would be nothing to such a man if\nhe could obtain it. The blessedness of the heavenly world springs\nfrom the holy character of those who inhabit it, and this can be\nobtained only by listening to Wisdom's voice, and so gaining that\n\"fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge\nof the holy, which is understanding\" (ver. 10). \"If thou be wise,\nthou shalt be wise for thyself\" (ver. 12); in other words--thou\nthyself shall reap the first and principal benefit.\n\n+XII. The consequence of the rejection of Wisdom's invitation must be\nborne+ +by him who rejects it.+ \"If thou scornest, thou alone shalt\nbear it.\" If a man refuses to use the power which he possesses to\nwalk, he will, in the course of time, lose the power of using his\nlimbs. The man who will not listen to the promptings of self-love\nwill stifle its voice. But though he may destroy self-love, he cannot\ndestroy himself. That belongs to God alone. Man can make his\nexistence into a terrible burden, can change that which God intended\nto be a blessing into a curse, and in this sense he can destroy\nhimself--can \"lose his soul;\" but he must live still, and bear the\nconsequence of his choice. We can burn up the most costly articles\nand reduce them to black ashes, but no power of man can annihilate a\nsingle particle of the ashes. They exist still in some form or\nanother. So men, by scorning God's invitations, can blacken and spoil\nthe existence which God has given them, but they cannot annihilate\nthemselves. They must live and bear the self-imposed burden.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nThis may derive some illustration from a custom which Hasselquist\nnoticed in Egypt, and which may seem to be ancient in that country.\nThat it has been scarcely noticed by other travellers may arise from\nthe fact that, although they may have seen the maidens on their way,\nthey had not the means of knowing on what errand they were bound. He\nsays that he saw a great number of women, who went about inviting\npeople to a banquet in a singular, and without doubt, in a very\nancient manner. They were about ten or twelve, covered with black\nveils, as is customary in that country. They were preceded by four\neunuchs; after them, and on the side, were Moors, with their usual\nwalking staves. As they were walking, they all joined in making a\nnoise, which, he was told, signified their joy, but which he could\nnot find resembled a joyful or pleasing sound.--_Kitto._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 1. \"_House_\" among the Hebrews was an image of all well-being\n(Exod. i. 21). It means shelter. It means nurture. It means repose.\nIt means the centre of all provision. It means the home of all\nconvivial feasts. If Wisdom has built such a shelter for the lost, it\nmeans she has furnished for them every possible necessity. An Eastern\nhouse depended upon columns that were around a court. Samson put his\nhand upon such interior supports. If Wisdom \"_has hewed out her seven\npillars,_\" It means that the provision she has made for the saints is\nabsolutely secure. The very number \"_seven_\" betokens a perfect,\nbecause a sacred support; and we have but to ask upon what the Gospel\nrests in its eternal promises and in the righteousness of its Great\nHead, to settle the question as to these sacred pillars.--_Miller._\n\nThe Holy Spirit--having described in the foregoing chapter the office\nand work of Christ, as Creator, in the world of nature--now proceeds\nto describe His office and work in the world of grace. Solomon, the\nson of David, and the builder of the holy house at Jerusalem, here\ndescribes the operation of His own Divine Antitype, the Essential\nWisdom, in building His house. The Son of God, having existed from\neternity with the Father, in the fulness of time became Incarnate,\nbuilding for Himself a mystical body--the Church universal. . . .\nWisdom's seven pillars represent the perfection and universality of\nChrist's work in both respects.--_Wordsworth._\n\nPillars, and polished pillars. Anything is good enough to build a mud\nwall; but the church's pillars are of marble, and those not rough but\nhewn; her safety is accompanied with beauty.--_Trapp._\n\nIf Wisdom dwell anywhere, herself must build the house; if she set up\nthe pillars, herself must hew them. Nothing can be meet to entertain\nher which is not her own work. Nothing can be fit for God's\nresidence, which is not made fit by God's influence.--_Jermin._\n\nIn the preceding chapter, Wisdom represented herself as manifest in\nall the works of God in the natural world; all being constructed\naccording to the counsels of an infinite understanding. _Here,_ she\nrepresents herself as the great _potentate,_ who was to rule all that\nshe had constructed; and having an immense _family_ to provide for,\nhad made an abundant provision, and calls all to partake of\nit.--_Adam Clarke._\n\n\nVerse 2. \"She hath mingled her wine,\" viz., with spices and other\nexhilarating ingredients, as was the custom in the East (Cant.\nviii. 2). Not _with water_ which is the emblem of degeneracy. The\nwine mingled with aromatic spices is the exhilarating joy and\ncomforts of the gospel (Isa. lv. 1, Matt. xxvi. 29).--_Fausset._\n\nDoes Christ give us His own flesh and blood, to nourish and refresh\nour souls? what grace, what comfort, what privilege will He withhold?\nHe is most willing to communicate this provision to us.--_Lawson._\n\nGod's favour and grace is always ready to be found when it is\nfaithfully sought. Our faith can never make Him tardy in desiring\nthat at the present which He cannot give till hereafter, or in being\nbeforehand to demand that which His ability is behindhand to perform.\nThe messengers say not in the Gospel, Be there at such a time, and in\nthe meanwhile things shall be prepared, or, Go with me now, and\ndinner will be ready anon; but Come, for all things are now\nready.--_Dod._\n\nChrist provideth for His the best of the best; \"fat things full of\nmarrow, wines on the lees\" (Isa. xxv. 6); His own blood, which is\ndrink indeed; besides that continual feast of a good conscience,\nwhereat the holy angels saith Luther, are as cooks and butlers, and\nthe blessed Trinity joyful guests. Mr. Latimer says that the\nassurance of salvation is the sweetmeats of this stately\nfeast.--_Trapp._\n\nWithout asking what the flesh and wine especially mean, they are\nfigures of the manifold enjoyment which makes at once _strong_ and\n_happy._--_Delitzsch._\n\n\nVerse 3. \"_Her maidens._\" Sermons and providential strokes, the whole\nheraldry of the doctrine of salvation.--_Miller._\n\nWisdom being personified as a feminine word, fitly has maidens as her\nministers here. May there not also be an intimation (as Gregory and\nBede suggest) of the natural _feebleness_ of the Apostles and other\nministers of the Gospel who have their treasure in earthen vessels\n(2 Cor. iv. 7), and also of the tender _love_ which the preachers of\nthe Gospel must feel for the souls of those to whom they are\nsent? . . . The great Apostle of the Gentiles speaks of himself\nspiritually as a _nurse_ and a _mother_.--_Wordsworth._\n\nShe, together with her maids, crieth; she puts not off all the\nbusiness to them, but hath a hand in it herself. \"We are workers\ntogether with God,\" saith Paul.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 4. Ignorance is not a cause that should stay men from hearing\nthe Word of God, but rather incite them to it. Their necessity doth\nrequire it, for who hath more need of eye-salve than they whose eyes\nare sore? And who have more need of guides than they who have lost\ntheir sight and are become blind? And especially when the way is\ndifficult and full of danger.--_Dod._\n\n\nVerse 5. Not for the first time, in John vi., or on the night of the\nLast Supper, had bread and wine been made the symbols of fellowship\nwith eternal life and truth.--_Plumptre._\n\nIndeed, to _come_ and to _eat;_ to come to Wisdom by attention is to\neat of her instructions by receiving it into the soul.--_Jermin._\n\nThe invitation is _free._ So it is throughout the Bible. The\nblessings of salvation are the gift of God. They are offered to\nsinners with the freeness of Divine munificence. Not only _may_ they\nbe had without a price, but if they are to be had at all it _must_ be\nwithout a price. This is one of their special peculiarities. In\ntreating with our fellow-men in the communication of good, we make\ndistinctions. From some, who can afford it, we take an equivalent;\nfrom others, who cannot, we take none. We _sell_ to the rich, we\n_give_ to the poor. In the present case there is no distinction. All\nare poor. All are alike poor; and he who presumes to bring what he\nimagines a price, of whatever kind, forfeits the blessings, and is\n\"sent empty away.\" The invitation, too, is _universal;_ for all men,\nin regard to divine and spiritual things, are naturally inconsiderate\nand foolish, negligent and improvident of their best and highest\ninterests. And it is _earnest, repeated, importunate._ Is not this\nwonderful? Ought not the earnestness and the importunity to be all on\nthe other side? Should not we find men entreating God to bestow the\nblessings, not God entreating men to accept them? _Wonderful?_ \"No,\"\nwe may answer in the terms of the Negro woman to the missionary when\nhe put the question, \"Is this not wonderful?\" \"No, Massa, it be _just\nlike Him._\" It is in the true style of infinite benevolence. But is\nit not wonderful that sinners should refuse the invitation? It is not\nin one view, and it is in another. It is _not,_ when we consider\ntheir depravity and alienation from God. It _is,_ when we think of\ntheir natural desire for happiness, and the manifest impossibility of\nthe object of their desire being ever found, otherwise than by their\nacceptance of them.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 7. The reproof given is duty discharged, and the retort in\nreturn is a fresh call to repentance for sin past, and a caution\nagainst sin to come.--_Flavel._\n\nHere caution is given how we tender reprehension to arrogant and\nscornful natures, whose manner it is to esteem it for contumely, and\naccordingly to return it.--_Lord Bacon._\n\nThe three verses, 7-9, in their general preceptive form, seem\nsomewhat to interrupt the continuity of the invitation which Wisdom\nutters. The order of thought is, however, this: \"I speak to you, the\nsimple, the open ones, for you have yet ears to hear; but from the\nscorner or evil-doer of such, I turn away.\" The rules which govern\nhuman teachers, leading them to choose willing or fit disciples, are\nthe laws also of the Divine Educator. So taken, the words are\nparallel to Matt. vii. 2, and find an illustration in the difference\nbetween our Lord's teaching to His disciples and to them that were\nwithout.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe passage is telling the consequences to the poor hardened man (see\nCritical Notes). Man is not like a thermometer, raised or sunken by\nevery breath, but he is the subject of a change which makes a\ndifference in moral influences. Without that change, instruction\nhardens him. With that change, it moves him and makes him better.\nWithout the change the thermometer is always sinking; with the change\nit is rising all the time. This teaching is had in all forms in the\nNew Testament. John says, \"I write unto you, little children, because\nyour sins are forgiven you\" (1 John ii. 12); his plain implication\nbeing, that it would be useless to write except for the grace of\nforgiveness. We hear of a \"savour of death unto death\" (2 Cor.\nii. 16); and Christ tells (John xv. 24) that \"if He had not come\namong them, and done the works that none other man did, they had not\nhad sin.\"--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 8. By which I do not understand that we are forbidden to preach\nto the impenitent, but that we are to contemplate two facts: first,\nthat unless they are changed our preaching will make them worse, and,\ntherefore, second, that though our preaching is a chosen instrument\nof the change itself, yet, if they are _scorners--i.e._ if they are\nwhat our Saviour calls \"swine\" (Matt. vii. 6), and He means by that,\nspecially incorrigible--we are not to scatter our pearls to them. We\nare not to intrude religion upon scoffers. We are to withhold the\ngood seed to some extent (yet with infinite compassion for all,) for\nwhat may more reasonably be hoped to be the good and honest ground\n(Mark iv. 8).--_Miller._\n\nWe must distinguish between the ignorant and the wilful scorner. Paul\n\"did it ignorantly, in unbelief\" (1 Tim. i. 13). His countrymen\ndeliberately refused the blessing, and shut themselves out from the\nfree offers of salvation.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 9. _Instruction may be given with advantage to the wise._\n(1) No truly wise man will account it impossible to make accessions\nto his wisdom. Such a man is not wise in his own conceit (Rom.\nxii. 16). His entrance into this course is of too recent a date, and\nthe efforts which he has made to gain wisdom too defective, to permit\nhim to think his wisdom incapable of augmentation (John viii. 2). And\n(2) every wise man, whatever be the nature of his wisdom, will wish\nit to be increased as much as possible (Prov. xviii. 15). Hence\n(3), whatever instruction is given to him which is adapted to his\ncharacter and circumstances, that is, which shows wherein he is\ndefective, either in the end which he is pursuing, or in the manner\nof his pursuit, no matter by whom the instruction is given, he will\naccount himself happy in having it, and will be the better for\nit.--_Sketches of Sermons._\n\n\nVerse 10. Men cannot begin to be wise except in holiness; unless it\nbegins to be the fact that God is teaching a man, you cannot teach\nhim.--_Miller._\n\nThe heart that is touched with the loadstone of Divine love trembles\nstill with godly fear.--_Leighton._\n\nThis \"knowledge of the holy\" is the knowledge of all that is involved\nin _hallowing God's name;_ knowing experimentally all that tends to\nour sanctifying the Lord in our hearts and in life.--_Fausset._\n\nSome of the true wisdom is a nucleus, round which more will gather. A\nlittle island once formed in the bed of a great river, tends\ncontinually to increase. Everything adds to its bulk. The floods of\nwinter deposit soil on it. The sun of summer covers it with herbage\nand consolidates its surface. Such is wisdom from above once settled\nin a soul. It makes all things work together for good to its\npossessor.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 12. As we are not aware that the mass of the impenitent\nactually scoff at religion, we must look at this word, so often\nselected by Solomon, as meaning that practical scorn, by which men,\nwho profess to respect the Gospel, show it the practical contempt of\ntheir worldliness.--_Miller._\n\nThe principle involved in the parable of the talents (Matt. xxv.) is\nembodied in the first intimation. The talents are in the first\ninstance not won by the servant, but given by the master. So wisdom\nis specifically the gift of God (James i. 5). Those servants who use\nthe talents well, are permitted to retain for their own use both the\noriginal capital and all the profit that has sprung from it; whereas\nhe who made no profit is not allowed to retain the capital. Thus the\nGiver acts in regard to the wisdom which it is His own to bestow. The\nwisdom, with all the benefit it brings, is your own. Every instance\nof wise acting is an accumulation made sure for your own benefit. It\ncannot be lost. It is like water to the earth. The drop of water that\ntrembled on the green leaf, and glittered in the morning sun, seems\nto be lost when it glitters in the air unseen; but it is all in safe\nkeeping. It is held in trust by the faithful atmosphere, and will\ndistil as dew upon the ground again, when and where it is needed\nmost. Thus will every exercise of wisdom, though fools think it is\nthrown away, return into your own bosom, when the day of need comes\nround. Equally sure is the law that the evil which you do survives\nand comes back upon yourself. The profane word, the impure thought,\nthe unjust transaction, they are gone like the wind that whistled\npast, and you seem to have nothing more to do with them. Nay, but\nthey have more do with you. Nothing is lost out of God's world,\nphysical or moral. When a piece of paper is consumed in the fire and\nvanishes in smoke, it seems to have returned to nothing. If it bore\nthe only evidence of your guilt, you would be glad to see the last\ncorner disappear before the officers of justice came in. All the\nworld cannot restore that paper and read the dreaded lines again. The\ncriminal breathes freely now no human tribunal can bring home his\ncrime. But as the material of the paper remains undiminished in the\nmundane system, so the guilt which it recorded abides, held in\nsolution, as it were, by the moral atmosphere which encircles the\njudgment-seat of God. Uniting with all of kindred essence that has\nbeen generated in your soul, it will be precipitated by a law, and\nwhen it falls, it will not miss the mark. Thou alone shalt bear it.\nThose who have not found refuge in the Sin-bearer must bear their own\nsin. Sins, like water, are not annihilated, although they go out of\nour sight. They fall with all their weight either on the sin-doer or\non the Almighty Substitute. Alas for the man who is \"alone\" when the\nreckoning comes.--_Arnot._\n\nA man's self is not that which he is for a short time and space, but\nthat which he is for continuance, indeed for an endless continuance.\nAnd therefore that which we are in this life is not ourselves, but\nthat which we shall be, that is ourselves. So that whosoever is wise\nfor that time is wise for himself, and for that time we shall be wise\nif we be made so by the instruction of Eternal Wisdom.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13-18.\n\nTHE FEAST OF FOLLY.\n\nThat which strikes one upon reading this description is the analogy\nand the contrast which it presents to the feast of Wisdom. +I. Its\nanalogies.+ 1. _Both appeal to elements in the nature of man._ Man is\na compound, a complex being. He possesses a moral nature, a\nconscience, which can be satisfied only with moral truth and\ngoodness, to which Wisdom appeals with her wine and bread of God's\nrevelation, and whose cravings they alone are able to appease. And he\nhas sinful inclinations and passions which hanker after forbidden\nthings, to which Folly appeals when she sets forth the attractions of\nher \"stolen waters\" and her \"bread eaten in secret\" (verse 17). God's\nwisdom and love are shown in appealing to the first, and Satan's\ncunning and malice are manifested in the adaptation of his appeal to\nthe second. 2. _Both invite the same kind of character,_ viz., the\n\"_simple,_\" the inexperienced, those who have not tasted the sweets\nof godly living, yet \"know not\" from experience that the \"dead\" are\nin the house of Folly, that \"her guests are in the depths of hell\"\n(verse 18). Two potters may be desirous of possessing the same lump\nof clay in order to fashion it each one after his own desire. It is\nnow a shapeless mass, but they know its yielding and pliable nature\nrenders it capable of assuming any form, of taking any impress, which\nthey may please to impart to it. The inexperienced in the\nexperimental knowledge of good and evil are very much like potter's\nclay; and here Wisdom and Folly, God and the devil, holiness and sin,\nstand side by side bidding for the clay, the one desiring to fashion\nout of it a \"vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the\nMaster's use\" (2 Tim. ii. 21), and the other anxious to make it a\n\"vessel of wrath fitted to destruction\" (Rom. ix. 22). 3. _Both\ninvite to the feasts through those who possess powers of persuasion._\nThough in the first Wisdom herself does not go forth, but sends her\nmaidens, and in the second the woman herself goes out into the\nstreets, yet they both belong to the sex which is, by common consent,\nallowed to be most skilled in the art of persuasion. History is full\nof instances of their power to influence for good and evil. There\nhave been many Lady Macbeths, both in public and private life, and\nmany \"handmaidens of the Lord\" whose influence has been as mighty on\nthe side of good. Both Wisdom and Folly possess ambassadors whose\npersuasive powers are mighty. 4. _They utter their invitations in the\nsame places._ Wisdom \"crieth upon the high places of the city\" (ver.\n3). Folly \"sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high\nplaces of the city\" (ver. 14). They both give invitations where they\nare most likely to obtain guests. In the places where many congregate\nare found the greatest variety of characters and those who have the\nmost varied wants, and as in such places those who have wares of any\nkind to sell are sure of finding some to purchase, so the ambassadors\nof Divine wisdom and the emissaries of evil are certain, where the\nmultitudes are gathered together to find some to listen to their\nrespective voices. 5. _Both use the same words of invitation, and\noffer the same inducements._ A feast is promised in both cases,\n_i.e.,_ both inviters promise satisfaction--enjoyment--to their\nguests. If a man coins bad money he must make it look as near as\npossible like the gold or he would not get anyone to accept it. It is\nonly afterwards that his dupe finds that it lacks the ring of real\ngold. So the tempter to evil must make the advantages he professes to\ndispense look as much like real good as he possibly can. The false\nfriend will often-times adopt the phraseology of the true, and will\nnever be wanting in arguments to win his victim. The incarnate wisdom\nof God reminded His disciples that they might, in this respect and in\nothers, learn something from the \"children of this world,\" who, in\nsome matters, \"are in their generation wiser than the children of\nlight\" (Luke xvi. 8). 6. _Both make the invitation wide and free._\n\"Whoso\" is the word used by both. The kingdom of darkness, as well as\nthe kingdom of light, is willing to gather of \"every kind\" (Matt.\nxiii. 47). The only condition is \"Enter in and partake of the banquet\nprepared.\"\n\n+II. The Contrasts.+ 1. _In the character of the inviters._ In the\none case they are \"maidens,\" emblematical (as we saw in considering\nthe first feast) of purity; in the other she who invites is evidently\na bold and wanton woman, identical with the one described in chapters\nv. and vii. (compare v. 6, vii. 11, 12, with verses 13, 14). Each one\nwho invites is an embodiment of the principles ruling in the house to\nwhich she invites; each one sets forth in her own deportment what\nwill be the result of accepting the respective invitations. So that,\nalthough the words used may be similar, the simple might be warned\nfrom the difference in aspect and demeanour of those who use them.\n2. _In the place to which the simple are invited._ \"In the former\ncase,\" says Z\u00f6ckler, \"it is to a splendid palace with its columns, to\na holy temple of God; in the latter to a common house, a harlot's\nabode, built over an entrance to the abyss of hell.\" The first\ninvitation is to the abode of a righteous king, where law, and order,\nand peace reign; the second is to an abode of lawlessness and\nself-seeking, and consequently of incessant strife and misery. Those\nwho dwell in the first are ever magnifying the favour by which they\nwere permitted to enter; the inhabitants of the latter are eternally\ncursing those by whose persuasions their feet were turned into the\npath which leads to death. 3. _Wisdom invites to what is her own;\nFolly invites to that which belongs to another._ Wisdom hath killed\n_her_ beasts and mingled _her_ wine; she cries, \"Come, and eat of\n_my_ bread\" (verses 2, 5). Folly saith to her victim, \"stolen waters\nare sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant\" (verse 17). The\nfirst is therefore a lawful meal: its dainties may be enjoyed with a\nfull sense that there is no wrong done to oneself, or to any other\ncreature in the universe, by participating in it. It may be eaten\npublicly; there is no reason for concealment--no sense of shame. But\nthe guests of Folly are all wronging themselves, and wronging God,\nand wronging their fellow-men by sitting down at her table. And they\nfeel that it is so even when the waters taste the sweetest, and the\nbread the most pleasant. Hence their banquet is a secret one, \"for it\nis a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in\nsecret\" (Ephes. v. 12). Hence they \"love darkness rather than light;\"\nthey \"hate the light, lest their deeds should be reproved\" (John\niii. 20, 21). 4. _The contrast in the results._ There are poisonous\nfruits which are pleasant to the taste, but which lead to sickness\nand death. And there are bitter herbs which are not palatable, but\nwhich bring healing to the frame. Some of Wisdom's dishes are\nseasoned with reproof and rebuke (verse 8), but the outcome of\nlistening to her call is an increase of wisdom and a lengthening of\ndays and years (verses 9-11). The feast of Folly is sweetened with\n\"flattery\" (chap. ii. 16, vii. 21). The lips of the tempter \"drop as\nan honey-comb\" (chap. v. 2), but there is a deadly poison in the\ndish. Eating of her food brings a man down into a devil; the bread\nand wine of Wisdom nourishes and strengthens him until he becomes\n\"equal unto the angels of God\" (Luke xx. 26).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 1-18. The prototypical relation of the contents of this\nchapter to our Lord's parables founded on banquets (Matt. xxii. 1-14,\nLuke xiv. 16-24) is evident, and therefore its special importance to\nthe doctrines of the call of salvation.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n\nVerse 13. \"Clamorous,\" that is, so bustling as to allow no time for\nrepentance (see 5, 6), like Cardinal Mazarin, of whom it was said\nthat the devil would never let him rest. The sinner is so hurried\nalong in the changes of life, as apparently to unsettle any attempted\nreformation. \"Knows nothing;\" an expression grandly doctrinal. The\nimpenitent is blankly dark. Eccles. vi. 5 represents the perishing as\nlike an untimely birth. \"He hath not seen the sun, nor known\nanything.\" \"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of\nGod; neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned\"\n(1 Cor. ii. 14). \"Where can Wisdom be found?\" says the inspired man\n(Job xxviii. 14-22). \"The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea\nsaith, It is not with me.\" The woman of folly is blankly ignorant;\nfor the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and if she had\nnot the beginning, then mental light, if she have any, must be but as\n\"darkness\" (Matt. vi. 23).--_Miller._\n\nA foolish woman is clamorous, and hath many words, but they are words\nonly, for she knoweth nothing; the folly of sin is clamorous, and\nmaketh many promises of pleasure and contentment, but they are\npromises only, and she performeth nothing.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 15. Her chief aim is to secure the godly, or those inclined to\nbecome so; for she is secure as to others, and therefore takes no\ngreat trouble in their case.--_Fausset._\n\nEven the highway of God, though a path of safety, is beset with\ntemptation Satan is so angry with none as with those _who are going\nright on._--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 16. Wisdom sets up her school to instruct the ignorant: Folly\nsets up her school next door to defeat the designs of Wisdom. Thus\nthe saying of the satirist appears to be verified:--\n\n \"Wherever God erects a house of prayer,\n The devil surely builds a chapel there;\n And it is found, upon examination,\n The latter has the larger congregation.\"--_Defoe._\n\n--_Adam Clark._\n\nFolly does not invite the scorners, because she is secure of them,\nbut only the \"simple,\" _i.e.,_ those who are such in the judgment of\nthe Holy Spirit. Scripture expresses not what she says in outward\nwords, but what is the reality. Whosoever turns in to her is a\nsimpleton. _Cartwright_ takes it that she calls the pious \"simple.\"\nVerse 15 favours this.--_Fausset._\n\n\nVerse 17. Folly shows her skill in seduction by holding out, in\npromise, the secret enjoyment of forbidden sweets. Alas! since the\nentrance of sin into the world, there has been perverse propensity to\naught that is forbidden, to taste what is laid under an interdict.\nThe very interdiction draws towards it the wistful desires, and\nlooks, and longings of the perverse and rebellious heart.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe power of sin lies in its pleasure. If stolen waters were not\nsweet, none would steal the waters. This is part of the mystery in\nwhich our being is involved by the fall. It is one of the most\nfearful features of the case. Our appetite is diseased. . . . Oh, for\nthe new tastes of a new nature! \"Blessed are they that hunger and\nthirst after righteousness.\" When a soul has tasted and seen that the\nLord is gracious, the foolish woman beckons you toward her stolen\nwaters, and praises their sweetness in vain. The new appetite drives\nout the old.--_Arnot._\n\nMany eat that on earth that they digest in hell.--_Trapp._\n\nIndirect ways best please flesh and blood. \"Sin, taking occasion by\nthe commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence\" (Rom.\nvii. 8). We take this from our first parents, a greedy desire to eat\nof the forbidden fruit. All the other trees in the garden, although\nthe fruit were as good, would not satisfy them. . . . Such is the\ncorruption of our nature, that we like best what God likes\nworst.--_Francis Taylor._\n\n\nVerse 18. Of course \"he knows not.\" If the sinner only knew that he\nwere already dead, he might wake up with a bound to the work of his\nsalvation.--_Miller._\n\nAll sinful joys are dammed up with a _but._ They have a worm that\ncrops them, nay, gnaws asunder their very root, though they shoot up\nmore hastily and spread more spaciously than Jonah's gourd. . . .\nWhen all the prophecies of ill success have been held as Cassandra's\nriddles, when all the contrary minds of afflictions, all the\nthreatened storms of God's wrath could not dishearten the sinner's\nvoyage to these Netherlands, here is a _but_ that shipwrecks all; the\nvery mouth of a bottomless pit, not shallower than hell itself. . . .\nAs man hath his _sic,_ so God hath His _sed._--_T. Adams._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nWe here enter upon the second main division of the Book of Proverbs,\nwhich is composed of a number of distinct propositions or maxims,\nhaving but little connection with each other and answering to the\nmodern signification of the word proverb. Wordsworth here remarks\nthat \"the Proverbs of the present chapter are exemplifications in\ndetail of the principles, practices, and results of the two ways of\nlife displayed in the foregoing chapters which constitute the\nprologue.\"\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Heaviness,+ \"grief.\" +3. The soul of the\nrighteous,+ literally, \"the spirit of the righteous.\" +But He casteth\naway, etc.+ Z\u00f6ckler and Delitzsch have read, \"but the craving of the\nwicked He disappointeth.\" Miller thus translates the whole verse:\n\"Jehovah will not starve the righteous appetite, but the craving of\nthe wicked He will thrust away.\" +4. Dealeth,+ rather, \"worketh.\"\n+6.+ Z\u00f6ckler and most commentators translate the second clause of\nthis verse, \"the mouth of the wicked hideth or covereth violence or\niniquity.\" Stuart reads, \"the mouth of the wicked concealeth injury.\"\nMiller adheres nearly to the Authorised Version, and understands it\nto mean that \"wrong shuts up all chance of feast and comfort.\" It\nwill be observed, that this latter reading renders the clause\nantithetical to the former part of the verse, which is not the case\nwith the other renderings. +9. Be known,+ _i.e.,_ \"be made known,\" or\ndiscovered. +11.+ For second clause, see on verse 6. +14. Lay up,+\nliterally, \"conceal,\" _i.e.,_ \"husband the knowledge and\nunderstanding which they possess for the right time and place, do not\nsquander it in unreasonable talk or babbling\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_). +Near\ndestruction,+ rather, _is a_ near destruction, _i.e.,_ \"is a quickly\ndestroying agency\" (_Lange's Commentary_). +16. Labour,+ _i.e.,_ \"the\ngain,\" \"the reward of labour.\" +Fruit,+ \"gain,\" antithetical to the\nsubject of the first clause. +17.+ Not, +He is in the way,+ but \"He\n_is_ the way.\" +Erreth,+ causeth others to err. +18.+ Not, +with\nlying lips,+ but \"is of lying lips.\" \"The meaning of this second\nclause does not stand in the relation of an antithesis to the\npreceding, but in that of a climax, adding a worse case to one not so\nbad. If one conceals his hatred within himself, he becomes a\nmalignant flatterer; but if he gives expression to it in slander,\nabuse, and base detraction, then, as a genuine fool, he brings upon\nhimself the greatest injury\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_). +22.+ Delitzsch and\nZ\u00f6ckler read the second clause, \"and labour addeth nothing thereto,\"\n_i.e.,_ \"God's blessing is in itself all in all, and makes right\nwithout any effort.\" Stuart and Miller translate as the Authorised\nVersion, and the former understands it to signify that \"sorrow shall\nnot necessarily increase by riches when it is Jehovah Himself who\nbestows them.\" +25.+ \"_When_ the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no\nmore.\" +29.+ \"Jehovah's way is a fortress to the upright, but _it is\ndestruction_ to the workers of iniquity.\" +31. Cut out,+ \"rooted out.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nPARENTAL GRIEF AND GLADNESS.\n\nThe generalisation of the first nine chapters here descends into\nparticular applications. The chemist dilates upon the power and\nexcellence of certain elements, and then illustrates what he has\naffirmed by showing their action in particular cases. Solomon has\ndwelt long upon the general blessings which will flow from listening\nto the counsels of Divine Wisdom, and he now shows some particular\ninstances of it. He begins with its effect in the family. Consider--\n\n\n+I. How the author here speaks from personal experience.+ 1. _In his\nrelation to his father._ Men in positions of far less importance than\nthat which David held are solicitous that their sons should possess\nsuch a character and such mental qualifications as will enable them\nto fulfil the duties which they will bequeath to them at their own\ndeparture from the world. The owner of a large estate, if he has a\nright sense of his own responsibilities, desires that his heir should\nbe one who will exercise his stewardship wisely and generously. The\nhead of a mercantile firm hopes that the son who is to succeed to his\nposition will be prudent and far-seeing, and possess an aptitude for\nbusiness. If a monarch is what he ought to be, and feels how very\ngreat is his power for good or evil, it will be a matter of the\ndeepest anxiety to him that the son who is one day to sit upon the\nthrone should be one who will discharge his weighty duties wisely and\nwell. David was such a monarch, and we can well imagine how great was\nhis solicitude that his well-beloved son Solomon should possess such\ngifts and graces as would enable him worthily to fulfil the high\nposition he would one day be called to occupy. And, from what we know\nof Solomon's youth and early manhood, we have every reason to believe\nthat he was such a son as gladdened his father's heart. In the\nwonderful seventy-second Psalm--which, although it has its entire\nfulfilment only in the \"greater than Solomon,\" refers, doubtless, in\nthe first instance, to the great king--we have a glimpse of David's\ndesires and hopes concerning him. He begins with a prayer for him:\n\"Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the\nking's son\" (verse 1). And then he gives utterance to the hopes which\nhe cherished concerning his prosperous and beneficent reign--hopes\nwhich, alas! would have been sadly dimmed could he have foreseen the\ncloud which overshadowed Solomon's later days, but which were founded\nin the evidences which he gave of youthful piety and devotion.\nSolomon knew that he had been the gladness of his father's heart,\nbecause he had been a \"wise son,\" and therefore he spoke from\nexperience when he uttered the first clause of this proverb. But he\nspoke no less from experience when he gave utterance to the opposite\ntruth. Solomon was a father as well as a son, and he speaks 2. _In\nhis relation to his son._ Rehoboam's youth and manhood--for he was a\nman long before his father's death--were not, we may fairly conclude,\nof such a character as to give his father much joy, but was such as\nto awaken the gravest fears concerning his conduct when he should\nbecome absolute master of the kingdom. We well know how these fears\nwere justified by his conduct on his accession to the throne. The\ngreat crime of David's life had been committed before Solomon's\nbirth, and had, therefore, had no bad influence upon him, but the\nsins of his own old age were a bad example to set before his son, and\ncould not have been without their evil influence. From what we read\nof Rehoboam, we can but conclude that he had been a \"foolish\" son,\nand that Solomon's heart was heavy with sadness concerning him when\nhe penned these words. These thoughts suggest a lesson which parents\nshould deeply ponder, viz., _that whether parents shall have gladness\nor grief in their children depends not so much upon the excellence of\ntheir words as upon the godliness of their lives._ Solomon uttered\nthousands of moral precepts, but had he uttered as many more, they\nwould not have had much effect upon Rehoboam. What his son needed\nmore than wise sayings was the power of a godly life. This must ever\naccompany moral teaching: nay, it must go before it, for a child can\nreceive impressions from a holy example before it is old enough to\nappreciate abstract teaching. A parent's wise _sayings_ will never do\na child any good unless there are correspondent _doings_. A good\nexample is the best education. Consider--\n\n+II. How very much our joy and sorrow in this world depend upon our\nrelationships.+ In proportion as the wise are related to the foolish\nor to the wise, will be their grief or their gladness. Distant\nrelationships are not very effective in this way, but near\nrelationships are powerful in proportion to their nearness. And the\nrelation of parent to child is in some respects nearer than any\nother--nearer, perhaps, even than that of husband and wife. Our\nchildren are a part of ourselves, and what they are makes or mars our\nlives. How much does that little pronoun \"my\" carry with it! To hear\nthat _any_ young man has disgraced his manhood and thrown away his\nopportunities is an occasion of sadness to us. This is increased if\nhe is the son of anyone we have known and loved. But if good parents\nhave to reflect that \"my\" son has become a reprobate, how bitter is\ntheir sorrow. But when the folly is not so great as this there may\nstill be much \"heaviness\" in a parent's heart. \"Wise\" and \"foolish\"\nare relative terms. A good father's joy is proportionate to his son's\ngoodness, for we understand wisdom and folly here to stand for the\nwisdom of goodness and the folly of sin, and a very little amount of\nwickedness will make a good mother's heart heavy. _Let children then\nlearn from this text to reflect how much power to give joy or sorrow\nrests with them, and to act accordingly;_ and _let parents,\nconsidering how entirely their future happiness or misery will depend\nupon the character of their children, begin to train them, both by\nexample and precept, from their tenderest years._ (On this subject\nsee also Homiletics on chap. iv. 1-4.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe future may be imperative. We prefer this view. \"_Let_ a wise son\nmake a glad father.\" If a man has a good son, let it be his one\nall-sufficient gratification. . . . Men toil for their children, and\ngive themselves pain in their behalf to an extent absolutely heroic,\nconsidering how they abnegate self, but to an extent altogether\ndisproportioned, as between their temporal and eternal warfare. This\nis one way we destroy our children. If their temporal inheritance is\nthreatened, we are all on thorns; but if they are doing well or ill\nin piety, we give it but little notice. The verb, therefore, as an\nimperative, means most. \"_Let_ a foolish son be the grief of his\nmother,\" that is, an unconverted son. He may be all smiles and\namiableness, and the father's business may be doing well, but if he\nis a fool, spiritually, it should be his mother's grief. And then\nfollow the reasons--(For) \"treasures of wickedness profit nothing,\"\netc.--_Miller._\n\nPerhaps this first sentence may have been placed in the front to\npoint to the value of a godly education in the personal, social,\nnational influence, connected both with time and eternity.--_Bridges._\n\nThe father is specially said to be gladdened by a wise son as he is\nof a more severe nature, and not so likely to form a partial\nestimate, and therefore not so easily gladdened as the mother; so\nthat it is the stronger praise of the wise son to say that not only\nthe mother, but also the father, is gladdened by him. On the other\nhand, the mother is apt, through fondness, to ignore the errors of\nher son, and even to encourage them by indulgent connivance. The wise\nman admonishes here that she is laying up \"heaviness\" in store for\nherself.--_Fausset._\n\nAfter the previous general description of Wisdom, Solomon begins with\nwhat is uppermost in his own mind, What would be the character of his\nsuccessor? What would become of his throne, his wealth, his people,\nafter himself? See his melancholy forebodings in Proverbs xvii. 2-21,\n25; xix. 13; Eccles. ii. 18, etc. Solomon has one son, and he is\nRehoboam. This thought lies underneath many of the sayings in the\nProverbs.--_Wordsworth._\n\nEvery son should be an Abner, that is, his father's light, and every\ndaughter an Abigail, her father's joy. Eve promised herself much in\nher Cain, and David did the like in his Absalom. But they were both\ndeceived. Samuel succeeds Eli in his cross, though not in his sin.\nVirtue is not, as lands, inheritable. Let parents labour to mend by\neducation what they have marred by propagation.--_Trapp._\n\nDo you hear this, young man? It is in your power to make your father\nglad, and God expects you to do it. Here is an object for your\nambition, here is an investment that will ensure an immediate return.\nCome now, make your choice. Whether you will try to please these\nfools who banter you here, or to gladden your father's heart that is\nyearning for you there? . . . These companions that come between you\nand him--what have they done for you, and what would they do for you\nto-morrow, if you were in distress? They have never lost a night's\nrest by watching at your sick bed, and never will. But your father\nwhat has he done, and yet will do? The command of God is that you\ngladden your father and not grieve him. Your conscience countersigns\nthat command now. Obey.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nTHE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND RICHES.\n\n+I. Wealth when lawfully gotten is profitless for many very important\nthings.+ Death is mentioned in the text, it has no power over that in\nany form. 1. _Wealth will not deliver you from the daily dying, which\nis the lot of all men._ It has been said that as soon as we are born\nwe begin to die, and we know that it is certain that as soon as men\nhave attained their prime, their outward man perisheth day by day\n(2 Cor. iv. 16). The richest man cannot purchase exception from this\nlaw with all his wealth. 2. _Neither can wealth prevent the death\nwhich we call premature._ Man of vast fortunes are often brought down\nto an early grave; the seeds of disease within them hasten the\noperation of the law of death which has passed upon the whole human\nrace. A galloping consumption cannot be held in check even with\n_golden_ reins. 3. _Treasures of wealth will not insure a man against\nsudden death._ The morning finds the rich man looking over his vast\nacres, or counting up his dividends, and saying \"I have much good\nlaid up for many years;\" and before the sun sets another has entered\ninto possession of all his riches. 4. _Lawfully-gotten wealth will\nnot only not deliver from premature death, but may sometimes bring it\non._ Wealth is very apt to produce very mistaken views in a man's\nmind. When he has amassed a large portion of this world's goods, and\nis in a condition of moral bankruptcy, he is very prone to imagine\nthat he is secure in the enjoyment of all that he has acquired, and\nthat nothing can come between his riches and himself. Then God may\nread him a lesson by saying, \"Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be\nrequired of thee\" (Luke xii. 20). Had the man in the parable been a\npoor man he would not have died so soon; his wealth not only could\nnot deliver him from death, but it hastened his end. And many men\nwalking in his footsteps have been brought to their graves in a\nsimilar manner and for a similar reason even when the wealth has been\nhonestly gained. We have no reason to think that the rich fool\namassed his riches dishonestly; his sin consisted, not in his\n_having_ riches, but in his _trusting_ in them.\n\n+II. If treasure gotten by honest toil is profitless to deliver from\ndeath and other evils, how much less will the \"treasures of\nwickedness,\" i.e., ill-gotten wealth, be profitable to work such a\ndeliverance.+ The means used to obtain it were opposed to the law of\nrighteousness, which does rule in the universe notwithstanding all\nthe apparent exceptions, and it is as foolish for a man to expect to\nderive real profit from it as it would be for a man to expect to\nconstruct a pyramid which would stand upon its apex. The latter would\nnot be more contrary to natural law than the former is to spiritual\nlaw. And treasures of wickedness are not simply _profitless,_ they\nbring the man who has them under the curse of the Righteous Ruler of\nthe world. They not only bring no _profit_ but they bring great\n_loss._ No man can make an unlawful bargain or commit any other\ndishonest act to gain money without bringing a blight upon his\nspiritual nature, without entailing upon himself moral death. And if\nthe acquirement of \"the treasures of wickedness\" must subject a man\nto this greatest calamity, how impossible is it that they can be\nprofitable to deliver from any lesser evil.\n\n+III. Righteousness, on the other hand--+1. _Has often delivered from\nbodily death._ All the extraordinary deliverances from death recorded\nin the Bible took place in connection with righteousness, thereby\nshowing us that righteousness is stronger than death. Enoch did not\nsee death because he was a righteous man. Noah and his family were\nexempted from the premature death which overtook the rest of the\nworld for the same reason. All the resurrections from the dead were\nwrought either through the instrumentality of righteous men or by the\nimmediate action of the righteous Son of God. 2. _Does deliver always\nfrom the curse of bodily death._ Death is the penalty of sin; it is\ntherefore a curse. We read that \"The sting of death is sin; and the\nstrength of sin is the law\" (1 Cor. xv. 56). But \"Christ hath\nredeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us\"\n(Gal. iii. 13). We are justified by His righteousness if we\nappropriate it by faith (Rom. iii. 21-26), and thus obtain the\n\"victory\" over death \"through our Lord Jesus Christ\" (1 Cor. xv. 57).\nHere a _relative_ righteousness delivers from the _condemnation_ of\ndeath. But this is the foundation of a _personal_ and _actual_\nrighteousness of character which delivers from _spiritual death now_,\nand will one day deliver the _body_ from the grave. \"If Christ be in\nyou, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because\nof righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from\nthe dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall\nalso quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you\"\n(Rom. viii. 10, 11). Here Paul argues from the greater spiritual\ndeliverance to the lesser bodily one, and shows how, in all senses,\n\"righteousness delivers from death.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe proverb means the treasures of an unsaved man. . . . The highest\nopulence of the dead sinner is of no possible profit: but the\nrighteousness of the saved sinner, even without any opulence at all,\nis a fortune; for, like the \"charm of the lamp,\" it makes for him\neverlasting blessedness.--_Miller._\n\nA man may seem to _profit_ by them, and to come up wonderfully for a\ntime. But what was the profit of Naboth's vineyard to Ahab, when in\nhis ivory palace he was withering under the curse of God? (1 Kings\nxxi. 4-24 with xxii. 39). What was the profit of the thirty pieces of\nsilver to Judas? Instead of _delivering from death,_ their\nintolerable sting plunged him into death eternal (Matt.\nxxvii. 5).--_Bridges._\n\nRighteousness delivereth from death, to wit, in the time of\nvengeance; for uprightness is that mark of election and life which\nthe Lord, spying in any when He plagueth the wicked for their\ntransgressions, spareth them, and preserveth them from destruction.\nThus, although the righteousness of the just person deserveth nothing\nat God's hands, neither is any cause of man's preservation or\nsalvation, yet it serveth as a sovereign treacle to preserve the\nevil-doer from that deadly plague, which is sent from the Lord to\ndestroy the disobedient, and as a letter of passport to safe-conduct\nthe faithful person in perilous times, and to protect him from all\ndangers.--_Muffet._\n\nObserve--+I. The excellency of these comforts in themselves.+ They\nare _treasures_--that is, heaps of outward good things. The word\nincludeth a _multitude,_ for one or two will not make a treasure; and\na _multitude of precious things,_ for a heap of sand, or coals, or\ndust, is not a treasure: but of silver or gold, or some excellent\nearthly things. It is here in the plural, treasures, noting the\ngreatest confluence of worldly comforts. +II. The impiety of the\nowners.+ They are treasures of wickedness. The purchaser got them by\nsinful practices. They were brought into his house slyly at some back\ndoor. He was both the receiver and the thief. Treasures of\nwickedness, because gotten by wicked ways, and employed to wicked\nends. There is an English proverb which too many Englishmen have made\ngood, \"That which is got over the devil's back is usually spent under\nthe devil's belly.\" When sin is the parent that begets riches it many\ntimes hath this recompense, that they are wholly at its service and\ncommand. +III. The vanity of those treasures:+ they profit nothing.\nThey are unable to cheer the mind, to cure the diseases of the body,\nmuch less to heal the wounds of the soul, or to bribe the flames of\nhell. Alas! they are so far from profiting, that they are infinitely\nprejudicial. Such powder-masters are blown up with their own ware.\nThese loads sink the bearer into the unquenchable lake. Aristotle\ntells us of the sea-mew, or sea-eagle, that she will often seize on\nher prey, though it be more than she can bear, and falleth down\nheadlong with it into the deep, and so perisheth. This fowl is a fit\nemblem of the unrighteous person, for he graspeth those heavy\npossessions which press him down into the pit of perdition. \"They\nthat will be rich (that resolve on it, whether God will or no, and by\nany means, whether right or wrong), fall into temptations, and a\nsnare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in\ndestruction and perdition\" (1 Tim. vi. 9). Men that scrape an estate\ntogether unjustly are frequently said in the Word of God to get it in\nhaste, because such will not stay God's time, nor wait in His way\ntill He send them wealth, but must have it presently, and care not\nthough it be unrighteously. Fair and softly goes far. None thrive so\nwell as those that stay God's leisure, and expect wealth in His\nway. . . . 1. _Be righteous in thy works or actions._ Deal with men\nas one that in all hath to do with God. If thou art a Christian, thou\nart a law to thyself; thou hast not only a law without thee (the Word\nof God), but a law within thee, and so darest not transgress. Thy\ndouble hedge may well prevent thy wandering. . . . Be righteous in\nbuying. . . . Take heed lest thou layest out thy money to purchase\nendless misery. Some have bought places to bury their bodies in, but\nmore have bought those commodities which have swallowed up their\nsouls. Injustice in buying is a canker which will eat up and waste\nthe most durable wares. In buying, do not work either upon the\nignorance or the poverty of the seller. Be righteous in selling. Be\ncareful, while thou sellest thy wares to men, that thou dost not sell\nthy soul to Satan. Be righteous in the _substance_ of what thou\nsellest, and that in regard of its quality and quantity. God can see\nthe rottenness of thy stuffs, and heart too, under thy false glosses,\nand for all thy false lights. Be righteous in regard to the quantity.\nThey wrong themselves most who wrong others of their right. The\njealous God is very punctual in this particular (Lev. xix. 35, 36).\n2. _Be righteous in thy words and expressions, as well as in thy\nworks._ The Christian's tongue should be his heart's interpreter, and\nreveal its mind and meaning; and the Christian's hand should justify\nhis tongue, by turning his words into deeds. The burgess of the New\nJerusalem is known by this livery: \"He walketh uprightly, worketh\nrighteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart; he sweareth to\nhis own hurt, and changeth not\" (Psa. xv. 2, 4). His speech is the\nnatural and genuine offspring of his heart; there is a great\nresemblance between the child and the parent. There is a symmetry\nbetween his hand and his tongue; he is slow to promise, not hasty to\nenter into bonds, but being once engaged, he will be sure to\nperform.--_Swinnock._\n\nWickedness is in itself a treasure laid up against the day of wrath;\nand as that profiteth nothing, so neither do the treasures of\nwickedness. For as he that setteth himself to any employment, perhaps\nmay lose one way and get another, but if, in the general upshot and\nconfusion, he finds his estate to be bettered, then is his employment\nsaid to be profitable; so in the treasures of wickedness, there may\nbe gain of wealth, honour, pleasure, and loss of credit, quiet,\ncomfort, but in the conclusion the loss will be most grievous, and\ntherefore profitable they cannot be.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3, 4.\n\nDIVINE AND HUMAN PROVIDENCE.\n\n+I. A general rule. God supplies all the needs of His children+\n(verse 3). We take the word soul here to mean what it often does in\nthe Old Testament, viz., the _bodily life,_ and, therefore,\nunderstand the promise to be similar to that in Psalm xxxiii. 19,\netc. God's special providential care is over the righteous. This we\nshould have expected if this and like promises did not exist. The\nanimal creation, as a rule, care and provide for their own offspring.\nThere are men and women who have fallen so low as not to care for the\nwell-being of those dependent on them, but wherever there is any\nvirtue left in human beings it will certainly manifest itself in\nmaking some efforts to secure from want those who are nearly related\nto them and dependent upon them. God has laid it as a charge upon His\ncreatures to care for the bodily wants of their children, and He has\nimplanted within men and women an instinct which is generally strong\nenough to lead them to do it. It is an apostolic sentence--\"If any\nprovide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he\nhath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel\" (1 Tim. v. 8).\nGod has taught us that the righteous are bound to Him by a closer tie\nthan we are bound to each other by flesh and blood relationships.\n\"For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven,\"\nsaid Christ, \"the same is my brother, and sister, and mother\" (Matt.\nxii. 50). He was more nearly related to His disciples than to those\nof His brethren who did not believe on Him. They were Christ's \"own\"\n(John xiii. 1) in a sense in which other men were not, and He\nprovided for their necessities because they held this special\nrelation to Him. God has a general care for all that He has made. He\ncares for the life of the tiniest wild flower, and feeds it with\nlight and moisture according to its need. \"He giveth to the beast his\nfood, and to the young ravens which cry\" (Psalm cxlvii. 9). He maketh\nHis sun to shine and His rain to fall upon the fields of the unjust,\nand is kind to the unthankful and the evil (Luke vi. 35). Then it\nfollows from necessity that He, the _Righteous Father,_ will not\nsuffer the souls of the \"righteous\" to famish. When ordinary means\nwill not meet their need, He will employ special means to do so.\nThere are many instances upon record in the history of God's Church\nin which, the supply not being obtainable within the ordinary working\nof His providence, He has gone into the region of the supernatural\nfor sustenance for His children.\n\n+II. Special exceptions to this rule.+ If we understand these words\nas referring to the bodily life, we must admit that there have been\nexceptions to it. Some of God's children have suffered from want,\nsome have starved to death in dungeons _because_ they have been\nrighteous. But these special exceptions have been for special ends.\nSolomon's father, when he was haunted by Saul, was doubtless often in\nwant of food, but this severe discipline fitted him for the position\nhe was afterwards to occupy as the King of Israel. Paul tells us that\nhe was often \"in hunger and thirst, in fastings, in cold and\nnakedness\" (2 Cor. xi. 27), but he likewise tells us that he \"gloried\nin tribulation,\" because it \"worketh patience, and patience\nexperience, and experience hope,\" etc. (Rom. v. 3, 4). Whenever there\nare partial or entire exceptions to this rule, we may rest assured\nthat those who are the subjects of the exceptions have their material\nloss more than made up to them.\n\n+III. Special relationship to God will not secure exception from want\nunless the necessary conditions are fulfilled.+ \"He,\" whether saint\nor sinner, \"becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand\" (ver. 4).\nIf a godly man is not diligent in business, he will come to want as\ncertainly as an ungodly one. God's children are not exempt from the\nworking of the natural and providential laws of the world in which\nthey live. If they transgress any physical law, they must pay the\npenalty. The disregard of such law is a \"tempting of the Lord their\nGod\" (Matt. iv. 5-7). And what is true of physical laws is true of\nprovidential laws. If a husbandman is ever so prayerful and trustful,\nhe will not have a crop in harvest unless he works hard in the days\nof ploughing and sowing. And the most spiritually-minded tradesman\nwill not earn a living unless he gives due attention to his business.\n\"God's promises were never made to ferry our laziness\" (_Beecher_).\nIt is sheer presumption to expect God to give us our daily bread if\nwe neglect to do all within our power to earn it. Even in Paradise\nnature would not yield her treasure without diligence on the part of\nman. Adam was to \"till the ground,\" to \"dress and keep\" the Garden of\nEden (Gen. ii. 5-15). And this dependence of success upon diligence\nis--1. Good for the man himself. He has bodily and mental powers\nwhich cannot be developed without constant exercise. 2. Good for\nothers. A man who does not bring all his powers into play defrauds\nsociety of the benefit it might receive from his latent abilities.\n\n+IV. When the conditions of growing rich are fulfilled by unrighteous\nmen, the wealth attained by diligence shall be taken away by\njustice.+ Riches and poverty are comparative terms; it is certainly\nnot true that every diligent man makes a fortune; probably Solomon\nmeans no more than that diligence always brings some amount of\nreward. However that may be, we must put the declaration \"The hand of\nthe diligent maketh rich\" side by side with that in the preceding\nverse, \"He casteth away the substance of the wicked.\" The\nprofessional thief exercises a diligence which is not surpassed by\nmany honest men, if by any. He deals with no slack hand, and he\ngenerally succeeds in getting rich for a time. But if he is\n_diligent,_ the detective officer is _vigilant,_ and the substance he\nhas gathered will one day be scattered by the hand of justice. And\nthere are many unprofessional thieves in the world who gain their\nriches by means quite as unlawful as their professional brethren,\nalthough they sail under other colours. Substance thus obtained is as\nsurely marked by God for scattering as that of the housebreaker or\nhighwayman, although He sometimes delays long the apprehension of the\nculprit. Against all such the sentence has gone forth, \"Yea, they\nshall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock\nshall not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them\nand they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as\nstubble\" (Isa. xl. 24). There are three reasons why wealth, which has\nbeen gathered by unrighteous diligence, should be scattered. 1. _Such\nunrighteous dealing is a sin against God._ It is a defiance of the\neighth and tenth commandments, for all men who get rich unlawfully\nmust both covet and steal. When God's \"thou shalt not\" is thus\ndisregarded, we may be certain that He will vindicate His right to\ngive laws to His creatures. 2. _It is a sin against man._ Such a\nman's diligence must have caused much misery to many of his\nfellow-creatures. Men cannot satisfy lawless desires without bringing\nunhappiness to others. 3. _Wealth unlawfully gained is sure to be\nmade an instrument of oppression._ Wealth always gives some amount of\npower, and he who has trampled on the rights of others to get riches\nwill be sure to use them for their oppression when he has obtained\nthem. Verse 4 may be applied spiritually. If material good cannot be\nobtained without diligence, most assuredly spiritual blessings cannot\n(2 Pet. i. 5, 10, etc.). It is as necessary for the spiritual powers\nto be kept in constant exercise, if they are to be healthy and\nstrong, as it is for the body or the mind. The needs of others as\nwell as our own demand diligence in spiritual things. And whatever\nexceptions there may be in the rule in relation to material good,\nthis higher wealth will always be in proportion to the diligent use\nof means.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 3. Should the wicked by permitted to hold their substance all\ntheir days, Death, that terrible messenger, shall at last drag them\nfrom it; nor shall their glory descend after them to the grave, but\nthat wickedness by which they acquired it shall lie down with them in\nthe dust and torture their souls in hell.--_Lawson._\n\nThe substance of the wicked is \"of the earth, earthy.\" It pertains\nnot to the soul, and partakes not of its imperishable vitality. O the\nmiserable but sadly common mistake of the rich man in the parable,\nwhen he addressed his _soul_ in terms of congratulation, as if, in\nthe abundance of worldly good, it had got what would give it real and\npermanent satisfaction (Luke xii. 16-21). \"_Casting it away_\" is an\nact indicative of regarding it as _worthless._ The substance of this\nworld is that on which the hearts of the sons of men are set. But\n\"God will cast it away.\" He will not only bereave them of it--and\nthat, it may be, suddenly--but what is there in all this substance\nthat can avail as purchase money for the soul and for heaven? Had a\nman \"the world\" to offer, God would \"cast it away.\" He would say,\n\"Thy money perish with thee!\" \"Riches profit not in the day of\nwrath.\" The famished soul must then die, and die for ever.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAs the end of the former verse must chiefly be understood of\nspiritual death, because temporarily the righteous die as well as the\nwicked, so, with St. Jerome, I understand this of a spiritual famine.\nNow, as the course that is needful to preserve the body is so to\nnourish it that it may neither be glutted with fulness nor pined with\nemptiness, but in such sort to feed it that it may still have\nappetite for food, the same is the care which Almighty God taketh of\nthe soul's health; for He so feedeth the righteous that He will not\nsuffer them to famish, and yet He doth not so fill them as that they\ndo not hunger and thirst after righteousness. The time of fulness is\nheaven, where, as there will be no danger of sickness to the soul, so\nno lack of plenty.--_Jermin._\n\nIt might be objected, If I strain not my conscience, I may starve for\nit. Fear not that, saith the wise man. Faith fears not famine.\nNecessaries thou shalt be sure of (Psalm xxxvii. 25, 26; xxxiv. 15);\nsuperfluities thou art not to stand upon (1 Tim. vi. 8).--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 4. \"The diligent\" (Hebrew, _charutzim,_ from _charatz,_ to _cut\nshort,_ or _settle_); those who are _decisive_ in all things, who\neconomise their time and means--prompt in movement.--_Fausset._\n\nRiches were first bestowed upon the world as they are still continued\nin it, by the blessing of God upon the industry of men, in the use of\ntheir understanding and strength.--_Bishop Butler._\n\nThe Lord's visits of favour were never given to loiterers. Moses and\nthe shepherds of Bethlehem were keeping their flocks (Exod. iii. 1,\n2; Luke ii. 8, 9). Gideon was at the threshing-floor (Judg. vi. 11).\n\"Our idle days,\" as Bishop Hall observes, \"are Satan's busy days.\"\nActive employment gives us a ready answer to his present temptation.\n\"I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down\" (Neh.\nvi. 3).--_Bridges._\n\nNot only will God provide for the wise, but wisdom itself is a\nprovision. \"The hand of the diligent makes riches,\" even if it earn\nlittle; the meaning being that active work is itself a treasure; or,\npassing into the realm of piety, which is the one intended, he is a\npoor man who is a sluggard in his soul's work, and a rich man who is\nawake and active. Our treasure is within. \"My meat is,\" said our\nGreat Exemplar, \"to do the will of Him that sent me.\" And on our\ndying bed our money will be of small account, but our work will be\nthe splendid fortune that will follow the believer (Rev.\nxiv. 13).--_Miller._\n\n_The advantages of virtuous industry._ 1. The industrious man\nperforms and accomplishes many things which are profitable to himself\nand others in numberless respects. Let his station be never so\nhumble, yet that which he does in it has influence more or less upon\nall other stations. If he completely fulfil his duty, every other can\nmore completely fulfil his. Let the faculties, the endowments of a\nman be never so confined, yet by continued uninterrupted application\nhe can perform much, often far more than he who with eminent powers\nof intellect is slothful or indolent. 2. He executes them with far\nmore ease and dexterity than if he were not industrious. He has no\nneed of any long previous contest with himself, of long previous\nconsideration how he shall begin the work, or whether he shall begin\nit at all. But he attacks the business with alacrity and spirit and\npursues it with good-will. 3. He unfolds, exercises, perfects his\nmental powers. And this he does alike in every vocation; because it\nis not of so much consequence to what we apply our intellectual\nfaculties, as how we employ them. Whether we apply them to the\ngovernment of a nation or to the learning and exercise of some useful\ntrade makes no material difference. But to learn to think\nmethodically and justly, to act as rational beings, with\nconsideration and fixed principles, to do what we have to do\ndeliberately, carefully, punctiliously, conscientiously, that is the\nmain concern. Virtuous diligence is a continual exercise of the\nunderstanding, of reason, of reflection, of self-command. 4. The\nindustrious man lives in the entire true intimate consciousness of\nhimself. He rejoices in his life, his faculties, his endowments, his\ntime. He can give an account of the use and application of them and\ncan therefore look back upon the past with satisfaction and into the\nfuture without disquietude. 5. He experiences neither languor nor\nirksomeness. He who really loves work can never be wanting in means\nand opportunities for it. To him every occupation is agreeable, even\nthough it procure him no visible profit. 6. He alone knows the\npleasure of rest for he alone really wants it, he alone has deserved\nit, he alone can enjoy it without reproach. 7. The industrious man\nalone fulfils the design for which he is placed on earth, and can\nboldly give an account to God, to his fellow-creatures, and to\nhimself how he has spent his life.--_Zollikofer._\n\nThis rule applies alike to the business of life and the concerns of\nthe soul. Diligence is necessary to the laying-up of treasures,\neither within or beyond the reach of rust. . . . A world bringing\nforth fruit spontaneously might have suited a sinless race, but it\nwould be unsuitable for mankind as they now are. If all men had\nplenty without labour, the world would not be fit for living in. In\nevery country and under every kind of government, the unemployed are\nthe most dangerous classes. Thus the necessity of labour has become a\nblessing to man. . . . It would be a libel upon the Divine economy to\nimagine that the tender plant of grace would thrive in a sluggard's\ngarden. The work is difficult. The times are bad. He who would gain\nin godliness must put his soul into the business. But he who puts his\nsoul into the business will grow rich. Labour laid out here is not\nlost. Those who strive lawfully will win a kingdom. When all counts\nare closed, he who is rich in faith is the richest man.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.\n\nTHE USE AND THE NEGLECT OF OPPORTUNITIES.\n\n+I. Man has opportunities given to him which it is a mark of wisdom\nto embrace.+ 1. _He has the literal and temporal summer._ When the\nharvest is ripe the reaper must take down his sickle and toil at the\ningathering of the grain if he would have bread to eat in the days of\nwinter. The fisherman must spread his net in the season when the fish\nare abundant and watch his opportunity to catch the passing shoal.\nThe merchant must take advantage of the flood-tide of commercial\nprosperity to make money so that he may not be brought to bankruptcy\nin times of depression. These things cannot be done at _any_ time,\nbut the _opportune_ time must be laid hold of and improved. 2. _He\nhas a mental summer._ Youth is the season usually given to man to\ndevelop his mental faculties and lay up stores of knowledge for use\nin after life. Those who embrace this season and industriously\nimprove it, that \"gather\" in this \"summer,\" are \"wise sons,\" and reap\nan abundant reward in the time of manhood and old age. 3. _He has an\nopportunity given to lay the foundation of a godly character._ The\nseason of youth is most favourable for this work. The youthful mind\nis more susceptible of moral impressions than those of a man who has\ngrown to manhood without yielding to their influence. The young tree\ncan be easily trained to grow in the desired direction, but it is\nimpossible to bend the trunk when it has acquired any degree of\nstrength. So it is comparatively easy to form habits of godly thought\nand action when we are young, although by the power of God's grace it\nis not impossible at any time. He who subjects his will to the Great\nTeacher in his early days will enjoy an abundant blessing in old age\nfrom this \"gathering in summer.\"\n\n+II. He who neglects thus to improve his opportunities\nis--+1. _Likened to a man who sleeps through the season of harvest._\nHe sets one blessing of God in opposition to the other. Toil and rest\nare both Divine ordinances, and both are good and blessed in their\nseason. Sleep is felt to be an incalculable boon at the end of each\nday of toil. The rest of the Sabbath is a priceless gift of God, and\nis needed to renew both body and mind after the six days' labour.\nLonger seasons of rest are good and needful at certain periods of\nlife, and it is a sin against God not to use the ordinary\nopportunities of rest which are given to all, or ought to be, or to\nrefuse to make use of extraordinary opportunities when they are given\nto us by the providence of God. But this is quite a different thing\nfrom making life a time of indolence--from neglecting to do work\neither belonging to the body, mind, or spirit; which, if done at all,\ncan only be done in the given opportunity, or cannot be done so well\nat any other time. 2. _Such a sleeping in harvest brings\nshame_--(1) _To the man himself._ He is accused by his own\nconscience. Conscience will recognise the authority of God's\ninstitutions, and the lazy man will be brought to feel that he is out\nof harmony with the Divine ordinations which govern the world. A time\nwill come in his experience when he will feel the want of the\nmaterial good, or of the knowledge, or of the favour of God, which he\nwould have possessed if he had used his opportunities, and his\npoverty in one or all of these respects will make him ashamed when he\ncompares himself with those who \"gathered in summer.\" (2) _It brings\nshame upon others._ No man can suffer alone for his own sin. Those\nrelated to him suffer also in proportion to the nearness of their\nrelationship and to the affection which they bear to him. The son who\nfritters away the season of youthful opportunity disgraces his\nparents. By-and-by he becomes a father, and his children partake of\nhis shame. The whole subject reminds us that bare admission into the\nDivine family is not the end, but the beginning of a Divine life.\nThere must be a \"gathering\" ever going on. \"And _beside this_\" (see\nverses 1-4), \"giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to\nvirtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance,\npatience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly\nkindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity\" (2 Peter i. 5-7).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nLook at the _large harvest of opportunity in labouring for God._ The\ngreat and diversified machinery of religious societies, needing\ndirection and energy; the mass of fellow sinners around us, claiming\nour sympathy and helpfulness. \"While we have time, let us do good\"\n(Gal. iv. 10). How high is the privilege of gathering with Christ _in\nsuch a harvest!_ (Matt. xii. 30). How great the _shame_ of doing\nnothing, where there is so much to be done! What a _harvest_ also is\nthe present \"accepted time\" (2 Cor. vi. 2). Mark the abundance of the\nmeans of grace, the living verdure of the gospel. Can I bear the\nthought of that desponding cry of eternal remorse--\"The _harvest_ is\npast, the _summer_ is ended, and I am not saved?\" (Jer.\nviii. 20).--_Bridges._\n\nThe opportunity is in all matters carefully to be observed. He\ngathereth in summer who, redeeming the time, maketh his best\nadvantage of the season; for the summer is that fit season wherein\nthe fruits are got into the barn for the whole year following. He\nthat thus in due season provideth for his body or soul, is worthily\ncalled a son of understanding, or a wise man; for he hath not only\nprudently foreseen what is best to be done, but wisely took the\noccasion offered unto his best advantages. On the contrary side, he\nsleepeth in harvest who fondly letteth slip the most convenient means\nor opportunity of doing or receiving good. Such a one is a son of\nconfusion, that is to say, one that shall be ashamed or confounded,\nby reason of the want or misery whereunto he shall fall through his\nown folly.--_Muffett._\n\nThe use of the word \"son\" in both clauses implies that the work of\nthe vine-dresser and the plough had been done by the father. All that\nthe son is called to do is to enter into the labours of others, and\nreap where they have sown.--_Plumptre._\n\nAs the former verse commendeth labour and pains and therein\ndiligence, so this commendeth the diligence of watchfulness, in\ntaking opportunity and not omitting it. For there may be much\nlabouring, but there will be little benefit, unless there be a\ngathering in summer. The taking of pains may show a mind to gather,\nbut the unseasonableness of the pains will not show the wisdom of the\nmind.--_Jermin._\n\n+I. God affords opportunities for good.+ In this view we may regard\nthe _whole period of life._ 1. You are blessed with a season of\nGospel grace while many are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of\ndeath, upon you _hath the light shined_. 2. You have a season of\ncivil and religious liberty. What advantage do we possess above many\nof our ancestors who suffered for conscience sake! They laboured, and\nwe have entered into their labours. 3. Who has not experienced a day\nof trouble? 4. Where is the person who does not know what we mean by\na season of conviction? +II. I would enforce upon you the necessity\nof diligence to improve your reaping season.+ 1. Consider how much\nyou have to accomplish. The salvation of the soul is a great--an\narduous concern. Religion is a race, and you must run; it is a\nwarfare, and you must fight. The blessings of the Gospel are free,\nbut they are to be sought, and gained. 2. Consider the worth of the\nblessings which demand your attention. . . . Is it not desirable to\nbe redeemed from the curse of the law; to be justified freely from\nevery charge brought against us at the bar of God; to be delivered\nfrom the tyranny and rage of vicious appetites and passions? Great is\nthe happiness of the good here; but who can describe the exalted\nglory and joy that await them hereafter? 3. Remember that your labour\nwill not be in vain in the Lord. The husbandman has many\nuncertainties to contend with, but _probability_ stimulates _him_;\nhow much more should actual _certainty_ encourage _you_. 4. Remember\nthat your season for action is limited and short. Harvest does not\nlast long. Your time is _uncertain_ as well as short. 5. Reflect upon\nthe consequences of negligence. Is a man blamed for sleeping in\nharvest? Does every one reproach him as a fool? You act a part more\nabsurd and fatal, who _neglect this great salvation._ Having made no\nprovision for eternity, your ruin is unavoidable. It will also be\ninsupportable.--_Jay._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6, 7, _and_ 11.\n\nTHE WAY TO PRESENT BLESSEDNESS AND FUTURE FAME.\n\nWe connect the first and last of these verses, because the latter\nclause in both is the same. +I. Opposite characters revealed by a\ngreat contrast in speech+ (verse 11). When a righteous man opens his\nmouth, it is as if the cover was removed from a pure, clear well of\nwater. He has no evil intentions to conceal; his words are an index\nto his heart. By them men may read his thoughts with the same ease as\nthey can see what is at the bottom of a clear spring of water. There\nis medicinal virtue in them--they _heal_ as well as _refresh_ the\nspirits of men. What a well of life have the words of Christ been for\ncenturies to millions of the human race. But a wicked man cannot let\nall the thoughts of his heart be laid open to the light of day. His\n\"mouth conceals injury\" (see Critical Notes). He has plans which are\nnot devised for the good of his fellow-creatures, and he must use his\nwords not to reveal, but to hide what is in his mind. And if he lets\nhis tongue loose, and permits his thoughts to flow out into words,\nthey do not bless his hearers, but are like a poisonous stream,\ncarrying moral death wherever they flow.\n\n+II. Character yields a present blessing or a present curse.+\n\"Blessings _are_ upon the head of the righteous,\" etc. A man's\npresent comfort within himself, and the inheritance of good-will he\nnow receives from his fellow-men, as well as the favour of God, are\nall dependent upon what he is in his character. The kingdom of heaven\nis _now_ inherited by him. All the beatitudes uttered by our Lord\nspeak of a present blessedness. \"Blessed _are_ the poor in spirit,\"\netc. The opposite truth is not expressed, but it is implied. Curses,\nnot blessings, are the present inheritance of the man whose \"mouth is\ncovered by violence.\"\n\n+III. Character determines the nature of our future fame+ (verse 7).\n1. _The memory of the righteous is blessed, because what they did\nupon the earth is the means of bringing blessings upon others after\nthey are gone._ Many a son has received kindness for the sake of the\nrighteousness of his father. God blesses the children for the\nfather's sake. \"I will make him prince all the days of his life _for\nDavid my servant's sake,_ whom I chose, because he kept my\ncommandments and my statutes\" (1 Kings xi. 34). \"Fear not,\" said God\nto Isaac, \"for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy\nseed for _my servant Abraham's sake_\" (Gen. xxvi. 24). Cyrus was\nraised up to deliver Israel _for Jacob's sake_ (Isa. xlv. 4). Men can\nbut bless the memory of those whose past godliness is the means of\nbringing blessings upon them in the present. 2. _The just man's\nmemory is blessed because he leaves behind him reproductions of his\nown character._ All life will reproduce itself. After a tree has\ndecayed and gone to dust, others will be in full life and vigour that\nwere seedlings of the old tree. Intellectual life is reproductive.\nThe man of mighty genius leaves disciples to carry out his ideas\nafter he is gone. Good men are the parents of good children, or make\nother men good by their words and lives. \"They that dwell under his\nshadow shall return,\" and \"_they_ shall grow as the vine\" (Hosea\nxiv. 7). The good must be held in blessed remembrance so long as\nthere are those upon earth who are the reproductions of their\ncharacter. 3. _The memory of some is blessed because they did deeds\nwhich never can be reproduced by others--which have left a fragrance\nbehind them which can never be repeated._ The one act of Abraham,\nwhen he prepared to offer up Isaac at God's command, can never be\nrepeated; but it is the one which, above all his other acts of faith,\ncauses him to be held in everlasting remembrance. And so it has been\nwith many of the leaders of the Church in all ages. They have\nperformed acts of godly heroism which we cannot imitate, but of which\nwe reap the reward, and for which we bless their memory. Especially\nis this true of Him who is pre-eminently the Holy One and the Just,\nwhose glorious \"name is blessed for ever\" (Psa. lxxii. 19), because\n\"He endured the cross and despised the shame.\" But the converse of\nall this is the lot of the wicked. We can but remember them when we\nare brought face to face with the evil they have left behind them;\nbut we turn from the remembrance as we turn from some offensive\nputrid object, while the memory of the just is as a sweet savour.\nContrast the feelings with which Christendom now regards the emperors\nof Rome and the fishermen of Galilee.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 6. Not one, but many blessings are on the head of the\nrighteous: the blessing of peace, the blessing of plenty, the\nblessing of health, and the blessing of grace, shall be upon them.\nThe precious ointment of the Lord's favour and blessing shall be so\npoured upon their heads as that it shall not here stay, but run down\nto the rest of the members of their bodies, and enter into their very\nhearts.--_Muffet._\n\n\"_Blessings:_\" not simply good things, but good things bestowed by\nanother; not simply good things bestowed by another, but divinely\nbestowed as sacred _benedictions._ \"_Blessings_\" are for the\nrighteous exclusively, that is, for no one else. \"_For the head;_\"\nnot the mouth, not the hand; because often without either's agency.\n\"_On his head;_\" because unconsciously, and sometimes even when\nasleep.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 7. The memory of the just is blessed (1) because of his winning\nfriendship; (2) because of his unfeigned piety; (3) because of his\nsteadfast patience; (4) because of his noble, public-minded\nactivity.--_Ziegler, from Lange's Commentary._\n\nAnd what signifies an empty name? It brings honour to God, and\nprolongs the influence of his good example who has left it. His good\nworks not only follow him, but live behind him. As Jeroboam made\nIsrael to sin after he was dead, so the good man helps to make others\nholy whilst he is lying in the grave. Should it so happen that his\ncharacter is mistaken in the world, or should his name die out among\nmen, it shall yet be had in everlasting remembrance before God; for\nnever shall those names be erased from the Lamb's book of life, which\nwere written in it from the foundation of the world.--_Lawson._\n\nNot what he remembers, but what is remembered of him. He blesses\nafter he is dead. So does the wicked, but, like most other growths in\nnature, by his decay. \"_Name;_\" that which is known of a man. The\n\"name of God\" is that which may be known of God. \"The memory of the\nrighteous,\" viz., of the Church of God, is that which propagates her,\nand causes her to hand down her strength. Our walk about Zion, our\ntelling her towers, our marking her bulwarks, is for this grand aim,\namong the rest, that we may tell to the generation following (Psa.\nxlviii. 12, 13).--_Miller._\n\nI. The memory of the just is blessed, self-evidently so, for the mind\nblesses it and reverts to it with complacency, mingled with\nsolemnity,--returns to it with delight from the sight of the living\nevil in the world, sometimes even prefers this silent society to the\nliving good. They show in a most evident and pleasing manner the\ngracious connection which God has constantly maintained with a sinful\nworld. His uninterrupted connection with it by justice and sovereign\npower has been manifest in mighty evidence: but His saints have been\nthe peculiar illustration of His grace, His mercy, acting on this\nworld. II. It is so, when we consider them as practical\nillustrations, verifying examples of the excellence of genuine\nreligion; that it is a noble thing in human nature, and makes, and\nalone makes, that nature noble;--that, whatever scoffers may say, or\nthis vain world would pretend to disbelieve, here is what has made\nsuch men as nothing else, under heaven, could or can. III. Their\nmemory is blessed while we regard them as diminishing to our view the\nrepulsiveness and horror of death. Our Lord's dying was the fact that\nthrew out the mightiest agency to this effect. But, in their measure,\nHis faithful disciples have done the same. When we contemplate them\nas having prepared for it with a calm resolution--as having\napproached it--multitudes with a calm resignation and fortitude, and\nvery many with an animated exultation;--as having passed it, and\nemerged in brightness beyond its gloom--they seem to shine back\nthrough the gloom, and make the shade less thick. IV. It is blessed,\nalso, as combined with the whole progress of God upon the earth--with\nits living agency throughout every stage. He has never, and nowhere,\nhad a visible cause in the world, without putting _men_ in trust with\nit. . . . Think of what men have been employed and empowered to do in\nthe propagation of truth, in the incessant warfare against evil, in\nthe exemplification of all the virtues by which he could be\nhonoured.--_John Foster._\n\n\nVerse 11. A Church is but a body of righteous men. What would the\nworld do without the Church? The influences of a Church, and that a\nland is ruined without a Church, and that one generation hands on the\nworship of God to another, are all illustrations on a grand scale of\nhow _the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life._ A good man\nwill constantly be doing good to others. But \"wrong covers the mouth\nof the wicked,\" so that he can give no blessing; so keeps him from\nany possible usefulness, that he cannot utter good, or make his\nmouth, as the righteous can, \"a fountain of life\" to all about\nhim.--_Miller._\n\nIn a hot summer's day I was sailing with a friend in a tiny boat on a\nminiature lake, enclosed like a cup within a circle of steep, bare\nScottish hills. On the shoulders of the brown, sun-burnt mountain,\nand full in sight, was a well, with a crystal stream trickling over\nits lip, and making its way down towards the lake. Around the well's\nmouth, and along the course of the rivulet, a belt of green stood out\nin strong contrast with the iron surface of the rock all around.\n\"What do you make of that?\" said my friend, who had both an open eye\nto read the book of Nature and a heart all aglow with the lessons of\nlove. We soon agreed as to what should be made of it. It did not need\nus to make it into anything. There it was, a legend clearly printed\nby the finger of God on the side of these silent hills, teaching the\npasser-by how needful a good man is, and how useful he may be in a\ndesert world. . . . The Lord looks down, and men look up, expecting\nto see a fringe of living green around the lip of a Christian's\nlife-course.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nTHE DOER AND THE TALKER.\n\n+I. A definition of a wise man.+ He is one that \"will receive\ncommandments.\" The reception of commandments implies a commander, and\na willingness to obey his laws. The wise man is willing to obey good\nlaws even at the expense of some self-sacrifice, because he has a\nstrong conviction of the benefits that will arise from submission.\nThe laws which govern a well-ordered State will not be irksome to a\nright-minded citizen. He feels that submission to them will bring\nonly comfort to him. The yoke will bring ease, and he proves that he\nis a wise man by accepting it. The commandments here are the\ncommandments of Jehovah. He only is a truly wise man who is willing\nto submit his will to the Divine will, to take upon himself the yoke\nof Him whose \"yoke is easy\" (Matt. xi. 30), who is the Lawgiver who\n\"makes free indeed\" (John viii. 36). He obeys His commandments from\nthe full conviction of the benefits and blessings which flow from\nkeeping them. He knows that the obedience must come before the\ncomfort, that Incarnate Wisdom has placed the commandment first, and\nthen the reward \"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command\nyou\" (John xv. 14). He can say, from past experience concerning the\nDivine commands, \"In keeping of them there is great reward\" (Psa.\nxix. 11), and the blessedness that he has tasted he knows to be but\nthe earnest of what is to be in the future, and therefore he is\nwilling to sacrifice present advantage and worldly ease to obedience\nto them. He is like the trader who has received a sample of a rich\ncargo from a distant land, and who is so convinced of the value of\nthe whole from that which has come to hand, that he is willing to\nundergo any present privation in order to become its possessor. The\nSon of God likened such an one to \"a wise man, which built his house\nupon a rock,\" for it is evident that to \"receive\" commandments is\nhere equivalent to \"doing\" them (Matt. vii. 24).\n\n+II. A distinguishing mark of a fool.+ He is a _prater._ He is one\nwho is willing to talk, but not to act; willing to give out words,\nbut not to receive instruction; and therefore he is one who can give\nout nothing by speech that is worth giving. Unless the earth receives\ngood seed into its bosom, it cannot give out \"seed to the sower and\nbread to the eater.\" Unless a man receives into his heart the good\nseed of the kingdom, he can never bring forth moral fruit (Matt.\nxiii. 23), and he can never do more than _prate_ about spiritual\ntruths. There are many words but no meat. There is only one Being in\nthe universe who can be a giver without first being a receiver, and\nthat is God. Outside of Him, all must receive of His fulness if they\nwould be anything more than mere _talkers_ on eternal realities. All\nsuch men are fools. \"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is\nthe disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of\nthis world?\" (1 Cor. i. 20).\n\n+III. The end of such a mere talker.+ He shall fall. 1. _In the\nestimation of those who he pretends to instruct._ No men are so prone\nto assume the office of instruction as men who are ignorant, but such\nmen cannot long hold a place in the estimation of others. 2. _He\nshall fall into deeper folly._ Those who refuse to receive that\nDivine commandment which will make them truly wise, must sink lower\nand lower into sinful folly. The longer he refuses the offered\nwisdom, and refuses to put his neck under the yoke of God's\ncommandments, the heavier will grow the chains of sinful habit, and\nthe more firmly will they be riveted. 3. _He shall fall into\nrighteous retribution._ This will be proportionate to the\nopportunities he has had of receiving wisdom. \"And thou, Capernaum,\nwhich art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell\" (Matt.\nxi. 23).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA fool is in nothing sooner and better recognised than in his\nconversation.--_Geier._\n\nIt is striking how often Solomon dwells upon sins of the tongue; no\nmember is so hard to control; none more surely indicates the\nman.--_Fausset._\n\nThe heart is the seat of true wisdom, and a teachable spirit is the\nbest proof of its influence. For who that knows himself would not be\nthankful for further light. No sooner, therefore, do the commandments\ncome down from heaven, than the well-instructed Christian _receives\nthem_, like his father Abraham (Heb. xi. 8; Gen. xxii. 1-3), with\nundisputing simplicity; welcomes the voice of his heavenly teacher\n(1 Sam. iii. 10, Acts x. 33, Psa. xxvii. 8, cxliii. 10), and when he\nknows that \"it is the Lord, girds himself\" with all the ardour of the\ndisciple to be found at His feet (John xxi. 2-7). But look at the\nprofessor of religion destitute of this _heart-seated wisdom._ We\nfind him a man of creeds and doctrines, not of prayer; asking curious\nquestions rather than listening to plain truths; wanting to know\nevents rather than duties; occupied with other men's business to the\nneglect of his own (Luke xiii. 23, 24; 1 Tim. v. 13).--_Bridges._\n\nIt is one of the marks of true wisdom, and none of the least, that it\nis not self-sufficient and self-willed. This is the evident import of\nthe former part of this verse. We might consider the disposition in\nreference both to _God_ and to _men_--to the Supreme Ruler and Lord\nof the conscience,--and to existing human authorities. The \"wise in\nheart will receive\" _God's_ \"commandments.\" _This,_ true wisdom will\ndo _implicitly._ It will never presume on dictating to God, or on\naltering and amending His prescriptions; but, proceeding on the\nself-evident principle that the dictates of Divine Wisdom must in all\ncases be perfect, will bow in instant acquiescence. With regard also\nto _earthly superiors,_ a humble submission to legitimate authority,\nboth in the family and in the State, is the province of wisdom. There\nis a self-conceit that spurns at all such authority. It talks as if\nit would legislate for all nations. It would _give_ commandments\nrather than _receive_ them. It likes not being dictated to. It plumes\nitself on its skill in finding fault. There is no rule prescribed at\nwhich it does not carp, no proposal in which it does not see\nsomething not to its mind, no order in which it does not find\nsomething to which it cannot submit. This is folly, for, were this\ntemper of mind prevalent, there would be an end to all subordination\nand control. The prating fool, or the _fool of lips,_ may be\nunderstood in two ways. First, the self-conceited are generally\nsuperficial. There is much talk and little substance: words without\nsense: plenty of tongue, but a lack of wit. Light matter floats on\nthe surface, and appears to all; what is solid and precious lies at\nthe bottom. The foam is on the face of the waters; the pearl is\nbelow. Or, secondly, the reference may be to the bluster of\ninsubordination; the loud protestations and boasting of his\nindependence on the part of a man who resists authority, and\ndetermines to be \"a law to himself.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe word \"_commandments_\" (E.V.), might often be translated \"_laws_.\"\nOne set of passages would just change words with another. The word\ntranslated \"_commandments_\" means primarily \"_something fixed_.\" It\nanswers to the New Testament \"_law_\" (Rom. viii. 3), and is adapted\nto the reasonings of the apostles. \"_He of the wise heart_\" means the\ntruly wise. _He of the fool heart_ might seem good for the rest of\nthe sentence. But a deep philosophy reminds the inspired man that men\nare not such fools as to believe in sin, as the pardoned Christian\ndoes in holiness. They know a great deal more than they either act or\nutter. A vast deal of the worldliness of men is a mere lip service,\nlike that to the Almighty. And, knowing that the lost man is aware of\nhis perdition, and has been told his folly, the proverb does not\naccount him a fool in his deep sense, so much as superficially, and\nin the mad actings of his folly. In his _heart_ he knows he is\ndeceived. In his _lips_ he is constantly deceiving himself. In his\nacts he keeps up a fictitious life.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 9-10.\n\nOPPOSITE CHARACTERS.\n\n+I. He who walketh uprightly.+ 1. _Is a restorer of an ancient path._\nThe way of uprightness is much older than the human race, and was\noriginally the only way known in the universe to intelligent and\nmoral creatures. Uprightness is as old as God. Crooked walking is of\nthe creature and but of yesterday compared with uprightness. He who\nwalks uprightly is a restorer of the breach made in heaven, and\nre-establishes the old paths (Jer. vi. 16) of righteousness upon\nearth. The way of uprightness was the way in which man walked in\nEden. In Eden also man lost his way by entering the by-path of\ntransgression and thus ceased to walk with God. He shall \"be called a\nrepairer of the breach, a restorer of paths to dwell in\" (Isa.\nlviii. 12). A man who reopened up some ancient and important highway\nto a great city would be regarded by the citizens as a benefactor;\nhow much more ought he to be held in esteem whose life reveals this\nancient highway of holiness, who by his uprightness becomes himself a\nway to others. 2. _He obeys an ancient command._ \"When Abram was\nninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto\nhim, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou\n_perfect_\"--upright (Gen. xvii. 1). Often the great want of a\npartially-civilised country is a straight and level road, by which\ncommerce can easily find its way to the central city, and a royal\nedict is sometimes issued that such a road should be made. The great\nwant of the world in the day when this command was given to Abram was\nan example of uprightness in human life. The need of the world in\nthis direction is still great, and the ancient command given to the\npatriarch is still in force. 3. _His walking is not limited to the\npresent life._ He walks in the same way after death as before it. \"He\nshall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one\nwalking in his uprightness\" (Isa. lvii. 2). Heaven has no better way\nof walking than the way of uprightness, and death will not make any\nchange in the moral characteristics of the godly man, except to\nintensify and strengthen them. The death of the seed-corn will not be\nthe means of giving birth to a different _kind_ of seed, but only of\nmaking an _increase_ of the same kind. Death is needful, not to\nchange one thing for another, but to make much out of little. Death\nwill bring heaven to the godly and upright, but it can give nothing\nto an upright man better than his uprightness, but this it can do, it\ncan render him more entirely and completely upright. Hence the path\nof the upright is a path which death cannot end--a path which, begun\nto be trodden in time, will be continued in throughout eternity. The\nhappiness of the human creatures who make up a family, or a larger\ncommunity, will depend very much upon the uprightness of each member.\nHeaven's blessedness springs from the perfectly upright character of\neach citizen of that perfect city. 4. _His upright walk is sure, or\nsafe, because it is preservative of character._ Uprightness is to\ncharacter what salt is to food. He who walks uprightly can never\nbecome _less_ godly and righteous, but must of necessity become more\nand more so; hence the Psalmist's prayer, \"Let integrity and\nuprightness _preserve_ me\" (Psalm xxv. 21).\n\n+II. The two phases of character are placed in contrast to that of\nthe upright man.+ 1. _That of the man whose evil nature does not lie\nentirely upon the surface._ \"He that perverteth his ways\" and yet\nendeavours to cloak his perversion, to hide his wrong-doing. The\n\"winking of the eye\" mentioned in verse 10 indicates an effort after\nconcealment. Those who \"pervert\" their ways pervert nature in order\nto attain their ends. The eye is intended by God to be a revelation\nof the soul, and where integrity and sincerity dwells, it is so. But\nhe who walks crookedly or perversely makes an unnatural use of his\neye, and by means of it endeavours to work ill to his neighbour. But\nall his efforts at concealment will at some time or other be\nineffectual; the very means he uses to conceal his evil plans may be\nthe means of awakening suspicion. And if he succeeds in blinding the\neyes of his fellow men, \"the Lord will bring to light the hidden\nthings of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the\nhearts\" (1 Cor. iv. 5). The day of judgment will reveal the guilty\nsecrets of many who have never yet--nor ever will be until that\nday--fully \"_known._\" 2. _That of him whose perversity is manifest to\nall._ The \"prating fool\" cannot conceal what he is. Upon him and upon\nhis destiny, see Homiletics and Suggestive Comments on verse 8.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 9. An _upright walk_ is Christian, not sinless, perfection (Job\ni. 8); \"walking before God,\" not before men (Gen. xvii. 1). Impurity,\nindeed, defiles the holiest exercise. But if the will be rightly\nbent, the integrity will be maintained. \"Show me an easier path,\" is\nNature's cry. \"Show me,\" cries the child of God, \"a _sure_\npath.\"--_Bridges._\n\nTo walk uprightly, or to walk in integrity, means to act according to\none complete scheme: not as the fool does (verse 8), behaving one way\nand believing another. It means to aim for \"something stable\" (chap.\nii. 7); and hence, of course, not to lay our plans so that we\nourselves know they must ultimately fail. He walks surely or\n_securely, i.e.,_ must certainly succeed.--_Miller._\n\nThe dissembler walks in crooked paths. Like Judas, who put on a cloak\nof charity to hide his covetousness (John xii. 6), he conceals the\nselfish principles which regulate his behaviour under the appearances\nof purity, prudence, and other good qualities. But he cannot hold the\nmantle so tight about him as to conceal from the wise observer his\ninward baseness. It will occasionally be shuffled aside, it will at\nlength drop off, and he shall be known for what he is, abhorred by\nall men, and punished with other hypocrites.--_Lawson._\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: While Dr. Wardlaw may think Proverbs an\n exception, II Tim. iii. 16 tells us that \"All scripture is given\n by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for\n reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.\"\n\n_Walking uprightly_ stands opposed to all duplicity, all tortuous\npolicy, all the crooked arts of _man\u0153uvering,_ for the purpose of\npromoting reputation, interest, comfort, or any other end whatsoever.\nHe who walketh thus, _walketh surely._ He walks with a comfortable\n_feeling of security,_ a calm, unagitated serenity of mind. This\nsprings from the confidence in that God whose will he makes his only\nrule. In the path of implicit obedience he feels that he can _trust._\nAnd further, the way in which he walks is the _surest_ for the\nattainment of his ends. Proverbs are generally founded in observation\nand experience, and express their ascertained results. Hence, even\nthough not inspired, they have generally truth in them. It has become\nproverbial that \"honesty is the best policy.\" The meaning is, that\nacts of deceit very frequently frustrate the object of him by whom\nthey are employed, and land him in evils greater than the one he\nmeant, by the use of them, to shun.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_First_--the heart of the upright man hath God's own eye to behold\nit, and His Spirit to testify the faithfulness of it, and so\nreceiveth comfort from Him, as Job did, when in the confidence of his\ncause and conscience he saith, \"O that some would hear me, behold my\ndesire is that the Almighty would answer me\" (Job xxxi. 35).\n_Secondly,_ the course of their actions is such as will endure light,\nand the more they are examined the better they will prove, and\ntherefore they need not fear any might or malice, or cunning\nadversaries that shall seek their disgrace. And upon the assurance of\nthis the prophet professeth his undaunted courage and magnanimity,\nwith challenge also to his calumniant enemy, whosoever he were, \"I\nhave set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be\nashamed. He is near that justifieth me,\" etc. (Isa. l. 7, 8).\n_Thirdly,_ their bodies and state are in God's custody, and He hath\nundertaken the defence and preservation of them, whereas the wicked\nare out of God's protection and perpetually go into peril.\n_Fourthly,_ their souls are prepared for death and for judgment, and\ntherefore more desire to be dissolved than are afraid to hear of the\nnearness of their dissolution.--_Dod._\n\nI. An upright walker is sure of easily finding his way: it requires\nno laborious dealing to find out what is _just_. II. He treads upon\nfirm ground; upon solid, safe, and well-tried principles. . . . The\npractice built on such foundations must be very secure. III. He walks\nsteadily. A good conscience steers by fixed stars, and aims at fixed\nmarks. An upright man is always the same man, and goes the same way;\nthe external state of things does not alter the moral reason of\nthings with him, or change the law of God.--_Sydney Smith._\n\nI. The way of uprightness is the _surest for despatch_, and the\nshortest cut towards the execution or attainment of any good purpose,\nsecuring a man from irksome expectations and tedious delays. II. It\nis _fair and pleasant_. He that walketh in it hath good weather and a\nclear sky about him; a hopeful confidence and a cheerful satisfaction\ndo ever wait upon him. Being conscious to himself of an honest\nmeaning, and a due course in prosecuting it, he feeleth no check or\nstruggling of mind: no regret or sting of heart. III. He is secure of\nhis _honour and credit_. He hath no fear of being detected, or care\nto smother his intents. IV. _He hath perfect security as to the final\nresult of his affairs_, that he shall not be quite baffled in his\nexpectations and desires. He shall prosper in the true notion of\nprosperity, explained by that Divine saying, \"Mark the perfect man,\nand behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.\"--_Barrow._\n\n\nVerse 10. The connection of the clauses is--to speak feignedly and to\nspeak rashly are both alike dangerous: to do the former hurts others,\nto do the latter hurts oneself. When we avoid _cunning_ and _feigned\nspeaking,_ we are not to run into the opposite extremes of _prating\nfolly._--_Fausset._\n\nThe one shuts his eye to conceal his subtlety, the other opens his\nmouth to declare his folly. The one winketh, but sayeth nothing; the\nother says too much, but thinketh not what he says. The one giveth\nsorrow to the deceived in his malicious bounty; the other taketh a\nfall from the superfluous bounty of his own words.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nLOVE AND HATRED.\n\nThe lawfulness or unlawfulness of hatred and strife depends upon the\nsubject or occasion of such feeling. God hates sin, and we know that\nthis hatred is the fruit of one of His highest attributes. The Divine\nand Incarnate Son of God foretold that He had not \"come to send peace\non earth, but a sword\" (Matt. x. 34), and therefore even He was an\noccasion of strife because He was a hater of sin. There is then a\nholy as well as a wicked hatred, a lawful as well as an unlawful\nstrife. But the hatred of the text being placed in contrast with love\nis evidently the malicious hatred of a wicked man.\n\n+I. The hatred of the wicked is+--1. _Insatiable._ It has been said\nthat those who hate have first injured. This is doubtless true, but\nthere must have been some amount of hatred to prompt the injury. But\nafter the injury has been inflicted, the hatred is not diminished,\nbut is generally increased. Herodias prevailed upon Herod to put John\nthe Baptist into prison, but this did not lessen her malice. It was\nsuch a devouring flame as could be quenched by nothing but his blood.\nThe pain which conscience inflicts upon him who has injured another\nis put to the account of the injured person, and goes to increase the\nbitterness of the anger against him. 2. _It is generally impartial._\nWicked men generally begin by hating good men, but they come in time\nto a habit of hating bad men too. The blind man will be as likely to\nstrike his friend as his foe. Hatred is blind, and those who begin by\nhating those whom they consider their enemies, generally end by\nhating their so-called friends.\n\n+II. The effect of hatred.+ It stirs up strife. This implies that the\nmaterials for strife are already in existence. There are no signs of\nmud upon the surface of a peaceful lake, but it only requires some\ndisturbing element to be thrown in to show that it is lying at the\nbottom. The spirit of the most sanctified man has some evil\ntendencies within it, which may be stirred up by undeserved hatred.\nOnly One who ever wore our human nature had with Him no germ of\nstrife which might be stirred up by hatred. Only One could say that\ntemptation found \"nothing\" in him (John xiv. 13). The elements which\nmay be stirred up by strife have a lodging place in the most\nsanctified human spirit, and when strife is thus stirred up by hatred\nthe whole soul or the whole society is influenced for evil. When the\nlake is stirred up from the bottom all the waters are more or less\ntroubled, and when the elements of contention are at work even in a\ngood man or in a Christian community the whole man or the entire\ncommunity is ruffled and disturbed. In contrast with this hatred,\nwhich is not only sin in itself but, by stirring up strife, is an\noccasion of sin in others, is placed the love which \"covereth\" or\ndoes away with sin.\n\n+I. Love covers sin by forgiving it.+ Malicious hatred, even when it\nis directed against sin, will but incite to more sin. But forgiveness\nof the sin may lead to its being forsaken, and the mere fact of being\nforgiven may give the sinner an impulse after a better life in the\nfuture, and thus enable him to efface the remembrance of the past. If\na man is deeply in debt to another, and that other gives him a\ndischarge of his debt, the very fact of his being legally free may\ngive him such new energy to work as may enable to pay that which he\nowed. And a sense of being forgiven a moral debt will sometimes have\nthis effect upon the soul. God's covering up of sin by forgiveness is\nthe beginning of a new life to those who are willing to accept His\npardon (Psa. xxxii. 1, 1 John i. 7).\n\n+II. Love covers sin by forgetting it.+ It is in the nature of love\nnot only to forgive an injury, but to forget that the injury has ever\nbeen done. And a consciousness that our sin is covered by being\nforgotten is very healing to the spirit. For a soul that has lived a\nsinful life is like a man that has passed through a campaign and\nreceived many wounds. He requires skilful treatment and gentle\nnursing; and when the wounds have been bound up, and have perhaps,\nbegun to heal, care must be taken that no rough hand re-opens them,\nand causes them to bleed afresh. A work spoken which shows that the\nsinful past is still remembered by those who have professed to\nforgive, may re-open the wounds with a fatal effect. Love covers sin\nas God declares that He covers it. His promise is not only \"I will\nforgive their iniquity,\" but, \"I will _remember their sins no more_\"\n(Jer. xxxi. 34).\n\n+III. Love covers sin by making active efforts to recover the\nsinner.+ Love will not be content with forgiving when forgiveness is\nsought, but it will go out of its way to recover the erring. The\ngodly man will walk in the footsteps of Him who came to _seek_ that\nwhich was lost. God did not wait until man returned to Him before He\nheld out hope of forgiveness. As soon as Satan's hatred had led man\ninto sin, He held out hope of return to holiness by the promise of\nHim who \"should bruise the serpent's head\" (Gen. iii. 15). And in the\nfulness of time, by the gift of His Son, He showed the depth of His\nlove and His desire to cover the \"sin of the world.\" And as in many\nhuman homes there are those who owe their present moral standing, the\nrecovery of all that makes existence worth having, to the love that\nfollowed and sought them when they were outcasts, so those who people\nthe heavenly home--that multitude which God alone can number--are the\nfruit of that Divine love which not only covered a multitude of sins\nby forgiving and forgetting the sin, but sought out the sinner in\norder to forgive him.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"Love covereth all sins,\" saith Solomon, covers them partly from the\neyes of God, in praying for the offenders; partly from the eyes of\nthe world, in throwing a cloak over our brother's nakedness;\nespecially from its own eyes, by winking at many wrongs offered\nit.--_T. Adams._\n\nHatred disturbs the existing quiet by railings; stirs up dormant\nquarrels on mere suspicions and trifles, and by unfavourable\nconstructions put upon everything, even upon acts of kindness. As\nhatred by quarrels exposes the faults of others, so \"love covers\"\nthem, except in so far as brotherly correction requires their\nexposure. Love condones, yea, takes no notice of a friend's errors.\nThe disagreements which hatred stirs up, love allays; and the\noffences which are usually the causes of quarrel, it sees as though\nit saw them not, and excuses them (1 Cor. xiii. 4-7). It gives to men\nthe forgiveness which it daily craves from God.--_Fausset._\n\nTo abuse the precept in 1 Peter iv. 8 (where this text is quoted)\ninto a warrant for silencing all faithful reproofs of sin in others,\nwould be to ascribe to charity the office of a\nprocuress.--_Cartwright._\n\n_First,_ it makes us to cover and pardon the wrongs that others do\nus. _Secondly,_ a loving carriage maketh others pardon the wrongs\nthat we do them. _Thirdly,_ it maketh God to pardon the offences\nwhich we commit against Him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 13, 14.\n\nLAYING UP TO GIVE OUT.\n\n+I. The practice of the morally wise man.+ He \"lays up knowledge\"\n(verse 14). The present position of a man in social life is often the\nresult of a \"laying up\" in the past. The man who has made it the\nbusiness of his past life to lay up money is now a rich man. His\npresent wealth arises from his past storing. An artificer or\nprofessional man who laid up knowledge in his youthful days is able\nto command a good position in his mature life. But there are\ndifferences between those who lay up riches, or mere intellectual\nwisdom, and him who stores moral wisdom--the only real and lasting\nwealth. _The man spoken of in the text lays up that which is truly\nhis own now, and will be throughout eternity._ The riches of godly\nwisdom are not transferable either before or at the time of death.\nMaterial wealth may go at any time in our life, and must be left\nbehind when we leave the world. And while we call it ours it is but\nlent us by God. He takes a wider range, and lays up for a life beyond\ntime, and what he lays up now will make him what he will be in the\nages beyond death. He is determined to be crowned rich towards God in\nthe day when he shall be summoned to appear and give an account of\nhis stewardship. Most men are layers up of riches and knowledge in a\ngreater or less degree. The truly wise man banks for moral character,\nand intends to be considered rich in the city of God.\n\n+II. It is because spiritual knowledge is laid up that \"wisdom is\nfound in the lips\"+ (verse 13). The possession of wealth or of\nintellectual knowledge is no guarantee that wisdom will be found with\nit. A rich man may not know how to use his riches to the best\nadvantage. He might know how to gather it, but may not know how to\nspend it for his own good. A man may gather much intellectual\nknowledge without being able to make it profitable, or a source of\nenjoyment either to himself or others. A man may be able to gather\ntimber and stones together and yet not know how to build a house out\nof them after he has gathered them. A housewife may collect a store\nof wool and stuffs, but not be skilful enough to fashion the\nmaterials into garments for herself and her household. So knowledge,\nin its general sense, is not necessarily accompanied by wisdom; but\n_spiritual_ knowledge and _spiritual_ wisdom are never separated. The\none is always joined to the other. When there is a laying up of the\nknowledge of God, there wisdom will be found. No man can truly know\nGod and not have wisdom enough to reduce his knowledge to practice in\nthe building up of a godly character. Where knowledge is in the heart\nthere will be wisdom in the lips and life.\n\n+III. This knowledge and wisdom will be used for the benefit of\nothers.+ It will be found in the lips. The man who is \"instructed\nunto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder,\nwhich bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old\" (Matt.\nxiii. 52). He has a store from which he draws according to the need\nof those whom his words can benefit. His instructions are like the\nviands of the thrifty housewife, stored up in abundance against the\ntime of need, and suited, both as to quantity and quality, to the\nwants of the needy soul (verse 21).\n\n+IV. The influence and the fate of him who refuses to lay up\nknowledge.+ His mouth is a near destruction (see rendering in\nCritical Notes). The man who refuses to lay up the knowledge of some\ncalling or profession is both a fool and a knave, because by such\nneglect he makes himself dependent when he might be independent, and\nbecause he eats the bread earned by industrious men. How much more\nfoolish is he who will not lay up that by which he may acquire a\ncharacter which would make him an equal with the angels of God. But\nhis neglect injures others beside himself. He wrongs his fellow-men\nby withholding his influence from the side of that which is\nrighteous, and consequently defrauds the world of that which it is\nthe duty of every man to give it. But he does not stop here. (1) He\nadds the positive evil influence of sinful words. The Bible speaks\noften of the evil influence of sinful speech. It likens it to the\npoison of venomous reptiles (see Psalm lviii. 4; cxl. 3; Jas.\niii. 8). But these creatures can only destroy the body, whereas the\nfool's mouth is often a destruction to both body and soul. (On this\nsubject see homiletical remarks on chapter i. 10-19). (2) But he is a\ncurse to his own existence as well as to that of others. That which\nis a destruction to them makes a rod for his own back (verse 13).\nSuch a man's mouth utters falsehood and slander by which he creates\nenemies _without._ That which he speaks brings guilt upon his\nconscience, which becomes an instrument of chastisement _within._ And\na guilty conscience creates imaginary enemies as well as keeps us in\nremembrance of real ones. An old writer says, \"The guilty conscience\nconceives every thistle to be a tree, every tree a man, every man, a\ndevil,--afraid of every man that it sees, nay, many times of those\nthat it sees not. Not much unlike to one that was very deep in debt\nand had many creditors, who, as he walked London streets in the\nevening, a tenter-hook caught his cloak. 'At whose suit?' said he,\nconceiving some sergeant had arrested him. Thus the ill-conscienced\nman counts every creature he meets with a bailiff sent from God to\npunish him.\" Such a conscience is indeed a \"rod for the fool's back\"\n(chap. xxvi. 3).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 13. Through the lips of the Christian other men get wisdom. If\nwe will think of it, men get it in no other way. \"Faith cometh by\nhearing\" (Rom. x. 17). The Church hands itself down, by the blessing\nof heaven, from lip to lip. But then from the same lips comes a\n_rod._ The good man, not listened to, becomes a scourge. Christ\nHimself becomes an instrument of death.--_Miller._\n\nSolomon and his son admirably illustrate this contrast. Such wisdom\nwas found in his lips, but fruit of an understanding heart, that \"all\nthe world came to hear of it\" (1 Kings iv. 31). Rehoboam was as\n_void,_ as his father was _full,_ of understanding. His folly\nprepared a rod for his back (1 Kings xii. 13-24). Learn then to seek\nfor wisdom at the lips of the wise. The want of this wisdom, or\nrather the want of a heart to seek it, will surely bring us under\n_the rod._ In many a chastisement we shall feel its smart; for the\nloose education of our children (chap. xxix. 15); for carnal\nindulgence (2 Sam. xii. 9-11). And how different is this _rod_ from\nour Father's loving adoption (chap. iii. 11, 12); this, the mark of\ndisgrace. Will not the children of God cry, \"Turn away the reproach\nthat I fear, for Thy judgments are good\" (Psa. cxix. 39).--_Bridges._\n\nThe wise man carries the ornament of his wisdom in his _lips;_ the\nfool shall bear the disgrace of his folly on his back.--_Fausset._\n\nHe who trembleth not in hearing shall be broken to pieces in\nfeeling.--_Bradford._\n\nThe dwelling of wisdom is in the heart, but there it is _hid;_ in the\nlips it is _found._ There it sitteth, like an ancient Israelite, at\nthe gates of the city, marking what goes out, and weighs it before it\npasseth, that nothing issue forth which may disparage the honour or\nwrong the estate of the city. There shall _folly find it,_ as smart\nand heavy in the reproof of it as a rod is to the back, and which is\nfit for him whose tongue is void of understanding. For it is reason\nthat his back should bear, whose tongue will not forbear.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. To \"lay up\" knowledge very obviously implies that value is\nset upon it. Men never think of seeking and accumulating what they\nregard as worthless; and in proportion as an object is prized will be\nthe degree of eagerness with which it is pursued, and of jealous\nvigilance, with which it is \"laid up\" and guarded. Thus the _miser._\nWith what an eye of restlessness and eager covetousness does he look\nafter the acquisition of his heart's desires! with what delight does\nhe hug himself upon his success!--with what avidity does he add the\nincrease to his treasures, carefully secreting them from all access\nbut his own! With a care incomparably more dignified and useful how\ndoes the man of science mark and record every fact and observation,\nwhether of his own discovery and suggestion or of those of others!\nHow he exults in every new acquisition to _his_ stores! He lays all\nup in his mind, or, fearful of a treacherous memory, in surer modes\nof record and preservation. Hints that lead to nothing at the time\nmay lead to much afterwards. Some one in another generation may carry\nout into practical application, or into the formation of valuable\ntheories, the facts and conjectures that are now, in apparent\nisolation, \"laid up\" for such possible future use. The true\nphilosopher, to use a colloquial phrase, \"has all his eyes about\nhim.\" He allows nothing to escape notice, and nothing, if he can help\nit, to pass into oblivion. But, alas! in this respect, as in others,\n\"the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the\nchildren of light.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nWho would not heedfully foresee where his arrow shall hit, before he\nshoot it out of his bow; lest it should destroy any person or other\ncreature through negligence? Who would not be very circumspect and\nwary in discharging a piece, lest he should do mischief by it? And\nyet, by these, a man may affright, and not hurt; and hurt, and not\nkill; and kill, and not die himself; but what arrow, what shot, what\nartillery, what murdering piece is to be compared to the mouth of a\nman that is not guided by a wise and watchful forethought? Great woe\nis worketh unto other men, but it surely bringeth death unto himself;\nevery word that breaketh another man's skin doth certainly break the\ncaul of his own heart; and he that doth aim at another to give him a\nwound, surely cannot miss himself to violate his own life.--_Dod._\n\nThe part of wisdom is to treasure up experience, and hold it ready\nfor use in the time and place of need. Everything may be turned to\naccount. In the process of accumulating this species of wealth, the\nwonders of the philosopher's stone may be more than realised. Even\nlosses can be converted into gains. Every mistake or disappointment\nis a new lesson. Every fault you commit, and every glow of shame\nwhich suffuses your face because of it, may be changed into a most\nvaluable piece of wisdom. Let nothing trickle out, and flow away\nuseless. After one has bought wit at a heavy price, it is a double\nmisfortune to throw it away. As a general rule, the dearer it is the\nmore useful it will be.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15, 16.\n\nA FALSE AND A TRUE ESTIMATE OF LIFE.\n\n+I. A false estimate of life in its relation to riches.+ It is a\nmistake to look on wealth as a \"strong city\" in which we can be\nsecure from the evils of life. A commander, who knows that there is\nbehind him a fortress into which he can retire in case of need, may\nbe brought to ruin by forming an over-estimate of its security. He\nmay underrate the ability of the enemy to follow him thither.\nStrongholds have been undermined, and those who had trusted in their\nstrength have been destroyed by that very confidence; or pestilence\nhas broken out on account of the number who have taken refuge in the\nfortress, and so that which they deemed their strength has been their\nweakness. These events have proved that the estimate taken of their\nsafety was a wrong one--that even the refuge itself might be the\ncause of destruction. So with a \"rich man's wealth.\" If he looks upon\nit as a resource under all emergencies--if he thinks it can purchase\nhim immunity from all ills--he is a terrible self-deceiver. Wealth\ncannot drive back disease; nothing can keep death from storming his\nstronghold; and sometimes a single day brings together such an army\nof adverse circumstances that the strong city goes down before it,\nand is never rebuilt, or the very refuge itself is the cause of moral\nruin. Therefore \"Let not the rich man glory in his riches\" (Jer.\nix. 23).\n\n+II. A false estimate of life in relation to poverty.+ It is a\nmistake also to look on poverty as a \"destruction.\" If the rich man\nerrs on the side of excessive confidence, the poor man errs on that\nof fearfulness. He should remember--1. _That the blessedness of life\nhere does not consist in what a man has, but in what he is._ Wealth\nmay be a curse to existence, and so may poverty, but a good\nconscience, a godly character, is a continual feast. And it is quite\n_as_ easy, perhaps more so, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk\nhumbly with God in poverty as in wealth. \"A man's life consisteth not\nin the abundance of the things which he possesseth\" (Luke xii. 15).\nThis is the declaration of Him who created man, and who, therefore,\nknows his needs. The poor are the objects of His special regard.\n\"Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and\nheirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?\"\n(Jas. ii. 5). 2. _He should keep in mind the day of levelling and\ncompensation._ \"Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst\nthy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is\ncomforted, and thou art tormented\" (Luke xvi. 25).\n\n+III. A right estimate of that which constitutes life, viz.,\nrighteous labour+ (verse 16). The first clause of this verse suggests\n(1) that there can be no true life without righteousness; (2) that\nrighteousness must show that it exists by honest labour; (3) that the\nhonest labour of a righteous man, whether of hand or brain, shall\nbless his existence. From the second clause we learn (1) _that\ngodless men likewise labour for a harvest._ There are as hard workers\namong the godless as among the good. They toil for earthly gain all\nthe more earnestly because they have no other to possess: that which\nbelongs to the present life is their all. (2) _That there is no\nblessing in the gain of the ungodly._ The gain of a sinner only tends\nto confirm him in his ungodliness--it \"tendeth to sin.\" If a tree is\nbad at the root the larger it grows the more bad fruit it will bear.\nThe richer a bad man grows the worse he becomes, the greater are his\nfacilities for sinning himself, and the more evil is his influence\nupon others. Sin being at the root of his actions, sin will be in the\nfruit. The whole subject teaches us not to make poverty and riches\nthe standard by which to measure a man's blessedness or misfortune.\nBeecher says, \"We say a man is 'made.' What do we mean? That he has\ngot the control of his lower instincts, so that they are only fuel to\nhis higher feelings, giving force to his nature? That his affections\nare like vines, sending out on all sides blossoms and clustering\nfruits? That his tastes are so cultivated that all beautiful things\nspeak to him, and bring him their delights? That his understanding is\nopened, so that he walks through every hall of knowledge and gathers\nits treasures? That his moral feelings are so developed and quickened\nthat he holds sweet communion with Heaven? O, no, none of these\nthings. He is cold and dead in heart, and mind, and soul. Only his\npassions are alive; but--he is worth five hundred thousand\ndollars! . . . And we say a man is 'ruined.' Are his wife and\nchildren dead? O, no. Has he lost his reputation through crime? No.\nIs his reason gone? O, no; it is as sound as ever. Is he struck\nthrough with disease? No. He has lost his property, and he is ruined.\nThe _man_ ruined! When shall we learn that 'a man's life consisteth\nnot in the abundance of the things which he possesseth'?\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 15. It is not _a_ strong city, but _his_ strong city. You see\nhow justly the worldling is called an idolater, for he makes not God\nhis confidence, but trusts to a thing of nought; for his riches, if\nthey are a city, are not a strong city, but a city broken down, and\nwithout walls. How hard is it for rich men to obtain an entrance into\nthat city that hath foundations, when it is a miracle for a man that\nhath riches not to trust in them.--_Muffet._\n\nThe rich man stands independent, changes and adversities cannot so\neasily overthrow him; he is also raised above many hazards and\ntemptations; on the contrary, the poor man is overthrown by little\nmisfortunes, and his despairing endeavours to save himself, when they\nfall, ruin him completely, and perhaps make him at the same time a\nmoral outlaw. It is quite an experienced fact which this proverb\nexpresses, but one from which the double doctrine is easily derived:\n(1) That it is not only advised, but commanded, that man make the\nfirm establishing of his external life-position the aim of his\nendeavour. (2) That one ought to treat with forbearance the humble\nman; and if he always sinks deeper and deeper, one ought not to judge\nhim with unmerciful harshness, and in proud\nself-exaltation.--_Delitzsch._\n\nAs soldiers look upon a strong city as a good place which they may\nretire to for safety in times of flight, so worldly men, in their\ndistress and danger, esteem their wealth the only means of relief and\nsuccour: or, as a marching army expects supply, if need be, from a\nwell-mannered and well-victualled city, so men in their fainting\nfits, and under dreadful crosses, expect to be revived by their\nearthly cordials.--_Swinnock._\n\nThe word \"destruction\" is capable of two meanings. First, there are\ntemptations peculiar to poverty as well as to riches. Agur was aware\nof these when he prayed, \"Give me not poverty, lest I steal and take\nthe name of my God in vain\" (chap. xxx. 7-9). He who gives way to\nsuch influences of poverty ensures \"destruction\" as much as he who is\n\"full and denies God, and says, Who is the Lord?\" Secondly, as we\nfound in the preceding clause to refer to the state of mind--the\n_confidence of safety_ inspired by his wealth in the bosom of the\nrich, it seems fair and natural to understand the latter clause on a\nsimilar principle. \"The destruction of the poor\" will then mean, that\nwhich, _in their own eyes,_ is their destruction; that which\nengenders their fears and apprehensions--their constant dread of\ndestruction. They are ever apt to contrast their circumstances with\nthose of their wealthy neighbours, and to deplore their poverty, and\nfret at it as that which keeps them down, depriving them of all good,\nand exposing them to all evil. And, without doubt, it is the source\nof many and heavy sufferings, both in the way of privation and\nendurance. But the poor may indulge their fears, and make themselves\nunhappy without cause. Their forebodings may be more than groundless.\nIf by their poverty they are exposed to some evils, they are exempted\nby it from others. . . . Let the poor seek the peace, and comfort,\nand safety which are imparted by the Gospel; and thus, possessing the\n\"true riches,\" they will not need to \"fear what man can do unto\nthem.\" The worst of all destructions will be far from\nthem.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe \"wealth of the rich,\" even in this world, is their great capital.\nThe \"destruction of the poor\" is the helplessness, and\nfriendlessness, and creditlessness, and lack of instruments incident\nto \"poverty.\" In the spiritual world the distinction is entire. The\nrich get richer, and the poor get poorer, and both by inviolable\nlaws. All works for good for one, and all for evil for the other. The\nlast Proverb explained it. Wisdom, by its very nature, grows, and so\ndoes folly. All other interests vibrate: sometimes worse, and\nsometimes better. But Wisdom, like the God that chose it, has no\n\"shadow of turning.\" If it begins in the soul it grows for ever. If\nit does not begin it grows more distant. There is never rest. Wealth\nin the spiritual world, by the very covenant, must continually heap\nup; and poverty, by the very necessities of justice, must increase\nits helplessness.--_Miller._\n\nNaturally the author is here thinking of wealth well earned by\npractical wisdom, and this is at the same time a means in the further\neffort of Wisdom; and, again, of a deserved poverty, which, always\ncauses one to sink deeper in folly and moral need. Compare the verse\nfollowing.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nSurely this should humble us, that riches,--that should be our rises\nto raise us up to God, or glasses to see the love of God in--our\ncorrupt nature useth them as clouds, as clogs, etc., yea, sets them\nup in God's place, and saith to the fine gold, \"Thou art my\nconfidence\" (Job xxxi. 24). _The destruction of the poor is their\npoverty._ They are devoured by the richer cannibals (Psa. xiv. 4), as\nthe lesser fish are by the greater. Men go over the hedge where it is\nlowest. \"Poor\" and \"afflicted\" are joined together (Zeph. iii. 12).\nSo are \"to want\" and \"to be abased\" (Phil. iv. 12).--_Trapp._\n\nHere he is describing what is, rather than prescribing what ought to\nbe. The verse acknowledges and proclaims a prominent feature in the\ncondition of the world. It is not a command from the law of God, but\na fact from the history of men. In all ages and in all lands money\nhas been a mighty power, and its relative importance increases with\nthe advance of civilisation. Money is one of the principal\ninstruments by which the affairs of the world are turned, and the man\nwho holds that instrument in his grasp can make himself felt in his\nage and neighbourhood. It does not reach the Divine purpose, but it\ncontrols human action. It is constrained to become God's servant, but\nit makes itself the master of man.--_Arnot._\n\nThe rich man often goes about his Sion, or rather his Jericho, and\nviews the walls thereof; he marketh the bulwarks, and telleth the\ntowers of it. He looks upon his wealth, he marks his bags, he tells\nhis moneys, and therein is his confidence; thereby he thinketh to\noutstand any siege or assault, and, placing his security on it,\ndareth to oppose his strength to any right or reason; whereas God\nwith a blast of ram's horns is quickly able to throw down all his\nmight and his greatness.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. The labour of the righteous tendeth to life or \"serves as\nlife.\" 1. Because it is a good thing in itself. 2. Because it\nprocures good, each stroke earning its pay. 3. Because it increased,\nand that on for ever, making us holier and happier, and making other\nholier and happier through the endless ages. It \"_serves_\"\npre-eminently \"_as life_,\" therefore, literally, \"_is for life._\" But\nthe fruit, or \"_gains of the wicked_\" (and we must not fail to note\nthe crescendo in the second clause, \"The _labour_ of a righteous\nman\"--\"the _gains_ of a wicked man\"; the righteous still toiling, the\nwicked having made his harvest,) serve to sin or \"_as a\nsin-offering._\" That is, they are all demanded by justice, and are\nall consumed by the expiation of his sins. Pious acts are a life.\nWicked gains go to swell what our great creditor seizes.--_Miller._\n\nLabour, not idleness, is the stamp of a servant of God; thus cheered\nby the glowing confidence, that it tendeth to life (John vi. 27).\n\"Occupy till I come\"--\"Do all to the glory of God\" (Luke xix. 13;\n1 Cor. x. 31)--this is the standard. Thus the duties even of our\ndaily calling tend to life. God works in us, by us, with us, through\nus. We work _in_ and _through_ Him. Our _labour,_ therefore, is His\nwork--wrought in dependence on Him; not _for_ life, but _to_ life\n(Rom. viii. 13; 1 Cor. xv. 10; Phil. ii. 12, 13).--_Bridges._\n\nThe words are fitly chosen: \"labour\" in honest industry is the\nrighteous man's ordinary way of living. \"Revenue\" (fruit) not gained\nby honest labour is frequently the wicked man's\nlivelihood.--_Fausset._\n\nIt is not directly said, as the previous clause might lead us to\nexpect, that the \"fruit\" of the wicked tendeth to \"death,\" but to\n\"sin.\" This, by the wise man, is considered as the same thing. It\n\"tendeth to sin,\" and, consequently, to _death_. Thus it is said,\n\"When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is\nfinished, bringeth forth death\" (Jas. i. 15). Between the two there\nis an intimate and inseparable connection.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe righteous are laborious, as knowing that to be the end of their\nlife. For themselves they labour, to lead their lives with comfort\nhere, to get the life of glory hereafter. For others they labour, to\nsupply the wants of their disconsolate life on earth, and to help\nthem forward to the blessed life of heaven. Wherefore St. Bernard\nsaith well, \"When we read that Adam in the beginning was set in a\nplace of pleasure to work in it, what man of sound understanding can\nthink that his children should be set in a place of affliction for to\nplay in it.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nTHE INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE.\n\nWe take here the rendering of all recent commentators as given in the\nCritical Notes, and understand the verse to set forth the truth that\n\"no man liveth to himself.\" His character is reproduced in others.\n\n+I. A good man is a way, because he is the means to an end.+ The way\nto the city is the road by which we reach it. The life of a holy man\nis a way to spiritual and eternal life, because it is the means by\nwhich men come home to God. If there were no good men in the world,\nthere would be no means by which sinners could be brought from death\nunto life. Christ is pre-eminently \"_the way,_\" because His life is\nthe great means by which men learn to know and to return to God. \"No\nman cometh unto the Father but by Me\" (John xiv. 6). The longer a\npath is trodden the more distinctly it proclaims itself as a way. So\na good man becomes a more evident way the longer he lives. A good\nlife is so distinct in its teachings that both sage and savage are\ncompelled to admit its influence, and the longer it exerts its power\nfor good the more pronounced it becomes. The Son of God has for ages\nbeen the way to life, and the longer He continues to be so the more\ndistinctly is He seen to be the means to this end.\n\n+II. The conditions to be fulfilled in order to become a way of\nlife.+ 1. _The man must keep instruction._ It is not enough to\n_receive_ it. The Word of God must not only be _heard,_ but must be\n_kept._ \"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them\" (John\nxiii. 17). 2. _He must submit to discipline even when it takes the\nform of reproof._ This is implied in the last clause of the verse,\n\"He that refuseth reproof causes to err.\" The man who has attained a\nposition in any profession, and has thereby become qualified to lead\nothers, has done so because he has submitted to discipline even when\nit has been in the unpalatable form of reproof. Such a man can well\nexhort others to submit to that by which he has become fit to be\ntheir guide. Even the Son of God \"_learned obedience_ by the things\nwhich He suffered\" (Heb. v. 8).\n\n+III. An ungodly man injures others as well as himself.+ He not only\nwanders from the path himself, but he \"causeth (others) to err.\" We\noften hear it said of a godless man--of one \"who refuseth\nreproof\"--that \"he is nobody's enemy but his own.\" This cannot be. It\nhas been truly said that \"nothing leaves us wholly as it found us.\nEvery man we meet, every book we read, every picture or landscape we\nsee, every word or tone we hear, mingles with our being and modifies\nit.\" This being so, every man makes every man with whom he comes in\ncontact better or worse, and as every good man draws others into the\npath of life, so every man who refuses to submit to Divine discipline\ndrags others with him in the broad road that leads to destruction.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSt. Basil, answering the question, \"With what mind anyone ought to\nreceive the instructions of reproof administered unto him,\" giveth\nthis answer, \"With the same mind that befitteth him who, being sick\nof some disease and troubled for the preserving of life, receiveth a\nmedicine, namely, with the greatest desire of recovering his health.\"\nFor there is a way of life though a man be not _sick_ but _dead_ unto\nsin. And the hand that putteth into this way is instruction, and that\nwhich must keep us in the way is the keeping of instruction: for he\nthat refuseth reproof erreth, erreth in refusing, erreth more by\nrefusing.--_Jermin._\n\nThis is the idea of other verses (11-13): that a man going to heaven\nblazes a path for others. He _is_ a way. Others travel upon him in\nhis prayers and in his example.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nTHREE DEGREES OF MORAL FOOLISHNESS.\n\n+I. A liar.+ 1. _A liar is a fool because he fights for a weak\ncause._ When a case can only be made out by lying it is manifestly a\nbad one. A man who will strive to uphold such a cause reveals his\nfolly. 2. _Because he makes use of a weak weapon._ Among tribes\nignorant of the methods of civilized warfare we find weapons which\nare little better than slim rods, and, although their points are\nsharp and poisoned, yet they proclaim their weakness when they come\ninto collision with an experienced swordsman. Lying is such a weapon,\nand its use reveals the utter folly of him who wields it. It can no\nmore stand against truth than the wooden spear of a savage can turn\naside the thrust of a Damascus blade. 3. _Because by lying he\ndegrades his moral character._ The serpent lost his upright position\nby being linked with lying, instead of going erect, God passed upon\nhim the sentence--\"Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou\neat all the days of thy life\" (Gen. iii. 14). The liar finds that\nthis is his doom. He can no longer hold up his head like an honest\nman among his fellow-men, he must henceforth crawl and wind his way\nthrough the world, and eat the dust of ignominy and scorn. Men turn\nfrom a liar as they do from a serpent. It is assuredly the height of\nfolly for a man thus to throw away that which alone makes him worthy\nto be called a man.\n\n+II. A liar who conceals hatred by lying.+ This man displays a higher\ndegree of iniquity and folly. There are those who lie simply to serve\ntheir own purposes and have no dislike to the person whom they\ndeceive. There is often much lying when there is no special malice.\nBut when lying is used to conceal hatred--which is murder (1 John\niii. 15)--there is a double folly because there is a double sin. The\nlying of the \"father of lies\" is simply a blind to conceal his\nintense hatred of the human race, and this makes him the greater\nsinner.\n\n+III. A liar who utters slander.+ When malice finds vent in lying\nslander we have an exhibition of greater iniquity and therefore of\ngreater folly. It is bad to be a liar, it is worse to conceal hatred\nby lying, but it is worse to let the hatred of the heart break forth\ninto false accusations of the innocent. The tree that is most richly\nladen with the ripest fruit is the one upon which the birds will\ncongregate. We never find them passing by such booty to peck at green\nfruit. The pirates lay in wait for vessels with a rich cargo, empty\nvessels pass by unmolested and secure from attack. So it is always\nthe best men who attract slanderers, men of little or no moral worth\nare not considered foemen worthy of their steel. God declared Job to\nbe the best man in all the earth, \"perfect and upright, one who\nfeared Him, and eschewed evil\" (Job i. 8). And it was because he\nstood thus pre-eminent that the tongue of the great slanderer was\nused against him; being from the beginning a liar and a murderer of\ncharacter he gave one of the most complete exhibitions of his real\nnature when he pointed his lying hatred against the best man of his\nday. The Holy One of God did not escape the tongue of the slanderer.\nHe was a \"man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber\" (Matt. xi. 19), \"one\nthat perverteth the people\" (Luke xxiii. 14). When \"He bore our\ngriefs and carried our sorrows\" He was esteemed \"smitten of God and\nafflicted\" (Isaiah liii. 4). All lying and malice, whether concealed\nor manifested, becomes the most palpable folly when looked at in the\nlight of the \"coming of the Lord, who both will bring to light the\nhidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the\nhearts\" (1 Cor. iv. 5).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIf we desire the credit of wisdom let us use better means to obtain\nit than artificial disgracings of our brethren, for that cometh not\nfrom above; it is no gift of God; it is sensual, carnal, and\ndevilish. Do not hearken to the reports of such wicked persons as\nseek to defame others and detract from their good name; they are but\nfoolish and base pedlars that utter such infectious wares, and\ntherefore they cannot be wise chapmen that traffic with them and\nreceive them at their hands. Here is consolation for them that are\nmolested and vexed unjustly for the Gospel's sake by clamorous and\nfalse accusers; let them consider what account God maketh of their\nmalicious adversaries; He calls them fools and derideth their\npractices, and, therefore, in the end it shall be seen that when they\nhave spat all their venom they have but shot a fool's bolt and\nprocured shame and sorrow to themselves.--_Dod._\n\n+The folly of slander.+ 1. _If this practice be proved extremely\nsinful it will thence be demonstrated no less foolish._ And it is\nindeed plainly the blackest and most hellish sin that can be; that\nwhich giveth the grand fiend his name, and most expresseth his\nnature. He is the _slanderer,_ _Satan,_ or _dragon_ spitting forth\nthe venom of calumnious accusation, the _accuser of the brethren,_\n_the father of lies,_ the great defamer of God to man, of man to God,\nof one man to another. And highly wicked that practice must be\nwhereby we grow namesakes to him. 2. _The slanderer is plainly a fool\nbecause he makes wrong judgments and valuations of things,_ and\naccordingly driveth on silly bargains for himself, in result whereof\nhe proveth a great loser. He means by his calumnious stories either\nto vent some passion boiling within him, or to compass some design\nwhich he affecteth, or to please some humour that he is possessed\nwith; but is any of these things worth purchasing at so dear a rate?\nCan there be any valuable exchange for our honesty? Can anything in\nthe world be so considerable that for its sake we should defile our\nsouls? 3. _Because he uses improper means and preposterous methods of\neffecting his purposes._ As there is no design worth the carrying on\nby ways of falsehood and iniquity, so there is scarce any (no good\nand lawful one at least) which may not more surely, more safely, more\ncleverly be achieved by means of truth and justice. . . . He that is\nobserved to practise falsehood will be declined by some, opposed by\nothers, disliked by all. 4. _The slanderer is a fool, as bringing\nmany great inconveniences and troubles upon himself._ (1.) By no\nmeans can a man inflame so fierce anger, impress so stiff hatred,\nraise so deadly enmity against himself, and consequently so endanger\nhis safety, ease, and welfare as by this practice. Men will rather\npardon a robber of their goods than of their good name. (2.) And he\nis not only odious to the person immediately concerned, but generally\nto all men who observe his practice; every man presently will be\nsensible how easily it may be his own case to be thus abused. (3.) He\nalso derogateth wholly from his own credit, for he that dareth thus\nto injure his neighbour, who can trust him in anything that he\nspeaks? (4.) This practice is perpetually haunted with most\ntroublesome companions, inward regret, and self-condemnation.\n(5.) The consequence of this practice is commonly shameful disgrace,\nwith an obligation to retract and to render satisfaction; for seldom\ndoth calumny pass long without being detected and confuted. (6.) The\nslanderer doth banish himself from heaven and happiness. For, if none\nthat \"maketh a lie\" (Rev. xxii. 15) shall enter the heavenly city,\nassuredly the capital liar, the _slanderer,_ shall be far excluded\nfrom felicity. All these things being considered, we may, I think,\nreasonably conclude it most evidently true that \"he who uttereth\nslander is a fool.\"--_Barrow._\n\nBetter. _He who hideth hatred is of lying lips._ The alternative is\noffered with a delicate touch of irony. He who cherishes hatred must\nchoose between being a knave or a fool--a knave if he hides, a fool\nif he utters it.--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-21.\n\nSPEECH AND SILENCE.\n\n+I. The wisdom of not always using the tongue when we might.+ \"He\nthat refraineth his lips is wise.\" The reputation of a good man may\nbe much injured by even speaking the truth at certain times and to\ncertain persons. The silence of a man who can speak wisely and\neloquently is a revelation of self-control, and often adds more to\nthe dignity of his character than words can. The Son of God \"opened\nnot His mouth\" before His false accusers, and thus revealed His power\nof self-control--His moral majesty. That He could be silent in such\ncircumstances is a manifestation of the deep ocean of conscious\ninnocence within Him, and is an unparalleled exposition of His own\nprecept, \"In patience possess ye your souls.\" 1. _Silence is wisdom\nwhen we feel that speech would be useless to convince._ When we feel\nthat a foregone conclusion has been arrived at which no argument or\nappeal could shake. This has been the case in the history of the\nconfessors and martyrs of the Church in all ages, and was\npre-eminently so when the Lord Jesus Christ stood to be tried before\nmen who had determined to murder Him. 2. _Silence is sometimes more\nconvincing than speech._ Men are often more impressed by acts than by\nwords, by a spirit of forbearance than by a passionate vindication of\nour rights. 3. _Silence does not necessarily imply acquiescence._ The\nEternal Himself is sometimes silent from displeasure. \"These things\nhast thou done and I kept silence\" (Psalm lv. 21).\n\n+II. The blessing of using the tongue when we ought.+ \"The tongue of\nthe just is as choice silver.\" The lips of the righteous feed many\nbecause they supply a need. Man needs a medium by which to express\nthe value of his labour or his merchandise, and silver supplies this\nwant. And he likewise needs a medium by which to express his\nthoughts, and speech is this medium. But unless it is the speech of a\n_just_ man it will be a curse and not a blessing. It must convey\n_good thinking_ if it is to be as choice silver to a needy man. The\nprisoner who stands at the bar charged with a crime of which he is\ninnocent feels that the tongue of the man who pleads his cause is\nmore precious to him than much silver. To the man who is seeking\nafter God, the tongue of one who can tell him \"words whereby he shall\nbe saved\" is as choice silver (Acts xi. 14). The words of Peter were\nso esteemed by Cornelius. The heart of the Ethiopian eunuch was more\nrejoiced by the preaching of Philip the Evangelist than it would have\nbeen by the possession of the treasure of his mistress (Acts\nviii. 26-39). The words of Him who was \"the Just One\" (Acts iii. 14)\nare and ever will be \"a strength to the needy in his distress\" (Isa.\nxxv. 4); more precious to those who are conscious of their\nsoul-poverty \"than thousands of gold and silver\" (Psalm cxix. 72);\nand it is in proportion as men are like Him in character and\ndisposition that their speech will bless the world.\n\n+III. The sin of using the tongue too much.+ The shell and the kernel\nof the fruit were intended by God to grow together; the latter cannot\ngrow to perfection without the former, yet the shell only exists for\nthe kernel. The soul and body are ordained to grow together; the body\nonly exists for the soul, yet the soul can only manifest itself\nthrough the medium of the body. But the body without the soul is\nworthless. Man's thought and word were intended by God to act\ntogether; thoughts are useless without speech in which to clothe\nthem; words without thoughts have no reason for existence, they are\nshells without kernels, bodies without souls, and their use is a sin\nagainst God's ordained method. Where there is a \"multitude of words\"\nthere is not much thought, and therefore there is sin.--1. _Against a\nman's self_, because \"every idle word that men shall speak they shall\ngive account thereof in the day of judgment\" (Matt. xii. 36).\n2. _Against society_, because the man utters sounds which contain\nnothing to benefit. God has ordained thought to feed the soul as He\nhas ordained bread to feed the body. Where there are words men have a\nright to expect thoughts upon which to feed, as they have a right to\nlook for the kernel within the shell. When they get the first without\nthe last they are robbed of what is their due.\n\n+IV. The origin of idle and worthless talking.+ \"The heart of the\nwicked is little worth.\" \"Fools die for want of wisdom.\" Where there\nis no moral wisdom there can be no real worth; no thoughts can be\ngenerated in the heart that is not under the influence of Divine\nteaching that will supply the needs of needy men. As is the fountain\nso must be the stream. \"The tree is known by its fruit. O, generation\nof vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the\nabundance of the heart the mouth speaketh\" (Matt. xii. 33-34).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 19. A man of inordinate talk runs inordinate risk. He must be a\nGod that can talk all the time and never trespass. And, therefore, as\nblunders \"come home to roost,\" he is a _prosperous_ man who reduces\nthe volume of his speech.--_Miller._\n\nThe fool talks for ever upon nothing, not because he is full, but\nbecause he is empty; not for instruction, but for the pure love of\ntalking. . . . The sphere of social intercourse that stimulates the\nconversational powers at the same time teaches the wholesome\ndiscipline of the tongue--that beautiful accomplishment of silence\nwhich, however, alike with its opposite grace, derives its chief\nloveliness as the fruit of Christian humility and kindness. The\n_wisdom_ is especially valuable under provocation (1 Sam. x. 27;\n2 Kings xviii. 36). And even in the unbending of innocent recreation\nthe discipline of godly sobriety is of great moment. The sins of this\n\"little member\" are not trifles.--_Bridges._\n\n\"Refraineth\" as with a bridle, for we must by force bridle our tongue\nas an untameable member (Jas. iii. 2-8). _Xenocrates,_ in \"Valerius\nMaximus,\" says, \"I have been sometimes sorry that I spoke; I never\nhave been sorry that I was silent.\"--_Fausset._\n\n If thou be master-gunner spend not all\n That thou canst speak at once, but husband it,\n And give men turns of speech; do not forestall\n By lavishness thine one and others' wit,\n As if thou mad'st thy will. A civil guest\n Will no more talk all than eat all the feast.--_George Herbert._\n\n+I. The general vice here referred to is not evil speaking from\nmalice, nor lying or bearing false witness from indirect selfish\ndesigns, but it is talkativeness:+ a disposition to be talking,\nabstracted from the consideration of what is to be said, with very\nlittle or no regard to, or thought of doing, either good or\nharm. . . . Those who are addicted to this folly cannot confine\nthemselves to trifles and indifferent subjects: they cannot go on for\never talking of nothing, and, as common matters will not afford a\nsufficient fund for perpetual continued discourse, when subjects of\nthis kind are exhausted, they will go on to scandal, divulging of\nsecrets, or they will invent something to engage attention: not that\nthey have any concern about being believed otherwise than a means of\nbeing heard. . . . The tongue used in such a licentious manner is\nlike a sword in the hand of a madman: it is employed at random, it\ncan scarce possibly do any good, and, for the most part, does a world\nof mischief. +II. The due government of the tongue.+ The due and\nproper use of any natural faculty or power is to be judged of by the\nend and design for which it was given us. The chief purpose for which\nthe faculty of speech was given to man is plainly that we might\ncommunicate our thoughts to each other in order to carry on the\naffairs of the world; for business, and for our improvement in\nknowledge and learning. But the good Author of our nature designed us\nnot only necessaries, but likewise enjoyment and satisfaction. There\nare secondary uses of our faculties: they administer to delight as\nwell as to necessity, and the secondary use of speech is to please\nand to be entertaining to each other in conversation. This is in\nevery respect allowable and right: it unites men closer in alliance\nand friendship, and is in several respects serviceable to virtue.\nSuch conversation, though it has no _particular_ good tendency, yet\nit hath a _general_ good one; it is social and friendly, and tends to\npromote humanity, good nature, and civility. . . . The government of\nthe tongue, considered as a subject of itself, relates chiefly to\nconversation, and the danger is, lest persons entertain themselves or\nothers at the expense of their wisdom or their virtue. The cautions\nfor avoiding these dangers fall under the following particulars:\n1. _Silence._ The wise man observes that \"there is a time to speak,\nand a time to keep silence.\" One meets with people in the world who\nseem never to have made the last of these observations. But the\noccasions of silence are obvious, namely, when a man has nothing to\nsay, or nothing but what is better unsaid: better either in regard to\nparticular persons he is present with, or from its being an\ninterruption to conversation itself, or to conversation of a more\nagreeable kind, or better, lastly, with regard to himself.\n2. _Talking upon indifferent subjects._ Be sure that the subject is\n_indifferent,_ that it be in no way offensive to virtue, religion, or\ngood manners; that it be in no way vexatious to others, and that too\nmuch time be not spent in this way. 3. _In discourse upon the affairs\nand characters of others._ Consider, first, that though it is equally\nof bad consequences to society that men should have either good or\nill characters which they do not deserve, yet when you say some good\nof a man which he does not deserve, there is no wrong done him in\nparticular; whereas, when you say evil of a man which he does not\ndeserve, here is a direct formal injury done to him. Secondly, a good\nman will, upon every occasion, and often without any, say all the\ngood he can of everybody, but, so far as he is a good man, will never\nbe disposed to speak evil of any, unless there be some other reason\nfor it besides barely that it is the truth.--_Bishop Butler._\n\n\nVerse 20. If, as regards this world's wealth, the Lord's poor must\nsay, \"Silver and gold have I none,\" at least they may scatter _choice\nsilver_ with a widely extended blessing. \"As poor, yet making many\nrich\" (Acts iii. 6; 2 Cor. vi. 10).--_Bridges._\n\n_A wicked man hath his worst side inward._ Though sinful persons make\nnever so great a show on the outside, yet there is nothing within\nthem worth anything. To that purpose tend the words of the Apostle\ncollected out of the Psalms: \"The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the\nwise to be but vain.\" If the point had stood upon man's opinion there\nmight easily have been an error in it; but he bringeth the testimony\nof God, upon sure and infallible knowledge, to confirm it. . . .\nTherefore, do not too much magnify and admire them, nor too far\ndepend on them. For better things are not certainly to be expected\nfrom them than are in them.--_Dod._\n\nThe antithesis runs through every word of both clauses. The tongue,\nthe instrument of the mind, is contrasted with the mind itself; the\njust with the wicked; the choice silver with the worthless \"little.\"\nIn each case there is implied an _a fortiori_ argument. If the tongue\nis precious, how much more the mind! If the heart is worthless, how\nmuch more the speech!--_Plumptre._\n\nAs pure and choice silver giveth a clear and sweet sound, so the\ntongue of the wise soundeth sweetly and pleasantly in the ears of\nmen. It is also as choice silver, because therewith he is ready to\nbuy the hearts of men to virtue and goodness. But the heart of a fool\nbeing of little worth, hence it is that he buys it not. . . . Now if\nthe tongue of the just be as choice silver, his heart must needs be\nof fine gold. And if the heart of the wicked be little worth, his\ntongue must needs be worth nothing at all. Well therefore it were, if\nthat the wicked would get the just man's tongue to be his heart; or\nelse get the tongue of the just to infuse some of his metal into his\nheart; for that is able to put worth into it, and from thence to\nderive worth into his tongue also. The proverbial sense is, that the\nexcellent words of wisdom work not upon a foolish heart, that having\nnot worth to value the worth of it.--_Jermin._\n\n+I. By a just man is meant+--1. _A renewed man,_ for naturally our\nlips are polluted. \"I am a man of unclean lips,\" etc. (Isa. vi. 5).\nSin of the tongue is most frequent, and that not without difficulty\navoided. The corruption of men by nature is described (Rom. iii. 13).\nThis is man's true character, as he is in his natural estate. The\npure lip is the fruit of God's converting grace (Zeph. iii. 9). 2. _A\nman furnished with knowledge of the things which concern his duty;_\nfor every renewed man is an enlightened man (Prov. xv. 2). Unless a\nman understand his duty, how shall he speak of it? 3. _The renewed\nman is a mortified man;_ for otherwise he will only stickle for\nopinions, and be one of the disputers of this world, but will not\nwarm men's hearts and excite them to practise. That must be first\nupon the heart which will afterwards be upon the tongue; and unless\nthe heart be cleaned the tongue will not be cleansed. If the heart be\nupon the world, the tongue will be upon the world (1 John iv. 5).\n4. _This renewed man must be biassed with a love of God and Christ\nand heaven before he can edify others._ To restrain the tongue from\nevil is not enough, we must do good. To heartwarming discourse, faith\nis necessary. +II. His discourse is as choice silver.+ 1. _For\npurity._ Choice silver is that which is refined from all dross, and\nthere is much evil bewrayed by the tongue, such as lying, railing,\nribaldry (Eph. iv. 29), cursing, idle discourse, etc. 2. _For\nexternal profit._ Money is very profitable for worldly uses, the\ndiscourse of a good man is very profitable to others. +III. By a\nwicked man is meant one that is not regenerate or renewed by the Holy\nSpirit.+ They are of several sorts. 1. _Some have great natural\nabilities,_ as Ahithophel (2 Samuel xvi. 23), yet his heart was\nnothing worth. 2. _Some have plausible shows of piety,_ but that will\nnot help the matter (Matt. xxiii. 27, 28). 3. _Partial obedience\navaileth not_ (2 Chron. xxv. 2). Amaziah was right in the matter, and\nhe did many things right, but his heart was nothing worth. 1. _What\nis in the heart of such a man?_ See Gen. vi. 5. This is the mint that\nis always at work; sin worketh in the heart all day, and playeth in\nthe fancy all night; there is no truce in this warfare. 2. _What\ncometh out of such a heart?_ See Mark vii. 21, 22. 3. _In what sense\nis it little worth?_ (1.) As to acceptation with God. (2.) As to the\nbenefit and profiting of others. Observe--1. _That the heart of the\nwicked is spoken of in the softest terms._ Elsewhere it is said to be\ndeceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. xvii. 9). And\nthis teaches us that it is not enough to do no harm by our speech,\nbut it must benefit others. 2. _Till we make conscience of our\nthoughts, we cannot well order our words._ 3. _Familiar converse with\nthose whose hearts are nothing worth, will tend to our hurt._ 4. _Be\nsure that you get another heart._ For though it be not in our power\nto make ourselves a new heart, it is our duty to get it.--_Manton._\n\n\nVerse 21. A great housekeeper he is, hath his doors ever open, and,\nthough himself be poor, yet he \"maketh many rich\" (2 Cor. iv. 10). He\nwell knows that to this end God put \"honey and milk under his tongue\"\n(Cant. iv. 11), that he might look to this spiritual lip-feeding. To\nthis end hath he communicated to him those \"rivers of water\" (John\nvii. 38) that they may flow from him to quench that world of\nwickedness, that, being set on fire of hell would set on fire the\nwhole course of nature (Jas. iii. 6). They are \"_empty_ vines that\nbear fruit to themselves\" (Hosea x. 1).--_Trapp._\n\nThis bread of life which the disciples distribute is not like common\nbread. The more you give of it to the needy, the more remains for\nyour own use. It is the bread which Jesus blesses in the\nwilderness--the bread from heaven, which Jesus is; and when from His\nhand, and at His bidding, you have fed three thousand on five loaves,\nyou will have more bread remaining in your baskets than the stock you\nbegin with. . . . Fools, so far from being helpful to other, have\nnothing for themselves. They have taken no oil in their vessels, and\nthe flames of their lamp dies out.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nThe Source of True Riches.\n\nThis proverb cannot be understood to assert that a man needs nothing\nbut God's blessing to make him a wealthy man in the ordinary sense of\nthe word, because we know that there are many cases in which men\nwould never have been rich if they had not toiled hard to obtain\nriches. Industry has been joined to the blessing of the Lord, and so\nthey have become rich. God's favour does not generally make a man\nrich except he works; it is presumptuous sin to expect God to make us\nrich without honest toil. But the lesson to be learnt is evidently\nthis--that diligence cannot command riches, that God must be taken\ninto account in all our efforts to make money, that the \"race is not\"\n_always_ \"to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet\nbread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding\" (Eccles.\nix. 11), even when the runners and the warriors are men after God's\nown heart. Placing the words beside our experience, we learn--\n\n+I. That when a good man gains riches through hard toil, it is by\nreason of the Divine blessing on his labour.+ There are among us many\npossessors of vast wealth who have risen early and sat up late, and\neaten the bread of carefulness, but have acknowledged that, after\nall, it was the blessing of the Lord that had made them rich. They\ncan point to others equally diligent, and, in some respects, superior\nto themselves, who have fallen in the race and have died\ncomparatively poor. Such examples are admonitions not to trust to\none's own wisdom or effort to the exclusion of the will of God. Jacob\nworked hard for his riches for twenty years; \"in the day the drought\nconsumed him, and the frost by night--and the sleep departed from his\neyes.\" But he declares that his wealth was a gift from the God of his\nfathers--\"I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all\nthe truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant, for with my staff\nI have passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands\" (Gen.\nxxxi. 40; xxxii. 10). A good man cannot use unlawful means of getting\nrich, therefore he may enjoy the amount of success which follows his\nefforts as a token of Divine favour.\n\n+II. That when men inherit, or become possessed of wealth for which\nthey have not laboured, it is by the blessing of the Lord.+ The\nriches of Solomon were bestowed upon him without so much as the\nexpression of a desire on his part, and were a token of the Divine\napproval. \"Because . . . thou hast asked for thyself understanding to\ndiscern judgment . . . I have also given thee that which thou hast\nnot asked, both riches and honour\" (1 Kings iii. 11-13). Looked upon\nas God's gift, wealth will be rightly used, and will be the blessing\nthat it was intended to be.\n\n+III. That there is a moral truth contained here which has nothing to\ndo with material riches or poverty.+ Solomon has, over and over\nagain, directed his hearers to riches which are far more precious\nthan silver or gold (see chap. iii. 14-15; viii. 11-19; also\nHomiletics and Comments of those verses). The blessing of the Lord is\n_itself_ wealth. 1. _Because it enriches us with Divine knowledge_\n(1 Cor. i. 5). Solomon's knowledge was a higher kind of wealth than\nall his gold and precious stones, how much more a knowledge of Him\nwhom to know is \"life eternal\" (John xvii. 3). 2. _Because by means\nof it men obtain a Divine character_ (2 Pet. i. 2-4). This wealth men\ncan claim as theirs in other worlds beside the one upon which they\nnow live; this is their perpetual untransferable property.\n\n+IV. That when sorrow comes to men who have been enriched by God, it\nsprings from some other source than the riches.+ The text does not\napply in any sense to ill-gotten gain; that is dealt with elsewhere\n(chap. i. 19; xv. 27). It refers only to that which a man may\nlawfully call his own. 1. _But this may be the occasion of sorrow._\nSolomon's great wealth was the occasion of sorrow, insomuch as he\nused it for sinful purposes, but this sorrow was added by himself and\nnot by God. The misuse of riches, or of any other gift of God, will\nbe followed by a penalty which will bring sorrow; but this is man's\nwork, and not God's. 2. _Or sorrow may spring from another, and an\nindependent source._ Sorrow in one form or another is the lot of\nfallen man. The incarnate Son of God was a \"Man of sorrows.\"\nGod-given and sanctified sorrow is often a token of greater Divine\nfavour than temporal prosperity (chap. iii. 12). But there is no\nnecessary connection between wealth and sorrow.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 22. The sluggard looks for prosperity without diligence; the\npractical atheist from diligence alone; the sound-hearted Christian\nfrom the _blessing of God_ in the exercise of diligence. This wise\ncombination keeps him in an active habit; humble, and dependent upon\nGod (John vi. 27). For, \"except the Lord build the house, they labour\nin vain that build it\" (Psa. cxxvii. 1). . . . He addeth at least no\nsorrow but what turns to a blessing. Accumulation of riches may be\nthe accumulation of sorrows. Lot's covetous choice was fraught with\nbitterness. . . . Gehazi was laden with his bags, but the plague of\nleprosy was upon him.--_Bridges._\n\nThere is no sorrow added to them which is not a blessing, and, being\na blessing, it cannot well be said to be sorrow. Now thus the verse\nmay be understood as well as temporal as of spiritual riches; for it\nis the blessing of God, with which sorrow cannot stand. . . . It is\nGod's blessing alone which, being true riches, doth truly make rich.\nOther things esteemed in the world may be added together in great\nheaps of plenty; but, having sorrow added with them, they cannot be\nthat weal of man which truly makes wealth. It is the blessing of God\nwhich, taking away sorrow, giveth true riches unto man. And,\ntherefore, when Job wisheth \"that he were as in the months past\"--the\nmonths of his plenty and prosperity--it is with this addition, \"as in\nthe days when God preserved me.\" He desireth God's blessing with the\nthings of this world, or else he careth not for them. For that it is,\nas St. Gregory speaketh, which so bestoweth the help of earthly\nglory, as that thereby it exalteth much more in heavenly\nhappiness.--_Jermin._\n\nThose three vultures shall be driven away that constantly feed on the\nwealthy worldling's heart--care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in\nlosing the things of this life. God giveth to His, wealth without\nwoe, store without sore, gold without guilt, one little drop whereof\ntroubleth the whole sea of outward comforts.--_Trapp._\n\nThe truth here is twofold. The cord, as it lies, seems single, but\nwhen you begin to handle it, you find it divides easily into two. It\nmeans that God's blessing gives material wealth, and also that they\nare rich who have that blessing, although they get nothing\nmore. . . . It is a common practice to constitute firms for trade,\nand exhibit their titles to the public with a single name \"and\ncompany.\". . . Reverently take the All-seeing into your commercial\ncompany and counsels. If you cast Him out, there is no saying, there\nis no imagining, whom you may take in. . . . One peculiar excellence\nof the riches made in a company from whom councils God is not\nexcluded, is, that the wealth will not hurt its possessors, whether\nit abide with them or fly away. A human soul is so made that it\ncannot safely have riches next it. If they come into direct contact\nwith it, they will clasp it too closely; if they remain, they wither\nthe soul's life away; if they are violently wrenched off, they tear\nthe soul's life asunder. Whether, therefore, you keep or lose them,\nif you clasp them to your soul with nothing spiritual between, they\nwill become its destroyer.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nA TOUCHSTONE OF CHARACTER.\n\nThe painter uses the dark background of his picture to set off the\nbright foreground. Sunlight never looks so beautiful as when shining\nupon a black thunder-cloud; it is the power of contrast. Solomon in\nhis character-painting is constantly making use of this power. He is\never setting the dark and the light side by side--making the foolish\nor wicked man a dark background upon which to portray the moral\nfeatures of the truly wise. The fool looks more foolish, and the good\nman more wise, by the contrast.\n\n+I. That which is an object of mirth is a touchstone of character.+\nThe fool makes sport out of mischief, out of that which does harm to\nhis fellow-creatures, and consequently involves them in misery. If we\nsaw a man making merriment over the burning of his neighbour's house,\nwe should conclude that he was either a maniac or utterly without a\nheart. A man who realised the meaning of such a calamity, and had any\nsympathy within him, could but be grieved at the sight. But men find\noccasions of mirth in matters that are far more serious moment. The\nwise man tells us in chap. xiv. 9, that \"fools make a mock at\n_sin_\"--that great \"mischief of the universe.\" The saint is made sad\nby that in which the sinner finds an occasion of mirth. \"Oh that my\nhead were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might\nweep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people\" (Jer.\nix. 1). \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and\nlament; but the world shall rejoice\" (John xvi. 20). But the fool not\nonly makes sport _at_ mischief, it is his sport to _do_ mischief; the\none leads to the other. The fool who thinks sin is a laughing matter\nwill not hesitate to commit sin himself, or to do his brother the\nirreparable mischief of leading him in the path of sin and death.\n\n+II. Men cease to make light of sin in proportion as they have\n\"understanding.\"+ The text implies that a man who has any right\ncomprehension of the end of life, the value of the soul, the reality\nof Divine and eternal things, will not, _cannot,_ make a sport of\nmischief in any shape or degree, especially of the mischief of moral\nwrong. A baby might laugh at a blazing house, although its own mother\nmight be enwrapped in the flames, but this would only be an evidence\nof his want of understanding. Nothing proclaims a man to be a fool so\nplainly as his mockery of sin. A man of wisdom has too just a sense\nof its terrible and ruinous consequence to feel anything but sad when\nhe thinks of it. He knows what mischief it has worked, and is working\nin the universe, and his understanding of those things makes that\nwhich is the sport of the fool the subject of his most solemn thought.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe difference between the lost and the saved is, that to one it is\nbut trifling to life; to the other it is the gravest\n\"_wisdom._\"--_Miller._\n\nThat man has arrived at an advanced stage of folly who takes as much\npleasure in it as if it were an agreeable amusement. This, however,\nis to be expected in its natural course. Sinners at first feel much\nuneasiness from the operation of fear and shame, but they are\nhardened by the deceitfulness of sin, till at length they not only\ncast off all restraints, but become impudent in sin, and think it a\nmanly action to cast away the cords of God, and to pour insult and\nabuse on their fellow-men. But it were safer far to sport with fire\nthan with sin, which kindles a fire that will burn to the lowest\nhell. It may now be a sport to do mischief, but in the lake of fire\nand brimstone, it will be no sport to have done it.--_Lawson._\n\nWhen a man diveth under water he feeleth no weight of the water,\nthough there be many tons of it over his head; whereas half a tubful\nof the same water, taken out of the river and set upon the same man's\nhead, would be very burdensome unto him, and make him soon grow weary\nof it. In like manner, so long as a man is over head and ears in sin,\nhe is not sensible of the weight of sin: it is not troublesome unto\nhim; but when he beginneth once to come out of that state of sin\nwherein he lay and lived before, then beginneth sin to hang heavy\nupon him, and he to feel the heavy weight of it. So, so long as sin\nis in the will, the proper seat of sin, a man feeleth no weight of\nit, but, like a fool, it is a sport and pastime unto him to do evil.\nAnd it is therefore a good sign that sin is removed out of his\nseat--out of his chair of state--when it becomes ponderous and\nburdensome to us, as the elements do when they are out of their\nnatural place.--_Spencer's Things New and Old._\n\nThe fool is then merriest when he hath the devil for his playfellow.\nHe danceth well in his bolts, and is passing well afraid for his\nwoful bondage.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nTHE INHERITANCE OF FEAR AND DESIRE.\n\nThese words treat of things desired and of things not desired coming\nto be possessed.\n\n+I. Ungodly men have fears concerning the future.+ These fears\nproceed from a consciousness of past sin and present guilt, and prove\nthe existence within man of a moral standard of action. In the\nnatural world, we know that certain effects invariably follow certain\ncauses. Sunlight and genial rain produce fertility and beauty, the\nhurricane and the flood leave behind them desolation. There are\ncertain particles whose action, if diffused abroad in the air, breed\ndisease and death; there are others whose effects are most refreshing\nand healthful to the body frame. Coming into the region of human\naction and moral responsibility, there are certain actions of men\nwhich clothe the spirit with gladness, making the soul as a field\nwhich the Lord God hath blest, and there are acts which leave behind\nthem a sting which brings utter desolation. There are deeds done by\nmoral agents which are followed by the disapprobation of conscience\nin proportion as conscience is educated by moral light, and there are\nthose which are well-springs of joy in the human heart. It is to\nconscience that we must refer the fears of the wicked in relation to\nthe future.\n\n+II. The certainty that the fears of the wicked will be realised.+\n1. _From the inequality of rewards and punishments in the present._\nThere are men whose characters seem to be almost perfect who have not\nthe reward at present which their integrity and uprightness deserve.\nThere are many men who sit, as it were, like Lazarus, at a rich man's\ngate in poverty, who are much better men than the rich man himself.\nThe difference in the character of the man who passed the sentence of\ndeath upon Paul, and Paul himself calls for a more manifest\nimpartiality on the part of the Divine Ruler in the eternity to come.\nWe feel certain that elsewhere a just sentence has been passed upon\nPaul and Nero. The inequality in the present dealings of God with the\nrighteous and the wicked demands that in the future the \"fear of the\nwicked shall come upon him.\" 2. _From the admonition of conscience._\nAlthough the mariner's compass is sometimes unsteady, its direction\nis always towards the north. And the human conscience, however it may\noccasionally waver, points to a future judgment. It is not an\n_occasional_ occurrence but so _universal_ as to be a prophecy of a\nfact. 3. _From the necessity that God should fulfil His own\nappointment._ Revelation declares that, \"He hath appointed a day, in\nwhich he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He\nhath ordained\" (Acts xvii. 31). The Righteous Judge of all the earth\nmust keep His own appointment, therefore every wicked man must have\nwhat he does not desire, viz., a fair and impartial trial.\n\n+III. Good men have had desires which have not been granted.+ The\ngratification of such desires would have been an injury to themselves\nand others. Moses desired to see God in the sense in which the\nIncarnate Son tells us He had seen Him. But if this desire had been\ngranted Moses must have died, the Hebrew nation would have lost the\nonly man who could lead them, and he would have missed the completion\nof the glory of his life (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Peter desired that His\nMaster should not suffer at the hands of the chief priests and\nscribes (Matt. xvi. 21). But what a calamity this would have been for\nPeter himself and the human race.\n\n+IV. But that which a righteous man desires above all other things\nshall be granted.+ 1. _For himself in the present life, he desires a\nholy character._ This he regards as the \"one thing needful\" above all\nother personal possessions. And God desires this for him, therefore\nthis desire shall be granted on the fulfilment of the pre-ordained\nconditions (1 Thess. iv. 3). 2. _For the world he desires that God's\nkingdom may \"come,\" that right may in the end triumph over wrong._\nNow this desire also must be granted, because Christ has taught His\ndisciples to pray for its accomplishment, and because He Himself at\nthe right hand of God is \"henceforth expecting, till His enemies be\nmade His footstool\" (Heb. x. 13). 3. _He desires for himself in the\nfuture a complete redemption of both soul and body from the curse of\nsin_ (2 Cor. v. 1-4). But this desire is implanted within him by that\nGod who can fulfil his desire, and who has already given an earnest\nof its fulfilment. This alone is a guarantee that it shall be\ngranted. \"Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God,\nwho also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit\" (2 Cor. v. 5).\nHe has also the direct promise of Him who is \"the Resurrection and\nthe Life,\" the assurance of His inspired apostle that this desire of\nthe righteous shall be granted (John v. 28-29; 1 Cor. xv. 49-54).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nBut _if our desires be granted,_ and even exceeded (Gen. xlviii. 2;\n1 Kings iii. 13; Ephes. iii. 20), faith and patience will be tried in\nthe very _grant._ Growth in grace is given by deep and humbling views\nof our corruption. Longings for holiness are fulfilled by painful\naffliction; prayers are answered by crosses. Our Father's\ndispensations are not what they seem to be, but what He is pleased to\nmake them.--_Bridges._\n\nThe best way to have our will satisfied is to be godly. For to such\nthere is a promise made. Wherein yet these rules are to be observed:\n_First,_ that our will be agreeable to God's will, the desire must be\nholy, and seasoned with the Spirit; and not carnal and corrupted by\nthe flesh. _Secondly,_ that sometimes lawful desires are not\nperformed in the same kind, but exchanged for better, and that which\ndoth more good is bestowed instead of them. Moses desired to enter\ninto the land of Canaan; he was denied that, but he entered sooner\ninto the heavenly and blessed rest of everlasting life. _Thirdly,_\nthat we tarry the Lord's leisure, and depend on His hand, to\nminister, in fittest time, all those good things which our souls\ndesire, and so we shall not fail to receive them when He seeth that\nthey will be most expedient for us.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nTHE WHIRLWIND AND THE SURE FOUNDATION.\n\n+I. The resemblance of a wicked man to a whirlwind.+ 1. _They are\nboth destructive forces._ A whirlwind passes over a district and\neverything that resists its advance is either overthrown, broken, or\nmade to bend to its fury. Every wicked man in his sphere is a\ndestroyer of human happiness and of moral life, but the image is\nespecially applicable to tyrants who have been destroyers of the\nlives of thousands of their fellow-creatures, and have ruined the\nhappiness of thousands more in their unscrupulous onward march for\nthe attainment of their own selfish ends. Isaiah describes such a one\nwhen he says, \"Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that\ndid shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and\ndestroyed the cities thereof?\" (chap. xiv. 16, 17). 2. _They often\nburst forth with sudden fury, and seem beyond the control of ordinary\nlaws and methods of operation._ A whirlwind often descends upon a\npeaceful valley without any warning, and its fury is the more\nterrible by reason of its suddenness, and because of the\nimpossibility of foretelling its course and where it will fall in its\nmost destructive power. So a wicked man is a lawless man, he is not\nguided by principle but by passion and impulse, none of his\nfellow-creatures can foretell what will be his next act of violence,\nor who will be the next victims of his selfish ambition. It is this\nlawless, uncontrollable destructiveness which makes both the moral\nand the physical whirlwind the terror of the human race, and leads\nmen instinctively to avoid them if possible. 3. _The triumph of both\nis short._ How soon nature rights herself after the passage of a\nwhirlwind. She covers the broken rocks with verdure, the trees put\nforth branches clothed with fresh leaves, others grow up in the\nplaces of those which were uprooted, grass and corn spring again, and\nall looks lovely as before the visitation. The whirlwind \"passeth,\"\nand so does the wicked man. It is soon written of him that he is \"no\nmore,\" and men who have trembled at his name take heart, and nations\nand peoples whom he seemed to have annihilated spring into existence\nagain, and the world rights itself. How many such instances stand\nrecorded in history from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to those of\nNapoleon. How many times has the experience of the Psalmist been\nrepeated: \"I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading\nhimself like a green bay tree, yet he passed away, and lo, he was\nnot: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found\" (Psalm xxxvii. 35,\n36). How often has the world had occasion to repeat the song, \"How\nhath the oppressor ceased! . . . The Lord hath broken the staff of\nthe wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in\nwrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is\npersecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is\nquiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at\nthee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no\nfeller is come up against us\" (Isa. xiv. 4-8).\n\n+II. In what respects a righteous man is \"an everlasting\nfoundation.\"+ 1. _His character is something to build upon._ Nothing\ncan be built upon a whirlwind, but a substantial structure can be\nraised upon a good foundation. Men may build hope upon the word and\ncharacter of a righteous man. A promise given by him is a solid\nground of confidence upon which the heart of the brother-man may rest\nsecurely. Thus righteousness is a constructive force in the world--a\nfoundation without which society cannot exist. Especially is this\ntrue of the ideal man, Christ Jesus. Because He is the Righteous One\n(Isa. xi. 4) His promises are as anchors of the soul to the children\nof men. In resting upon His word His disciples build upon a \"sure\nfoundation\" (1 Cor. iii. 11). Upon His character rests all their\nhopes for their own blessedness in the future, and for the\nrestoration of a fallen world. Every man is a _foundation_ if\n\"righteousness\" is the chief element of his character. 2. _Because\nfor his sake the world stands._ The owner of a house may let it stand\nif there is a good foundation of solid rock, although the\nsuperstructure may be comparatively worthless. Our Lord tells us\nconcerning the tribulations which he foretold, that \"except those\ndays should be shortened, there would no flesh be saved; but for the\nelect's sake those days shall be shortened\" (Matt. xxiv. 22). This\nteaches us that the righteousness of the godly is the power which\naverts the destruction of the wicked, and keeps the world in\nexistence. In this sense, therefore, the righteous are a foundation.\n3. _The righteous are an \"everlasting\" foundation, because\nrighteousness is the basis of confidence in eternity as it is in\ntime._ The blessedness of the life to come is founded upon\nrighteousness. The Kingdom of God in both worlds is \"established in\nrighteousness\" (Isa. liv. 14). The immutable character of the\nheavenly world is founded upon the righteousness first of its\nrighteous King, and then upon that of His righteous servants.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe righteous may be poor, and, in his sinful state, anything but a\nstately building to the Lord, but in his meanest infancy he is a\n\"_foundation._\" Very little appears above the surface. But he is a\nbasis of all that is to be built, and that basis is to be\n\"_eternal._\"--_Miller._\n\nThe proverb reminds us of the close of the Sermon on the Mount, and\nfinds the final confirmation of its truth in this, that the death of\nthe godless is a penal thrusting of them away, but the death of the\nrighteous a lifting them up to their home. The righteous who often\nenough perish in times of war and of pestilence; but the proverb, as\nit is interpreted, verifies itself, even although not so as the poet,\nviewing it from his narrow Old Testament standpoint, understood it;\nfor the righteous, let him die when and how he may, is preserved,\nwhile the godless perishes.--_Delitzsch._\n\nThe continuance of the wicked is but while they dig the pit of their\nown destruction.--_Jermin._\n\nThe Lord will lay \"a more sure foundation,\" and \"he that believeth\nshall not make haste\" (Isa. xxviii.16). These two promises lie\ntogether in the Scripture. When your heart's hope is fixed on that\nprecious corner-stone, you need not be thrown into a flutter by the\nfiercest onset of the world and its god.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nTHE VEXATIOUSNESS OF A SLUGGISH SERVANT.\n\n+I. He is as smoke to the eyes.+ Smoke in the eyes prevents the\naccomplishment of a man's purposes, or at least it hinders and annoys\nhim in their execution. The eye is the light of the body; if vision\nis in any way obstructed or impaired, delay and vexation must ensue.\nSo the employer of a sluggish servant must be the victim of\nperplexity and annoyance. He sends him on an errand, or entrusts him\nwith a work which is important should be done within a certain time.\nBut he lingers over it until the time is long past, and perhaps an\nopportunity is lost which can never be recalled. Much often depends\nupon the performance of duties _up to time._ The want of punctuality\nsometimes is as disastrous as not doing the thing at all. How many\nplans have been frustrated, how many sufferings have in various ways\nbeen entailed upon men, by delay in the performance of duty. A master\nwho has to depend upon a sluggard is like a man in the midst of the\nsmoke of a burning house; he is uncertain as to his present\nwhereabouts, and ignorant of what mishap may befal him next.\n\n+II. He is as vinegar to the teeth.+ He is most irritating to the\ntemper. As vinegar sours everything with which it comes in contact,\nso a sluggard sours the temper of those with whom he has to do, and\nmakes them sometimes not only irritable with him who is the offender,\nbut with the innocent also.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nDoes, then, the sluggard disappoint and provoke his earthly master?\nSee that we be not such sluggards to our Heavenly Master. Laodicean\nprofessors are especially hateful in his sight (Rev. iii. 16). The\nslothful minister carries in a tremendous account to _Him that sent\nhim_. No more pitiable object is found that the man who has time to\nspare, who has no object of commanding interest, and is going on to\nthe end as if he had spent his whole life in a children's play, and\nhad lived to no useful purpose. . . . Why \"standeth he idle in the\nmarket-place?\" It cannot be--\"No man hath hired him.\" His master's\ncall sounds in his ears--\"Go ye into the vineyard.\" And at his peril\nhe disobeys it (Matt. xx. 7-30).--_Bridges._\n\nSluggishness is a cutting, vexing thing. If we are Christ's, we\nshould crucify this self-pleasing affection of the flesh. . . . It is\na sin to waste another man's time, so much as to waste his property.\n\"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.\" No doubt it is the\nnatural disposition of some people to be slovenly and unexact. But\nwhat is your religion worth if it does not correct such a\npropensity? . . . If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. If\nthe new life is strong in the heart, it will send its warm pulses\ndown to the extremest member. . . . He who is a Christian in little\nthings is not a little Christian; he is the greatest Christian, and\nthe most useful. The baptism of these little outlying things shows\nthat he is full of grace, for these are grace's overflowings; and\nthey are ever the overflowings of the full well that refreshes the\ndesert. The great centre must be fully occupied before the stream can\nreach that outer edge.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nLONG LIFE.\n\nThis verse must be looked at--\n\n+I. Generally.+ The fear of the Lord prolongs life because, other\nthings being equal, godliness tends to bodily health. A good man\ngoverns his life by some kind of law, his passions and inclinations\ndo not play the lord over his conscience and will. This has a\nbeneficial influence upon his bodily health. He has contentment with\nhis present lot, trust in his God amid all the anxieties of life, and\nhope for the future. Such a state of mind tends to soundness of\nbodily health, whereas the manner of life of a godless man is opposed\nto health and consequently to long life. If a complicated machine is\npermitted to work with some of its parts improperly adjusted and\nfretting against each other at every turn of the wheel, the friction\nwill soon wear away the parts, and ere long they will cease to act. A\nsoul without godliness is a complicated mechanism which has never\nbeen rightly adjusted. There is no ruling principle, no guiding hand,\none passion wars against another, the man bears the burden of life\nalone, he is at times a prey to the fears spoken of in verse 24, and\nthe rule of all these devils in the soul has a tendency to wear out\nthe body before its time. This is a truth universally admitted. But\nthe words must also be regarded--\n\n+II. Relatively.+ That is, with a due regard to other circumstances.\nThe length of a good man's life does not always depend upon himself,\nbut upon the age in which he lives--upon the people by whom he is\nsurrounded. The godliness of Abel shortened his life very materially.\nIf his works had not been righteous, his brother would not have\nmurdered him. The first Christian martyr met with an early and a\nviolent death because he was a \"man full of faith and of the Holy\nGhost\" (Acts vi. 5); and the fear of the Lord has shortened the days\nof millions since then. The ranks of the \"noble army of martyrs\" have\nbeen filled up by volunteers of every age and many nations since\nStephen fell asleep, testifying to the fact that, so far as life in\nthis world is concerned, other things must be taken into consideration\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is no such wholesome air--there is no such kindly physic--there\nis no such sovereign cordial--as the fear of the Lord. That makes the\n_days_ of the godly as long as the _years_ of the wicked.--_Jermin._\n\nThe righteous' days are _great_ and _noble,_ and the wicked's days\nare _mean_ and _small._ And this is the meaning of the Proverb. \"Made\nlittle,\" literally, \"shortened\" (E.V.). We thought at first that this\nwas decisive against our sense, and against our rendering of all the\nverses expounded in chap. iii. (verses 2-16). Our thought of this was\nincreased by Job xvi. 1, and by all the expositions. But when we\nturned to Psalm cii. 23, our own sense was wonderfully confirmed.\nThat verse reads, \"He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened\nmy days:\" where \"_shortened_\" must have a sense coincident with\ncontinued living. And what that sense is, such passages as these: \"Is\nmy hand shortened?\" (Isa. l. 2), \"The soul of the people was (lit.)\n_shortened,_\" \"The days of his youth hast Thou shortened\" (Num.\nxxi. 4; Psa. lxxxix. 45), and nearly all the other instances\nstrikingly confirm. The meaning is, Wisdom makes our days grander and\ngrander, and Impenitence makes them weaker, and always of less\naccount.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nHOPES REALISED AND DISAPPOINTED.\n\n+I. The righteous man's present possession--\"Hope.\"+ We saw in\ntreating verse 24 that the righteous man possesses God-begotten\ndesires, and that he has good ground for believing that these desires\nwill be granted, therefore he _expects_ their fulfilment, and desire\nand expectation constitute his hope. Hope is a fortune in itself. It\ngives a present gladness, and therefore a present power. It is in\nitself a tower of strength. Nothing upholds us so surely in present\ndifficulties as the hope of a brighter future. If in the hour of\ndarkness a man can say to his soul, \"Why art thou cast down, and why\nart thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God\" (Psalm xlii. 5), he\nholds in possession a sheet-anchor which will prevent him from making\nshipwreck upon the rocks of despair and infidelity. The hope of the\nrighteous is a present salvation. \"We are saved by hope\" (Rom.\nviii. 24). It is \"an anchor of the soul\" (Heb. vi. 19).\n\n+II. The righteous man's future inheritance--gladness.+ If the hope\nof an expected good gives gladness, how much more its realisation! A\nman is glad when the title deeds of an estate are handed over to him\neven if he cannot at once enter upon its possession, how much more\nglad is he when he enters into the full enjoyment of his inheritance.\nThe righteous man's hope is a more certain guarantee of his future\ninheritance of gladness than the most indisputable deed ever written\nupon parchment. It is as we saw before (see on verse 24) an earnest\nof its own fulfilment. The hope begotten in the heart of a child, by\nthe inspiration of his father's character and genius, that he may one\nday be like his parent, is a hope that the father himself will not\ndisappoint. Love for his child and a regard for his own honour will\nimpel him to do all that lies within his reach to satisfy the\ndesire--to fulfil the expectation--of his child. If, in addition, he\nwas able to promise the child that his hope should be realised,\nnothing could acquit him of his obligation to perform his promise\nexcept inability. The Eternal Father has by His Spirit and by His\npromise begotten such a hope with His children and \"begotten them\"\nunto the hope (1 Pet. i. 3). This is \"the hope\" of the righteous, and\nthe character and the omnipotence of Him who gave it birth is a sure\npledge that it shall be \"gladness.\" Closely connected with it are the\nhopes of the coming of God's kingdom, and of the \"adoption of the\nbody\" (Rom. viii. 23), noticed in considering \"the desires of the\nrighteous.\"\n\n+III. The doom of the expectation of the ungodly man.+ If the wicked\nman has fears concerning the future (see on verse 24), he has also\nvague hopes concerning it, although his desires and expectations are\nchiefly in relation to the present world. As to his desires of a\nstate of happiness after death, they are not strong enough to lead\nhim to comply with the conditions of entering upon it. Any\nexpectation of this nature can be based upon nothing outside himself,\nand it must therefore perish. His expectation of the results of his\nown earth-born and devilish schemes will also perish. He may\napparently bring them to a successful issue, but the end will show\nthat it is not so. If he succeeds in gaining wealth or power, he will\nnot get what he expected out of them. Any expectation which he forms\nas to the overthrow of the good will meet with the same doom. Pharaoh\nexpected to be able to retain the Hebrews in bondage, but his\nexpectation was broken to shivers upon the shield of Eternal\nOmnipotence. The chief priests and scribes expected to stamp out the\nname and influence of the Nazarene by crucifying Him, but the result\ncontradicted their expectations. In these instance may be seen a\nreflection of the doom of every expectation which is out of harmony\nwith righteousness.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nChristian! make sure the ground of your hope (2 Pet. i. 10). Then set\nout its gladness as becomes an heir of glory. Let not a drooping\nspirit tell the world the scantiness of your hope. But show that you\ncan live upon its gladness until you enter into its perfect and\neverlasting fruition. Doubtfulness leaves believers and infidels\nnearly upon the same level.--_Bridges._\n\nThe proverb means literally--\"The hope of the righteous (itself)\nturns to joy.\" Faith is the beginning of felicity. . . . The\nexpectation or \"_assurance_\" of the impenitent man, even if he finds\nit well placed, \"_perishes_\" as of its very nature. \"The world passes\naway and the desire thereof.\" The lost may have had all he wished,\nbut his very wishes perish at the last day (1 John ii. 17).--_Miller._\n\nAll the hopes of the wicked shall not bring him to heaven; all the\nfears of the righteous shall not bring him to hell.--_Bunyan._\n\nIt would be better for \"hope\" and \"expectation\" to change places.\nEven the expectant waiting of the righteous is joyful at the time,\nand ends in joy; the eager hope of the wicked comes to nought (comp.\nJob viii. 13).--_Plumptre._\n\nThe wicked cannot choose but fear, and, therefore, Eliphaz says of a\nwicked man, the sound of fear is in his ears (Job xv. 21). And in\nIsaiah (xx. 17) they are compared to the troubled sea, which cannot\nrest. And because where fear is, it is some ease to think, if not to\nhope, that the evil feared may not fall upon them; this ease is taken\naway, for the fear _shall come_. Come it shall, as it were of itself\nwithout sending for, because it is most due unto them. An instance of\nthis is given in those who lived at the time of building of the Tower\nof Babel, and who saying \"Let us build it lest we be scattered abroad\nupon the face of the whole earth,\" it followeth soon after, \"and the\nLord scattered them upon the face of all the earth.\" On the other\nside, the righteous having tasted of goodness cannot choose but\ndesire it; and because where desire is, it is some trouble to think,\nif not to doubt, that the good desired may not be accomplished, this\ntrouble is taken away, for _He_ shall give who can give whatsoever\nHimself will, whatsoever they can desire.--_Jermin._\n\nAttachment to futurity has a remarkable influence on the operation of\nthe human mind. The present, whatever it be, seldom engages our\nattention so much as what is to come. The present is apt to be\nconsidered an evanescent scene, just about to pass away; and in the\nmidst of wishes and desires, of hopes and fears, which all respect\nfuturity, we may be said to dwell. As on these the life of man is so\nmuch suspended, it becomes a material part of wisdom and duty to\nattend to any regulations by which they may be properly conducted.\nThe anticipations of the _righteous,_ conducted by prudence, and\nregulated by piety, mislead him not from his duty, and afford him\nsatisfaction in the end. While the expectation of the _wicked,_\narising from fantastic imaginary prospects, delude him for a while\nand terminate in misery. Let us consider, what we may, and what we\nmay not, reasonably expect from the world. +I. We must not expect the\nuninterrupted continuance of any measure of health, prosperity, or\ncomfort, which we now enjoy.+ +II. We are not to expect, from our\nintercourse with others, all that satisfaction which we fondly wish.+\n. . . Such is the power which the sophistry of self-love exercises\nover us, that almost everyone may be assured that he measures himself\nby a deceitful scale; that he places the point of his own merit at a\nhigher degree than others will admit that it reaches. . . . Were\nexpectations more moderate, they would be more favourably received.\nIf you look for a friend in whose temper there is not to be found the\nleast inequality, who upon no occasion is to be hurt or offended by\nany frailties you discover, whose feelings are to harmonise in every\ntrifle with yours, whose countenance is always to reflect the image\nof your own, you look for a pleasing phantom, which is never, or at\nmost, very rarely, to be found; and if disappointment sour your mind,\nyou have your own folly to blame. You ought to have considered that\nyou live in a region of human infirmity, where everyone has\nimperfections and failings. +III. We are not to expect constant\ngratitude from those whom we have obliged and served.+ I am far from\nsaying that gratitude is a rare virtue, but our expectations of\nproper returns must be kept within moderate bounds. We must not\nimagine that gratitude is to produce unlimited compliance with every\ndesire we indulge, or that those whom we have obliged will altogether\ndesert their own interest for the sake of their benefactors. I shall\nnext show what a good man may reasonably expect from human life.\nI. _Whatever course the affairs of the world may take, he may justly\nhope to enjoy peace of mind._ This to the sceptic and the profligate\nwill be held as a very inconsiderable object of hope. But, assuredly,\nthe peace of an approving conscience is one of the chief ingredients\nof human happiness; provided always that this self-approbation be\ntempered with due faith. II. _He has ground to expect that any\nexternal condition into which he may pass shall, by means of virtue\nand wisdom, be rendered if not perfectly agreeable, yet tolerably\neasy to him._ The inequality of real happiness is not to be measured\nby the inequality of outward estate. A wise and good man is never\nleft without resources by which to make his state tolerable. Seldom\nor never do all good things forsake a man at once. What is very\nsevere of any kind, seldom lasts long. Time and continuance reconcile\nus to many things that were at first insupportable. III. _We have\nground to expect that, if we persevere in studying to do our duty\ntowards God and man, we shall meet with the esteem and love of those\naround us._ The world, as I have before observed, is seldom disposed\nto give a favourable reception to claims based on superior talents\nand merits. But, with respect to moral qualifications, the world is\nmore ready to do justice to character. Unaffected piety commands\nrespect. Candour never fails to attract esteem and trust. Kindness\nconciliates love and creates warm friendships. I have considered only\nwhat the righteous man has to hope for in the ordinary course of the\nworld. But--IV. _He has before him a much higher object of hope, even\nthe hope which is laid up for him in heaven; the assured expectation\nof a better life in a higher and better world._ Put the case of a\nservant of God being overwhelmed with all the disappointments which\nthe world can bring upon him, here is an _expectation_ which will\nalways be _gladness._--_Blair._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nGOD'S WAY DESTRUCTION AND SALVATION.\n\n+I. In common with all His intellectual and moral creatures, God has\na way, or plan of action.+ A skilful artificer has a _way_ by which\nhe brings forth a certain result in a work of skill. His way is the\nout-come of his previous thought and purpose; he does not go about\nhis work in uncertainty as to what he is going to do, or how he is\ngoing to do it. The architect proceeds to erect his building in\naccordance with a certain plan, in a certain _way_ before determined\non. The public instructor has _ways_ of teaching which are the\nout-come of previous thought; he would otherwise work at random.\nThose who are leaders of others must think and teach within the\nlimits of certain rules, in pursuance of some definite end, otherwise\nthere could be no result from their teaching. God, the skilful\nArtificer and wise Architect of the material universe, the Great\nInstructor of men, is no exception to this rule. 1. He works in\n_nature_ according to a definite and pre-ordained rule or law. All\nthat we see around us reveals Divine forethought and intention,\nproclaims that the Creator works for a definite end, that He walks in\na pre-arranged way. He has a way, or method, of producing day and\nnight, summer and winter, of developing the seed-corn into the full\near, of watering the earth by clouds, and so fitting it for the\nhabitation of men. 2. He has a way in _Providence,_ and though here\nit is far more difficult than even in nature to trace His working or\nunravel His purposes, we know that He works in accordance with a\ndefinite plan for the accomplishment of a certain purpose, and that\nthere is nothing of chance in the mysteries of life. A child may look\non while his father is putting together the works of a watch, he\ncannot judge of the adaptation of certain processes and actions, but\nhe knows that his father has made many watches before, and he judges\nfrom what _has been,_ of what _is,_ and what _shall be._ And so with\nGod's way of providence, we cannot trace the way of His operation, we\ncannot see the issue of His actions while He is at work. The workings\nare too complicated for us to trace the adaptation of the means to\nthe end. But from past results we conclude what will be the issue of\nHis present dealings, from what _has been_ we know what _shall be,_\nviz., that all will be seen to be part of a great plan or way of\naction, and that the verdict of the universe at last will be, \"just\nand true are Thy ways, Thou king of saints\" (Rev. xv. 3). Clouds and\ndarkness have been around God's working in the past, but\nrighteousness and justice have come out of the darkness, and so we\nknow it ever shall be. 3. God has a _way_ of grace. Here His way is a\nway of forgiveness through a Divine Atoner, and of sanctification\nthrough a Divine Spirit, meeting human need if that human need is\nfelt and confessed. The need of a man who has broken God's law must\nbe felt and acknowledged before the way of forgiveness and\nrestoration is brought into operation. This is the law by which men\nare loosed from the bonds of sin, \"God was in Christ, reconciling the\nworld unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them\" (2 Cor.\nv. 19). This is Jehovah's \"way of salvation.\"\n\n+II. The opposite effects of the Divine way upon opposite\ncharacters.+ \"The way of the Lord is _strength_ to the upright, but\n_destruction_ to the workers of iniquity\" (see Critical Notes). All\nmen who are not numbered with the \"upright,\" whose moral nature has\nnot been lifted up by contact with the Divine, are \"workers of\niniquity.\" Dr. David Thomas says of iniquity, \"The word is\nnegative--the want of equity. Men will be damned not merely for doing\nwrong, but for not doing the right\" (see \"The Practical Philosopher,\"\np. 132). We take the words therefore to signify the two great classes\ninto which Christ divides the world, \"He that believeth and he that\nbelieveth not\" (John iii. 18), and consider the different effect upon\nthese two opposite characters of--1. _Jehovah's way of nature._ To\nthe upright there comes strength from the contemplation of God as\nrevealed in His material works. He feels that God is a necessity to\naccount for what he sees around him. All created things speak to him\nof the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of their Maker and\nUpholder, and his faith is strengthened by this manifestation of \"the\nway of the Lord.\" He obeys the injunction of the prophet, \"_Lift up\nyour eyes on high and behold, who hath created these things, that\nbringeth out their host by number; He callest them all by names, by\nthe greatness of His might, for He is strong in power, not one\nfaileth._\" And thence he draws the prophet's argument, \"_That the\neverlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,\nfainteth not, neither is weary,_\" that \"_He giveth power to the\nfaint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength,_\" and\nin thus \"_waiting upon the Lord_\" he \"_renews his strength,_\" he\n\"_runs and is not weary, he walks and does not faint_\" (Isa.\nxl. 26-31). But how different is the effect of the works of nature,\nwhen the God of nature is not acknowledged. They harden men in\nmaterialism, God's own laws are used to bow Him out of His own\nuniverse, and their working becomes so many forces of destruction\nbecause they drive men further from their only hope and help. As Paul\ntells us, such men \"_hold_ (back) _the truth in_ (or, by)\n_unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest\nin_ (or, to) _them; for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible\nthings of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being\nunderstood by the things that are made, even His Eternal Power and\nGodhead._\" But, \"_professing themselves wise, they became fools, and\nworshipped and served the creature more than the Creator_\" (see Rom.\ni. 18-32). This is destruction to any man. 2. _Of Jehovah's way of\nprovidence._ Faith in a personal God, in a Divine Saviour, makes this\n\"way\" also \"strength to the upright.\" If a seaman has faith in his\ncaptain, this gives him strength for his duty even in the roughest\nweather. He feels that he is not altogether left to the mercy of the\nblind elements, but that there is a strong and wise will guiding the\nship. So confidence in an All-wise Father, in a King who \"can do no\nwrong,\" is the stronghold of the upright amidst all the apparent\ncontradictions and mysteries of life. He knows who is at the wheel of\nall human affairs, that\n\n \"When He folds the cloud about Him,\n Firm within it stands His throne;\"\n\nand the knowledge that \"God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at\nall,\" makes what would otherwise overwhelm him in Doubt, and\nconsequently in weakness, a source of strength, a power of life. But\nwhere God is not known, this confidence is absent, and nothing but\nchance, or an arbitrary Judge, sits upon the throne of the Universe.\nThe terrible perplexities of life are like the rings of the wheels in\nEzekiel's vision, \"so high that they are dreadful,\" and, as such a\nman does not discern above them the \"man upon the throne\" (Ezek.\ni. 18-20), they are to him only mighty and resistless engines of\ndestruction. 3. _Of Jehovah's way of grace._ The upright man has\ngained his strength to be upright from the way of Divine forgiveness.\nEven a child feels stronger when assured of his father's restored\nfavour, and the forgiveness of God sets a man upon his feet and gives\nhim that \"joy of the Lord\" which is \"strength\" (Neh. viii. 10).\nUnforgiven sin breaks the bones of the soul. \"When I kept silence, my\nbones waxed old,\" but \"I said I will confess my transgressions unto\nthe Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.\" \"Make me to\nhear joy and gladness: that the bones which Thou hast broken may\nrejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine\niniquities\" (Psa. xxxii. 3-5, li. 8, 9). And he gains strength to\ncontinue in the way of uprightness by communion with an unseen\nSaviour, by the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost. Christ is \"the\npower of an endless life\" to all who believe in Him (Heb. vii. 16).\nThis is the \"_way_\" or _law_ of the kingdom of grace. \"To as many as\nreceived Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even\nto them that believe on His name\" (John i. 12). But to those who\nreject the way of grace, this \"righteousness of God\" (Rom. iii. 22),\nthis \"way of salvation,\" becomes a power of destruction; that which\nwas ordained to be a \"savour of life\" becomes a \"savour of death.\"\nChrist crucified is a stumbling-block and foolishness to such (1 Cor.\ni. 23). \"Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken; but on\nwhomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder\" (Matt.\nxxi. 44). The way of Jehovah is in no instance the _cause_ of the\ndestruction of the wicked but it must be the _occasion._ The words\nand works of Christ were the _occasion_ but not the _cause_ of the\ngreat national sin of the Jewish nation. \"If I had not come and\nspoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak\nfor their sin. If I had not done among them the works which none\nother man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and\nhated both me and my Father\" (John xv. 22-24). The knife in the hand\nof the surgeon is an instrument to save life, but the patient may use\nit to kill himself if he be so minded. A candle may be used to give\nlight and comfort to all in the house--this is its use with regard to\nhonest men--but the same light may be the means of the discovery and\npunishment of a thief. The light and heat of the sun, falling upon a\nbed of flowers fills the air with fragrance and the spirit of man\nwith delight, but if it fall upon a noisome stagnant pool, or a dead\nbody, it will hasten decomposition and spread the seeds of disease\nand death. It is not the nature of sunlight to destroy, but the\nobjects upon which it falls turns the blessing into a curse. So with\n\"the grace of God which bringeth salvation\" (Titus ii. 11). \"It is\nnot true,\" says Maclaren, \"that every man that rejects Christ does in\nverity _reject_ Him, and not merely _neglect_ Him; that there is\nalways an effort, that there is a struggle, feeble, perhaps, but\nreal, which ends in the turning away. It is not that you stand there,\nand simply let Him go past. That were bad enough; but it is more than\nthat. It is that you turn your back upon Him! It is not that His hand\nis laid on yours, and yours remains dead and cold, and does not open\nto clasp it; but it is that His hand being laid on yours, you clench\nyours the tighter, and _will not_ have it. And so every man (I\nbelieve) that ever rejects Christ does these things thereby--wounds\nhis own conscience, hardens his own heart, makes himself a worse man,\njust because he has had a glimpse, and his willingly, almost\nconsciously, 'loved darkness rather than light.' The message of love\ncan never come into a human soul, and pass away from it unreceived,\nwithout leaving that spirit worse, with all its lowest\ncharacteristics strengthened, and all its best ones depressed, by the\nfact of rejection. . . . If there were no judgment at all, the\nnatural result of the simple rejection of the Gospel is that, bit by\nbit, all the lingering remains of nobleness that hover about the man,\nlike scent about a broken vase, shall pass away; and that, step by\nstep, through the simple process of saying, 'I will not have Christ\nto rule over me,' the whole being shall degenerate, until manhood\nbecomes devilhood, and the soul is lost by its own want of faith\"\n(See Sermons, Vol. I. p. 7). And so it is all with man, and in no\ndegree with God, that \"His way,\" which He intends to be the fortress,\nthe strength of every human soul, becomes a destruction to \"the\nworkers of iniquity.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis promise implies help for our work, and not rest from our labour.\nWe shall have _strength_ for the conflict. But \"there is no discharge\nfrom the war.\" There is supply for real, not for imaginary, wants;\nfor present, not for future, need. The healthful energy of the man of\nGod is also supposed. He is alive in the way; his heart is set in it.\nThis makes it practicable. What before was drudgery is now meat and\ndrink. Indeed, the more godly we are, the more godly we shall be. The\nhabit of grace increases by exercise. One step helps on the next.\nThus was the way of the Lord strength to the upright Nicodemus. His\nfirst step was feebleness and fear. Walking onwards, he waxed\nstronger; standing up in the ungodly council, and ultimately the bold\nconfessor of his Saviour when his self-confident disciples slunk back\n(John iii. 2, vii. 50, xix. 39). . . . Thus \"the righteous shall hold\non their way, going from strength to strength,\" strengthened in the\nLord, and walking up and down in His name (Job xvii. 9; Psa.\nlxxxiv. 5-7; Zech. x. 12). . . . No such resources support the\nworkers of iniquity. Captives instead of soldiers, they know no\nconflicts; they realize no need of strength.--_Bridges._\n\nThe way of the earth doth weary them that walk in it, and doth take\naway their strength: but _the way of the Lord is strength to the\nupright,_ so that the more they go _in_ it, the more able are they to\ngo _on_ in it. Or else because he walketh in the ways of God's most\ngracious providence over him, and that must needs be a strength unto\nhim. A strong staff, that is, to support him, a strong bulwark to\ndefend him, a strong arm to fight for him. The angel, therefore,\nmight well say to Gideon, \"Thou mighty man of valour\" when he had\nfirst said, \"The Lord is with thee.\" But as the way of the Lord is\nupright the way of His gracious providence over them, so He hath\nanother way for the _workers of iniquity,_ and that is the way of\njudgment.--_Jermin._\n\n_Sin is man's destruction._ 1. Sin brings many evils upon man, from\nwhich, if he were virtuous, he would be totally free, such as a\ndecayed body, a wounded conscience, a disconnected heart, vexation in\nthe present, fear for the future. 2. Fear puts man out of condition\nto render tolerable those evils which he cannot avoid. He feels the\nburden of them in all their pressure because he is destitute of the\nsupports of reliance and hope. He cannot perceive in his afflictions\nthe hand of a father, but is forced to confess them the punishment of\nan offended sovereign. 3. Sin prevents man from the full enjoyment of\nthe good which outweighs the evil in the world. The Christian finds\npleasure in the works of creation, the methods of providence, in\nbeneficence, in friendship, in domestic happiness. Sin deprives us of\na taste for these pleasures by enervating the mind, by selfishness,\nby pride. 4. Sin incapacitates us for the state of pure and perfect\nhappiness in the world to come.--_Zollikofer._\n\nSometimes, by the way of the Lord, the observing of God's law,\nsometimes the course of God's providence is meant in Scripture, as\nhere in this place. It is said to strengthen the upright, not only\nfor that it fortifieth their hearts, but because it preserveth them\nby sundry means from destruction. The manner of the Lord's desiring\nwith the wicked is quite contrary; for the Lord plagueth them and\ncrosseth them for their iniquities, and in their evil doing, even\nthroughout the whole course of their life, which is unfortunate and\nfull of many miseries.--_Muffet._\n\nThe \"_way_\" Jehovah personally walks in (as, for example, His way of\njustice) \"_is a fortress._\" To Gabriel, for instance, it is the arch\nthat shelters him for ever; to the poor saint it is a sworn certainty\nof defence; but to the wicked it is an eternal vengeance. The way of\nmercy--that is, in the cross of Christ--is life unto life to the\nsaint, and death unto death to the rebellious sinner. Elihu pictures\nthis in the outward creation (Job xxxvi. 31); \"For by them\" (that is,\nby the same elements of Nature) \"judgeth He the people; He giveth\nmeat in abundance.\" The same showers fertilise the earth, or tear to\npieces with a deluge.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.\n\nTHE EARTH THE POSSESSION OF THE RIGHTEOUS.\n\n+I. From their relation to God it is theirs now.+ The estate of an\nEnglish nobleman is the portion of all his family to a certain\nextent. They all live upon it, and partake of its productions. But\nthe eldest son has a special inheritance in it--it is the perpetual\npossession of the heir of the house, and it is therefore his in a\nsense in which it is not the property of his brothers and sisters.\n\"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof\" (Psa. xxiv. 1),\nand it is therefore the property of His children--of those who are\nHis sons and heirs (Rom. viii. 17). All men enjoy to some extent the\nblessings of the earth, but _it belongs_ only to them whom Paul\naddresses when he says, \"All things are yours, whether . . . the\nworld, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come\"\n(1 Cor. iii. 21, 22).\n\n+II. From their relation to God it shall be theirs in the future.+\nThe regenerated earth is to be the eternal abode of the righteous.\nThe glorified body of the redeemed man will have enough of his\npresent body to enable us to identify each other. Although we have\nnot now the \"body that shall be\" (1 Cor. xv. 37), there will be such\na relationship between the present and the future as shall make them\nthe same individual man. So, although the earth is to be \"a new\nearth\" (2 Pet. iii. 13), there will be that about it which will\nenable the regenerated man to recognise his old home. And if in the\nnew earth there is to dwell \"righteousness,\" it is because it is to\nbe the abode of righteous beings. On this subject see also Homiletics\non chap. ii. 21, 22.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 30. Love of home is an impulse and emotion natural to man; but\nto no people was fatherland so greatly delighted in, to none was\nexile and banishment from fatherland so dreadful a thought, as it was\nto the people of Israel. Expatriation is the worst of all evils with\nwhich the prophets threatened individuals and the people; and the\nhistory of Israel in their exile, which was a punishment of their\nnational apostasy, confirms this proverb, and explains its\nform. . . . In general, the proverb means that the righteous\nfearlessly maintains the position he takes; while, on the contrary,\nall they who have no hold on God lose also their outward position.\nBut often enough this saying is fulfilled in this, that they, in\norder that they may escape disgrace, become wanderers and fugitives,\nand are compelled to conceal themselves among strangers.--_Delitzsch._\n\nThe desire of the righteous is not to stay upon earth, neither is\nthat the reward which God hath appointed for them. They know a better\nplace to go unto, and where better things that the earth can afford\nare provided for them. Hugo de Sancto Victore saith, therefore,\nmaking three sorts of men, \"He is very delicate whose own country is\ndelicious unto him; he is valiant to whom every country is his own;\nhe is perfect to whom the world is a banishment. The first hath\nfastened his love upon the world, the second hath scattered his love\nin the world, the last hath extinguished his love from the world.\"\nAnd this is the _righteous man_ of whom it is here said that he shall\nnever be removed, because he shall never be taken hence with an\nunwilling and reluctant mind. He having never set his affection upon\nthe world, can never be _removed_ from it. When he goeth hence, he\ngoeth cheerfully and gladly; it is not a _remove_ of him, but a\npleasant passage to him.--_Jermin._\n\n_Moved,_ not _re_moved, but _shaken_ shall not be seriously\ndisturbed.--_Miller._\n\nSee also comments on chap. ii. 21, 22.\n\n\nFor Homiletics on Verse 31, see on Verses 13, 14, and 20, 21.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe figure here is of a _sprout_ or _seedling_ which has the capacity\nto grow for ever. \"_Wisdom_\" is such a tree. It grows from the mouth\nof the good man, and will grow for ever; that is, the good man will\nincessantly spread abroad wisdom. God, who is invisible, spreads\nabroad wisdom only through the creature. But the ungodly tongue,\nliterally \"_the tongue of upturnings,_\" overturning everything, and\nbeing in this world the great instrument for leading others astray,\nwill be put in a condition to be foiled of such an influence: as the\ninspired sentence expresses it, will be \"_cut out._\"--_Miller._\n\nAs a tree full of life and sap brings forth its fruit, so in Isaiah,\nlvii. 19, the cognate word is translated \"the fruit of the lips.\" The\nfroward tongue is like a tree that brings forth evil and not good\nfruit. It \"shall be cut down.\" What is meant is, that the abuse of\nGod's gift of speech will lead ultimately to its forfeiture. There\nshall, at last, be the silence of shame and confusion.--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.\n\nACCEPTABLE WORDS.\n\n+I. The righteous man knows what words are acceptable to God from a\nstudy of Divine laws.+ The courtier knows how to approach his\nking--in what words to address him--because he has made himself\nacquainted with the laws of the court. The righteous man is well\nacquainted with the laws of the kingdom of God, and, being so, he\nknows how to draw near to the Divine King--he sets his words in order\nbefore Him as the wood is laid in order upon the altar for the\nsacrifice. God has not left man in ignorance of what kind of words\nare acceptable to Him (Hosea xiv. 2; Mal. iii. 16; Matt. vi. 9;\nEphes. v. 19, 20, etc).\n\n+II. He knows what words are acceptable to men from a study of their\ncharacter.+ Man's character is a prophecy of the kind of words that\nwill be acceptable. The righteous man makes it his business, and\nregards it as his duty to frame his speech--so far as it is\nconsistent with righteousness--in such a manner that those to whom he\nspeaks will be won to listen to his words.\n\n+III. He speaks what are acceptable words from the habit of his\nheart.+ It is natural for a good tree to bear good fruit, and it is\nthe nature of a righteous man to speak words of humility and faith to\nhis God and of kindness to his fellow-men. As the tree is, so is the\nfruit. As the man's heart is, so, with rare exceptions, are his\nwords. (See on verse 20.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 32. The plain sense is, that the righteous speak those things\nwhereby they have the favour both of God and man, and whereby they\nare in friendship and peace both with heaven and earth. But the mouth\nof the wicked careth not to offend either God or man, and seeketh not\nfor love anywhere, being wholly pleased in perverseness. But many\nknow what is _acceptable_ to God and man, but their lips do not know\nit. So the liar knoweth truth to be _acceptable_ to God and man, but\ntheir lips _do not know it:_ the profane person knoweth prayer to be\nacceptable, but his lips do not know it: the ill governor knoweth the\nreproof of vice to be acceptable, but his lips do not know it: the\nbrawler knoweth mildness of speech to be acceptable, but his lips do\nnot know it. Yea, the lips also of many speak that which is\nacceptable, but their lips do not know it; their speaking of it being\nin such a manner as maketh that which pleaseth God and pleaseth man,\nand he speaks it in a pleasing manner. Or else as _Clemens\nAlexandrinus_ readeth, the lips of the righteous know high things in\nspeaking the high praises of the highest God, and in opening the\ntruth of high things unto men.--_Jermin._\n\nHow, what, when, to whom to speak, is a matter of great wisdom. Yet\nthis consideration of _acceptableness_ must involve no sacrifice of\nprinciple. Let it be a considerate accommodation of _mode_ to the\ndiversities of tastes; a forbearance with lesser prejudices and\nconstitutional infirmities; avoiding not all offences (which\nfaithfulness to our Divine Master forbids), but all _needless_\noffences, all uncalled-for occasions of design and irritation. \"The\nmeekness of wisdom\" should be clearly manifested in Christian\nfaithfulness (Jas. iii. 13). Thus Gideon melted the frowardness of\nthe men of Ephraim (Judg. viii. 2, 3). Abigail restrained David's\nhands from blood (1 Sam. xxv. 23, 33). Daniel stood fearless before\nthe mighty monarch of Babylon (Dan. iv. 27). Their lips knew what was\nacceptable, and their God honoured them.--_Bridges._\n\n\nHOMILY ON THE ENTIRE CHAPTER. The pious and ungodly compared in\nrespect--1. To their earthly good; 2. To their worth in the eyes of\nmen; 3. To their outward demeanour in intercourse with others; 4. To\ntheir disposition of heart as this appears in their mien, their\nwords, their acts; 5. To their diverse fruits, that which they\nproduce in their moral influence upon others; 6. To their different\nfates as awarded to them at last in the retribution of\neternity.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Just weight,+ literally, \"a stone of\ncompleteness, a full stone.\" Stone was a very ancient material for\nweight; not rusting, it was not changeable. +2.+ Literally, \"there\nhath come pride, there will come shame.\" Stuart reads, \"Does pride\ncome, then shame will come.\" +3. Guide,+ \"lead\" \"as a shepherd his\nsheep, and therefore in the path of safety and peace\" (_Stuart_).\n+Perverseness,+ \"slipperiness,\" \"falseness.\" +Destroy.+ An intensive\nword in the Hebrew, \"to lay hold of them with violent force\"\n(_Stuart_). +5. Direct,+ \"make smooth or even.\" +6. Naughtiness,+\n\"cravings,\" \"desires,\" \"covetousness.\" +7. His+ and +men+ are not in\nthe original, and the verse is variously rendered. Stuart reads,\n\"When the wicked die, all the hopes perish; and when they are\nafflicted, their expectation of recovery or alleviation will be\nfrustrated.\" Z\u00f6ckler--\"With the death of the wicked hope cometh to\nnought, and the unjust expectation has perished.\" Miller--\"By the\ndeath of a wicked man hope is lost, and the expectation of sorrowing\nones is lost already.\" +9.+ Z\u00f6ckler here reads, \"The hypocrite with\nhis mouth destroyeth his neighbour, but by the knowledge of the\nrighteous shall they (the neighbours) be delivered.\" +12. Void of\nwisdom,+ literally, \"of heart.\" Z\u00f6ckler inverts the phrase, \"He that\nspeaks contemptuously of his neighbour lacketh wisdom.\" +13.+ \"He who\ngoeth about as a slanderer.\" +14. Counsel,+ literally, \"pilotage,\"\n\"steersmanship.\" +15. Suretyship,+ literally \"striking hands.\" See\nnotes and Illustrations on chap. vi. 1. Stuart translates this verse,\n\"An evil man showeth himself as evil when he giveth pledge to a\nstranger,\" _i.e.,_ by hastily pledging himself and then not redeeming\nhis pledge. +16.+ Last clause \"as strong men retain,\" or \"grasp at\nriches.\" +17.+ Or, \"He who doeth good to himself is a merciful man,\nbut he who troubleth his own flesh is cruel.\" So Stuart and Miller,\nZ\u00f6ckler and Delitzsch read as the Authorised Version. +18.+ \"The\nwicked gaineth a deceptive result, but he that soweth righteousness a\nsure reward\" (Z\u00f6ckler). +21.+ The Hebrew here is simply +\"hand to\nhand, the wicked,\"+ etc. Z\u00f6ckler and Delitzsch understand it as a\nformula of strong asservation derived from the custom of becoming\nsurety by clasping hands, and hence equivalent to \"assuredly,\"\n\"verily,\" \"I pledge it.\" Stuart says, \"Different meanings have been\nassigned. 1. Hand against hand, _i.e.,_ the injurious man. 2. From\none hand to another, _i.e.,_ from one generation to another.\n3. Joining hands in way of assurance--\"verily.\" All these are little\nbetter than guesses. The phrase is evidently proverbial and doubtless\nabridged. The most simple interpretation is that of Michael, \"Hand\njoined to hand will not protect the guilty. Let the evil man struggle\nwith all his might he will not escape.\" +23. Wrath,+ _i.e.,_ God's\nwrath (Z\u00f6ckler). +25. Liberal soul,+ \"the soul of blessing,\" _i.e.,_\n\"the soul that blesses others.\" +27. Procureth,+ rather \"seeketh.\"\n+Favour,+ _i.e.,_ God's favour. So it is generally understood. But\nDelitzsch reads \"He who striveth after good, seeketh that which is\npleasing,\" _i.e.,_ that which pleaseth or doeth good to others.\n+28. Branch,+ rather, \"a green leaf.\" +30.+ Or, \"the wise man\nwinneth\" or \"taketh\" souls. +31.+ Miller transposes this verse and\nreads, \"Behold the righteous on earth shall be recompensed,\" etc. +On\nearth+ may be placed either with \"the righteous,\" or with\n\"recompensed.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nJUST WEIGHT.\n\nThe judgment on a false weight is a two-fold revelation.\n\n+I. It reveals the existence of a true standard.+ We only know what\nis false by knowing what is true. If a mason looks at a stone and\ndeclares that it is uneven, he declares at the same time that there\nis such a thing as an even stone, or that there is a possibility of\nmaking a stone perfectly level and square. He reveals his knowledge\nof what is even by passing judgment upon what is uneven. When a judge\ndeclares that a man has not fulfilled the requirements of the law, he\nthereby proclaims the existence of a law which ought to have been,\nand might have been obeyed. As Paul tells us, \"Sin is not imputed\nwhere there is no law\" (Rom. v. 13). And if a weight is condemned as\nfalse, the condemnation implies that there is a certain standard of\nweight which ought to have been reached. God, who here tells men that\nHe abominates a false balance, declared by His condemnation of it\nthat there is such a thing as a true weight: that there is that which\nHe recognises as _justice_ between man and man. And much that men\ncall \"a full stone,\" a \"fair day's wages,\" is not so regarded by God.\nIt is not dealing truly with a man to give him the smallest possible\namount for the work he does--to take advantage of his poverty or\nignorance to beat him down to the lowest sum for which his need will\ninduce him to give his labour, and thereby condemn him to all the\nevils of insufficient means. \"Behold!\" says Carlyle, \"supply and\ndemand is not the one law of Nature; cash payment is not the sole\nnexus of man with man,--how far from it! Deep, far deeper than supply\nand demand are laws, obligations sacred as man's life itself!\" This\nis the law of the Divine kingdom: \"All things whatsoever ye would\nthat man should do to you, do ye even so to them\" (Matt. vii. 12).\nLess than this is a \"false balance,\" this is the \"full stone,\" which\nis God's \"_delight._\"\n\n+II. It reveals the character of God.+ If a man declares that certain\nactions are displeasing to him, the declaration reveals his\ncharacter: if the actions that he hates are wicked in themselves and\nhurtful to men, his hatred of them proclaims his own righteousness\nand benevolence. That God is a hater of false weights and measures in\nevery sense and of every kind proclaims Him to be a God of mercy and\ntruth, a Ruler who will Himself \"not pervert judgment,\" who \"will not\nlay upon man more than right,\" but who will \"give everyone according\nto his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings\" (Job\nxxxiv. 12, 13; Jer. xxxii. 19). And the text likewise proclaims God's\nnotice of what men sometimes call little things. The farthing kept\nback from the child, and the ounce taken from the pound, are as much\nmarked by Him as the short wages given to the man, the unjust\nsentence passed upon the prisoner. Dr. Guthrie says \"God sees the\nwater in the milk, and the sand in the sugar.\" There are no great and\nsmall transactions in a moral sense, one action contains the sin as\nmuch as another.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn this emphatic reproduction of the old rule of Deut. xxv. 13, 14,\nwe may find, perhaps, a trace, as in chap. vi. 1, of the growing\ncommerce of the Israelites, and the danger of dishonesty incidental\nto it. While the words have a wider range and include all unequal and\nunrighteous judgments, there can be no doubt that the literal meaning\nis the prominent one. The stress laid on the same sin in chaps.\nxvi. 11, xx. 10, bears witness to the desire of the teacher to\neducate the youth of Israel to a high standard of integrity, just as\nthe protest of Hosea against it (ch. xii. 7) shows the zeal of the\nprophet in rebuking what was becoming more and more a besetting\nsin.--_Plumptre._\n\nHither may be referred corruptions in courts, and partialities in\nChurch businesses. See that tremendous \"charge\" to do nothing by\npartiality or by \"tilting the balance\" (1 Tim. v. 21). Those that\nhave the \"balances of deceit in their hand\" (Hosea xii. 7) are called\nCanaanites, so the Hebrew hath it, that is, mere natural men (Ezek.\nxvi. 3), that have not goodness in them, no, not common honesty; they\ndo not as they would be done by, which very heathens\ncondemned.--_Trapp._\n\nSurely he that weighs in a false balance is himself weighed by God in\na balance of justice, and for the gain he gets he getteth to himself\nfrom the Lord His just abomination; not only His dislike or\ncondemnation of it, but the _abomination_ because it is a theft\ncloaked with the colour of justice, even the exact justice of\nweighing. But a just balance is such a delight unto God as that He\ndelighteth, as it were, to be a seller in that shop, and that He\nmaketh others to delight to come and buy at it. Surely such a\n\"perfect stone\" (see Hebrew) is a perfect jewel, and a precious stone\nin the sight of God. But in a spiritual sense there is no such false\nbalance as when man weigheth heavier than God, earth heavier than\nheaven, the pleasures of sin heavier than the crown of glory, a\nmomentary contentment heavier than eternal blessedness. And justly\nare such false balances an abomination to the Lord. But that is a\njust weight whereby the light vanity of worldly things is rightly\nperceived, the levity of earthly greatness is truly discerned, the\nweightiness of God's promises is duly considered, the heaviness of\nGod's threatenings is carefully apprehended. Such a weight is God's\ndelight, doth overbalance all whatsoever the world delighteth\nin.--_Jermin._\n\nThat which is hurtful to our brother is hateful to God, and therefore\ncan never be helpful to us. If He judge it unrighteous we shall find\nit unprofitable: if it be damnable in His sight, and therefore His\nsoul doth hate it, it will at last be in our sense, and our souls\nshall rue it. Here is consolation to them that do constantly and\nconscionably addict themselves to the practice of equity. None hath\ntruly learned this but such as have been apprentices to heaven, whom\nthe Lord hath informed in the mysteries of that trade.--_Dod._\n\nWeight and balance are judicial institutions of the Lord, and every\nweight is His work. But marriage compacts, also political\nconfederacies, civil compacts, judgments, penalties, etc., are\nordinances of Divine wisdom and justice, and are effectively\nsuperintended by God.--_Melanchthon._\n\nThis is repeated with varied language three times (xvi. 11; xx. 10,\n23). The tendency of all commentators is to treat it as descriptive\nof _men._ It seems conspicuously to be asserted of the Almighty.\nSentences like chap. x. 29 make the doctrine a very timely one, that\nGod is in His very essence just; that He takes no liberties of an\narbitrary nature; that He is the administrator, not at all of fate,\nfor this is blind and unreasoning, but of eternal rectitude; that we\nneed give ourselves no care of our government, for that He has no\ntemptation to do us wrong, because \"false balances\" are an\nabomination to Jehovah. \"_Delight_\" is rather a strong version. It\nonly means that the Almighty has the eternal _desire_ to be\nabsolutely just. Omniscience, _omnipotence,_ and this _desire_ must\nmake an immaculate administration. God will not, by a false balance,\nbecome an abomination to Himself.--_Miller._\n\nCommerce is a providential appointment for our social intercourse and\nmutual helpfulness. It is grounded with men upon human faith, as with\nGod upon Divine faith. Balance, weights, money are its necessary\nmaterials. Impositions, double dealings, the hard bargain struck with\nself-complacent shrewdness (chap. xx. 14)--this is the false balance\nforbidden alike of the law and of the Gospel (Matt. vii. 12; Phil.\niv. 8).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nPRIDE AND HUMILITY.\n\n+I. Pride comes to the human spirit.+ \"When pride _cometh._\" There\nare certain weeds that come at certain seasons of the year without\nbeing sent for or desired. They tarry not for the will of man, but\nappear in the most well-kept gardens and in the most carefully tilled\nfield. The only will that the proprietor has in the matter is whether\nthey shall be allowed to stay. If they stay, they will assuredly\nspread and increase in strength. Self-sown plants are the first to\nspring up in the ground, and will be the last to disappear. Nothing\nwill kill them but uprooting and consuming the entire plant by fire.\nSo pride will spring up in the human heart. The seeds are there, and\nthe soul is congenial to their germination and growth. According to\nthe highest authority on the subject, pride is its natural outgrowth.\n\"For from within, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts . . .\npride\" etc. (Mark vii. 21, 22). The question for every man to settle\nwhen pride comes up in the blade, is whether it shall be allowed to\ngo on to the full ear--whether the feeling shall be allowed to remain\nuntil it is manifested in action, or whether the fire of the Holy\nGhost shall be called in to consume the very root. \"Pride,\" says\nAdams, \"is like the heart, the first thing that lives and the last\nthing that dies in us.\"\n\n+II. When pride is permitted to remain, shame will follow.+\n1. _Because it tends to ingratitude._ If a man permits a wrong\nestimate of himself to grow up and strengthen within him, growing\ndaily in a sense of his own importance and his own deserts, he will\nsoon be ungrateful to men for their acts of goodwill, and to God for\nthe position in which He has placed him in the world. Ingratitude is\na high road to shame before God and before men, because it prevents\nmen from taking advantage of present opportunities. 2. _Because it\nkeeps men ignorant._ There is a shame arising from ignorance, when\nmen have had no opportunities of acquiring knowledge. But pride leads\nmen to refuse instruction when it is offered to them, and thus it\nleads to wilful ignorance, which, being _wilful,_ is doubly\n_shameful._ 3. _Because it makes men useless._ If a man has received\nmany gifts from the Divine hand and yet lacks that\nspiritual-mindedness and humility which is the salt to season them\nand make them acceptable to the hearts and consciences of mankind, he\nwill be to them like a fountain of beautiful and polished marble\nwithout any water, and will only vex the thirsty traveller by\nreflecting the rays of light from the basin which he hoped to find\nfilled with water. He is a cloud without water, lovely to the eye,\nbut not refreshing to the thirsty land. And men will turn from and\ndespise _gifts_ without _graces,_ especially the grace of humility.\n\n+III. Lowly men are wise men, and are in the way of becoming wiser.+\n1. _This we know from the Divine promise._ \"I dwell in the high and\nholy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit\"\n(Isa. lvii. 15). From the nature of things, those who are alike in\ncharacter will seek to dwell together. The good and the bad each go\n\"to their own company\" in this world, and must do so in every world.\nThere is no pride in the Divine character: \"He humbleth Himself to\nbehold the things that are in heaven and in the earth\" (Psa.\ncxiii. 6). Because He can rightly estimate everything and every\nperson, pride cannot dwell with Him. Therefore He dwells with those\nwho are like Himself, and the man with whom God dwells, and who is\n\"taught of the Lord\" (Isa. liv. 13), must be ever increasing in\nwisdom. 2. _This we know from experience._ The wisest men in the\nworld, the men who are most able to teach others, are those who have\nbeen willing first to stoop to learn: those who have been willing to\ntheir own ignorance and need, and so have been willing to sit at the\nfeet of those who knew more than they did. Wise men are always lowly\nin estimating their present acquirements, whether of intellect or\ncharacter, and this keeps them in the way of ever becoming wiser.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nTrite as the words now are, the appearance in many languages of the\nsame maxim points to the delight with which men have in all ages\nwelcomed this statement of a fact of general experience, in which\nthey saw also a proof of a Divine government. A Rabbinic paraphrase\nof the latter clause is worth quoting: \"Lowly souls become full of\nwisdom as the low place becomes full of water.\"--_Plumptre._\n\nWhere pride is in the saddle, shame is on the crupper. He is a \"proud\nfool\" saith our English proverb. But \"God gives grace to the humble\"\n(Jas. iv. 6); that is, as some sense it, good repute and report among\nmen. Who am I? saith Moses; and yet who fitter than he to go to\nPharaoh? He refused to be called Pharaoh's daughter's son; he was\nafterwards called to be Pharaoh's god. (Exod. vii. 1.)--_Trapp._\n\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar was bragging of his Babel which he had built for\nhis glory, he was banished from all habitation, not having so much as\na cottage, and like a beast made to lie among the beasts of the\nfield, with ignominy. When Haman thought to ride on horseback and to\nbe baited on like a king, he was driven to lackey on foot, and to\nwait attendance like a page, and purposing to hang Mordecai on high\nto honour himself, he prepared a high gallows to be hanged on\nhimself. When Herod thought himself good enough to take on him the\nstate and honour of a god, the Lord declared him to be bad enough to\nbe devoured of contemptible vermin. . . . Whereas the humble are\nalways in the way of preferment, either to come to honour in a great\nplace, or for honour to come to them in a mean place.--_Dod._\n\nIt is the prayer of David, _Let not the foot of pride come against\nme, or unto me:_ for pride and shame ride in one chariot, they come\nboth together; he that entertaineth the one, must entertain the\nother. And howbeit pride set open her bravery, and shame awhile be\nmasked, yet shame at length shall open itself, and pride shall not be\nseen. For how can shame choose but be joined with pride, which, says\nSt. Ambrose, knows not how to stand, and when it is fallen, is\nignorant how to rise. On the other side, although lowliness goes on\nfoot, yet wisdom is her companion, which not only preserveth the\nlowly from shame, but highly advanceth them in the esteem of God and\nman. And indeed what greater wisdom is there than humility, which,\nsays St. Ambrose again, by desiring nothing, obtaineth all that is\ndespised by it.--_Jermin._\n\nThe folly and wickedness of pride--1. _Of station._ \"Man will not\nlong abide in honour, seeing he may be compared to the beast that\nperisheth\" (Psa. xlix. 12). In the sight of God, the greatest and\nproudest of men are but dust and ashes. 2. _Of birth._ Even an\nancient heathen could see its absurdity and say, \"As to family and\nancestors, and what we have not done ourselves, can scarcely be\ncalled ours.\" We certainly had no hand in producing these\ndistinctions. 3. _Of riches._ They cannot give dignity of character,\nsuperiority of intellect, vigour of body, peace of conscience, or any\none of those advantages which form the chief blessings of life.\n4. _Of talent or learning._ A disease, an accident, may overset the\nmind, and turn all our light into utter darkness, and even should our\nabilities and learning continue with us till the end of our days here\nbelow, they must then vanish and be extinguished. It was the\nconsciousness of their uncertain and transient endurance, as well as\ntheir imperfection, that made the wise Agur say, \"Surely I am more\nbrutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man;\" and\nwhich drew from Solomon the confession, \"In much wisdom there is much\ngrief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow\" (Eccles.\ni. 18). 4. _Of beauty._ \"All flesh is grass, and the goodliness\nthereof is as the flower of the field.\" 5. _Of spiritual pride._ Of\nall description of guilt this appears to be the most odious to God\nand unbecoming to man, and as such is denounced throughout the\nScriptures. Everlasting shame is made the portion of every one \"that\nexalteth himself.\"--_Warner._\n\nGabriel is the prince. He is solely from the Spirit. It is because\nGod gave him the Spirit that he remained in grace; and it was because\nGod took the Spirit that Satan fell into apostasy. _Pride,_\ntherefore, is a mad vanity. If \"false balances\" are an abomination to\nGod, He would not be apt to let \"pride\" flourish. And yet pride does\nflourish in worldly things. The \"shame\" here must mean that spiritual\ncontempt which looks to the whole eternity. It is only (1) out of\ncontempt for him that God lets a man be proud; and it is only\n(2) contempt and shame that can follow upon the proud thought. Pride\nitself is an evidence of God's contempt. And being \"humble\" not only\n(1) invites \"Wisdom,\" and makes her feel at home; not only (2) flows\nfrom Wisdom because she is at home, but (3) actually \"_is_ Wisdom.\"\nIt would not do to say, Has humility entered? There also enters\nWisdom; for humility _is_ wisdom, and could not exist unless Wisdom\nhad entered already.--_Miller._\n\nPerhaps the reference in the words before us may especially be to the\ninfluence of pride in our intercourse with men. In this view of them\nthey are verified in different ways. For example--the manifestation\nof pride,--of supercilious loftiness and self-sufficiency--strongly\ntempts others to spy out defects, and to bring down the haughty man\nfrom his imaginary elevation. Everyone takes a pleasure in plucking\nat him, and leaving the laurel-wreath which he has twined for his own\nbrow as bare of leaves as possible; and thus to cover him with\n\"shame.\" Another way in which it tends to \"shame\" is, that it leads\nhim who is the subject of it to undertake, in the plenitude of his\nconfident self-sufficiency, to fill stations for which he is\nincompetent; by which means he, ere long, exposes himself to the\nderision or the pity of his fellows. He shortly finds himself in the\nposition of those described in our Lord's parable, who \"choose for\nthemselves the highest seats,\" but in the end, abashed and\ncrest-fallen, \"begin with shame to take the lowest rooms.\" That\nparable (Luke xiv. 7-11) is a graphic commentary on the words before\nus.--_Wardlaw._\n\nPride was the principle of the fall (Gen. iii. 5), and, therefore,\nthe native principle of fallen man (Mark vii. 22). When pride had\nstripped us of our honour, then--not till then--_cometh shame_ (Gen.\niii. 7, with ii. 25). This is the wise discipline of our God to\nscourge the one by the other. . . . What a splendour of wisdom shone\nin the lowly child \"sitting at the doctors' feet, astonishing them at\nHis understanding and His answers\" (Luke ii. 47). And will not this\nSpirit be to us the path of Wisdom? For the Divine Teacher \"reveals\nto the babes what He hides from the wise and prudent.\"--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nTHE INFALLIBLE GUIDE.\n\n+I. The upright man is in danger.+ To say that a man needs a guide is\nto say that he is exposed to some kind of danger--that the path which\nhe has to tread is one in which it is possible to sustain loss of\nsome kind. A man does not need a guide when he is walking in a road\nwhere he knows every step of the way, where his path lies straight\nbefore him, beset with no danger. An upright man hath much to lose.\nHe can lose much in losing _one_ thing, he can, indeed, lose _all_ in\none thing, his all for time and eternity, viz., his _moral\ncharacter._ If his uprightness of character sustains any loss, if any\nstain is permitted to fall upon _that,_ it will only regain its\nerectness and purity at the cost of much pain and time. What was\ngained with difficulty at first will be harder to regain. It is\nup-hill work to redeem a lost character, and if it is not redeemed,\nexistence is cast away and the man is said to be _lost. And the very\nfact that a man is godly places him in danger._ The thief is never\nfound measuring the height of the wall or testing the security of the\nlocks of the house where poverty reigns. He does not haunt such a\ndwelling, and reckon up the opposition he would be likely to meet\nwith _there._ Such a house has no attraction for him, and is safe\nfrom all danger so far as he is concerned, because there is no silver\nor gold there. But the house filled with plate and jewels is the one\naround which he paces with stealthy steps, and whose means of defence\nand unguarded doors or windows he takes note of. Such a house draws\nhim towards it as the magnet draws the needle. So the godless man has\nlittle or no attraction for the enemy of souls. The very poverty of\nhis moral nature renders him an unattractive object to the great\nthief of character. But an upright man he considers a foeman worthy\nof his steel, and the rich graces that dwell within the heart of such\na one have a magnetic power for him who was \"a murderer from the\nbeginning\" (John viii. 44), and for all his emissaries and agents,\nwhether they be devils or men.\n\n+II. The infallible guide for the godly or upright man: Integrity.+\nWhat is integrity? Dr. Bushnell says: \"As an integer is a whole, in\ndistinction from a fraction, which is only a part, so a man of\nintegrity is a man whose aim in the right is a whole aim, in\ndistinction from one whose aim is divided, partial, or unstable. It\ndoes not mean that he has never been a sinner, or that he is not one\nnow, but simply that the intent of his soul is to do and to be wholly\nright with God and man.\" Old Simeon was such a man. It is said of him\nthat he was _just,_ that is, he was single in his purpose in relation\nto man, and that he was _devout,_ which expresses his _wholeness_ of\nhis aim in relation to God. Paul was such a man. \"What shall I do,\nLord?\"--\"This one thing I do\" was the key note of his life. (Acts\nxxii. 10; Phil. iii. 13.) 1. _This guide is one whose voice is not\neasily mistaken._ If a man sets his own interest before him as the\nguide of his life, he is very likely to be mistaken as to what his\nown interest really is even so far as regards the present life. We\nare so short-sighted as to be unable to foretell what may be the\nissue of any act of life in relation to our own personal and present\nwell-being looked at from a material point of view. If we are more\nunselfish and adopt the famous principle of \"the good of the greatest\nnumber,\" we involve ourselves in a still greater perplexity. This\nproblem is one which can be solved by God alone. But every man whose\nconscience is not wholly depraved can determine as to the right and\nwrong of his actions, and thus possesses a clue to guide him step by\nstep through every intricate path of life. Darkness of soul and\ncircumstances may at times surround him, but here is a pole-star\nwhich will shine through the gloom. \"In the darkest hour through\nwhich a human soul can pass,\" says Robertson, of Brighton, speaking\nof the doubts and perplexities to which the most sincere men are\noften the most liable, \"whatever else is doubtful this is certain,\nthat it is better to be generous than selfish, better to be chaste\nthan licentious, better to be true than false, better to be brave\nthan a coward. Blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who,\nin the tempestuous darkness of the soul, had dared to hold fast to\nthese venerable landmarks. Thrice blessed is he, who, when all is\ndrear and cheerless within and without, has obstinately clung to\nmoral good. Thrice blessed because his night shall pass into bright,\nclear day.\" Thus \"the integrity of the upright shall guide them.\"\nThis virtue is a guide as recognisable as sunlight. The eye of every\nman, in every nation, recognises the sun as the light which is the\nguide of his life; and integrity, honesty, and _complete dealing_\nbetween man and man is recognisable by every man whose conscience is\nnot wholly blinded by long-continued persistence in wickedness (see\nLuke xii. 57). 2. _It shall guide a man to happiness._ We have seen\nthat happiness or self-interest cannot be the guide of life, either\nin relation to the one man or to the many. The happiness of one man,\nin this narrow and low sense of the word, may mean misery to another;\nbut right-doing is the high road to the happiness of the individual,\nand the promoter of the happiness of all to whom he is related.\nThough happiness is not the aim of the upright man, yea, _because_ it\nis _not_ the aim of his life, he will be guided into it. The man who\ndoes right simply because it is right, and without hope of reward,\nwill have a reward. Integrity must lead to the happiness of the\nupright man. The approbation of conscience is a large element of\nblessed happiness, and the certainty that right-doing can wrong none\nof his fellow-creatures, but may add much to their well-being, is\nanother element in the reward. There is also happiness in the\npossession of a single aim, an undivided purpose in life. The\nconcentration of all a man's powers to one point increases his power\nto accomplish the task to which he has set himself. He is like a man\nsteering for the harbour, with his eye upon the compass and his hand\nupon the wheel; he is conscious of a power to carry out his purpose,\nand the certainty of success is in itself a reward. 3. _It must guide\na man to heaven._ All the \"rendering unto God the things that are\nGod's\"--loyal obedience to His conditions of salvation, and then, as\na necessary result, rendering unto their fellow-men that which is\ntheir due.\n\n\nILLUSTRATION OF THE SECOND CLAUSE OF VERSE_ 3.\n\n\"The perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.\" _A Grecian\nlegend._--An old diver was wont to boast of his skill to bring up\ntreasures from the sea. To test his power the people threw many a\ngolden coin and silver cup into deep water, all of which he brought\nto the surface with triumph. But one day a disguised fiend threw a\ntinsel crown into a whirlpool, and challenged the confident diver to\nbring it up, promising him, if he succeeded, the power to wear it,\nand to transmit it to his children. Down he sprung after the bauble,\nbut the Nereids of the sea, hearing the clangour of the crown when\nit fell upon their grottos, closed around him as he was grasping his\nprize and held him fast till he perished. The most daring may dare\nonce too often; folly, though long successful, will plunge its victim\ninto ruin at last.--_Biblical Treasury._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAll obliquity and trick in the intercourse of men is a libel on\nProvidence. Every recourse to falsehood is a direct distrust of God.\nTruth is both the shortest and the surest road in every difficulty.\nHow much labour is lost by adopting tortuous paths? A great part of\nlife's labour consists in following a crooked course, and then trying\nto make it appear a straight one. The crooked line is far more\ndifficult at the first, and the defence of it afterwards doubles the\nlabour.--_Arnot._\n\n\"I will walk in mine integrity,\" was David's staff, and in doing\nanything there is no such guide to do it well as the integrity of the\nheart. Knowledge is requisite, and is a good director: counsel may be\nneedful, and is a good conductor; but the master pilot is the\nsincerity of the heart. If that be wanting the others will not be\nfollowing, if that be present the others will not be\nwanting.--_Jermin._\n\nEveryone that is truly godly hath a faithful guide and an upright\ncounsellor in his own breast. A sound heart is the stern of the soul,\nand a good conscience is the pilot to govern it.--_Dod._\n\nA man, to be led, must have a way; and, to have a way, he must have\nan end at which he is aiming. The end of the \"upright\" man is\nrighteousness itself. If the great joy of heaven is uprightness, and\nthe price of wisdom is above rubies, of course \"integrity\" is the\nbest guide in the world, because of course righteousness is the best\nguide to righteousness; and, poor or rich, the righteous man is\nalways advancing in his treasure. Righteousness is also the best\nguide to happiness, for no good thing shall be withholden from them\nthat walk uprightly. Sin, on the other hand, by increasing itself, is\nitself its own seducer.--_Miller._\n\nSincerity is one eminent branch of the good man's character.\nNathaniel was a man without guile. We accordingly find that, though\nprejudiced against Jesus of Nazareth, his sincerity appeared in the\nmeans which he employed to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, and he\nwas led by it in the right way. Christ's enemies were men of perverse\nspirits. They crucified Him with a view to maintain their honour and\npreserve their nation; but by their perverse conduct both were\ndestroyed.--_Lawson._\n\nEvery man who comes into a state of _right intent,_ will forthwith\nalso be a Christian. Whoever is willing to be carried just where it\nwill carry him, cost him what it may, in that man the spirit of all\nsin is broken, and his mind is in a state to lay hold of Christ and\nto be laid hold of by Him. . . . \"For the eyes of the Lord run to and\nfro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf\nof them whose heart is perfect toward Him\" (2 Chron. xvi. 9). God is\non the lookout always for an honest man--him to help, and with him,\nand for him, to be strong. And if there be one, God will not miss\nhim; for His desiring, all-searching eyes are running the world\nthrough always to find him.--_Bushnell._\n\nI. The guidance of integrity is the _safest_ under which we can be\nplaced. Perfect immunity from danger is not to be expected in this\nlife. But let us inquire who the persons are that, in all the\ndifferent lines of life, have gone through the world with most\nsuccess, and we shall find that the men of probity and honour form by\nfar the most considerable part of the list; that men of plain\nunderstanding, acting upon fair and direct views, have much oftener\nprospered than men of the deepest policy, who were devoid of\nprinciple. II. It is unquestionably the most _honourable._ Other\nqualities may add splendour to character; but if this essential\nrequisite be wanting, all its lustre fades. He who rests upon an\ninternal principle of virtue and honour, will act with a dignity and\nboldness of which they are incapable who are wholly guided by\ninterest. He is above those timid, suspicious, and cautious\nrestraints which fetter and embarrass their conduct. III. This plan\nof conduct is the most _comfortable._ Amidst the various and\nperplexing events of life, it is of singular advantage to be kept\nfree from doubt as to the part most proper to be chosen. The man of\nprinciple is a stranger to those inward troubles which beset men who\nconsult nothing but worldly interest. His time is not lost, nor his\ntemper fretted, by long and anxious consultations. One light always\nshines upon him from above. One path always opens clear and distinct\nupon his view. He is also delivered from all inward upbraidings, from\nall alarms founded on the dread of discovery and disgrace. The man of\nvirtue has _committed his way to the Lord._ He co-operates with the\nDivine purpose. The power which sways the universe is engaged on his\nside. By natural consequence, he has ground to expect that any\nseeming disappointments which he may now incur shall be over-ruled in\nthe end to some salutary result. IV. He has always in view the\nprospect of _immortal rewards._ That surely is the wisest direction\nof conduct, which is most amply recompensed at last.--_Blair._\n\n\nFor Homiletics of verse 4 see chapter x. 2. The thought of the first\nclause of verses 5 and 6 is the same as that treated in verse 3.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE LATTER CLAUSES OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 6.\n\nMADE OR MARRED BY DESIRES.\n\nThe word translated \"naughtiness\" should be rendered \"lust\" or\n\"desires.\" (See Critical Notes.)\n\n+I. Sin is compliance with desires that do not harmonise with moral\nrighteousness.+ A traveller on a lonely and dangerous road may have\ntwo guides offered to him by the opposite promptings of his own mind.\nHe may have a strong desire to explore a path which looks most\npleasant and attractive but which he knows does not lead to his\ndestination, and is beset with many perils although its aspect is\ninviting. On the other hand, his good sense tells him it is unwise to\nrun the risk of injury by thus turning aside from the road that he\nknows leads to the goal which he desires to reach, although the path\nmay be rough and toilsome. If he yields to his first desire and\npursues the dangerous path until it is too late to retrace his steps,\nhe may lose his life by a false step over a precipice and so be\ndestroyed by his own desires. All men are under the dominion of\ndesires, and if their desires after God and righteousness have the\nrule they will be guided by them into the ways of deliverance and\nsafety, as we saw in considering verse 3. But if they yield\nthemselves up to the guidance of desires which run counter to the law\nof God and right, as they are made known both by conscience and\nrevelation, they sink lower and lower in the scale of moral being and\nbecome slaves when they might have been free men. \"Whosoever\ncommitteth sin is the servant of sin.\" \"Know ye not, that to whom ye\nyield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye\nobey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness\"\n(John vii. 34; Rom. vi. 16).\n\n+II. The sinner is the forger of his own fetters.+ If a man labours\nin his field, his garden, or his vineyard, in harmony with the known\nlaws which God has ordained to be observed, he may reasonably expect\na good crop--an abundant harvest. But if he sets at naught these\nlaws--if he yields to desires of self-indulgence--or in any other way\nacts contrary to the conditions which are indispensable to\nsuccess--he has no one to blame but himself if he find himself a\nbeggar when he might have had plenty. The law of God's moral universe\nis written in revelation, upon conscience, in the history of men,\nthat \"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,\" that \"The\nwages of sin is death\" (Gal. vi. 7; Rom. vi. 23). If men are \"taken,\"\nare first enslaved by sin and then suffer the penalty of sinning,\nthey have themselves digged the pit of their own destruction--have\nforged the chains by which they are bound.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 4. How badly led those are who are not righteous, appears in\nthis: that while _righteousness_ does everything for a man in\njourneying to his end, _wealth_ does nothing for him. \"Wealth,\" which\nseems to be the great guide of the human family, not only cannot\n_deliver,_ but cannot _profit_ in the crisis of fate. While\n\"_righteousness,_\" all covered with stains, lets no day go to waste;\nlets no mile be utterly lost; lets no fear ever be realised; still\ngrapples a man's hand; and still guides a man's tread, till he steps\nat last into the regions of safety.--_Miller._\n\nIt were no bad comparison to liken mere rich men to camels and mules;\nfor they often pursue their devious way, over hills and mountains,\nladen with India purple, with gems, aromas, and generous wines upon\ntheir backs, attended, too, by a long line of servants as a safeguard\non their way. Soon, however, they come to their evening\nhalting-place, and forthwith their precious burdens are taken from\ntheir backs; and they, now wearied, and stripped of their lading and\ntheir retinue of slaves, show nothing but livid marks of stripes. So,\nalso, those who glitter in gold and purple raiment, when the evening\nof life comes rushing on them, have nought to show but marks and\nwounds of sin impressed upon them by the evil use of riches.--_St.\nAugustine._\n\nRiches will not even obtain \"a drop of water to cool the tormented\ntongue\" (Luke xvi. 19-24). In vain will \"the rich men of the earth\"\nseek a shelter \"from the wrath of the Lamb\" (Rev.\nvi. 15-17).--_Bridges._\n\nWhile the words are true in their highest sense of the great _dies\nir\u00e6_ of the future, they speak, in the first instance, as do the like\nwords in Zeph. i. 15-18, of _any_ \"day of the Lord,\" any time of\njudgment, when men or nations receive the chastisement of their\nsins.--_Plumptre._\n\n\"Wherefore should I die, being so rich?\" said that wretched Cardinal,\nHenry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, in Henry VI.'s time. \"Fie,\"\nquoth he, \"will not death be lured? Will money do nothing?\"--_Trapp._\n\nIf righteousness delivereth not from the day, yet it delivereth from\nthe wrath of the day: if it deliver not from death, yet it delivereth\nfrom the death of the wicked.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 5. \"The righteousness of the man of integrity,\" is perfect only\nin heaven, and how it \"_directs_\" or \"_levels_\" his way appears best\nby the perfect facility of walking in that bright abode. It will be\nno trouble there to travel forward. While more work will be done in\nheaven than here, yet there it is done so easily that it is called a\n\"Rest.\" The paths of this world are not only difficult, but deadly.\n\"_The wicked_\" will not only struggle, but \"_fall_\" in them; and the\nroughnesses at which he stumbles are not ever in the paths\nthemselves, but really his \"_own wickedness._\"--_Miller._\n\n_Greedy desire_ (see Critical Notes) will strongly tempt men to sin,\nand so they will be ensnared.--_Stuart._\n\nThe first part of this text may be taken--I. As declaring _a fact_. A\nreal Christian takes, for direction in his way, the rule of\nrighteousness. The question that he continually puts to himself\nis--\"What ought I to do?\" This is the character of a believer in the\nabstract; and though none may lay claim to perfection, yet none can\nbe justly called believers, unless their lives in the main answer to\nthis description. II. As propounding a _promise_. It is nowhere\npromised that the righteous shall not come into trouble, but the\nstrait road goes _through_ them. The other statement of the text may\nalso be regarded--I. As an _assertion_ proved by experience. The\ndrunkard ruins his health and shortens his life by excesses. The\nspendthrift brings himself to beggary. The contentious man brings\nhimself to mischief. They often dig a pit for others and fall into it\nthemselves. II. As a _threat._ It does not always happen that men are\nvisited for their sins in this life. Still it may be said to every\nungodly man, \"Be sure your sin will find you out.\"--_B. W. Dibdin._\n\n\nVerse 6. Godliness hath many troubles, and as many helps against\ntrouble. As Moses' hand, it turns the serpent into a rod; and as the\ntree that Moses cast into the waters of Marah, it sweeteneth the\nbitter waters of affliction. Well may it be called the Divine nature,\nfor as God doth bring light out of darkness, so doth grace.--_Trapp._\n\nThere need no blocks to be laid in the way of the wicked, no enemies\nneed to thrust him down, for his own _wickedness_ being his way, by\n_that_ he shall fall. . . . Wickedness is fastened, by the devil,\nlike a cord about the wicked; by that he pulls them after him: by\nthat he makes them fall, first into shame and misery here, and into\nhell when they are gone hence.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.\n\nTHE DEATH OF THE WICKED.\n\n+I. An inevitable event in relation to a wicked man.+ \"When a wicked\nman dieth.\" He must die. \"It is appointed unto men,\"--to the good and\nto the bad--\"once to die\" (Heb. ix. 27). 1. This inevitable event is\nmost undesired by the wicked man. The certainty of any coming event\nwill make it to be dreaded in proportion as it is felt that its\nadvent must be followed by unpleasant consequences. The man who knows\nthat on a certain day of reckoning he will be unable to meet his\nliabilities, and that the day will as surely arrive as the planets\nwill hold on their way in the heavens, can only look forward to the\nfuture with the most gloomy apprehensions. That coming day is ever\nhanging over his present, and imparting a sting to every hour in\nwhich he allows his thoughts to dwell upon it. The certainty of death\nis a most painful subject of contemplation for a wicked man.\nConscience tells him that he has no resources wherewith to meet the\ndemands of that day--he knows that he is unfit to face that most\nruthless of all creditors, and the knowledge that nothing can turn\naside his footsteps is often a bitter drop in the cup of his present\napparent prosperity and security. 2. The wicked man takes refuge from\nthe thought of the _certainty_ of the _event_ in the _uncertainty_ of\nthe _time_ when it will take place. He indulges in \"hopes,\" and\n\"expectations,\" concerning the present life, because of the\nindefiniteness of its length. Although he knows that death must come\none day, he hopes that it may be many years hence. The rich fool in\nour Lord's parable knew that he must die some day--he admitted that\ncertainty. But he made the uncertainty of the time an excuse for\ntaking present ease. He refused to take into account the possibility\nthat the summons had gone forth: \"This night thy soul shall be\nrequired of thee.\" 3. The certainty of the death of the wicked is a\nmost painful subject of thought to good men. They look at the present\ncondition of the ungodly, and, knowing the indispensable and intimate\nconnection between present character and future happiness or misery,\nthe certainty of the death of the wicked man is often a more\nsaddening thought to them than to the man himself. The contemplation\nof such an event must give pain to the soul in harmony with God and\ngoodness. 4. Yet, looked at with regard to his relation with others,\nthe certainty of the death of the wicked is most desirable. If one\nportion of the body has become so diseased that the whole body is\nlikely to suffer from it, a severance between the diseased part and\nthe sound body must take place, however painful the operation may be.\nThe loss of the part is indispensable to the salvation of the rest.\nThere have been, and there are, men who are so morally diseased that\ntheir removal from the world is to be desired for the sake of others.\nIt must be regarded as a blessing for the world that the death of the\nwicked is certain. The death of one wicked man is sometimes the means\nof bringing peace to many to whom his existence was a curse. There\nare men who do the best thing for the world when they leave it--their\nexit from it is the greatest benefit they have ever conferred upon it.\n\n+II. The wicked man is in his worst condition when he has the most\nneed of being in his best.+ It is at _death_ that his expectation and\nhope perish. The time when we approach a crisis in our history is a\ntime when we need to be most furnished with all the resources that\nwill be demanded to meet it. It was more necessary that David should\nbe filled with faith and courage when he went forth to meet Goliath\nthan when he was keeping his sheep in his father's fields. When a\nyouthful candidate for academical honour comes to the day of his\nexamination, he needs to concentrate all his past days of study into\none focus. If on that day all his mental powers are not at their very\nbest, he is likely to be overwhelmed with disappointment instead of\nto be crowned with honour. It is sad indeed to be dragged down by\nfear and despair at the moment when we need all the inspiration of\nconfidence and hope to bear us up. The day of death is the great\ncrisis to which all human life is tending--it is the day when a man\nneeds every possible support to enable him to meet the solemn fact\nwith which he stands face to face. Hope of a blessed immortality\nshould then bear us up. We ought to be able to say, \"I know in whom I\nhave believed;\" \"I am now ready to be offered and the time of my\ndeparture is at hand\" (2 Tim. iv. 6). But this is the hour when a\nwicked man's hope takes wing and flies away. He is at his worst when\nhe needs to be at his best.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nMen derive almost the whole of their happiness from hope. The wicked\nman laughs at the righteous because he lives by hope; but the wicked\nman himself does the same with this difference, that whilst the hopes\nof the one are coeval with eternity, those of the other are bounded\nby time. The present situation of the wicked man never yields him the\npleasure which he wishes and expects . . . if his hope is deferred,\nhis heart is sick; if it is accomplished, he is still unsatisfied;\nbut he comforts himself with some other hope, like a child who sees a\nrainbow on the top of a neighbouring hill, and runs to take hold of\nit, but sees it as far removed from him as before. Thus the life of a\nwicked man is spent in vain wishes, and toils, and hopes till death\nkills at once his body, his hope, and his happiness.--_Lawson._\n\nIt is sad to be drawn into ruin by \"desire\" (see last verse); because\nit breeds only \"hope,\" and that is sure to perish. \"The world passes\naway, and the desire of it\" (1 John ii. 17).--_Miller._\n\nThere have been some who have questioned whether the doctrine of a\nfuture state was understood under the former dispensation. They have\nregarded that economy as to such an extent carnal, worldly, and\ntemporary, as to have excluded from it all reference to that subject.\nI might show, from many passages, the falsity of such a sentiment. In\nthis verse we have _one_ of them. Nothing can be clearer than that,\nwere there not such a future state, the expectation and hope of\nrighteous and wicked alike must perish together, and that the very\ndistinction so evidently made here between the one and the other\nproceeds upon the assumption of a state beyond the\npresent.--_Wardlaw._\n\nHe died, perhaps, in strong hopes of heaven, as those seem to have\ndone that came rapping and bouncing at heaven's gates, with \"Lord,\nLord, open to us,\" but were sent away with a \"Depart, I know you not\"\n(Matt. vii. 22). His most strong hope shall come to nothing. He made\na bridge of his own shadow and thought to go over it, but is fallen\ninto the brook. He thought he had taken hold of God; but it is but\nwith him as with a child that catcheth at the shadow on the wall,\nwhich he things he holds fast. But he only _thinks_ so.--_Trapp._\n\nHe never had any good by any hope, which hath not the fruition of his\nhope at death. Though a man should never obtain his desire in any\nearthly thing during his life, yet, if he enjoy salvation after this\nlife, he hath failed of nothing. Though a man should miss of nothing\nthat his heart could wish for, while breath is in his body, yet if he\nbe damned, when the soul goeth out of his body, he hath never gained\nanything.--_Dod._\n\nHope and expectation are long-lived things; though weak, and sick,\nand blind, yet they hold out. They live with the longest liver, and\nseldom die in any, until they die themselves in whom they are. But\nthe hope of the wicked doth not only die, but _perish_, that is, is\nlost in some unlooked-for, unthought-of manner.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nTHE WICKED COMING IN THE STEAD OF THE RIGHTEOUS.\n\n+I. This proverb must be fulfilled from the nature of the case.+ If a\nvessel is being steered straight for the rocks nothing can prevent\nher from being dashed upon them except a change of course. Nothing\nelse can avert the catastrophe, unless a supernatural power removes\nthe rock out of the way. This last cannot be; the first alternative\nrests with the will of the commander. If another vessel is going in\nan opposite direction she must as necessarily escape the doom to\nwhich the other is hastening. There is nothing of fate about their\ndifferent destinies, they are the outcome of a choice of opposite\ncourses. So with the opposite ends of the righteous and the wicked.\nDeliverance for the first, an inheritance of trouble for the latter,\nare the result of no arbitrary fate but the outcome of their pursuing\nopposite courses. Unless God will remove His everlasting laws out of\nthe universe it must be so, and to expect Him to do that is to expect\nHim to change His nature, which would be a much more dire calamity\nthan the trouble which comes upon the wicked from his course of\nwilful opposition to righteousness. For in this life it is always\nopen to a man to turn round, to change his course, and so to escape\nthe shipwreck of his existence upon the rocks of perdition. \"Let the\nwicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let\nhim return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our\nGod, for He will abundantly pardon\" (Isa. lv. 7). God will not remove\nHis righteous laws out of the sinner's way, but He holds out every\ninducement and encouragement to the transgressor to come into harmony\nwith them.\n\n+II. The proverb has received abundant illustrations in the history\nof our race.+ Pharaoh designed to drive the Israelitish nation into\nthe Red Sea and so to destroy them. God delivered them, and their\noppressors \"came in their stead.\" Daniel's persecutors planned to\ntake his life, \"the righteous man was delivered out of trouble,\" and\nhis wicked slanderers met with the death to which they had hoped to\nbring him. Instances might be multiplied in which this truth has been\nillustrated both in Scripture history and in more modern times.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is a \"righteous thing\" with God (2 Thess. i. 6, 7), though to men\nit seems an incredible paradox, and a news far more wonderful than\nacceptable, that there should be such a transmutation of conditions\non both sides, to contraries.--_Trapp._\n\nThough the afflictions of good men seem sharp and grievous, yet they\nare not perpetual. Before ever God bring His into troubles, He\nappointeth how they shall be preserved in them, and pass through\nthem, and get out of them. He doth as well see their arrival, as\ntheir launching forth, and the end of the boisterous storms which\nthey must endure as well as the beginning and entrance\nthereof.--_Dod._\n\nIn this world trouble is a common place, as the world is, both to the\nrighteous and the wicked, and it beseems them both. The one has his\nproper and due place, the other has his place of honour. For, as St.\nBasil saith, He that saith that tribulation doth not beseem a\nrighteous man, saith nothing else but that an adversary doth not\nbeseem a valiant champion. Sometimes God Himself doth put the\nrighteous into trouble, and then as the place belongeth to them, so\nSt. Chrysostom tells us, God doth it rather by the trouble to bring\nus to Himself. Sometimes the injustice or malice of men doth thrust\nthem into it, and then, God delivering them, puts the wicked in their\nplace. For this world is full of misplacings, the wicked being seated\nwhere the godly should be, the godly seated where the wicked should\nbe. God Almighty is pleased sometimes to put things in order, and,\nshowing mercy to the righteous, doth give the wicked their due\nplace.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nTHE JUST MAN DELIVERED FROM THE MOUTH OF THE HYPOCRITE.\n\n+I. We have here+--1. _A character most difficult to maintain._ The\nactor cannot always be playing his part, he must have times when his\nown individuality asserts itself--when he appears the man he really\nis. The man most in love with the dramatic art finds a few hours'\npractice at a time enough for him, and feels it a relief to throw off\nhis stage character and be himself again. He cannot, if he would, be\never trying to live in an experience that does not belong to him--be\never assuming an individuality which is not his own property. It\nwould be an intolerable burden to be always endeavouring to sustain a\npart. A hypocrite has set himself a hard task. He has undertaken to\npretend to be living a life which he knows does not belong to him,\nand which he never can possess unless his whole nature is\nregenerated. Now to keep up the deportment and to use the language\nthat belongs to a true nature must be as difficult as for a\nprofessional actor always to be playing the part of a king. The\nhypocrite must sometimes feel that his life is a sort of treadmill,\nand must sometimes be overcome by his real self in spite of all\nefforts to prevent nature from asserting her rights. No hypocrite can\nbe always in his stage dress. The character is difficult to sustain.\n2. _A character most injurious to mankind and most miserable for the\nman who owns it._ The actor plays his part by assuming the character\nof another man, but he does this without necessarily injuring himself\nor any of his fellow-creatures. But it is not so with the hypocrite.\nIf a bad man assumes the garb of a good man he tends to lessen the\nestimation of real goodness in the minds of men. The existence of\nfalse coin makes us suspicious of genuine gold. The hypocrite must be\nconscious that he is a _living lie,_ and so a living curse to his\nfellow-creatures, and this consciousness can but make him miserable.\n3. _A character in danger of becoming irreclaimable._ A man who tries\nto pass for a scholar when he is utterly ignorant is the most\ndifficult person to change into a scholar. The man who desires to be\nalways first among his fellows is the least likely to become a\nqualified leader of men. We have it on the best authority that\nwhatever such a man may desire, that \"whosoever will be chief shall\nbe a servant\" (Matt. xx. 27). He is only fit for a low position who\nis ever straining every nerve after a high one. The hypocrite is ever\ndesiring to pass for what he is not--he is ever desiring to fill a\nplace for which he is utterly unfit. He is less likely than the most\nopenly vicious man ever to become in reality that which he is ever\nseeming to be. This was the judgment of the Son of God concerning the\nhypocrites of His day: \"Verily I say unto you that the publicans and\nthe harlots go into the kingdom of God before you\" (Matt. xxi. 31).\n4. _A character most hateful to God and to man._ A hypocrite must be\ndisliked by those whose character he endeavours to personify. The\ngood must hate hypocrisy because, as we said before, it lessens the\npower of goodness in the world by making men suspect the really good.\nA hypocrite is hated by other hypocrites. If a man wants to utter\nfalse coin himself, he prefers to enjoy a monopoly of the business.\nThe more of it there is in circulation the less likely people are to\nbe deceived by it. A hypocrite is hateful to God. No sin is so\ndenounced under both the old and new dispensations as the sin of\nhypocrisy. \"Incense is an _abomination unto Me;_ the new moons and\nthe calling of assemblies, _I cannot away with it._ . . . Your new\nmoons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth\" (Isaiah i. 13, 14).\nThe God of Israel reserves these burning words for His own people,\nwho were drawing near to Him with their lips, while their hearts were\nfar from Him. The most terrible denunciations of the Son of God were\nuttered against those who were guilty of this sin. \"Woe unto you,\nScribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,\" is repeated again and again in\none discourse (Matt. xxiii).\n\n+II. The chief instrument used by the hypocrite. \"The mouth.\"+ The\npower of speech is a most precious gift of God, and is intended by\nHim to be an instrument of blessing to the human race. It is the most\nprecious instrument of good that the hypocrite is here represented as\nturning into an all-devouring weapon of destruction. He is like a man\nwho gives potent poison for healing medicine. He may have disguised\nits deadly nature under an unknown and high-sounding name, but this\nwill not lessen its deadly effects. The hypocrite is the man who\nabove all others is skilful in making words the means of concealing\nthoughts--who speaks so plausibly that men believe they are drinking\na healthful draught when they are imbibing a deadly poison. The\ntongue of the hypocrite destroys his neighbour because he makes him\nbelieve that he has his welfare at heart when he is really plotting\nhis destruction. He makes him believe that some utterly worthless\ncommercial speculation is sound and profitable, and so involves him\nin material destruction. Or he persuades him that a certain course of\ndishonest conduct is without moral danger, and so brings him into\nspiritual destruction. His neighbour's destruction is certain in\nproportion to the strength of his confidence in the words of the\nhypocrite.\n\n+III. The means of deliverance from the hypocrite's mouth.+ \"Through\nknowledge shall the just be delivered.\" The just man possesses a\nknowledge of God, and thus has a correct standard of character by\nwhich to judge men. If a man walks in the light of the sun he will be\nable to avoid pitfalls and open graves. A just man has an\nacquaintance with the character and the laws of God. He \"walks in the\nlight\" (1 John i. 7). And this gives him an insight into\ncharacter--this furnishes him with a test to \"try the spirits whether\nthey are of God\" (1 John iv. 1). The more men come into contact with\nreality the more quick will they be to detect unreality. The more men\nknow God the more correct will be the estimate they form of their\nfellow-men. The Spirit of wisdom is a Spirit of \"enlightenment\" on\nthis point as on all others (Eph. i. 18). The scripture which is the\n\"inspiration of God\" \"furnishes the man of God\" with a means of\nescape from the snare of the hypocrite's mouth (2 Tim. iii. 16). The\nknowledge which is derived from its study is a foil for the attacks\nof the most subtle seducer.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHaman, under the pretence of loyalty, would have _destroyed_ a whole\nnation (Esther iii. 8, 13). Ziba, under the same false cover, would\nhave _destroyed his neighbour_ (2 Sam. xvi. 1, 4). The lying prophet,\nfrom mere wilfulness, ruined his brother (1 Kings xiii).\n\nThen look at the hypocrite in the church--\"a ravening wolf in sheep's\nclothing,\" devouring the flock (Matt. vii. 15); \"making merchandise\nwith feigned words\" (2 Pet. ii. 1, 3); an \"apostle of Satan,\" so\ndiligent is he in his master's work of destruction (2 Cor. xi. 3,\n13). \"These false Christs,\" we are warned, \"deceive many,\" if it\n_were possible the very elect_ (Matt. xxiv. 24). . . . Learn the\nvalue of solid knowledge. Feeling, excitement, imagination, expose us\nto an unsteady profession. (Such as Eph. iv. 14.) _Knowledge_\nsupplies principle and steadfast. \"Add to your faith _knowledge_\"\n(2 Pet. i. 5).--_Bridges._\n\nHypocrites are awful stumbling blocks. Full many has the detection of\ntheir true character hardened in sin and worldliness, and established\nin infidelity. Full many have they thus destroyed.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen God converts a soul, He gives it light. That light makes it\ninvulnerable. All things afterward help it. \"Virtue may be assailed,\nbut never hurt.\" Satan is one of the blessings of a\nChristian.--_Miller._\n\nIt was an ordinary prayer of King Antigonus, \"Deliver me from the\nhands of my friends.\" When asked why he did not rather pray for\npreservation from his enemies, he answered, \"That he guarded against\nhis enemies, but could not guard against false friends.\"--_Lawson._\n\n_How to detect a hypocrite._ To make a man a good man all parts of\ngoodness must concur, but any one way of wickedness is sufficient to\ndenominate a bad man.--_Tillotson._\n\nA hypocrite is hated of the world for seeming to be a Christian, and\nhated of God for not being one.--_Mason._\n\nThe meaning of the verse as a whole is, \"By the protective power of\nthat knowledge that serves righteousness, they are delivered who were\nendangered by the artifices of that shrewdness which is the\ninstrument of wickedness.\"--_Elster._\n\nThe just man is too wise to be flattered, and too knowing to be\nplucked away with the error of the wicked (1 Pet. iii. 17,\n18).--_Trapp._\n\nBeware of carrying deadly weapons. An untrue man is a moral murderer,\nhis mouth the lethal weapon, and his neighbour the victim.--_Arnot._\n\n \"Neither man nor angels can discern\n Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks\n Invisible, except to God alone,\n By His permissive will, thro' heaven and earth;\n And oft though Wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps\n At Wisdom's gate, and to simplicity\n Resigns her charge, while goodness\n Thinks no ill\n Where no ill seems.\"--_Paradise Lost._ Book iii.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 10 _and_ 11.\n\nTHE REWARD OF THE RIGHTEOUS CITIZEN OR RULER. THE FATE OF THE\nUNRIGHTEOUS ONE.\n\n+I. The words imply that it does not always go with the righteous.+\n\"_When_ it goeth well,\" etc. A good man's plans and efforts for the\ngood of his fellow-citizens or fellow-countrymen are not always\nsuccessful. They may need more resources to make them effectual than\nhe has at his command. The men whom he desired to benefit may not\nthemselves be willing to exercise the self-denial for their own\nwelfare that he is willing to undergo for them. They would be willing\nto reap the harvest of joy, but they do not like to sow the seed of\nsuffering. It often happens that a righteous man is in the midst of a\ngeneration who cannot appreciate his moral worth and his intellectual\nwisdom. It has been said that the intellectual struggles of one age\nare the intuitions of the next, and men that are now regarded as\ngrand and noble were perhaps looked upon as of little worth in the\ngeneration in which they lived. Or a man may not live long enough to\ncomplete his plans for the public benefit--the best things are often\nslow in coming to maturity, and many a righteous man has been called\naway before he has perfected his designs of blessing for his race.\nAlthough the good and faithful servant will always have the\n\"Well-done\" of his master, his plans and purposes are often seemingly\nfrustrated by the shortness of this life, the scantiness of his\nresources, or the misconception of his fellows. History abounds with\nillustrations of this truth.\n\n+II. That there must come a time when it will go well with the\nrighteous.+ It is an ordination of God's providence that the\nrighteous man should pass through both experiences. The soldier needs\ndefeat as well as victory to develop all his latent talent, to make\nmanifest all the heroism that is within him. The mariner must pass\nthrough storms as well as fair weather if he is to learn the true art\nof navigation. And so the righteous man must have the experience of\napparent failure and defeat to develop faith, and patience, and\ncourage, which would otherwise remain hidden or dwarfed. But when\nthis has been accomplished, a \"set time to favour him will come.\" \"He\nthat goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall\n_doubtless_ come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him\"\n(Psalm cxxvi. 6). The worth of his character and his work will be\nrecognised freely and generously by many, and must be acknowledged,\nalthough it may be with reluctance, even by his opponents. Joseph\npassed many years in servitude and imprisonment, but by and by his\nworth was freely acknowledged. \"Can we find such a one as this is, a\nman in whom the Spirit of God is?\" (Gen. xli. 38.) Both king and\npeople decided that it ought to go well with him, and it did go well\nwith him now that his ability and character were known.\n\n+III. The blessing and consequent joy that comes to others when the\ntime has come for it to \"go well with the righteous.\"+ By the\nblessing of the righteous the city is exalted--\"the city\" as a\nconsequence \"rejoiceth.\" Even the bad in a kingdom have cause for joy\nwhen the righteous have the pre-eminence in a community, whatever be\ntheir condition they would be much worse off under the rule of\nunrighteousness. The lost in hell and those who are being lost on\nearth are in a better condition from having the Righteous God upon\nthe throne of the universe. The greatest criminals in our prisons\nfind it better to have a just and righteous gaoler than an\nunrighteous one. So the whole city has reason to rejoice in the\npre-eminence--in the success of the righteous. Such men exalt a\ncity--1. _By forming a basis for commercial enterprise._ The role of\nthe unrighteous in a city will, in time, prevent commercial\nprosperity by destroying public confidence. 2. _By promoting the just\nrights of all._ That community is blessed where each citizen enjoys\nfreedom to live his life and do the best for himself and others\nwithout trampling on the rights of his fellows. Tyranny on the one\nhand provokes rebellion on the other, and misery to both parties is\nthe issue. The head is intended to think and plan for the rest of the\nbody, the limbs are intended to carry out the designs of the head; if\neither the one or the other fails to perform its work, suffering\ncomes to the whole frame. So in the body politic. Righteous men\nstrive for the union of all classes for the good of all, and this\nunity exalts a city--gives peace at home, and is the surest defence\nagainst foes without. Righteousness is a stronger wall than any\nmaterial defence. This is the safeguard of the ideal city of Isaiah's\nprophecy. \"I will make thine officers peace, and thine exactors\nrighteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting\nnor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls\nSalvation, and thy gates Praise\" (Isa. lx. 17-18). 3. _By averting\nDivine judgments._ Sodom would have been spared if there had been\n_ten_ righteous within the city. Unrighteousness in a nation must\nbring national calamity, but a minority of good men delays the\nvisitation. \"Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small\nremnant, we would have been as Sodom, and we would have been like\nunto Gomorrah\" (Isa. i. 9). \"For the elect's sake, those days shall\nbe shortened\" (Matt. xxiv. 22).\n\n+IV. That as the character and services of the righteous man shall\nmeet with public and grateful recognition, so the man who by his\nwicked influence has brought misery upon his fellow-creatures shall\nmeet with public execration.+ Just as the righteous man often seems\ndefeated by untoward circumstances, and all his unselfish and\npatriotic plans seem nipped in the bud for a time, yet success comes\nto him in the end, or, if not so, yet at his death his real worth is\nseen and acknowledged; so a wicked and selfish man may seem to carry\nall before him for a time, and may even succeed in blinding men to\nhis real character, yet the time comes when his worthlessness and\nself-seeking meet with their terrible yet just reward. There is a\ntendency generally in human nature to condone a man's sins after he\nis dead, but instances are not few in the history of the world when\nthis humane tendency has been stifled by the exceeding curse that\nsome men have been to the world.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATIONS OF VERSES_ 10 _and_ 11.\n\nA more vivid illustration of what has been said here concerning a\nrighteous man cannot be found than in the life and labours of William\nthe Silent, Prince of Holland. This noble man gave his all to the\nliberation of the Netherlands from Spanish tyranny. For many years he\nbore the whole weight of a struggle which Motley designates \"as\nunequal as men have ever undertaken.\" \"To exclude the Inquisition,\"\nhe continues, \"to maintain the ancient liberties of his country, was\nthe task which he appointed to himself when a youth of three and\ntwenty. He accomplished the task, through danger, amid toils, and\nwith sacrifices such as few men have ever been able to lay upon their\ncountry's altar; for the disinterestedness of the man was as\nprominent as his fortitude. A prince of high rank and with royal\nrevenues, he stripped himself of station, wealth, almost at times of\nthe common necessaries of life, and became, in his country's cause,\nnearly a beggar as well as an outlaw.\" At times it seemed as if the\ncause to which he had thus devoted himself was lost, even this\ndisinterested man did not escape the envy and suspicion of those whom\nhe was trying to serve. But he lived to see his work accomplished,\nand when he fell at last by the hand of an assassin, he was\n\"entombed,\" to quote again from his biographer, \"amid the tears of a\nwhole nation.\" \"The people were grateful and affectionate, for they\ntrusted the character of their 'Father William,' and not all the\nclouds which calumny could collect ever dimmed to their eyes the\nradiance of that lofty mind to which they were accustomed, in their\ndarkest calamities, to look for light. As long as he lived, he was\nthe guiding star of a whole brave nation, and when he died, the\nlittle children cried in the streets.\"--_Motley's Rise of the Dutch\nRepublic._\n\nIllustrations of the latter clause of verse 10 abound in history.\n\"Memorable in the prison experiences of Herod Agrippa was the arrival\nof news that the tyrant of Capre\u00e6 was dead. Immediately on the death\nof Tiberius, Marsyas, Agrippa's faithful bondslave, hastened to his\nmaster's dungeon, and communicated the joyful intelligence, saying,\nin the Hebrew language, \"The lion is dead.\" The centurion on guard\nheard the rejoicing, inquired as to the cause, ordered the royal\nprisoner's chains to be struck off, and invited him to supper. But\nmore memorable was the exultation, widely felt and cruelly expressed,\nat Agrippa's own death--that loathsome death, so strange in its\nsurroundings, of which a tale is told in the Acts of the Apostles.\nThe inhabitants of Sebaste and C\u00e6sarea, as we learn from Josephus,\nand particularly Herod's own soldiers, indulged in the most brutal\nrejoicings at his death,--heaping his memory with reproaches. . . .\nIn his account of the death of the Emperor Maximin, Gibbon says, \"It\nis easier to conceive than to describe the universal joy of the Roman\nworld on the fall of the tyrant.\" The death of Richelieu is said to\nhave been felt by France like the relief from a nightmare; from the\nking to the lowest rhymster, all joined in the burden of the couplets\nthat proclaimed it--_Il est parti, il a pli\u00e9 bagage, ce\ncardinal._--_Jacox._\n\n+Judge Jeffreys.+ A disposition to triumph over the fallen has never\nbeen one of the besetting sins of Englishmen; but the hatred of which\nJeffreys was the object was without a parallel in our history, and\npartook but too largely of the savageness of his own nature. The\npeople, where he was concerned, were as cruel as himself, and exulted\nin his misery as he had been accustomed to exult in the misery of\nconvicts listening to the sentence of death, and of families clad in\nmourning. The rabble congregated before his deserted mansion in Duke\nStreet, and read on the door, with shouts of laughter, the bills\nwhich announced the sale of his property. Even delicate women, who\nhad tears for highwaymen and housebreakers, breathed nothing but\nvengeance against him. The lampoons which were hawked about the town\nwere distinguished by an atrocity rare even in those days. Hanging\nwould be too mild a death for him: a grave under the gibbet would be\ntoo respectable a resting place: he ought to be whipt to death at the\ncart's tail: he ought to be tortured like an Indian: he ought to be\ndevoured alive. . . . Disease, assisted by strong drink and by\nmisery, did its work fast. He dwindled in a few weeks from a portly\nand even corpulent man to a skeleton, and died in the forty-first\nyear of his age. He had been Chief Justice of the King's Bench at\nthirty-five, and Lord Chancellor at thirty-seven. In the whole\nhistory of the English bar there is no other instance of so rapid an\nelevation or so terrible a fall.--_Macaulay._\n\n+Foulon, a French Official in the time of the great Revolution.+ This\nis that same Foulon named _\u00e2me damn\u00e9e_ (Familiar demon) _du\nParlement;_ a man grown gray in treachery, in griping, projecting,\nintriguing and iniquity: who once, when it was objected, to some\nfinance-scheme of his, \"What will the people do?\" made answer, in the\nfire of discussion, \"The people may eat grass:\" hasty words, which\nfly abroad irrevocable, and will send back tidings. . . . We are but\nat the 22nd of the month, hardly above a week since the Bastile fell,\nwhen it suddenly appears that old Foulon is alive; nay, that he is\nhere, in early morning, in the streets of Paris: the extortioner, the\nplotter, who would make the people eat grass, and was a liar from the\nbeginning! It is even so. The deceptive \"sumptuous funeral\" (of some\ndomestic that died); the hiding-place at Vitry towards\nFountainebleau, have not availed that wretched old man. Some living\ndomestic or dependent, for none loves old Foulon, has betrayed him to\nthe village. Merciless boors of Vitry unearth him, pounce upon him,\nlike hell-hounds. Westward, old Infamy! to Paris, to be judged at the\nH\u00f4tel-de-Ville! His old head, which seventy-four years had bleached,\nis bare; they have tied an emblematic bundle of grass upon his back;\na garland of nettles and thistles is round his neck: in this manner,\nled with ropes, goaded on with curses and menaces, must he, with his\nold limbs, sprawl forward; the pitiablest, most unpitied of all old\nmen. Sooty Saint-Antoine, and every street, musters its crowds as he\npasses; the Hell of the H\u00f4tel-de-Ville, the Place de Gr\u00e8ve itself,\nwill scarcely hold his escort and him. Foulon must not only be judged\nrighteously, but judged there where he stands without delay. Appoint\nseven judges, ye Municipals, or seventy and seven; name them\nyourselves, or we will name them, but judge him. Electoral rhetoric,\neloquence of Mayor Bailly, is wasted for hours, explaining the beauty\nof the law's delay. Delay, and still delay! . . . the morning has\nworn itself into noon, and he is still unjudged. . . . \"Friends,\"\nsaid a person, stepping forward, \"what is the use of judging this\nman? Has he not been judged these thirty years?\" With wild yells\nSans-culottism clutches him in its hundred hands: he is whirled across\nthe Place de Gr\u00e8ve to the _Lanterne_ (lamp-iron), which there is at\nthe corner of the _Rue de la Vannerie,_ pleading bitterly for\nlife--to the deaf winds. Only with the third rope--for two ropes\nbroke, and the quavering voice still pleaded--can he be so much as\ngot hanged. His body is dragged through the streets; his head goes\naloft upon a pike, the mouth filled with grass: amid sounds as of\nTophet, from a grass-eating people.--_Carlyle's French Revolution._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nTwo things, as herein is showed, do move the righteous unto joy. The\none is, the honouring and good success of the just. When it is well\nwith them that do well, the well-disposed multitude cannot but be\ninwardly glad, and outwardly justify this inward joy by signs and\ntokens of mirth. The other thing that moveth the well-disposed to\nrejoice, and even to sing (or shout) is the destruction of the\nwicked. There is great cause why the people of God should rejoice at\nthe vengeance that is executed on the ungodly; for they persecute the\nChurch, or infect many with their evil counsel and example, or draw\nGod's punishments on the places wherein they live. Thus did the\nancient Israelites rejoice in old time, when the enemies of God were\noverthrown; and thus did we of late sing and triumph when the proud\nPopish Spaniards were drowned and confounded. . . . A kingdom is\noverthrown by the flattery, heresy, foolish counsel, and conspiracy\nof mischievous and ungodly persons. Thus a tongue can even build and\noverthrow a city.--_Muffet._\n\nThe world, in despite of the native enmity of the heart, bears its\ntestimony to consistent godliness (ch. xvi. 7; Mark vi. 20). . . .\nThe people of God unite in the shouting occasioned by the overthrow\nof the wicked; not from any selfish feeling of revenge; much less\nfrom unfeeling hardness towards their fellow-sinners. But when a\nhindrance to the good cause is removed (ch. xxviii. 28; Eccles.\nix. 18); when the justice of God is against sin (2 Sam.\nxviii. 14-28), and his faithful preservation of His Church (Exod.\nxv. 21; Judges v. 31) are displayed, ought not every feeling to be\nabsorbed in a supreme interest in His glory? Ought they not to shout?\n(Psa. lii. 6, 7, lviii. 10; Rev. xviii. 20). The \"Alleluia\" of heaven\nis an exalting testimony to the righteous judgments of the Lord our\nGod, hastening forward His glorious kingdom (Rev. xix. 1,\n2).--_Bridges._\n\n_By the good of the righteous;_ not \"in the good\" or \"when it goeth\nwell.\" \"_By the perishing of the wicked,_\" not when the wicked\nperish. A city is very far from exulting in the good of the\nrighteous, or in the destruction of the wicked. But \"by,\" or \"by\nmeans of,\" as the unacknowledged cause there comes the exulting and\nshouting. That is, a city is blest by the prosperity of righteous\nmen. \"_Good._\" This word cannot be properly translated. It means both\n_good_ and _goodness_. If we say \"good,\" the \"_good_ of the\nrighteous\" will mean their _welfare._ If we say \"goodness\" it will\nmean their piety. The word in the Hebrew means both. The text to be\ncomplete must confine itself to neither. The city is not only blessed\nby the good that characterises the righteous, but by the good that\nhappens to them. How glorious this becomes when \"the righteous\" means\nthe Church! The wilderness and the solitary place have been glad for\nher. It is true of all the universe. As the history of heaven and\nhell, the \"good of the righteous,\" and \"the perishing of the wicked\"\nwill breed universal benefit. It was such texts as these that moved\nthe Papists to realise the good by actually slaughtering the wicked\nout of the land. . . . Piety is in proportion to usefulness. If a\nChristian does not bless his city, it is a mark against him.\n\"_Bless_\" means to _invoke good_. \"The mouth of the wicked\" pulls\ndown a neighbourhood by every form of teaching. The righteous builds\nit, and especially by prayer.--_Miller._\n\n\"The mouth of the wicked.\" Whether he be a seedsman of sedition or a\nseducer of the people, a Sheba or a Shebna, a carnal gospeller or a\ngodless politician, whose drift is to formalise and enervate the\npower of the truth, till at length they leave us a heartless and\nsapless religion. \"One of these sinners may destroy much good\"\n(Eccles. ix. 18).--_Trapp._\n\nGood men have not only God's hand to give them good things, but godly\nmen's hearts to be joyful for them. When Mordecai was advanced, the\ncity of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. When the Lord showed His great\nmercy on Zacharias and Elizabeth in giving them a son, their kinsfolk\nand neighbours came and rejoiced with them. . . . It is well known\nthat righteous men will make their brothers commoners with them in\ntheir prosperity; when they are advanced, others shall not be\ndisgraced thereby: when they are enriched, others shall not be\nimpoverished thereby: when they are made mighty, others shall not be\nweakened thereby; And so it is said concerning Mordecai, that when\nthe royal apparel was on his back, and the crown of gold on his head,\nthat unto the Jews was come light, and joy, and gladness and honour\n(Esth. viii. 16). . . . Here is instruction to them that be desirous\nto gain the hearts of honest men. . . . Many men desire to be\npopular, but few to be righteous. . . . Good liking is not gotten by\npomp and power, and favour is not gained by wealth and riches, and\nlove is not commanded by authority and dignity. These may be allured\nwith goodness, but never compelled by violence.--_Dod._\n\nSuch is the nature of righteousness, that though it cannot make all\nto love it, yet it maketh all to love the welfare of the righteous.\nOrigen therefore saith, that the few righteous which were in\nJerusalem were not carried into captivity for their own offences, but\nthat the captive people might rejoice in their welfare. For, saith\nhe, had the wicked only been carried away, and the righteous\nremained, the wicked had never had the comfort of returning. On the\nother side, such is the nature of wickedness, that though many\nembrace it themselves, yet they are pleased to see it destroyed in\nothers.--_Jermin._\n\nThe exultant shout of relief at a man's death might almost wake the\ndead man. It is hideous to think of a choral symphony of voices,\njubilant at a dead march, making the welkin ring with huzzas at\ndeath's last fest, and welcoming it to the echo. For those tumultuous\np\u00e6ans have a vengeful curse in every note. They mean malediction; and\nthey say what they mean. The bad man dead and gone is such a good\nriddance. The multitude account it for themselves, not for him, such\na happy release. The greatest of the greater prophets of the Old\nTestament indites the \"triumphant insultation,\" of his country and\nhis countrymen against the dead and gone king of Babylon, when that\noppressor ceased. . . . (Isa. xiv. 4). When Alexander Jann\u00e6us,\ndesirous of a reconcilement with his people, asked them what he\nshould do to make them quite content;--\"Die!\" was the response. It\nwas the only way. The death of Ethwald, in Joanna Baillie's tragedy,\npoints the moral to the same bitter tale. Here are the closing lines\nof the drama:--\n\n \"Through all the vexed land\n Let every heart bound at the joyful tidings,\n Thus from his frowning height the tyrant falls\n Like a dark mountain, whose interior fires,\n Raging in ceaseless tumult, have devoured\n Its own foundations. Sunk in sudden ruin\n To the tremendous gulf, in the vast void\n No friendly rock rears its opposing head\n To stay the dreadful crash. . . . The joyful hinds\n Point to the traveller the hollow vale\n Where once it stood.\"\n\n--_Jacox._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 12, 13.\n\nCONTEMPT AND TALE-BEARING.\n\n+I. He who lacks moral worth will be indifferent to the worth of\nothers.+ He will despise the character that he does not possess. In\nthe minds of some men who have no learning there is a disposition to\nundervalue the attainments of others. They do not value it because\nthey do not possess it. In order to esteem it rightly they must come\nto the possession of it. Some men pretend to despise wealth and call\ngold sordid dust, but most, if not all people of this kind have very\nlittle of what they despise in their own possession. Some translate\nhere \"a heartless man despiseth his neighbour.\" A man without moral\nwisdom is a man without a kind heart, and he despises his neighbour\nbecause he lacks the heart which is probably possessed by the man\nwhom he despises. A man must have something good in himself to enable\nhim to see what is worthy of honour in his brother. There must be\nlight in the eye if we are to appreciate the light of the sun. A man\nmust have something of a musical nature to be able to appreciate the\nmusical gifts of another. A man shows that he is void of wisdom if he\ndespises the meanest of his fellow creatures.\n\n+II. A special form in which contempt for others is often\nmanifested.+ \"A tale-bearer revealeth secrets.\" If a man holds his\nneighbour in contempt, he is not careful of that neighbour's\nreputation. Being himself without moral worth he has nothing to lose,\nand therefore esteems lightly what is most valued by his brother man.\nMen who by their own folly are always poor are ever anxious to bring\nothers down to their own level, and so men without reputation are\nvery often disposed to rob others of their good name. This they\nattempt to do by revealing what they ought to conceal. There are\ntimes when we ought faithfully to keep within our own bosoms what we\nknow about another, even although what we know is in the highest\ndegree honourable to him. In the plan which Christ had marked out for\nHimself there were times when He desired that even His deeds of\nbenevolence should not be made known. To some whom He healed He\ncharged \"that they should not make it known\" (Matt. xii. 16). If it\nis good sometimes to conceal what is only honourable and\npraiseworthy, how much more should a man be careful not to reveal any\nreal or seeming inconsistency in a good man--anything which may in\nany way lower him in the estimation of others--any painful secret\nwhich might be mis-construed to his dishonour or lessen his influence\nfor good in the world.\n\n+III. The contrast exhibited in the conduct of a man of moral worth.+\nHe, \"being a man of understanding,\" knows the value of every human\nsoul. He may _pity_ his degraded fellow-man, but never _despises_\nthem. He sets too high an estimate upon his neighbour to hold in\ncontempt even those who are far beneath him in moral excellence, how\nmuch less will it be possible for him to despise those who are his\nequals or superiors. Around the imperfections of all he throws the\nrobe of that charity which even \"thinketh no evil\" (1 Cor. xiii. 5),\nmuch less _speaks_ a word that could be interpreted to his\nneighbour's disadvantage. He holds the good name of others as a\nsacred trust. He guards it as a man of a \"faithful spirit\" would\nguard any precious possession belonging to another.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. \"_A heartless man._\" All such are titles of the unsaved\nman. The same negative state, _i.e._, a want of the Spirit, and hence\na want of benevolence, not only keeps men from blessing their city\n(ver. 11), but makes them contemptuous. Others' interests do not\nweigh a feather. See a fine description of this in 1 Cor. xiii.,\nwhere men are supposed even to \"behave unseemly\" from this high\ntheologic fact. They do not care for their neighbours, and,\ntherefore, do not care to behave well. If a neighbour is disgraced,\nthey are too contemptuous to care for its effect. They are reckless\nin their talk of his disgrace, while a \"man of understanding\" is\nsilent.--_Miller._\n\nNo human creature is to be despised, for he is our neighbour. He is\nour own flesh, our brother, sprung from our common father Adam.\nHonour all men. Men were made in the image of God; and though that\nimage is now lost, it is still a sufficient evidence of the\nsinfulness of despising, as well as of murdering, our neighbour, that\nin the image of God man was made, and that we cannot say whether the\npersons who we are tempted to despise are not in that happy number of\nthe chosen of God for whose sakes the Son of God hath dignified our\nnature by assuming it, and whom He will again beautify with that\nglorious image which was effaced by the fall. Do you allege that your\nneighbour is worthy of contempt, on account of his poverty or\nmeanness, or some remarkable weakness, by which he is rendered\nridiculous? I ask you whether he is a fool. You say, No. Then confess\nthat your contempt ought to rest upon yourself; for Solomon says you\nare one, and want of wisdom is far worse than the want of riches, of\nbeauty, or polite accomplishments.--_Trapp._\n\nNot remembering that he is his neighbour, cut out of the same cloth,\nthe shears only going between, and as capable of heaven as himself,\nthough never so poor, mean, deformed, or otherwise despicable. The\nman of understanding refraineth his tongue even if he be slighted or\nreviled. He knows it is to no purpose to wash off dirt with\ndirt.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 13. The difference is a sharply drawn one, the distinction a\ndistinctly defined one, between fidelity and unfaithfulness, between\nthe treacherous and the loyal. There is a Danish proverb, quoted in\nthe Archbishop of Dublin's book, which warns us well against relying\ntoo much on other men's silence, since there is no rarer gift than\nthe capacity of keeping a secret: \"Tell nothing to thy friend which\nthy enemy may not know.\" One should be careful not to entrust another\nunnecessarily with a secret which it may be a hard matter to keep;\nnor should one's desire for aid or sympathy be indulged by dragging\nother people into one's misfortunes. \"There is as much responsibility\nin imparting your own secrets, as in keeping those of your\nneighbour,\" says Helps.--_Jacox._\n\nThis expression comes from trading. He who gads about to indulge in\ngossiping, will gratify his taste by scandals that he did not intend\nto divulge. \"Secrets\" or \"secret counsels,\" that formal divan, where\npurest privacy is the thing that has been expected. It is these\nslight lusts, as we call them, that divulge character. The man that\nis born again will be of a \"faithful spirit,\" and will scorn to\ngratify scandal at a neighbour's expense.--_Miller._\n\nA note to know a talker by, is that he is a walker from place to\nplace (see Critical Notes), hearing and spying what he can, that he\nmay have whereof to prattle to this body and that body. Thus carrying\nof tales the Lord forbiddeth in his law, where he saith, \"Thou shalt\nnot go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people\" (Lev.\nxix. 16).--_Muffet._\n\nHere we see that a well-governed spirit will govern the tongue. An\nunrestrained tongue is an evidence of levity, or of some worse\nquality in the heart. And if the spirit be faithful, the tongue will\nbe cautious and friendly. The communication between the spirit and\nthe tongue is so easy, that the one will certainly discover the\nquality of the other, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth\nspeaketh.--_Lawson._\n\nThere are various ways of acting the \"tale-bearer.\" There is that of\n_open blabbing._ And this, as it is the simplest, is, in truth, the\nleast dangerous. The character becomes immediately known; and all who\nhave secrets which they _really wish kept_ will take care to withhold\nthem from him. There is the next that of _confidential\ncommunication._ The secret-holder affects to look this way and that,\nto ascertain that no one is within hearing; and then with many\nwhispered _doubts_ whether he is doing right, and whispered _no\ndoubts_ that he is perfectly safe with the dear friend to whom he\nspeaks, imparts it in a breath that enters only his solitary ear, as\na thing received in the profoundest secrecy, and not, on any account\nwhatever, to go further--thus setting the example of broken\nconfidence as the encouragement and inducement to keep it. There is\nthat also of _sly insinuation._ The person who has the secret neither\nopenly blabs it nor confidentially whispers it, but throws out hints\nof his having it--allusions more or less remote as to its nature--by\nwhich curiosity is awakened, inquiry stimulated, and the thing\nultimately brought to light; while he who threw out the leading\nnotices plumes himself on having escaped the imputation of a\ntale-bearer. Now these and whatever others there may be, _are all\nbad;_ and the greater the amount of pretension and hypocrisy, so much\nthe worse.--_Wardlaw._\n\nReticence is commended from another point of view. The man who comes\nto us with tales about others will reveal our secrets also.\nFaithfulness is shown, not only in doing what a man has been\ncommissioned to do, but in doing it quietly and without\ngarrulity.--_Plumptre._\n\nHe is a rare friend that can both give counsel and keep\ncounsel.--_Trapp._\n\nThe Holy Ghost, here and elsewhere, compareth busybodies and such as\ndelight to deal in other men's matters, to petty chapmen and pedlars,\nwhich carry wares about, selling in one place and buying in another.\nA slanderous tongue trafficketh altogether by exchange, it will\ndeliver nothing to you, but upon condition to receive somewhat from\nyou. It will never bear an empty pack, but desireth, where aught is\nuttered and taken out, there to take somewhat to put in, that it may\nhave choice for other places.--_Dod._\n\nWe must regard every matter as an entrusted secret, which we believe\nthe person concerned would wish to be considered such. Nay, further\nstill, we must consider all circumstances as secrets entrusted, which\nwould bring scandal upon another if told, and which it is not our\ncertain duty to discuss, and that in our own persons and to his\nface.--_Leigh Hunt._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nHELMSMANSHIP.\n\n+I. The many (the people) are dependent upon the few for guidance.+\nThe word counsel is literally \"pilotage,\" \"helmsmanship.\" The many\npassengers in the vessel are dependent upon the few who guide it. The\ndependence of the many upon the few for guidance runs through every\nphase of human life. The dependence of the children upon their\nnatural head is but prophetic of all the periods of after life, which\nvery much consists in the dependence of the many upon the few. The\nchild's life at home and at school is a preparation for the rough\nhandling of circumstance in this matter in the time of manhood.\nAlthough the man's ability to guide his own life is far greater than\nthat of the child, yet his need of counsel and guidance has increased\nwith his years and responsibilities. This need of guidance springs\nfrom men's unequal gifts. The physical, mental, and moral\ninequalities of men create and supply the demand for leaders--for\ncounsellors for the many. This inequality is an ordination of the\nDivine Ruler of the universe--God is the Author of the inequalities.\nIn nature we see that the strong give shelter to the weak. The mighty\noak protects the tiny plant at its roots. Counsellors are the giant\ntrees which give shelter by giving guidance to those who are in some\nrespects inferior to them. Men may be born _free,_ but they are\nnowhere born _equal_ in mental and physical qualities. Hence some\nmust _counsel,_ others must _be counselled._ Guidance is felt to be a\nnecessity, and men make a virtue of the necessity. The passengers on\nboard a vessel submit to the direction of the pilot because they feel\nthat their safety depends upon submission, and so do the members of a\nnation--the citizens of a city. They know from experience that the\nway out of a difficulty is not found by those who follow, but by\nthose who lead--that if they would enjoy the advantages of civil\npeace and safety, they must submit to the guidance and direction.\n\n+II. That \"no counsel\" in a nation will end in their being no nation\nto counsel.+ \"Where there is no counsel the people fall.\" The\npassengers in a ship who have no one to steer the vessel will soon\ncease to have need of a helmsman. So the nation which has no head--no\ngovernment--will cease to be a nation. Its national existence will be\nruined by the anarchy that must follow.\n\n+III. Many men to give counsel are as a rule better than one.+ When\nthe sea is heavy and breakers are ahead, one man at the wheel of a\nvessel would not be able to hold her on her course, many hands at\nonce must be at work--the united strength of the many is\nindispensable. \"In the multitude\" there is \"safety.\" So it is\ngenerally in the case of the ship of the State. As a rule, there is\nmore wisdom and ability in the union of many men than in one--there\nis likewise less danger of despotic rule. But there have been many\nexceptions to this rule. Joseph knew how to provide for the safety of\nEgypt when all the rest of Pharaoh's counsellors were at their wits'\nend. Before the battle of Plassey--which laid the foundation of\nBritish rule in India--Clive called a council of war to decide\nwhether or not the battle should be fought. The majority pronounced\nagainst fighting. But it is now generally allowed that if the advice\nof that council had been followed the British would have never been\nin possession of India. Clive decided to act in opposition to the\nopinion of the majority, and the day was won for England. (_See\nMacaulay's Essay on Lord Clive._) Sometimes in the multitude of\ncounsellors there has been national ruin. \"All the council\" of the\nJews sought to put Jesus to death (Matt. xxvi. 59), and so brought\nabout the destruction of their nation. But these are exceptions to a\nrule.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe case supposed, appears to be that of a self-willed,\nself-sufficient, headstrong ruler who glories in his power; who\ndetermines to wield the rod of that power in his own way, and who\nplays the hasty, jealous, resolute, sensitive and vindictive tyrant;\nwho disdains to call in counsel, or who does it only for the pleasure\nor showing his superiority to it by setting it at nought. I conceive\nthe phrase, \"Where no counsel is,\" to be intended to convey not a\nlittle of the character of him by whom it is declined or disregarded.\nWe have an example of such a character in Solomon's own successor\n_Rehoboam._ And yet, at the same time, in his case we are taught the\nnecessity of understanding all such maxims as admitting of\nexceptions. Rehoboam _did_ take counsel; and his counsellors were not\nfew. Had they been _fewer,_ there would in that instance been _more\nsafety._ Had he stopped with the \"_old men_ who had stood before\nSolomon his father,\" all would have been well. . . . How much better\nwould it have been for Ahab, had he taken for his sole counsellor\nMicaiah the son of Imlah than it was when he preferred the four\nhundred prophets of Baal! The maxim, therefore, is _general._ It\naffirms the danger of solitary self-sufficiency, and the safety of\ndeliberate and, in proportion to the complexity and difficulty of\neach case, and the nature and amount of its consequences, of\nextensive and diversified consultation.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt is a penalty inflicted by God on a sinful state to give it princes\nvoid of counsel (Isa. iii. 4; chap. xv. 22).--_Fausset._\n\nCare seems to be taken after a proverb lauding silence, always to put\nin a eulogy of speech. (See chap. x 20, 21.) Secrets are not to be\nhid until the whole community is one covered over wickedness. The\nsame faithfulness that conceals a secret, intrudes counsel, and\ngrasps control, and saves the people by that leadership that the\npious alone are intended to achieve. The word _counsel_ or\n\"helmsmanship\" is from a root meaning a _cord;_ hence the tacking of\nthe helm; and, now, that princely guidance, which piety in the world\n(though the world does not think so) does actually bestow.\n\"_Safety_\"--or \"_salvation._\" The inspired sentence-maker is always\nmanaging what the music men would call a _crescendo,_ for the second\nclause. The first clause speaks of the people as _falling,_ the\nsecond as not only \"_not falling,_\" but though fallen, as actually\nraised.--_Miller._\n\nTyranny is better than anarchy. And yet \"Woe also to thee, O land,\nwhose king is a child\"; that is, wilful and uncounsellable. . . . One\nspecial thing the primitive Christians prayed for the emperor was,\nthat God would send him a faithful council.--_Trapp._\n\nIt is not said that in the multitude of counsellors there is safety,\nbut in the _largeness_ or _muchness_ of a counsellor, that is, such a\ncounsellor as is furnished with a variety of counsels, and can look\nmany ways for direction. For such a one is indeed of many, nay, often\nfar better; because he can sooner resolve what is best, than many\nwill or can. And therefore, though it be good to have many, and when\nthey agree perhaps to follow them, yet it may be better to have one\nof many counsels, on whom to rely.--_Jermin._\n\nProbably one is more struck, on reflection and in reading, with the\nexceptions to the rule, than with confirmatory examples of it, that\nin the multitude of counsellors there is safety. . . . A modern\nhistorian finds in the unlicensed discretion reposed by the Roman\nSenate in the general, the most efficient aid to the extent of Rome's\nearly conquests, and he points by way of contrast, to the modern\nrepublics of Italy, as denying themselves scope for larger conquests\nby their extreme jealousy of their commanders. Anarchy in Antwerp is\nthe heading of one of Mr. Morley's graphic pages, and a lively\npicture it offers us of the confusion that ensued when the hydra\nheads of the multitudinous government were laid together. In Drake's\nexpedition of 1585, there were too many in command; and after losing\ntime in debate which Sir Francis, if alone, would have spent in\naction, they were obliged to give up the attempt on the Canaries,\nwith some loss. The otherwise unaccountable action of De Witt in 1671\nis explained at once when the anarchical constitution of the Dutch\nrepublic is remembered--its want of a central authority, and the fact\nthat, to raise money or troops, the consent of a number of petty\ncouncils was necessary, in the multitude of whose counsellors was\nanything but safety. \"In the multitude of counsellors there may be\nsafety,\" says Alison, \"it is in general safety to the counsellors,\nnot to the counselled.\" The quality of the counsel, and the ability\nof the counsellors, are elements of main import in the maxim of the\nking.--_Jacox._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 15, see on chap. vi. 1-5.\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nThe melancholy instances of ruin, in consequence of becoming surety\nfor others, are exceedingly numerous in the East. Against this they\nhave many proverbs and fearful examples; but nothing seems to impart\nwisdom. Nearly all the Government monopolies, both among native and\nEuropean rulers, are let to the highest bidders, and as the whole of\nthe money cannot be advanced till a part of the produce be sold,\nsureties have to be accountable for the amount. But as men generally\nenter into these speculations in order to better a reduced fortune,\nan extravagant price is often paid, and ruin is the consequence both\nto the principal and his surety. This practice of suretyship,\nhowever, is also common in the most trifling affairs of life. \"Sign\nyour name,\" is a request preferred by every one who is desirous of\nobtaining additional security to a petty agreement. In every legal\ncourt or magistrate's office may be seen, now and then, a trio\nentering, thus to become responsible for the engagements of the\nother. The cause of all this is probably the bad faith which prevails\namongst the heathen.--_Roberts._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe traffic of ancient times was small, in comparison with the vast\nsystem of exchange which now compasses the whole world like network;\nbut the same vices that we lament marred it, and the same\nrighteousnesses that we desiderate would have healed its ailments.\nNeither the law of gravitation nor the law of righteousness has\nchanged since the times of Solomon; both are as powerful as they then\nwere, and as pervasive. . . . In those primitive times, it seems, as\nin our own, some men desired to get faster forward in the world than\ntheir circumstances legitimately permitted. They will throw for a\nfortune at another's risk. . . . The warning does not of course\ndiscourage considerate kindnesses in bearing a deserving man over\ntemporary pressure. . . . The Bible permits and requires more of\nkindness to our brother than we have ever done him yet; but it does\nnot allow us to do a certain substantial evil, for the sake of\ndistant, shadowy good.--_Arnot._\n\nThe heart and mind of every one is a stranger to every one except to\nGod alone. He therefore that is a surety for another, is surety for a\n_stranger_.--_Jermin._\n\n . . . be not surety, if thou be a father,\n Love is a personal debt. I cannot give\n My children's right, nor ought he to take it: rather\n Both friends should die, than hinder them to live.\n Fathers first enter bonds to nature's ends;\n And are her sureties, ere they are a friend's.--_Herbert._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nA GRACIOUS WOMAN.\n\n+I. What is a gracious woman?+ 1. She is one who stands in right\nrelations to God. Every thing depends upon right relationship. Upon\nthe right relationship of the earth to the great centre of the solar\nsystem depends all that makes the earth of worth to us--all its\nglorious fruitfulness and beauty. If there was not this adjustment of\nrelationship between the earth and the sun, our planet would not only\nbe an unfit abode for man, but would be a positive blot upon God's\nuniverse. This is true also of man's relations to each other, and is\nspecially so in respect to our relationship to God. Nothing but a\nright relationship to Him can develop these moral beauties which\nalone make a true woman. She is accepted or \"justified\" by God's most\ngracious favour on God's own conditions. She lives in the eternal\nsunlight of His gracious influence, and is held to the most Blessed\nBeing in the universe, by the sweet persuasiveness which flows from\nHis blessed character. The thoughts of the Eternal God are the food\nof her spirit, and from this relationship to Him comes all the grace\nof her character. Is there any other relationship which can make such\na woman? There is none, not only so, the absence of it may end in\nmaking even a woman a blot, a positive evil, in the moral universe.\nThere can be no true graciousness where there is no union with Him\nwhose most attractive attribute is His graciousness, who makes\nHimself known, as \"the Lord God, merciful and gracious.\" (Exod.\nxxxiv. 6). A gracious woman must be in right relationship with a\ngracious God. 2. In consequence of this, a gracious woman is right in\nher human relationships. Being right in the greater matter, she must\nbe in that which is less. The earth, because she preserves her right\nrelation to the sun, is right in her relationship to the other\nplanets, that is, her path in the heavens is just that which is best\nfor the whole planetary system--that which enables them also to keep\ntheir orbits, and prevents one of them from exercising a baleful\ninfluence over another. A woman whose spirit is under the influence\nof a gracious God will be a gracious daughter, a gracious wife, a\ngracious mother, a gracious friend and neighbour--that is, all her\ndoings and sayings will be irradiated and warmed by that holiness and\nlove which is the essence of the character of God Himself. In the\nsumming up of the Divine law, Christ makes the right human relation\ndepend upon a right Divine relation. \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy\nGod with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy\nstrength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.\" (Luke\nx. 27), and He repeats this foundation in principle in His last\ndiscourse with His disciples before His death, \"_By this_ shall all\nmen know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.\"\n(John xiii. 35).\n\n+II. A woman with such a character wins honour.+ The strong men to\nwhom she is compared (see Critical Notes) are warriors who take the\nspoil by strength of hand, such men as Othniel, the son of Kenaz, who\ntook Kirjath-sepher by reason of his strength and military skill. For\nthe strong men must _gain_ their spoil before they can _retain_ it.\nSo with a gracious woman. She must _win_ honour before she can\n_retain_ it, and this she most certainly will do. She will be\nhonoured by God because she is fulfilling His purpose in sending her\ninto the world--because she is bringing glory to Him by showing to\nthe world what He meant a woman to be. And as a necessity she will be\nhonoured. Those in nearest relation to her will honour her. \"Her\nchildren rise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he\npraiseth her.\" But she is honoured in a wider sphere by a larger\ncircle--\"Her own works praise her in the gates.\" (chap. xxxi. 28, 31).\n\n+III. What she has won she will retain.+ Strong men, when they have\nwon their prize, hold it fast. It is more difficult to obtain wealth\nthan to retain it. Having done the first by reason of their strength,\nit is comparatively easy to do the second by the same means. So with\na gracious woman. Honour is the guerdon of her gracious character,\nthis she has won without any striving. Her _character_ is that for\nwhich she has striven, and this it is which is the strength by which\nshe retains _her_ riches, viz., her _honour._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAlbeit the woman is the weaker vessel, yet when she is gracious, that\nis to say, graced, not so much with beauty, as with wisdom and\nvirtue, she keepeth honour, that is, maintaineth her credit and\npreserveth her chastity. It were a hard thing to rob or spoil a\nstrong man of his goods; but to take away the chastity of an honest\nmatron, be she never so weak, it is impossible, who will rather die a\nthousand deaths than to be stained with the least speck of\ndishonesty.--_Muffet._\n\nA woman is powerful by her grace as the mighty are by their strength.\nIn grace there lies as great force as in the imposing nature of the\nmighty; nay, the power of the strength of the latter gains only more\nproperty, while the woman gains honour and esteem, which are of more\nworth.--_Rueetschi, from Lange's Commentary._\n\nThus Deborah \"retained honour\" as a mother in Israel, the counsellor\nand stay of a sinking people. (Judges iv. 4; v. 7). Esther \"retained\"\nher influence over her heathen husband for the good of her nation\n(Esth. ix. 12, 13, 25). And still the gracious woman retaineth honour\nlong after she has mingled with the dust. Sarah, the obedient wife\n(1 Pet. iii. 5, 6); Hannah, the consecrating mother (1 Sam. i. 28);\nLois, Eunice, and \"the elect lady\" (2 Tim. i. 5; iii. 15; 2 John\n1-4), in the family sphere; Ph\u0153be and her companions on the annals of\nthe Church (Rom. xvi. 2-6; Phil iv. 3); the rich contributor to the\ntemple (Mark xii. 42-44); the self-denying lover of her Lord (Mark\nxiv. 3-9); Mary in contemplative retirement (Luke x. 39); Dorcas in\nactive usefulness (Acts ix. 36):--Are not these \"good names\" still\nhad in _honourable_ remembrance? (Psalm cxii. 6).--_Bridges._\n\nIt is true of both sexes, which Solomon here affirms of women only,\nthat _gracious_ persons, they who are in the grace and favour of God,\nand are strengthened by His gracious assistance, shall from the\ngenerality of men gain an inward esteem, and for the most part, an\noutward respect. There are many instances in which virtue has been\nrather contemned and ridiculed,--and I will mention none other than\nthe most signal of all, God Incarnate--but goodness has an\ninseparable splendour which can never suffer a total eclipse, and\nwhen it is most reviled and persecuted, it then shines brightest out\nof the cloud. So that all who are not wilfully blind, who will but\nmake use of their eyes to see, must acknowledge the force of its\nrays. But why does Solomon here instance the woman rather than the\nman? Either this, that as vice is more odious and more detested, so\non the other hand, virtue is more attractive, and looks more lovely\nin women than it usually does in men. Or it is, because men have more\nadvantages of aspiring to honour in all public stations than women\nhave, and the only way for a woman to gain honour, is an exemplary\nholiness. Or it is, because women are made of a temper more soft and\nfrail, are more endangered by snares and temptations, and more\ninclinable to extremes of good and bad than men, and generally\nspeaking, goodness is a tender thing, more hazardous and brittle in\nthe former than in the latter, and consequently a firm and steady\nvirtue is more to be valued in the weaker sex than in the stronger;\nso that a _gracious woman_ is most worthy to receive and to _retain\nhonour_. Or it is, because women in all ages, have given so many\nheroic examples of sanctity, that there is that peculiar to the sex\nwhich naturally renders them more pliable to the Divine grace than\nmen.--_Bp. Ken._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nMERCY AND CRUELTY.\n\n+I. A blessed human character--+\"A merciful man.\" The blessedness of\nany human existence depends upon the amount of mercifulness found in\nit. It will be blessed in itself, and a blessing to others in\nproportion as this Divine characteristic is found in the spirit. God,\nas a God of power, would be a wonderful and awe-inspiring Being, but\nHe would not be \"the blessed God\" (1 Tim. i. 11) if this were His\nonly attribute. So far as Men are concerned, He would only be a\nPerson who added to the mysteries and miseries of human life. There\nis plenty of power in the world, but power is not the one thing\nneedful for fallen and sorrowful humanity. A complex and mighty\nmachine may, and does, excite our wonder and even our admiration, but\nit has not sympathy. God would be no more to us if He were not \"The\nLord God, merciful and gracious.\" He could otherwise add nothing of\nblessedness to our existence--yes, His very existence would be a\ncalamity for sinful man. So, no man is a real blessing to his\nfellow-creatures if he is not merciful. He may be a great genius, he\nmay be a great intellectual power, he may be possessed of great\ninfluence from one source or another; but none of these things alone,\nor all of them put together, will add anything to the sum of human\nhappiness if he is not _merciful._ He is simply a hard machine, and\nwill never make any wilderness heart rejoice or any moral waste\nblossom as the rose. But mercy is a moral force, which works as\nsubtilely and as certainly upon human hearts to bless them as do the\nmysterious influences of the spring-time upon the barren earth. The\nabsence of mercifulness makes hell the barren world that it is, and\nfills heaven with moral light and joy. On earth, mercifulness is felt\nto be most needful. The scum of humanity are not insensible to its\nblessed influence, and there is no man, however exalted above his\nfellow-men, who does not sometimes stand in need of its exercise.\n\n+II. The region which is first blest by the exercise of mercy.+ The\nmerciful man's \"own soul.\" There are things which by the constitution\nof the material universe cannot be separated. Where there is flame,\nthere is certain to be heat; where the sun's rays come, there must be\nlight. So mercifulness of disposition must bless a man's own soul.\nThe exercise of kindliness is in harmony with the law of self-love. A\nman is but obeying this law when he exercises mercy. \"Thou shalt love\nthy neighbour _as_ thyself,\" implies that a man is to love himself.\nLoving his neighbour is the surest way--the only way--of truly doing\ngood to himself. God has ordained that all exercise of loving\nkindness shall have a reward _in_ the doing and _for_ the doing. \"He\nthat watereth others shall be watered himself\" (ver. 25). 1. His own\nspirit will be filled with a sense of blessedness. 2. His character\nwill be daily growing more and more like God. 3. He will have mercy\nextended to him when he stands in need of it. \"Blessed are the\nmerciful, for they shall obtain mercy.\" \"For with what measure you\nmete, it shall be measured unto you again\" (Matt. v. 7, vii. 2). And\nso is that mercy--\n\n \"Is twice bless'd;\n It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.\"\n\nWe have not to consider the opposite character:--\n\n+III. A curse to human kind.+ \"A cruel man.\" He is an inflicter of\npain upon others from a malicious disposition. Pain is the common lot\nof men. In the present constitution of things in this world it is a\nnecessity, and will remain so while sin remains in human nature.\nSometimes pain has to be inflicted upon human beings from the purest\nmotives, and by the most benevolent of beings. The kindest physician\nin the world is obliged constantly to inflict severe physical pain.\nThe moral teacher--the loving parent or master--must often be the\nmeans of inflicting mental pain. But in these cases the motive is not\n_ill_-will, but _good_-will. The pain is contrary to the disposition\nof the person who inflicts it. He would not give the pain if the end\ncould be obtained without it. He intends by present pain to give\nfuture pleasure. But a cruel man inflicts pain from _choice,_ for the\npurpose of making men miserable. His cruelty is the outcome of his\nmalicious nature. Hence he is a curse to his race. To the unavoidable\nand necessary pain of the world he adds that which is worse than\nneedless. He would often inflict more than he does, if he had the\npower. Did not experience teach the contrary, we should not believe\nit possible that there could be such monsters in the garb of men.\nThey are, indeed, of \"their father the devil\" (John viii. 44), who\nfinds his only delight in the misery of others.\n\n+IV. That, in the end, the cruel man will inflict the most pain upon\nhimself.+ 1. He will \"trouble his own flesh,\" or his whole being in\nthe present. He will be tormented by his conscience which now and\nagain will rise from its deathlike slumber and avenge the miseries of\nthose upon whose rights he has trampled--whose lives he has taken, or\nworse, whose souls he has ruined. While he is still pursuing his\ncourse of cruelty he will have the sting of the serpent remorse\npoisoning the life-blood of his spirit--a prophecy of future\nretribution possibly in this world, certainly in the next. 2. He is\nlaying up trouble for himself in the future. _Men may_ return his\ncruelty with compound interest,--(see comments and illustrations on\nverse 10), whether _they_ do or not _God certainly will_. The Divine\ndecree has gone forth, \"He shall have judgment without mercy, that\nhath showed no mercy.\" (James ii. 13). His experience will be that of\nthe cruel tyrant of Bezek. \"As I have done so God hath requited me,\"\n(Judges i. 6, 7), or that of Shakespeare's _Richard III._\n\n O coward conscience, how thou dost afflict me!\n The lights burn blue.--It is now dread midnight.\n Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.\n What; do I fear myself? there's none else by:\n Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.\n Is there a murderer here? No;--yes, I am:\n Then fly,--What, from myself? Great reason, why?\n Lest I revenge. What? myself on myself?\n I love myself. Wherefore? for any good\n That I myself have done unto myself?\n O no; alas, I rather hate myself,\n For hateful deeds committed by myself.\n * * * * * *\n My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,\n And every tongue brings in a several tale,\n And every tale convicts me for a villain\n * * * * * *\n All several sins, all used in each degree,\n Throng to the bar, crying all,--Guilty! guilty!\n I shall despair.--There is no creature loves me:--\n And, if I die, no soul will pity me:--\n Nay, wherefore should they, since that I myself\n Find in myself no pity to myself.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE LATTER CLAUSE OF THE VERSE._\n\nBuchanan, the Scotch historian, relates that John Cameron, Bishop of\nGlasgow, was so given to extortion and oppression, especially upon\nhis tenants and vassals, that he would scarcely afford them bread to\neat, or clothes to wear. But one Christmas eve, as he lay in his bed\nin his house at Lockwood, he heard a voice summoning him to appear\nbefore the tribunal of Christ, and give an account of his actions.\nBeing terrified with this notice, and the pangs of a guilty\nconscience, he called up his servants, and commanded them to stay in\nthe room with him. He himself took a book in his hand, and began to\nread; but the voice, being heard a second time, struck all the\nservants with horror. The same voice repeating the summons a third\ntime, and with a louder and more dreadful accent, the bishop, after a\nmost lamentable and frightful groan, was found dead in his bed.\n\n+The Last Days of Nero.+ Nero had landed in Italy about the end of\nFebruary, and now, at the beginning of June, his cause had already\nbecome hopeless. Galba, though stedfast in his resolution, had not\nyet set his troops in motion; nevertheless, Nero was no longer safe\nin the city. . . . Terrified by dreams, stung by ridicule or\ndesertion, when his last hope of succor was announced to have\ndeceived him, the wretched tyrant started from his couch at supper,\nupset the tables, and dashed his choicest vessels to the ground;\nthen, taking poison from Locusta, and placing it in a golden casket,\nhe crossed from the palace to the Servilian gardens, and sent his\ntrustiest freedman to secure a galley at Ostia. He conjured some\ntribunes and centurions, with a handful of guards, to join his\nflight, but all refused; and one, blunter than the rest, exclaimed,\ntauntingly, \"_Is it, then, so hard to die?_\" At last, at midnight,\nfinding that even the sentinels had left their posts, he sent, or\nrushed himself, to assemble his attendants. Every door was closed; he\nknocked, but no answer came. Returning to his chamber, he found the\nslaves fled, the furniture pillaged, the case of poison removed. Not\na guard, not a gladiator, was at hand, to pierce his throat. _I have\nneither friend nor foe,_ he exclaimed. He would have thrown himself\ninto the Tiber but his courage failed him. He must have time, he\nsaid, and repose to collect his spirits for suicide, and his freedman\nPhaon at last offered him his villa in the suburbs, four miles from\nthe city. In undress and barefooted, throwing a rough cloak over his\nshoulders and a kerchief across his face, he glided through the\ndoors, mounted a horse, and, attended by Sporus and three others,\npassed the city gates with the dawn of a summer morning. The\nNomentane road led him beneath the wall of the pr\u00e6torians, whom he\nmight hear uttering curses upon him and pledging vows to Galbo; and\nthe early travellers from the country asked him as they met, _What\nnews of Nero?_ or remarked to one another, _These men are pursuing\nthe tyrant._ Thunder and lightning, and a shock of earthquake, added\nterror to the moment. Nero's horse started at a dead body on the\nroadside, the kerchief fell from his face, and a pr\u00e6torian passing by\nrecognised and saluted him. At the fourth milestone the party quitted\nthe highway, alighted from their horses, and scrambled on foot\nthrough a canebrake, laying their own cloaks to tread on, to the rear\nof the promised villa. Phaon now desired Nero to crouch in a sand-pit\nhard by, while he contrived to open the drain of the bath-room, and\nso admit him unperceived; but he vowed that he would not go _alive,_\nas he said, _underground,_ and remained trembling beneath the wall.\nAt last a hole was made through which he crept on all fours into a\nnarrow chamber of the house, and there threw himself on a pallet. The\ncoarse bread that was offered him he could not eat, but swallowed a\nlittle tepid water. . . . Suddenly was heard the tramp of horsemen,\nsent to seize the culprit alive. Then at last he placed a weapon to\nhis breast, and the slave Epaphroditus drove it home. . . . Nero\nperished at the age of thirty years and six months.--_Merivale._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere are two descriptions of mercy. There is mercy to _sufferers,_\nand mercy to _offenders._ Mercy to sufferers is the disposition to\n_relieve;_ mercy to offenders is the disposition to _forgive._ The\ntwo are infinitely united in God. Under his government all sufferers\nare offenders. It is only _as_ offenders that they are sufferers; and\nwhen He pardons the offence, He cancels the sentence to suffering.\nAnd in every good man the two are united. They should, indeed, be\nregarded as one principle, operating in different departments. Now\n\"the merciful man\" whether considered in the one light or the\nother,--in exercising forgiveness or in relieving\ndistress--effectually consults his own interests. He does so, even\nfor present enjoyment. The Divine sentiment of the Saviour--\"It is\nmore blessed to give than to receive,\" has its full application here.\nJesus Himself, above all that ever lived on earth, experienced its\ntruth. He \"delighted in mercy.\" He came from above on an errand of\nmercy. The \"merciful man\" participates in the blessedness of the Son\nof God. . . . He, moreover, procures favour with his fellow-men;--he\n\"makes himself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness;\" he causes\nsociety to feel an interest in him--to regard and treat him as its\nfriend and benefactor. This is eminently gratifying and pleasing;--to\nknow that in the hearts of our fellow-men our names are associated\nwith affection and blessing, and that when we \"fail,\" there will be\nsome ready to receive us into \"everlasting habitations,\" who have\nbeen made friends by our kindness during their sojourn in the\nwilderness. But above all, the mercy of the merciful is associated\nwith the favour and blessing of God. . . . But the cruel stirs up\nresentment, instead of conciliating favour; so that on every hand, in\nevery face, he sees an enemy, from whom he dreads the fulfilment of\nthe Saviour's maxim,--\"With what measure ye mete it shall be measured\nto you again.\" How can he be happy? There is unhappiness in his very\npassions. The opposite of the character of God, they cannot but be\nassociated with misery.--_Wardlaw._\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: This next paragraph includes the word\n \"niggardliness,\" which is a fine word meaning \"stinginess\"\n or \"parsimony.\" However, it can sound like a racial slur\n especially to people who are not familiar with the word or\n are not paying close attention. When teaching this material\n please consider substituting a synonym.\n\nWe are to preserve, as much as in us lies, these two parts of our\nnature, our souls and our bodies. . . . He that may truly be called a\nkind man, is kind to his own soul, in comforting his own heart, and\nin granting thereunto the delight which may be received by sleep, by\nfood, and the use of all things necessary and pleasant. Wherefore the\ncounsel which the son of Sirach giveth is good and worthy to be\nfollowed: \"Love thy soul, and comfort thine heart, and put heaviness\nfar away from thee.\" (Ecclus. xxx. 21, etc.) On the contrary side the\ncruel person, either for niggardliness, or travail, or sorrow,\npincheth, consumeth, or pineth his body. He ceaseth not to labour,\nnor saith, For whom do I travail and deprive my soul of good\nthings.--_Muffet._\n\nThe merciful man will ever find a merciful God. (Psa. xli. 1. Matt.\nv. 7). The widow of Sarepta and the woman of Shunem, each for their\nkindness to the Lord's prophets received a prophet's reward. (2 Kings\niv. 16. vii. 1, 6). The alms of Cornelius brought _good to his own\nsoul._ (Acts x. 2, 4). Even now \"God is not unrighteous to forget our\nwork and labour of love.\" (Heb. vi. 10. Matt. x. 42). At the great\nday He will honour it before the assembled universe. (Matt.\nxxv. 34). . . . Cain found his brother's murder an intolerable\n\"_trouble to his flesh._\" (Gen. iv. 13, 14). The doom of Ahab and\nJezebel was the curse of their own cruelty. (1 Kings xxii. 38.\n2 Kings ix. 36, 37). The treasures of selfishness will eat as a\ncanker in _our own flesh._ (Jas. v. 1, 3).--_Bridges._\n\nWhy did not the wise man say, \"He that is cruel troubleth his own\nsoul?\" He knew that a cruel man cares nothing for his soul. If you\nwould obtain a hearing from the merciless man, say nothing about his\nsoul. He values it less than his dog. But if you could convince him\nthat his want of mercy will be hurtful to his flesh, he would think a\nlittle about his ways. And it is evident from Scripture, that his\nflesh, no less than his soul, is under a fearful curse.--_Lawson._\n\nHis chief business is with and for himself: how to set all to rights\nwithin, how to keep a continual Sabbath of soul, a constant\ncomposedness. He will not purchase earth with his loss of heaven. And\ninasmuch as the body is the soul's servant, and should therefore be\nfit for the soul's business--it ought not to be pinched or pined with\npenury or overmuch abstinence, as those impostors (Col. ii. 23), and\nour Popish merit-mongers, that starve their genius, and are cruel to\ntheir own flesh. They shall one day hear, \"Who required these things\nat your hand?\"--_Trapp._\n\nIn every act that mercy prompts there are two parties who obtain a\nbenefit,--the person in need, who is the object of compassion, and\nthe person not in need, who pities his suffering brother. Both get\ngood, but the giver gets the larger share. . . . The Good Samaritan\nwho bathed the wounds and provided for the wants of a plundered Jew,\nobtained a greater profit on the transaction than the sufferer who\nwas saved by his benevolence. It is like God to constitute His world\nso. Even Christ himself, in the act of showing mercy, has His\nreward. . . . And a man cannot hurt his neighbour without hurting\nhimself. The rebound is heavier than the blow. . . . Such is the\nfence which the Creator has set up to keep men off his fellows. This\ndividing line is useful now to keep off the ravages of sin; but when\nperfect love has come, that divider, no longer needed, will be no\nlonger seen. It is like one of those black jagged ridges of rock that\nat low water stretch across the sand from the edge of the cultivated\nground to the margin of the sea, an impassable, an unapproachable\nbarrier: when the tide rises, all is level, and it is nowhere seen.\nThis law of God, rising as a rampart between man and man, is confined\nto this narrow six thousand year strip of time. In the perfect state\nit will act no more, for want of material to act upon.--_Arnot._\n\nIt is to his own soul that a merciful man doeth good. For it hath\nbeen well said, there is nothing so much a man's own as that which is\ngiven to the poor. That which men do, they do as to a poor soul, of\nas noble birth, and by nature of as great excellency as their own\nsoul is, and so they do it, as it were, to their own. That which God\ndoth, He doth to a sinful soul, degenerate from the birth which He\ngave it, and turned to be a rebel against Him. So that God is more\nready to be good to His enemies, then we are to be good to\nourselves.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18-20.\n\nSOWING AND REAPING.\n\n+I. The life-work of the wicked contains within itself the germs of a\nthree-fold bane: A deception, a death, and an abomination.+ 1. _A\ndeception._ The wicked man expects from his life-work that which it\ncannot possibly yield. It is against the moral constitution of the\nuniverse that a life of wickedness, or an evil understanding in that\nlife should yield satisfaction or any degree of real comfort to the\nworker. If a man sowed darnel in his field and expected to get a crop\nof wheat, he would be \"working a deceitful work,\" that is, he would\nbe a victim of self-deception. Nature cannot go out of her way to\ngratify his desires, to prevent his disappointment. The ungodly man\nlives a life of ungodliness--he \"pursues evil,\" (ver. 19), he\nperversely chooses his own course, in other words, he \"is of a\nfroward heart,\" (ver. 20), and he promises himself some kind of\nadvantage. But it cannot be, he is doomed to disappointment. However\nmuch _he lies_ to work his work, the _issue of his work_ will not\nlie. The earth will not lie concerning what kind of seed is placed in\nher furrows. If wheat is hidden there she will not disappoint the\nhusbandman by returning him tares--if tares are sown she will render\nback of what has been entrusted to her care. She will speak the truth\nabout the sowing by giving according to that which she has received.\nThe sinner wants to make God a liar. \"In the day that thou eatest\nthereof thou shalt surely die,\" is the Divine sentence. \"Ye shall not\nsurely die,\" is the assurance of the great deceiver. But the end will\never be what it was when man first suffered himself to entertain a\ndoubt upon the matter. The man who builds himself a house upon the\nside of a volcano may promise himself, or may be promised by others,\nsafety and peace, but unless he can quench the internal fires, that\npromise cannot be kept. The elements of destruction are ever at work\nunder his very feet, the day will come when the devouring flame will\nburst forth and consume the work and the worker together. 2. _Death._\nThere are three kinds of death which are all the fruit of sin and\nwhich are developed out of one another as the blade, the corn in the\near, and the full corn are successive developments of one seed. There\nis that present paralysis of all the spiritual capabilities of the\nman which the Bible calls _carnal mindedness._ (Rom. viii. 6). Into\nthis condition Adam came at once as soon as he worked his wicked\nwork, and every son of his who lives a life of oppression to the\nDivine will is even now \"dead\" in this sense. The death of the body\nis but the outcome of this spiritual death, and although it is the\nportion of those who have been made spiritually alive, its character\nis changed from a curse into a blessing. But the consummation of both\nthese \"deaths,\" is that irrecoverable paralysis of spirit, and that\ncorrespondent condition of body known as the \"second death.\" This is\nwhat the man \"pursues\" who \"pursues evil.\" 3. _An abomination._ A\nmusical soul hates discord, an honest man hates dishonesty, the\npure-minded turn with loathing from all impurity. Although God loves\nHis creatures, He holds in abomination all that is unholy; a\npersistent frowardness--a constant refusal to fall in with the Divine\nplan of separating sin from the human soul will--it is here and\nelsewhere declared--result in the very creature whom He has made\nbecoming an offence to his Divine Creator.\n\n+II. The life-work of the righteous will meet the certain reward of a\nDivine character and Divine delight.+ 1. _A Divine character._ He is\nnow a partaker of spiritual life. A man's present healthy life is in\nitself a reward for any self-denial he may practise in observing the\nlaws of health. There is a joy in living which a diseased man knows\nnothing of. So there is a present joy in being in a state of\nspiritual health, in the exercise of all the graces which are the\nfruit of the spirit, (Gal. v. 22), to which a man who is morally\ndiseased and dead is an entire stranger. The spiritual life which is\nthe harvest of \"sowing righteousness\" or uprightness, is a present\nreward. But the present spiritual live and health is a prophecy and\nan earnest of a completed and perfected life in the city of God.\nRighteousness is the very life of God, and in proportion as His\nchildren attain perfection of character they attain a more perfect\nlife. (See Homiletics on chap. vii. 1-4). 2. _Divine delight._ God is\nthe Author and Fountain of all the righteousness in the universe, and\nHe can but take pleasure in the work of His own hands. He delights in\nmen of uprightness because He sees in them a reproduction of His own\ncharacter. His \"soul _delighted,_\" (Isa. xlii. 1), in the work and\ncharacter of His elected servant, His only-begotten Son, because He\nwas, pre-eminently \"the Righteous.\" (1 John ii. 1). He delights also\nin His created sons in proportion as their character comes up to that\nperfect standard.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 18. 1. _Opposite characters._ The radical idea of the word\nrighteousness seems to be that of equality, as the equilibrium of a\npair of scales, etc. Hence, applied to moral or religious matters, it\nmakes a correspondence between our obligations on the one hand, and\nour performance on the other. But as the rightful claims of God and\nman are embodied in the Divine law, righteousness is considered as\nobedience and conformity to that law (Deut. vi. 25). And as this rule\nrather declares what it enjoins to be fit and proper, than makes it\nso, righteousness, in relation to the arrangement and constitution of\nthings, is order, fitness, reality, truth. The radical meaning of the\nword here employed to denote the wicked man appears to be that of\ninequality, unfairness. Hence _wicked,_ that is, _unequal,_ balances\n(Mic. vi. 11). Agreeably to this idea, the word, when used in a moral\nsense, means a want of correspondence between duty and\nperformance--nonconformity to the laws of God. As righteousness is\norder, etc., so that which is the essence of wickedness, is disorder,\nincongruity, deception, a lie, an unsound principle. 2. _Opposite\npractices._ As is the tree, so is the fruit. Righteousness renders to\nGod and to man their due. The unrighteous man robs God (Mal. iii. 8,\n9) of time and talents which should have been devoted to His service.\nHis work is--Deceitful (often) in its intention. Deception is the\nvery object proposed. Deceitful (always) in its nature. Weighed in\nthe balances, it is found wanting. 3. _Opposite results._ The\ndeceiver himself often becomes the dupe of his own delusions. By\nabuse the moral sense becomes blunted, etc., then follows what is\ndescribed Isa. xliv. 18, 20; 2 Tim. iii. 13. Deceitful in its\nresults--generally in this world. A tradesman who makes a point of\ntelling profitable lies, is detected and disbelieved even when he\nspeaks the truth, and, being deserted, comes to ruin.--Certainly in\nthe world to come. Every man loves happiness; but sin will leave the\nsinner to weeping and wailing, etc. On the contrary, the righteous\nhas a sure reward. His reward is--1. Certain. The perfections and\nword of God assure this. 2. Suitable; a reward of truth, a reward in\nkind, an increase of correct and pious feeling (Matt. v. 6, 8).\nHence, 3. Satisfying (Psalm xvii. 15). 4. Abiding (Psa.\nxix. 9).--_Adapted from Sketches of Sermons._\n\nAlthough the ungodly person labour much, yet he doth a work which\nneither shall continue, nor bring any fruit unto him. The hypocrite\ngiveth alms oftentimes to be seen by men, but he shall never be\nrewarded for his liberality by the Lord. The transgressor of God's\nlaw buildeth himself upon the show of an outward profession: such a\nhouse will fall. The vain teacher delivereth the straw and the\nstubble of error and vanity for true doctrine and sound divinity.\nThis work cannot abide; the day will reveal it, and the fire will\nconsume it.--_Muffet._\n\nNone would be so rich and happy as he servants of Satan, were his\npromises all performed; but the misery is, that he will promise\nkingdoms, though he cannot, like Chaldean robbers, have a single\nsheep without the Divine permission; and what is worst of all, those\nthat trust his promises are paid with fire and brimstone. The devil\nwas a liar from the beginning, yet so infatuated are men, that they\nwill trust him more than a God that cannot lie. The devil places\npleasure and profit before them; God, by the threatenings of His\nword, sets an everlasting hell before them. But they will venture\nthrough it, in order to enjoy the vanities with which the great\ntempter allures them.--_Lawson._\n\nBy necessity of his condition, every man's life, and every moment of\nit, is a sowing. The machine is continually moving over the field and\nshaking; it cannot, even for a moment, be made to stand still, so as\nnot to sow. It is not an open question at all whether I shall sow or\nnot to-day; the only question to be decided is, Shall I sow good seed\nor bad?--_Arnot._\n\nIf righteousness be our main end, God will make it our best friend;\nnor will He, as the world has done, reward us with ciphers instead of\ngold.--_Bridges._\n\nNothing is durable that a wicked man does except his crimes.--_A.\nClarke._\n\nOur wage is better than ordinary, the whole crop that we sow is given\nus for our labour, and therefore let us not be too hasty to reap it\nbefore it be ready. Good farmers indeed pay the ploughman sooner than\nthe corn is ripe, but cheaper than the corn is worth: Whereas God\nbestoweth freely upon his labourers all that they have sown, it is\ntheir own, and therefore let them tarry till harvest, and they shall\nfind their hire will far surmount their travail.--_Dod._\n\nLet us inquire why this gracious course of consecrating a man's self\nto God in the practice of godliness is called a _sowing_ of\nrighteousness. It is because of the likeness which is betwixt the\npractice of godliness, and the sowing of the seed--(1) _in some\nthings which do go before the sowing._ Two things, then, have to be\nlooked after, viz., _the preparation of the ground and the choice of\nseed._ In the sowing of righteousness the like to these two are of\ngreat behoof. The preparation of the heart and the choice of\nparticulars belonging to a Christian course. (2) _In some things\nwhich do accompany the sowing, viz., the time of sowing and the\nplenty of sowing._ When the season comes, the husbandman falls to his\nwork, though, perhaps, it be not so seasonable as he could desire. So\nin spiritual business--the seed time for righteousness is this life:\nthe opportunity must be taken when it comes. If I meet with many\nencumbrances, shall I cease sowing and tarry for a calmer season? God\nforbid. Through with it I must, in season, and out of season. If I\nlook for a better time, upon a sudden, there will be no time at all.\nThen the seedsman casts not in one seed alone, but a handful at once,\none handful after another. To sow righteousness is to be rich in good\nworks, to do good once and again, to join with faith virtue; with\nvirtue knowledge, etc. Some do now and then drop out a good work,\nsome little devotion to God, some petty office of mercy to men, but\nit is to no purpose in the world; no plenty in sowing, no fulness in\nreaping. (3) _In things which follow after sowing._ Great is the care\nthat the seed put into the ground may thrive and prosper; the fields\nbe hedged, the cattle be shut out, etc. It is ever and anon looked\nto, to see how it be going on. So it is in vain to have entered upon\na good course if it be not continued (Phil. iv. 1; 1 Thess. iv. 1;\n2 Pet. iii. 18; Heb. vi. 1). Thus we see that to sow righteousness\nis--1. The submitting a man's self to have his heart broken up by the\npower of God's word. 2. A diligent inquiry into the best way of\npleasing God. 3. A pressing forward amid many encumbrances. 4. A\nstriving to be fruitful in good works. 5. A watching with continued\ndiligence.--_Hieron._\n\n\nVerse 19. The courses of rivers is to return to the sea, from whence\nthey issue, and so righteousness, coming from the ocean of life,\nthither tendeth again, and evil, coming from the black sea of\ndarkness, bendeth thither also. The difference which the passengers\nfind is this: that in the waters of righteousness all the tempests\nand rough waves are in the river, but going on with it to the sea,\nthere is nothing but calmness, security, and pleasantness, in which\nthey bathe themselves for evermore. In the waters of wickedness the\npassengers find the river to be easy often, and smoothly to carry\nthem along, but following the course of it, when they come to the\nsea, there are nothing but horrid storms, raging winds, and gaping\ngulfs of death, wherein they are for ever swallowed up.--_Jermin._\n\nOur principal pay will be in _life_, whereof we have part in hand by\ngrace in our souls in this world, and the rest is behind until the\npay day in the world to come. So that a sinner cannot discern the\nhappiness of a Christian, nor conceive how God dealeth with him. For\nthe comfort of a heart is a thing unknown to him, and the glorious\nlife is hid with Christ in God, and shall not fully be seen before we\nappear with Him in glory.--_Dod._\n\nIf righteousness is a seed, and is sown, and has a certain crop,\nthen, in this way, \"righteousness is unto life,\" but he that pursues\nevil does so to his death; that is, he sows in spiritual corruption,\nand that eternally. He grows in spiritual corruption, not because\ncreatures are self-subsistent, and advance by laws implanted in\nthemselves; but because sin is the punishment of sin, and advance by\nlaws implanted in the Almighty. Eternal justice declares that sin\nmust be given up to an advance in sin.--_Miller._\n\nIt is frequently possible for man to screen themselves from the\npenalty of human laws, but no man can be ungrateful or unjust without\nsuffering for his crime; hence I conclude that these laws must have\nproceeded from a more excellent legislator than man.--_Socrates._\n\n\nVerse 20. Uprightness is a noble quality, for the Lord greatly\ndelights in it. He boasted, if we may speak so, to the devil of Job's\ninvincible integrity. Christ speaks of an upright Nathaniel as a\nwonder in the world. How wonderful is the grace of God, that takes\nsuch kind notice of grace so imperfect as that which may be found on\nearth.--_Lawson._\n\n\"An abomination to Jehovah,\" as taught in this book, is a thing so\nradically full of mischief that it must be forced out of the way some\nday, by the very necessities of the universe.--_Miller._\n\nNot only those that pursue and practise wickedness, but they also\nthat harbour it in their hearts, are hated of God. (Luke xvi. 15). A\nman may die of inward bleeding; a man may be damned for contemplative\nwickedness. The antithesis requires that he should say, such as are\nupright _in heart._ But He chooseth rather to say, _in their way,_\nnot only because a good heart ever makes a good life, but to meet\nwith such as brag of the goodness of their hearts when their lives\nare altogether loose and licentious. Whereas holiness in the heart,\nas the candle in the lantern, well appears in the body.--_Trapp._\n\nA pearl upon a dunghill is worth stooping for, and a gracious man or\nwoman is worth looking after. Sure it is that God looks on them as\nHis jewels, as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, His delight.\nHis dear children, and what not. It much concerns us then, to set a\ntrue value upon them, make a true estimate of them, and (as much as\nlieth in us) to be mindful of them, comfortable to them, and willing\non all occasions to do them good.--_Spencer's Things New and Old._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nDELIVERANCE FROM A CONFEDERATED OPPOSITION.\n\n+I. The wicked will certainly confederate against the good.+ They\nwill join \"hand in hand.\" 1. _On account of their nearness to each\nother._ If two nations who are near neighbours feel that the advance\nof one in possessions, in power, in wealth, will be the correspondent\nretrogression of the other, there will be a confederation of each\nnation. Their nearness to each other will necessitate a _defensive_\nconfederation--most likely an _offensive_ one, for each will feel\nthat its existence depends upon a union of its members. The wicked\nand the good in the entire universe make but two hostile camps,\nalthough they are not separated into distinct nationalities or\ndivided by geographical boundaries in this world. Some of each side\nare found in every nation, in every city, in every hamlet, often in\nthe same house, and while this is the case there will be\nconfederation on both sides we have here to do only with that of the\nwicked. Hatred of the good is often the only bond of union between\nwicked men, they feel that, if the good are to be held back from\npossessing the earth, they must unite to oppose their work. Hatred of\nChrist united Herod and Pilate (Luke xxiii. 12). 2. _This\nconfederation of the wicked is against both persons and principles._\nThe good fight only against the _principles_ of the godless--they\nlove their _persons,_ the wicked hate both the _persons_ and\n_principles_ of the good. 3. _The wicked will confederate because of\nthe tremendous issues depending upon the conflict._ If the principles\nthat govern the good should triumph in the world, they instinctively\nfeel that there will be no place left for their persons and\nprinciples. 4. _Confederation implies choice, confidence in numbers,\nthought, and a covenant to stand by each other._ Those who join hand\nto hand show that they choose each other's society--choice is a\nrevelation of character--those who join hands with the wicked reveal\nthat they are wicked also. It implies confidence in numbers. Numbers\nhave a wonderful influence in begetting confidence. They inspire men\nwith hope of success. It seems impossible that so many can be\ndefeated. The fact that the wicked are in the majority in this world\nis often a strong point with them. This was the hope of Pharaoh\n(Exod. xiv. 6, 7) and of Sennacherib (Isa. xxxvi). The first Napoleon\nmade it his boast that \"Providence fought always on the side of great\nbattalions.\" It likewise implies thought. They do not go to their\nwork without taking counsel together as to the best means of\naccomplishing their ends. This \"multitude of counsellors\" (ver. 14)\nis one of the advantages of confederation. It likewise implies\ncovenant. There is something even in a wicked man that makes him slow\nto break an agreement--to violate a solemn promise. Even the wicked\nHerod would keep his oath to the daughter of Herodias, although the\nthought of the crime which he must commit to do so startled him for a\nmoment (Matt. xiv. 9). All these things together make up the strength\nof the confederation of the wicked; but, notwithstanding,--\n\n+II. They will be defeated.+ \"The seed of the righteous will be\ndelivered.\" The end of all their planning and plotting was the\ndestruction of the good, but it will not be. Another confederation\nhas been formed which has in it a stronger Person than any in the\nconfederation of the wicked. _God_ is in it. God has chosen the good\nfor His confederates because they have chosen Him (Isa. xli. 8, 9).\nAlthough the wicked have many on their side there are more in numbers\non the other side (2 Kings vi. 16). Those unseen defenders of the\ngood cause must be taken into account. God has thoughts and plans\nwhich embrace and overrule all the plans and schemes of the wicked.\nHe has likewise made a covenant, and He cannot \"alter the thing that\nhas gone out of His lips\" (Psalm xxxix. 34). Therefore the righteous\nmay meet their foes with this challenge: \"_Associate yourselves, O ye\npeople, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye\nshall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come\nto nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for the Lord is\nwith us_\" (Isa. viii. 9, 10).\n\n+III. The members of the wicked confederation will be punished.+ Men\nthink that individuals will be lost in the crowd. They think there is\nsafety in being one of many. But it is not so. God will deal with men\nas individuals. He will \"render to _every man_ according to his work\"\n(Psalm lxii. 12). This is the word of the Lord to those who dare \"to\ntake counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed\"\n(Psalm ii. 2)--\"_Judgment also will I lay to the line and\nrighteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the\nrefuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And\nyour covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement\nwith hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass\nthrough, then ye shall be trodden down by it_\" (Isaiah\nxxviii. 17-18). And this is His word to \"the seed of the\nrighteous,\"--\"_Behold they shall surely gather together, but not by\nme: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy\nsake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the\nfire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have\ncreated the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee\nshall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in\njudgment thou shalt condemn_\" (Isaiah liv. 15-17).\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nA very solemn method of taking an oath in the East is by joining\nhands, uttering at the same time a curse upon the false swearer. To\nthis the wise man probably alludes. This form of swearing is still\nobserved in Egypt and the vicinity; for when Mr. Bruce was at Shekh\nHunner, he entreated the protection of the governor in prosecuting\nhis journey, when the great people who were assembled came, and after\njoining hands, repeated a kind of prayer about two minutes long, by\nwhich they declared themselves and their children accursed, if ever\nthey lifted up their hands against him in the tent, or in the field,\nor the desert, or in case that he or his should fly to them for\nrefuge, if they did not protect them at the risk of their lives. Or,\nsometimes, when two persons make a contract they bring the palms of\ntheir right hands into contact, and raise them to their lips and\nforehead. At other times they rub the forefingers of their rights\nhands together, repeating the words \"right, right,\" or \"together,\ntogether.\"--_Paxton's Illustration._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWhat many wicked cannot do, in saving one wicked man from wrath, that\nshall one godly man do for many. For not only _himself,_ but his\n_seed_ shall be delivered.--_Jermin._\n\nThe best way for any man to do his children good, is to be godly\nhimself.--_Dod._\n\nThe \"_seed of the righteous_\" is not simply the children of righteous\npeople, because it includes the parents themselves; not simply the\nparents, because it includes the children; not both parents and\nchildren, because many children perish; but the _seed_ of the\nrighteous in this sense (1) that righteousness runs in lines;--there\nis a generation of them that seek Him (Psa. xxiv. 6)--and (2) that\nthe righteous, as far as they are righteous in the parental relation,\nwill have godly children (Gen. xviii. 19; Titus i. 6). Righteousness\nitself (by its fidelities) has its offspring in Christian families.\nThis is the favourite method of the Church's growth.--_Miller._\n\nLet sinners beware of the danger and the inevitable result of\nfighting against God! \"He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength;\nwho hath hardened himself against Him and prospered?\" What fearful\nodds--the creature against the Creator! the sinner against his\nrightful Judge! the arm of flesh against the hand of Omnipotence.\nThough the wicked could league all creation with them in conspiracy\nand rebellion, how powerless the combination! \"He that sitteth in the\nheavens should laugh; the Lord should have them in derision. He\nshould speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore\ndispleasure.\" Companions in sin shall be companions in banishment and\nsuffering. \"Forsake the foolish, then, and live.\" Choose another\nfellowship. Give your hand to God's people, giving your heart to God\nHimself.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen we hear of the wicked, we are apt to think that man of abandoned\nlives can alone be meant. Hence, when we read the text we have a\npicture brought before us of some overbearing tyranny, or some\nperfidious conspiracy. Such specimens of evil are doubtless intended;\nstill, after all, much more is included in its meaning, much which we\nsee before our eyes. Is not the world itself evil? Is it an accident,\nis it an occasion, is it but an excess, or a crisis, or a\ncomplication of circumstances, which constitutes its sinfulness? or,\nrather, is it not one of our three great spiritual enemies at all\ntimes, and under all circumstances? (See Jas. iv. 4; Ephes. ii. 2;\nRom. xii. 2; 1 John ii. 15). Let us be sure, then, that the\nconfederacy of evil which Scripture calls the world--that conspiracy\nagainst God of which Satan is the secret instigator--is something\nwider, and more subtle, and more ordinary than mere cruelty, or\ncraft, or profligacy: It is that very world in which we are. It is\nnot a certain body or party of men--it is human society\nitself.--_J. H. Newman._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nPRECIOUS THINGS POSSESSED BY UNWORTHY OWNERS.\n\n+I. There is an analogy between gold and beauty.+ 1. _They are both\ngifts from God._ Whether a man possesses gold by inheritance or as\nthe result of labour it is a gift from God. In the first instance no\npraise or blame is due to him for being a rich man, he can no more\nhelp it than he can help being in existence. And it is no less a gift\nfrom God when it has been earned by toil (see Homiletics on chap.\nx. 22). Beauty is also a gift from God, those who possess it deserve\nno honour for being beautiful, those who lack it are not to be\ndespised on that account. 2. _Both have a certain value._ Gold may\nadd much to a man himself, it increases his opportunities of\nspiritual and intellectual growth. It enables him to add much to the\njoy and comfort of others, to give them opportunities of growth also;\na rich man can, if he pleases, serve his generation most effectually\nby a right use of wealth, and thereby increase a thousandfold his own\nhappiness as well as that of others. Beauty is precious also. A woman\nwho possesses physical beauty possesses an influence which she can\nuse, if she pleases, as a lever to raise the moral tone of those who\ncome under her influence. A beautiful woman may use her beauty so as\nto earn for herself a good reward, and gladden the hearts of her\nfellow-creatures. 3. _Both may make their possessors worthy of praise\nor blame._ Although neither praise nor blame can be attached to the\n_possession_ of them, much may be to their _use._ He who uses gold as\nwe have just indicated will receive the \"well done,\" which is the\nhighest praise that man can receive (Matt. xxv. 21). But if, like a\nsponge, he sucks up all the blessings that his gold can give into his\nown life, and leaves others unsuccoured and unblest, he will deserve,\nand he will receive, the sentence passed upon the rich by the Apostle\nJames (chap. v. 1). So with the use or the abuse of beauty. For the\nright use of this gift of God, praise will be accorded to its\npossessor, for its abuse she will be called to render an account.\n\n+II. Gold and beauty, each in a wrong relation.+ An ornament of gold\nis a fitting and becoming adornment of the human person. But the same\nthing in a swine's snout is utterly out of place; the conjunction of\nthe two strikes us as entirely incongruous. But it is not more so\nthan to find a fair face united to an unlovely soul--to a soul which\nlacks the purity and modesty without which a woman is the most\nrepulsive of God's creatures. For the word translated discretion\nevidently means _womanliness_--_virtue,_ and when we see a beautiful\nface and find that it belongs to one with a foul spirit, we seem to\nsee heaven and hell united in one person. The analogy goes further;\nthe swine uses his snout to grovel in the mire in search of that\nwhich will satisfy his animal and swinish nature, he could put a\njewel of gold to no other use. And the woman of the proverb does the\nsame thing with her beauty. She debases this jewel of God's own\nworkmanship to the vile use of satisfying her own grovelling and\nlawless desires, and thus renders the resemblance most striking.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nNearly all the females of the East wear a jewel of gold in their\nnostrils, or in the septum of their nose; and some of them are\nexceedingly beautiful, and of great value. The Oriental lady looks\nwith as much pleasure upon the jewel which adorns her nose as any of\nher sex in England do upon that which deck their ears.--_Roberts._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe cannot, if we are ourselves right-minded,--if we have even good\nsense, apart from piety--admire such beauty. It hardly deserves the\nname. True loveliness consists not in mere exquisite symmetry of\nfeatures. It cannot exist without _expression._ To constitute true\nbeauty, the countenance must be the index of the mind and heart--of\nwhat is intellectual and what is amiable.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe most direct proverb, in the sense of \"_mashal,_\" or _similitude,_\nwhich has yet reached us.--_Plumptre._\n\nBeauty is an earthly jewel, and is a comely ornament, where God and\nnature have bestowed it. But if there be no discretion to consider\nwhence it cometh, and by whom it is preserved; if there be no\nunderstanding to perceive what the nature of it is, to what at last\nit cometh, and how soon it fadeth, it is then but a jewel of gold in\na swine's snout.--_Jermin._\n\nGod makes no more reckoning of sinful people without understanding,\nthan of brute beasts without reason. Though they have human nature,\nand carry the shape and form of men and women, with best show, yet if\nthere be nothing but flesh and blood and sinfulness, no beauty no\nbravery, make the best of them, is more acceptable to Him than is the\nbasest of all the other creatures. It is a very homely comparison\nwherewith the Holy Ghost disgraceth the wicked in this book, and yet\nso true, that He toucheth it again in the New Testament (2 Pet.\nii. 22).--_Dod._\n\nIt is small praise, saith one, to have a good face and an evil\nnature. No one means, saith another, hath so enriched hell as\nbeautiful faces. Art thou fair? saith an author; be not like an\nEgyptian temple, or a painted sepulchre. Art thou foul? let thy soul\nbe like a rich pearl in a rude shell.--_Trapp._\n\nBeauty in the possession of an unthinking woman is more dangerous\nthan a drawn sword in the hands of an idiot.\n\nBeauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without perfume.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nTHE DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND THE EXPECTATION OF THE WICKED.\n\nWe cannot understand the first clause of this verse to mean that\n_all_ a righteous man's desires are good. 1. _History contradicts\nit._ Solomon must have known it was not true of his own father. David\nwas a righteous man, but some of his desires were not only not good,\nbut inhuman and devilish. Of all the good men of whom we read,\nwhether in inspired or uninspired history, there is hardly one of\nwhom some act is not recorded which reveals that their desires were\nsometimes sinful. 2. _Present experience contradicts it._ If those\nwho are now looked upon as the salt of the earth were appealed to\nupon this matter they would emphatically deny that their desires were\nat all times and altogether good. But this we may affirm. I. _That\nthe main desire of a righteous man is that he may be good, and that\nto all his fellow-creatures \"good may be the final goal of ill.\"_\nII. _That there will be a period in his history when his desires will\nbe \"only\" good._ In nature all things tend towards a perfection--a\ncompletion. If no untoward circumstances prevent, a tree or a flower\nwill go on growing until it has attained to the perfectness to which\nit has been ordained. The Christian is destined to attain to\nperfection of moral beauty. And when this completion is arrived at\nhis desires will be _only_ good. See 1 John iii. 1, 2, etc. (For full\ntreatment of the verse see Homiletics on chap. x. verses 24 and 28.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHere we are to contrast a wish and an _assurance_ (expectation) like\nthat class of passages already alluded to where the last clause is\nintensive. The mere _wish_ of the righteous is an intrinsic good;\neither _first,_ because _all_ writings of his heart, whether wise or\nunwise will exercise him (Psalm lxxxiv. 7), and will speed him to his\ncelestial state; or _secondly,_ because the wish of a righteous man,\n_quoad_ a righteous man, will be a righteous wish, and, therefore,\nwill be good in itself, and will be sure to be gratified. The wish of\na righteous man, like the spongelets of a tree, is that which goes\nsearching for God's gifts, and is sure in the end to attain them.\nTherefore, emphasising \"_only_\" the wish of a righteous man will be\nmade altogether to work for his good, however disappointed, and\nhowever kept low and troubled in the difficulties of the present\nlife. But \"_an assurance_ of the wicked;\" that is, a thing so grasped\nand reached as to be no longer a \"_wish,_\" but a certainty; wealth,\nwhen it is made his, or honour, when it is actually grasped, will not\nonly be lost; will not only be followed by \"_wrath_\" in the sense of\nactually bringing it; but \"_is wrath_\" in the sense of being sent as\npunishment, and in the further sense that the sinner knew it all the\ntime; and that his assurance, though it seemed to be a certainty of\njoy, was, lower down, a certainty of punishment; we mean by that an\nassurance (which he would confess if he were asked) that all his\nproperties could end only in increasing retribution.--_Miller._\n\n\"Desire is the wing of the soul, whereby it moveth, and is carried to\nthe thing which it loveth as the eagle to the carcase, to feed itself\nupon it, and be satisfied with it\" (Bishop Reynolds). The desire of\nthe righteous must be good because it is God's own work (Psalm x. 17;\nRom. viii. 26, 27). It must be _only good,_ because it centres in\nHimself (Psalm lxxiii. 25; Isa. xxvi. 8, 9). . . . The corrupt\nmixture of worldliness, selfishness, and pride is against our better\nwill (Rom. vii. 15). In despite of this mighty assault--\"Lord, all my\ndesire is before thee; thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I\nlove thee\" (Psalm xxxvii. 9; John xxi. 17).--_Bridges._\n\nEvil motions haunt his mind otherwhiles, but there they inhabit\nnot. . . . As the ferryman plies the oar, and eyes the shore\nhomeward, where he would be, yet there comes a gust of wind that\ncarries him back again, so it is oft with a Christian. But every man\nis with God so good as he desires to be. They are written in the book\nof life that do what they can, though they cannot do what they\nwould.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 23 and chap. x. 24. I. _What, or who is the righteous man?_\n1. He is one whom God makes righteous by bestowing righteousness upon\nhim--by counting the righteousness of His Son for his (Rom. v. 19). A\nman must be righteous by imputation before he can be made good, for\nthe Spirit which makes our persons good--which sanctifies our\nnature--is the fruit of the righteousness which is by Jesus Christ.\n2. God makes a man righteous by bestowing upon him a principle of\nrighteousness. Man must have eyes before they can see, tongues before\nthey can speak, and legs before they go: even so a man must be made\nhabitually good and righteous before he can work righteousness 3. The\nman is practically righteous. Fruits show outwardly what the heart is\nprincipled with. Mark how the apostle words it: \"Being made free from\nsin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness\"\n(Rom. vi. 22). The works flow from the heart of a righteous man--of a\nman that before he had any good work had a twofold righteousness\nimparted to him--one to make him righteous before God, the other to\nprinciple him to be righteous before the world. II. _What a righteous\nman desires._ A righteous man is sometimes taken for his best part,\nor as he is a second creation as in 2 Cor. v. 17; Col. iii. 10, etc.\nIn which places the sinful flesh, the old man, the outward man--all\nof which are corrupt according to his deceitful lusts--are excluded,\nand so pared off from the man, that he is righteous. As Paul in Rom.\nvii. 15-17 severs himself in twain,--himself as he is spiritual from\nhimself as he is carnal--so the righteous man here must be taken for\nthe I that would do the good, the I that hates the evil. There is a\nspring that yieldeth water good and clear, but the channels through\nwhich this water comes to us are muddy and foul: now, of the channels\nthe water receives a disadvantage, and so come to us savouring of\nwhat came not with them from the fountain of grace--the Holy\nGhost--but from the channels through which they must pass. The\ndesires of a righteous man, then, are comprised under, 1. those they\nwould have accomplished here, and 2. those which they know cannot be\nenjoyed until after death. And the first are comprised under\ncommunion with God in spirit and the liberty of enjoyment of His\nordinances. And the second are comprehended under the desire of that\npresence of the Lord which is personal, and their desire to be in\nthat country where their Lord personally is. These last have a long\nneck: for they look over the brazen wall of this, quite into another\nworld. They breed a divorce betwixt the soul and all inordinate love\nof the world; their strength is such, that they are ready to dissolve\nthat sweet knot of union betwixt body and soul and to grapple with\nthe King of Terrors. These desires do deal with death, as Jacob's\nlove to Rachel did with the seven long years which he was to serve\nfor her. III. _What is meant by granting the righteous man's\ndesires._ It is to accomplish them. There is nothing that God likes\nof ours better than He likes our true desires. For, indeed, true\ndesires are the smoke of our incense, the flower of our graces, the\nvital part of the new man. Right desires jump with God's mind; they\nare the life of prayer; they are a man's kindness to God; (chap.\nxix. 22) and they which will take him up from the ground, and carry\nhim after God to do His will, be the work never so hard. Is it any\nmarvel then, that God has promised they shall be granted?--_Bunyan._\n\nThe desire of all, as it is desire, is only _of good;_ but as desire\nis accomplished, so it is the desire of the righteous only that is\ngood, and their desire accomplished is _good only._ It is simply\ngood, there is no mixture of evil added to it, yea, it is not only\nall good, but all the good that desire can wish.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 24-26.\n\nTHE LIBERAL AND THE NIGGARDLY MAN.\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Be very careful with the word\n \"niggardly\" because it can sound like a racial slur,\n especially to those who do not know the word or who are not\n paying attention. Consider substituting \"miserly,\"\n \"sparing,\" or \"parsimonious.\"\n\nWe have here a twofold contrast under two similitudes--\n\n+I. A man who withholds what he ought to give out.+ \"He withholdeth\nmore than is meet--he withholdeth corn\" when he ought to sell it.\n1. _He is a sinner against the law of necessity which runs through\nall human things._ The earth will only yield of her good things by\nfirst having good things cast into her bosom. The farmer who is\nsparing of labour and of money in the tillage of his fields will\nnever be a rich man. The same principle is at work in the mart and on\nthe exchange. There must of necessity be a wise scattering of wealth\nbefore there is any increase. 2. _He is a sinner against the Divine\nordination and commandment._ When God organized the Hebrew\ncommonwealth He ordained that the \"poor should not cease out of the\nland\" (Deut. xv. 11), and that they should be helped by the rich. The\nsame principle was proclaimed by Christ, when He said \"Freely ye have\nreceived, freely give\" (Matt. x. 8), God has given to you that you\nmay give to others. This is the fast that Jehovah has chosen, \"_Is it\nnot to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor\nthat are cast out to thine house? When thou seest the naked that thou\ncover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thy own flesh_\" (Isa.\nlviii. 7). 3. _He is, as a necessity, a sinner against his fellow\ncreatures._ He sins against their need. In times of scarcity those\nwho have abundance and will not _give_ of their abundance are guilty,\nhow much more those who have the material to feed the people and will\nnot even _sell_ it, but withhold it to raise the price. Such men are\nrobbers and murderers. They murder by refusing the means of life.\n4. _He is a sinner against himself._ He will not be so rich as he\nwould have been if he had used what he had in accordance with the\nlaws of nature and morality. A man who does not put his money out to\na lawful use cannot make more by it. More than this, he is a stranger\nto that blessedness of which Christ spake when He said \"It is more\nblessed to give than to receive\" (Acts xx. 35). But this is not all,\nhe is under a Divine and human curse. God's ban is upon him. If a\ntree is constantly receiving from the fatness of the earth and the\nheavens and yet brings forth no fruit for the service of man, it is\nmarked for the woodman's axe. The message of God to such cumberers of\nthe ground is, _\"Go to, now, ye rich man, weep and howl for your\nmiseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and\nyour garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver is cankered,\nand the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat\nyour flesh as it were fire\"_ (Jas. v. 1-3). \"The people shall curse\nhim.\" How can they do otherwise? They feel that he has robbed them of\ntheir rights when he will not even sell what they are willing to buy.\n\n+II. The man who gives out liberally of that which he possesses.+ He\nyields first of all to the necessity of things. He scatters his\nwealth wisely in order to increase it. But this is his lowest motive\nand his smallest blessing. So far as more trading goes this\nscattering to increase is a mere matter of necessity. He knows he\nmust cast a bushel of corn into the ground if he would have it\nincrease--that he must spend a thousand pounds before he can gain ten\nthousand. In this way he shows that he has faith in the ordinary law\nof multiplication. But he goes further than this. \"He selleth corn\"\nat a fair price, when, by withholding it, he might exact more. This\nis a sample of all his dealings with his fellow-men. He does not take\nadvantage of their necessities to enrich himself (see Homiletics on\nverse 1). He goes beyond this--he not only _sells_ at a fair price,\nbut he is a _giver._ He scatters in the way of giving out of his\nabundance, \"looking for nothing again\" (Luke vi. 35). But he is a\ngreat gainer. 1. _He will very likely get richer in material wealth\nby giving._ This is not positively affirmed in the text \"there is\nthat scattereth and yet increaseth.\" But he will certainly never be\nthe poorer, for he makes God his creditor. \"He that hath pity on the\npoor lendeth to the Lord\" (chap. xix. 17). 2. _He will certainly be\nricher in more precious wealth._ \"He will be watered himself.\" He\nwill have a double blessing. Men will call down blessings on his\nhead. Those who partake of his wealth will give him in return love,\nhonour, and respect. God will add to his personal character that\nwhich will increase tenfold the blessedness of his existence. He\nwill, according to the apostolic promise, \"_make all grace to abound\ntoward him, that he, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound\nto every good work._\" He will \"_increase the fruits of\nrighteousness_\" (2 Cor. ix. 6-11), and water his soul with His own\nDivine influence. \"_If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and\nsatisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity,\nand thy darkness be as the noon-day: and the Lord shall guide thee\ncontinually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones;\nand thou shalt be like a watered garden, whose waters fail not_\"\n(Isa. lviii. 11).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 24, 25. Is not this just one of the appropriate ways of\nputting faith to the test on God's part, and showing its reality on\nours? Is it not precisely the defectiveness of this faith that makes\nus timid, cautious, parsimonious in giving? ever fearing that we may\nstint ourselves and feel the want of what we expend on suffering\nhumanity and on the cause of God? Is it not thus by unbelief that we\nare tempted to sow sparingly? And ought it to be, that the husbandman\ntrust more to the laws of nature than the Christian does to the\ncovenant of his God?--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe Jews in Haggai's time had no prosperity till they made the house\nof the Lord their chief object (Hag. i. 6, 9-11; ii. 15-19). So far\nis the true wealth of the withholder from being increased by\nwithholding what is meet to be given for the glory of God and the\ngood of man, that he is at last deprived even of that which he had\n(Matt. xiii. 12).--_Fausset._\n\nMen may scatter in improvidence and sin, and it tendeth to poverty\n(chap. xxi. 17). But the man of God, \"dispersing abroad\" the seed of\ngodliness (Ps. cxii. 9), consecrating his substance and influence to\nthe Lord, \"as he has opportunity, doing good unto all men\" (Gal.\nvi. 10), shall receive a plentiful increase.--_Bridges._\n\nThe liberal man will ever be rich; for God's providence is his\nestate, God's wisdom and power are his defence, God's love and favour\nare his reward, and God's word is his security.--_Barrow._\n\nThe liberal soul is made fat in the healthful vigour of practical\ngodliness. The minister is refreshed by his own message of salvation\nto his people. The Sunday-school teacher learns many valuable lessons\nin the work of instruction. The Christian visitor's own soul glows in\ncarrying the precious name of Jesus to a fellow-sinner. Every holy\ntemper, every spiritual gift, every active grace is increased by\nexercise.--_Bridges._\n\nGive, and thou shalt receive. John Howard, when he grew sad about his\npiety, put on his hat and went about among the poor. He came back a\ngainer. He diverted his mind from his own interests, and yet promoted\nthem in a higher assurance. Religion being benevolence, as well as a\nlove of holiness, doing good to others is a philosophic way of\nripening it in ourselves. Verse 24 has its Poor Richard phrase as\nwell as a higher one. Being \"penny wise and pound foolish\" is\nunderstood even in our shops. But the grand sense is evangelical.\n\"_Inserviendo allius consumor_\" may be true of poor impenitents, but\na candle is no emblem for a Christian. He is a glorious sun who, by\nsome strange alchemy, brightens by shining. _Watereth_ refers to the\nground, or to animals. \"Giving plenty to drink\" is the meaning of the\nword as applied to man.--_Miller._\n\nWherefore doth the Lord make your cup run over, but the other men's\nlips might taste the liquor? The showers that fall upon the highest\nmountains should glide into the lowest valleys.--_Secker._\n\n Man is God's image, but a poor man is\n Christ's stamp to boot; both images regard.\n God reckons for him, counts the favour His:\n Write, so much given to God; thou shalt be heard.\n Let thy alms go before, and keep heaven's gate\n Open for thee, or both may come too late.\n\nThe last clause of ver. 25 is literally _he that raineth shall\nhimself become a river._ The water that falls in refreshing and\nfertilising irrigation is not lost, but becomes a fair stream. So the\nbounty of the liberal man, which rains down blessings, will flow on\nfor ever in a beautiful river.--_Wordsworth._\n\nThe well-being of all is concerned in the right working of each. One\nnecessarily affects for good or evil all the rest in proportion to\nthe closeness of its relations and the weight of its influence. You\ndraw another to keep him from error: that other's weight which you\nhave taken on keeps you steadier in your path. You water one who is\nready to wither away; and although the precious stream seems to sink\ninto the earth, it rises to heaven and hovers over you, and falls\nagain upon yourself in refreshing dew. It comes to this, if we be not\nwatering we are withering.--_Arnot._\n\nPoor men are not excluded from the grace and blessing of being\nmerciful, though they attain not to the state and ability of being\nwealthy. Mercy is not placed with money in the purse, but dwelleth\nwith loving-kindness in the heart. He that can mourn with such as do\nmourn, he that can pray for them that be in distress, has a \"soul of\nblessing.\"--_Dod._\n\nSt. Gregory applieth the words particularly unto ministers and saith,\nHe that by preaching doth outwardly bless, receiveth the fatness of\ninward increase. And to this sense the Chaldee reads it, saying, \"He\nthat teacheth shall himself also learn.\" And then the former part of\nthe verse may be taken thus, the soul that bestoweth abroad the\nblessings of a wise instruction shall profit much in his wisdom,\naccording to a common saying among the Jews, \"I have profited more by\nmy scholars than by all things else.\"--_Jermin._\n\nBounty is the most compendious way to plenty; neither is getting, but\ngiving, the best thrift. The five loaves in the Gospel, by a strange\nkind of arithmetic, were multiplied by a division and augmented by\nsubtraction. So will it be in this case. St. Augustine, descanting\nupon Psa. lxxvi. 5, says, \"Why is this?\" \"They found nothing in their\nown hands, because they feared to lay up anything in Christ's hands.\"\n\"The poor man's hand is Christ's treasury,\" saith another\nFather.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 26. He that withholdeth corn holdeth, as it were, the gracious\nhand of God, yea, pulleth it back by his covetousness, when God in\nbounty hath stretched it forth unto a land. . . . Now, what is said\nof a countryman concerning his corn, let the citizen also mark\nconcerning his wares, \"Let not profit overcome honesty, but let\nhonesty overcome profit.\" And what is said to the citizen let the\nminister also observe, and bind not up by a damnable silence that\ngood word which may profit many.--_Jermin._\n\nThe point of antithesis apparently fails only to give stronger\nsecurity to the blessing. The _curse_ comes directly from the\n_people_; the _blessing_ from _above_.--_Bridges._\n\nThe prevailing maxim of the world, ever since the first murderer gave\nutterance to the tendencies of human nature, after its fall, in the\nquestion, \"Am I my brother's keeper?\" has been, \"_Every man for\nhimself._\" The identity of human nature in all ages is stamped upon\nthe book of Proverbs. What presented itself to view in Solomon's days\nis no rarity still. . . . There can hardly be a more affecting\nexemplification than this of the power of an avaricious disposition\nin hardening the heart.--_Wardlaw._\n\nSuch a man, like a corrupt, imposthumated member, would draw all the\nnourishment to himself, and cares not, though the other parts of the\nbody perish. This oak, which will suffer no small trees to thrive\nnear it, will in time fall with the breath of so many\ncurses.--_Swinnock._\n\nModern political economy may have taught us that even here the\nselfishness of the individual does, in the long run, by limiting\nconsumption, and maintaining a reserve, promote the general good, but\nit is no less true that men hate the selfishness and pour blessings\nupon him who sells at a moderate profit. Our own laws against\nforestalling and regrating schemes for a maximum price of bread, as\nin the famine of the French Revolution, histories like that of M.\nManlins, legends like that of Bishop Hatto and the rats, are tokens\nof the universality of the feeling.--_Plumptre._\n\nLiterally, \"breaketh it,\" like Joseph to his brethren and the people\nin Egypt. In a spiritual sense this verse may be applied specially to\npastors and to churches. He that withholdeth corn--he that keepeth\nback from others the bread of life, which is the Word of God, the\nHoly Scriptures--the food of the soul, he shall be accursed; but\nblessings are upon him that fully and freely dispenses\nit.--_Wordsworth._\n\nTo be an object of aversion among his neighbours is a heavy\ninfliction upon a human being. No man can despise it. . . . This, in\nthe last resort, is the protection of the poor and the punishment of\nthe oppressor. The mightiest man desires the blessing of the people,\nand dreads their curse. Wealth would be a weapon too powerful for the\nliberty of men, if he who wields it were not confined within narrow\nlimits by the weakness of humanity, common to him with the meanest of\nthe people.--_Arnot._\n\nHere is consolation to them that bring an upright heart to selling,\nthough they cannot be large in giving: therein they do a service to\nGod and perform a work of love to their neighbour.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nDILIGENT SEEKERS.\n\n+I. An object worthy of search.+--\"Good.\" There is. 1. Material,\ntemporal good. The human race need no exhortation to stimulate them\nto go in quest of this good. The child begins his search after this\ngood as soon as he is conscious of need and finds himself in\npossession of power to seek it. And until old age these good things\nare sought without any admonition from God to lead a man to seek\nthem. 2. But there is a higher good--the good which ministers to the\nspiritual nature and forms a holy character--the good of which Christ\nspeaks when He says, \"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His\nrighteousness.\" (Matt vi. 23). Men need to be exhorted to seek this\ngood, and the Bible puts before them every kind of motive to\nstimulate men to the search--motives drawn from the happiness of a\nfuture heaven and a future hell, and from the present heaven or hell\nwhich will result from the search or from the neglect of this true\ngood. Men are, as a rule, too much occupied with seeking the lower\nand the transitory good to seek that which is spiritual and\neternal--that Supreme Personal Good--God Himself. God is the Good\nthat the soul needs because He unites in Himself all that can\nminister to our better nature. The soul needs truth--and God is\ntruth. The soul needs something above itself to worship, to love, to\nobey. There is nothing can supply this need but the living God.\n\n+II. How this good is to be sought.+ \"Diligently.\" The diligence will\nbe in proportion to the desire. The word here translated diligently\nis the same as that translated \"early\" in chap. viii. 17. (See\nHomiletics on that passage.)\n\n+III. The reward of diligent seekers after real good.+ \"Favour.\"\n1. Of God. He loves to see men value that upon which He sets value,\nviz., their own spiritual and eternal gain 2. Of good men _always._\nOf bad men _often._ For the diligent seeking of this highest good\ndoes not make a man selfish--on the contrary, the more earnest he is\nin the search, the more he will lay himself out to serve his\nfellow-men. In this the contrast is marked between the diligent\nsearch after material and spiritual good. The sentiment of the verse\nis the same as that in chap. iii. 4 (see Homiletics on that verse).\n\n+IV. A most unworthy object of search.+ \"Mischief.\" Understanding\nthis of evil in general which is most mischievous in its working and\nits results, we remark--1. That it requires no great diligence to\nwork moral mischief towards a man's self. To abstain from seeking\ngood is to seek and to find mischief. To \"neglect salvation\" (Heb.\nii. 3) is enough to ruin. 2. That the man who plots to work mischief\nto another often sets the seekers after good an example of diligence.\nHow much of planning--what an expenditure of thought and activity is\noften put forth to ruin another! 3. That the man who seeks mischief\nis certain to find it. It will not wait even to be found--it will\n\"come\" to meet him. But there may and will be some amount of\ndisappointment. If he seeks his own ruin he will certainly succeed,\nbut if he seeks to do another a mischief, he may miscarry, but the\nintention will be fulfilled in himself. Whether he succeeds in\nharming another man or not, it is a law of moral gravitation that\n\"His mischief shall return upon _his own head_ and his violent\ndealing shall come down _upon his own pate_\" (Psalm vii. 16).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is no negative existence. Man is born for action. All of us are\nliving with a stupendous measure of vital activity for _good_ or for\n_mischief_. Man was never intended--least of all the Christian--to be\nidle. Our Divine Master \"went about doing good.\" He is a counterfeit\nwho does not live after this pattern. Usefulness is everything. We\nmust not rest in life received, nor must we wait to have it brought\nto us. We must seek it.--_Bridges._\n\nFrom the last proverbs it has appeared that going after our own\nselfish gain, is really going after evil. Joy is innocent in itself;\nand yet, gone after absorbingly, it is an evil end. \"Whosoever shall\nseek to save his life, shall lose it\" (Luke xvii. 33). Solomon,\ntherefore utters a most philosophic truth when he says \"He that\ndiligently seeketh good,\" etc., that is, who forgets himself, and is\n_early_ (for that is the original sense) after what is intrinsically\nright and holy, that man is really the person who is seeking or\n_hunting up_ favour; that is, if he could really gain it by hunting\nit up directly, and for his selfish good, he could not gain it more\ndirectly than by forgetting it, and striving for what is pure. (See\nMatt. vi. 33). Then follows the antithesis. He that seeks mischief,\netc., as one is conscious that he does when he turns his heart\nselfishly even after innocent joys. He goes after that which may in\nitself be innocent, like money, or like the support of life; in a way\nthat to his own conscience makes it confessedly evil, shall have it\n\"come to him\" at the end of his course, infallibly as evil.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nTRUST IN RICHES AND TRUST IN GOD.\n\n+I. The trust in riches springs,+ 1. _From the fact that gold, and\nwhat it can do for us, is within the reach of our senses._ Unless the\nbodily senses are counterbalanced by the moral--the spiritual--sense,\nthey have a tendency to shut us in upon the seen--to shut out the\nunseen. This is why men make to themselves gods that they can see and\ncarry about with them. The rich man can look upon his gold and upon\nall that it has purchased for him, his mansion, his lands, his\nsumptuous table, his obsequious servants. All these things are daily\nbefore his eyes, and if his spiritual sight is not keen, they are\nvery likely to become his confidence. 2. _From the fact that gold can\ndo very much for men._ It can afford him opportunities of the best\neducation. Gold can place the son of a tradesman side by side with\nthat of a nobleman in this respect. It can surround him with all the\nrefining influences of life. It will open to him positions of power\nand influence, its magic power will surround him with friends. When a\nman feels that he owes all these good things to gold, he is very\nprone to trust in it. 3. _From the fact that gold is so universal in\nits influence in the present world._ There is no place upon the\nglobe, where there are human beings, where gold, or what gold can\npurchase, will not do something for a man. No monarch has such a wide\ndominion or so many subjects as this King _Gold_.\n\n+II. But he that trusts in riches will find them fail him.+\n1. _Because he is more than the object of his trust._ Man is more\nthan gold because it was made for him and not man for gold. God made\nit to be his servant, but when a man makes it the object of his\nsupreme hope and confidence, he inverts the Divine order and becomes\nits slave. And man needs something more than himself to be the object\nof his trust. 2. _Because there are comforts for existence that gold\ncannot buy._ Faith in a living God, a good conscience, hope for the\nfuture, present peace and rest of soul cannot be purchased for all\nthe gold of the Indies. Nebuchadnezzar could make an image of gold,\nbut all his riches could not purchase the faith and godly courage of\nthe three Hebrew youths. The rich man in hell needed comfort that all\nhis earthly wealth could not have purchased. 3. _Because the only\nBeing who can supply man's deepest needs cannot be bribed._ Pardon of\nsin cannot be \"gotten for gold neither shall silver be weighed for\nthe price thereof.\" A holy character \"cannot be valued with the gold\nof Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. The gold and the\ncrystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for\njewels of fine gold.\" (Job xxviii. 16, 17). The Holy Ghost--that\n\"gift of God,\" cannot be \"purchased with money.\" (Acts viii. 20). A\ngolden key will not open the gate of heaven. Therefore _\"Charge them\nthat are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust\nin uncertain riches, but in the living God\"_ (1 Tim. vi. 17).\n\n+III. The righteous man shall not fall, but flourish as a branch,\nbecause as a branch in a tree he is in connection with life.+ Gold is\na dead thing, but the God of the good man is a Living Person, a Being\nwho can understand and supply all his soul's need--a Being who is not\nonly King of the present and the seen, but of the future and the\nunseen. _\"I am the vine, ye are the branches.\" \"Because I live, ye\nshall live also\"_ (John xiv. 9, xv. 5). He shall not only _live,_ but\n_flourish_--\"his leaf shall not wither\"--\"he shall bring forth fruit\nin his season\" (Psa. i. 3). The cause of the _branch_ being laden\nwith fruitfulness and beauty is because of its connection with the\n_root. Trust_ is the link between the creature and the Creator, which\nmakes the one a partaker of the fulness of the other. _\"Blessed is\nthe man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he\nshall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out\nher roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her\nleaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,\nneither shall cease from yielding fruit\"_ (Jer. xvii. 7, 8).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nI have read of one that, upon his dying bed, called for his bags, and\nlaid a bag of gold to his heart, and then cried out, \"Take it away,\nit will not do, it will not do!\" There are things that earthly riches\ncannot do. They can never satisfy Divine justice, nor pacify Divine\nwrath, nor quiet a guilty conscience. And till these things are done,\nthe man is undone.--_Brooks._\n\nAs sheep that go in fat pastures come sooner to the slaughter-house\nthan those which are kept upon the bare common: so, likewise, rich\nmen, who are pampered with the wealth of this world, sooner forsake\nGod, and therefore are sooner forsaken of God than others.--_Cawdray._\n\nHe that trusts in riches may trust in that which may not disappoint\nhim. That is, it may remain great, and may follow him to the grave.\nBut while his riches are piling up, he himself is withering away. It\nis not the rich, but they that _trust in riches_ (Mark. x. 24). The\ntruly important thing is the man himself; and while the unregenerate\n_falls,_ or decays, the righteous, even without money, prospers. He\ngrows from within. That is _he_ grows, and not his money.--_Miller._\n\nBe not proud of riches, but afraid of them, lest they be as silver\nbars to cross the way to heaven. We must answer for our riches, but\nour riches cannot answer for us.--_Mason._\n\nRiches were never true to any that trusted in them. The rich churl\nthat trusted and boasted that he had \"much goods laid up in store\"\nfor many years, when, like a jay, he was preening himself in his\nboughs, came tumbling down with an arrow in his side.--_Trapp._\n\nRiches are of a falling nature, now they fall to a man, now they fall\nfrom him, not they fall to this man, now to that, now to another.\nThere is no holdfast of them, and less holdfast by them. He,\ntherefore, that trusteth in them shall fall, fall into their hands\nand power, who seek his hurt and mischief, because not trusting in\nGod, he receiveth no succour from Him.--_Jermin._\n\nGood men have the Lord Jesus Christ for their root, and God, the\nFather to dress and keep them, therefore the drought of adversity\nshall not hurt them, nor the dews of wholesome prosperity fail them.\nThey shall have safety for their bodies, graces for their souls,\ncompetency for their state, and all good furtherances for their\neverlasting glory.--_Dod._\n\n Money, thou bane of bliss, and source of woe,\n Whence com'st thou, that thou art so fresh and fine?\n I know thy parentage is base and low:\n Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine.\n\n Surely thou didst so little little contribute\n To this great kingdom, which thou now hast got,\n That he was fain, when thou wert destitute,\n To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot.\n\n Then forcing thee, by fire he made thee bright;\n Nay, thou hast got the face of man: for we\n Have with our stamp and seal transferred our right:\n Thou art the man, and man but dross to thee.\n\n Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich,\n And while he digs out thee, falls in the ditch.--_Herbert._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nFOOLISH HOME RULERS.\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Be very careful with the word\n \"niggardly\" because it can sound like a racial slur,\n especially to those who do not know the word or who are not\n paying attention. Consider substituting \"miserly,\"\n \"sparing,\" or \"parsimonious.\"\n\n+I. There are many ways of troubling thine own house.+ Many sparks\nfly from one anvil, but one is sufficient to set a house on fire.\nSome home-destroyers emit many sparks, but one evil habit or temper\nis enough to consume all the peace of home-life. A man may trouble\nhis house by--1. _Selfishness._ When a dry sponge is placed in a\nvessel of water, it will soak up every drop of water that it can\nhold, and very probably will leave the vessel empty. So the selfish\nhead of a household will absorb all the comforts of the\nhousehold--take to himself all the luxuries and enjoyments which\nought to be distributed among all its members. 2. _Hasty temper._ A\nhuman father and husband that will complain at every trifle and blaze\ninto a passion when nothing has been done or said worthy of notice,\nwill be a great troubler of his house. He will not be heeded when\nthere is real occasion for his displeasure. The perpetual rattle of a\ndaily siege so dulls the ear of the soldier that he does not notice\nthe roar of the cannon on the day of special battle. So the members\nof a household who are always being subjected to the rattle of an\nungovernable tongue make no account of reproof when there is really\nan occasion for it. 3. _A perpetual assertion of authority._ There\ncan be no joyful obedience in a family where its head is always\ninsisting upon the fact that he is their master. Such a constant\nproclamation of the right to rule makes this a bondage which would\notherwise be a glad service. 4. _Prodigality or niggardliness._ He\nwho wastes that which belongs to his children is a robber, and so is\nhe who from avaricious motives deprives them of those home comforts\nwith which he is able to furnish them. These are but samples of the\nmany ways in which a man may trouble his house--ways which are not\naltogether unknown in some homes whose head is a professor of\ngodliness. Such a man is a far-reaching curse. The members of such a\nhome scatter themselves abroad in the world carrying with them none\nof the blessed influences that they ought to have received from their\nhome-life, and are very likely in their turn to become the troublers\nof _their_ houses. The gold receives its form and polish, its image\nand superscription at the mint. Home is the mint where the value of\nthe character for its entire future is often impressed upon it. The\nchild generally bears the image and superscription of his parent.\n\n+II. Such a troubler is a fool.+ 1. _He can reap no possible\nadvantage by it._ To \"inherit the wind\" is to inherit cold cheer. A\nwintry wind is poor comfort for a man with little raiment on a cold\nnight. Wind is an unsatisfying substitute for food to a hungry man.\nBut a man in such a condition is an apt illustration of a man in the\nwinter of life who has forfeited that love and honour which would\nhave been the reward of a different course of conduct. 2. _He shall\ngo down in social position._ The man who has ruled his household well\nmust win the respect and confidence of those outside of it. It is an\ninevitable consequence that he will go upon the estimation of his\nassociates while one of the opposite character will go down and so\n\"be servant to the wise of heart.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHe that troubles his own house in any form of impenitence; he that\ntakes the trouble to live without the gospel; he that chases wealth\nwhen he admits that it will breed him vengeance; he that goes through\nthe self-denials of the world to accumulate worldly benefits which he\nknows are mischiefs to his soul, is absolutely \"fool\" enough to be\nthe \"servant\" in all these trials, and that through eternal ages, of\nwiser and better creatures.--_Miller._\n\nHe shall leave at last but the wind of his breath to deplore his\nfolly and to beg help for his misery. St. Gregory taketh the latter\npart of the verse that a fool serveth the wise in heart even by\nruling over him and oppressing him, for he advanceth him to a better\nstate and condition of goodness.--_Jermin._\n\nHe that would not undo himself, let him not undo his family and\ndomestic affairs. It nearly concerneth a householder to know that his\nhouse is laden with his whole estate, that his people sail together\nwith him in the same vessel, for his use.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.\n\nTHE WINNER OF SOULS.\n\n+I. Souls can be won to God and goodness.+ 1. _There is in every man\na natural light to which to appeal._ If a sick man has something in\nhis constitution upon which the physician can fix as a basis of\noperation, there is hope of recovery. But where the constitution is\nutterly and entirely bad, the very effort of the physician is a proof\nof his lack of wisdom. Man is morally diseased, but he is not so\ndepraved as to make his being won to God a hopeless attempt. There is\nin him a moral base of operation, he has a conscience which is more\nor less enlightened. Men are, according to the highest authority, \"a\nlaw unto themselves,\" \"that which may be known of God is manifest in\n(or to) them.\" (See Rom. i. 19, 20, ii. 14.) They would not be\n\"without excuse,\" as the Apostle there declares that they are, if\nthey had no moral consciousness. 2. _The very existence of the Bible\nproves that man is not hopelessly lost._ Wise men do not waste words\nand efforts where they know that they would be thrown away. They do\nnot set on foot plans to help those for whom they know there is no\nhope. A wise physician will not harass his patient and waste his own\nenergies when he knows there is no possibility of cure. It is kinder\nto let him die in peace. God is too wise and too kind to send man a\nrevelation which he knows would be useless to him. He would not\ntantalise him with hopes which could not be realised. 3. _The history\nof Christ confirms this view._ He claimed to come to this earth for\nthe special purpose of seeking and saving men. He was pre-eminently a\nwinner of souls. There can be but one explanation of the Incarnation.\n4. _The moral difference in men is another proof._ For every effect\nthere is a cause. That there is an immense difference in the\ncharacter of men is admitted by all; and the difference is that some\nhave been won from sin to God.\n\n+II. Souls can only be won.+ There are but two kinds of power in the\nuniverse--force and persuasion. The mother who desires her child to\ntake a certain place may attain her end in two ways--she may take the\nchild in her arms and carry it where she desires, or she may use\nmoral suasion and induce the child to fall in with her wishes by the\nexercise of its own free will. The thing may be done either by\nstrength of muscle or by the strength of love. Souls cannot be dealt\nwith in the first way. The soul can only be won _to_ God by the same\nkind of power as it was won _from_ God, viz., by that of persuasion.\nIf the tempter had tried force he would have failed with our first\nparents. He knew human nature too well to attempt the use of such\nmeans. Force is of no avail to bring about a _friendship,_ and the\nwinning of a soul is bringing about a _friendship_ between man and\nGod. Therefore the Apostle \"beseeches\" and \"prays\" men to be\nreconciled to God (2 Cor. v. 20). To be won to God is to be won to\n_service._ Two kinds of service may be rendered to a human parent or\nruler. There is a service of the _body only_ which is prompted by\nfear, and there is the service of the _whole man_ which is the fruit\nof love. God must have the latter or none (Isa. i. 11, etc.,) hence\nthe soul must be \"drawn,\" \"constrained,\" by the power of moral force.\n(See Hosea xxi. 4; John xii. 32; 2 Cor. v. 11, 14).\n\n+III. Souls are won by fruit.+ Human nature will not be influenced by\nwords without actions. The actions which make up a holy life are here\ncalled _fruit._ When two men are at variance and hatred is deeply\nrooted, he who would be a peace-maker must _be_ something as well as\n_say_ something. Words alone will not kill enmity--there must be\ncorrespondent deeds. This constituted our Lord Jesus Christ the great\nReconciler--that He brought forth the fruits of holiness and\nself-sacrifice, and so gave weight to His words of persuasion. So\nmany souls have been won by Him because so much fruit was brought\nforth by Him. And all who would win souls must in their measure do\nlikewise. In this sense they must obey His injunction and be made\npartakers of His promise: \"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of\nmen\" (Matt. iv. 19).\n\n+IV. The fruit that wins souls must be a \"tree of life\" both to the\nwinner and to those who are won.+ The vine-dresser has joy in rearing\nhis fruit, and the eater has joy in partaking of its sweetness. When\nhe who seeks to win souls brings one to taste the sweets of godliness\nfor himself, there is joy for both. The righteous man is a \"tree of\nrighteousness,\" hence he is himself a \"tree of life.\" Others partake\nof his fruit and live unto holiness, and become fruit-bearing trees\nin their turn. And in this sense \"he that reapeth and he who soweth\nrejoice together,\" and the precious harvest is a \"tree of life\"--an\nundying source of soul-satisfaction to both.\n\n+V. He who thus wins souls is a wise man.+ He saves men from a\npresent and real misery. The end of all practical wisdom is to\nelevate the human race--to lift men out of misery and degradation--to\nsolve the problems of every day social life. The man who wins a soul\nto God is a truly scientific man--he has reduced his moral science to\npractice in his own life, and then has brought it to bear upon the\nlives of others. He is a wise general who can turn the guns of the\nenemy against the foe. He who wins a soul can teach a man how to turn\nthe forces that have been against him into powers and influences that\nshall work for him. He is a wise financier who can devise means by\nwhich a man can free himself from debt. The winner of souls can show\nhis fellow-man how to be freed from moral debt. He is a wise\nphysician who, by healing one man of a deadly pestilence, prevents\nthe spread of disease. The man who turns another from the error of\nhis ways, not only \"saves a soul from death,\" but hides a multitude\nof sins (Jas. v. 20) by, in some measure, lessening the increase of\nsin in the universe.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n+I. Christians are a blessing to the world.+ 1. _There is the\ninfluence of personal character, showing what religion is, viz., a\nliving principle in the hearts of the faithful, which must spread its\nradiance._ It may be said of a good man, as it was said of Christ,\n\"He could not be hid\" (Mark vii. 24). 2. _There is a force of the\ngreat principles they advocate--Freedom, Education, etc._ They raise,\nin this way, the standard of public opinion. 3. _There are their\nhabits of active beneficence._ +II. To win souls the highest wisdom\nis requisite.+ 1. _Consider the preciousness of the object--souls._\nMade in the image of God, and designed to reflect His glory. Of\ninfinite value in the esteem of Him who came to redeem them. 2. _How\ngreatly they are endangered by sin, held captive by Satan, in bondage\nby the world, entrenched in long habits of evil._ The soul, in its\npresent depraved state, is not inclined to seek God, nor anxious to\nobtain deliverance. 3. _The difficulty is increased by the shortness\nof the time and the limitation of the means at our command._ The\npreacher has only the Sabbath; Satan and the world have all the week\nwherein to exert their influence. It is more or less so with all who\nendeavour to win souls.--_S. Thodey._\n\nHe may begin as a \"leaf\" or \"branch\" (verse 28), but he ends as a\n\"tree.\" The tree of life made the partaker of it immortal. \"The fruit\nof the righteous\" is immortal life to many a poor sinner. The latter\nclause may read either: \"The wise is a winner of souls,\" or \"The\nwinner of souls is wise.\" It doubtless should be read in both. The\ngrand \"tree of life\" on earth is the man converted already. The man\nconverted already will be a \"tree of life.\" Both doctrines are true,\nand, therefore, in so terse a passage, I see no resource but to\nunderstand the Hebrew as pregnant of both. It is of the very essence\nof wisdom to be benevolent, and it is the very height of benevolence\nto catch the souls of the impenitent. Moreover, no soul is caught but\nby the wise.--_Miller._\n\nWhat is dealt on is the power of wisdom, as we say, to win the\n_hearts_ of men. He that is wise draws men to himself, just as the\nfruit of the righteous is to all around him a tree of life, bearing\nnew fruits of healing evermore. It is to be noted, also, that the\nphrase here rendered \"winneth souls,\" is the same as that which is\nelsewhere translated by \"taketh the life\" (1 Kings xix. 4; Psa.\nxxxi. 13). The wise man is the true conqueror.--_Plumptre._\n\nTo win souls is one special fruit of the tree of life. This is a\nnoble fruit indeed, since our soul is more worth than a world, as He\nhath told us who only went to the price of it (Matt.\nxvi. 26).--_Trapp._\n\nIn this verse we have set forth to us the excellency of a righteous\nman. I. _He is more useful than others._ He is not a barren tree, but\na fruitful bough, as Joseph was. And he doth not bring forth fruit\nunto himself. As the tree of life would give life to them that would\neat thereof, so those that will hearken to the counsel of the\nrighteous shall partake with him of eternal life. II. _He is more\nskilful than others._ He wins souls--1. By Scripture demonstration.\nThou canst never throw down the devil's strongholds except by God's\nown weapons. 2. By earnest supplications. As the prophet did pray\nlife into the dead child, so thou shouldst strive in prayer for dead\nsouls. 3. By kind obligation. Labour by kindness and courtesy to gain\nupon all thou dost converse with, that thou mayst get within him,\nthat thou mayst be in a capacity to do good to his soul. 4. By\nfaithful reprehension. 'Tis quite contrary to Christian love to let\nsin lie upon thy brother (Lev. xix. 17). Show your love to souls by\nthe faithful rebuking of sin, not as a token of your displeasure, but\nas an ordinance of God. 5. By convincing conversation. Live before\nall thou dost converse with in the convincing power of a holy life.\n6. By careful observation of all those advantages that God puts into\nyour hand. Take advantage of his affliction. Make use of thy near\nrelation or of his dependence upon thee, or of thy interest in him.\nIt may be he is concerned in thy goodwill to him, or hath some\naffection for thee. Make use of it for God.--_Alleine._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 31.\n\nTHE RECOMPENSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.\n\n+I. The righteous man will receive a present chastisement for his\nsins+--1. _Because of his near relation to God._ \"You only have I\nknown of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you\nfor all your iniquities\" (Amos iii. 2). Is this a strange principle\nof action? Is it not one which is, or ought to be, acted upon among\nmen? If the son of a king commits a crime, is it not felt that his\nhigh position and his special privileges make him more deserving of\npunishment? Our Lord recognised this truth when He said \"To whom men\nhave committed much of him they will ask the more\" (Luke xii. 48).\nThose who stand in special relation to God are expected to show it by\na holy life, and when they fall into sin greater dishonour is brought\nupon the name of God than by many sins of the ungodly. Hence the\nnecessity for their chastisement. 2. _Because he will not be punished\nin the next world._ The whole tenor of Bible teaching recognises this\ntruth, and Paul asserts it: \"We are chastened of the Lord, that we\nshould not be condemned with the world\" (1 Cor. xi. 32). 3. _To\noverthrow that doctrine of devils--\"Let us sin that grace may\nabound\"_ (Rom. vi. 1, 15). Many false doctrines have gone abroad in\nthe so-called church, but surely none is so manifestly from the devil\nas this which proclaims that the more a child of God sins the more\nGod is glorified! Will the man whose wound has been closed and whose\nbleeding has been stanched by the surgeon, tear off the bandage and\nreopen the wound in order to afford the physician another opportunity\nof displaying his skill? May he not, by such an act, be guilty of\nsuicide? May he not so incur the anger of his doctor as to make him\nrefuse to re-dress the wound? If any man thinks that the abounding\nmercy of God is a licence for sin, let him read the history of David,\nand ask himself if it does not prove that he is wofully mistaken.\nDavid himself most certainly was, if he presumed upon his high\nstanding with the God whose \"gentleness had made him great\" (Psa.\nxviii. 35) when he sinned the great sin which was the curse of all\nhis after life. The God whom men fancy will be thus indulgent is not\nthe God of the Bible--the God of Sinai--the God who visited the sin\neven of His servant Moses. \"Let us sin that grace may abound\" came\nfrom the forger of the oldest lie in human history. Mount Hor, Mount\nNebo, and Mount Zion, each of which was the scene of a penalty\ninflicted on a distinguished saint of God for a particular and\nspecified sin, bear witness to the truth that the \"righteous will be\nrecompensed on the earth.\" And of these instances that of Moses is,\nperhaps the most striking. Here is the chastisement of the greatest\nman in the Old Testament dispensation--the specially elected leader\nand lawgiver of the chosen people. And though he had been and still\nwas--yea, _because_ he was the most honoured of Old Testament saints,\nhe was shut out of the land to which he had been journeying for forty\nyears for assuming a Divine prerogative--\"die in the mount whither\nthou goest up, and be gathered to thy people, as Aaron thy brother\ndied at Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people: because ye\ntrespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of\nMaribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me\nnot in the midst of the children of Israel\" (Deut. xxxii. 50, 51).\nSuch a sentence testifies that God is a consuming fire to sin, in the\nrighteous as well as in the wicked.\n\n+II. If God's friends are chastised, His enemies must be.+--For they\nnot only _sin_ but make light of sin, either by denying the fact or\nblaming their circumstances, their temperament, or their tempters,\nlaying the blame anywhere except upon themselves, and this increases\ntheir guilt. If those who acknowledge and confess their sin must yet\nbe chastised for it, how much more those who refuse to do either! The\nsin of the righteous is the exception of his life, but the entire\nlife of the ungodly man is a course of opposition to the law of God.\nIf, therefore, the isolated instances are visited, how much more such\nan accumulation of moral debt! The very justice of God demands that\nif He punish the saint He shall also punish the sinner. This is New\nTestament teaching as well as Old. \"For the time is come that\njudgement must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at\nus, what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God?\"\n(1 Pet. iv. 17).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nBut where is the righteous person thus scourged, judged, and\nrecompensed? On the earth, even in this life, and in the world. The\nearth is not that seat which the Lord hath properly appointed for\njudgment or vengeance, neither is this life the day of the great\nassize; yet rather than sin shall be unpunished, yea, even in the\nelect, the Lord will keep a petty sessions in this life, and make the\nearth a house of correction.--_Muffet._\n\nThe righteous are under the _discipline_ though not under the\n_curse,_ of the rod.--_Bridges._\n\nThe best must look for stripes, if they will take liberty to sin\nagainst God. True it is that the Lord taketh not advantage of\ninfirmities, He passeth by them, He smiteth not His children for\nthem: but when they grow too bold, He will nurture and awe them with\ncorrection. In this sense He may be said to be no respecter of\npersons, that as He will not endure the sinfulness of the wicked,\nthough they be never so great, so He will not allow of the sins of\nthe godly, though they be never so good. First, _God herein\nrespecteth His own glory,_ who will have His people to know that He\ndoth look for service at their hands. And the wicked see by this that\nHis is neither remiss towards all nor partial towards any. Second,\n_He respecteth the good._ How wanton, how froward, how stubborn would\nchildren be, into what perils would they cast themselves should they\nbe altogether exempted from the rod. They should never feel comfort\nof their parents' favour unless they sometimes found the smart of\ntheir displeasure. . . . And the tribulation and afflictions of good\nmen do not bring them behind the wicked, but show that the plagues\nand punishments of the wicked are yet behind.--_Dod._\n\nThe righteous Lord shall pay His debts even to the righteous. Sin\nmakes God a debtor.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Instructions,+ \"discipline\" or \"disciplinary\ninstruction.\" +2. Obtaineth,+ literally \"draws out.\" +4. Virtuous,+\nliterally \"strenuous,\" \"capable\" (used in Ruth iii. 11).\n+5. Thoughts,+ or \"purposes.\" +Right,+ \"judgment,\" \"justice.\"\n+7.+ Wordsworth here reads, \"When the wicked turn themselves,\" etc.,\n_i.e._, on any reverse of their fortunes, however slight, they\nperish. +9.+ This verse is read in two ways. Z\u00f6ckler reads, \"Better\nis the lowly that serveth himself than he that boasteth and lacketh\nbread.\" Wordsworth agrees with this view. Delitzsch and Stuart render\nas the Authorised Version (see comments on the verse).\n+10. Regardeth,+ literally \"knoweth.\" Delitzsch reads, \"knoweth how\nhis cattle feed.\" \"Cruel is singular, denoting that each one of his\nmercies are cruel\" (Fausset). +11. Vain persons,+ or \"vanity,\"\n\"emptiness.\" +12. Net.+ Delitzsch, Z\u00f6ckler, and Miller translate this\nword \"spoil\" or \"prey.\" The Hebrew word means also a \"fortress.\"\nMaurer, therefore, translates it \"defence,\" and understands it to\nmean that the evil combine for mutual protection. This agrees with\nZ\u00f6ckler's rendering of the second clause, \"the root of the righteous\nis made sure.\" +16. Presently,+ literally \"in that very day,\" _i.e.,_\n\"at once.\" +Covereth shame,+ or \"hides his offence.\" +17. Speaketh,+\nliterally \"breathes.\" +18. Speaketh,+ literally \"babbles.\" +Health,+\n\"healing.\" +19. A moment,+ literally \"while I wink.\" +20.+ Delitzsch\nreads, \"cause joy.\" +26. Is more excellent than his neighbour,+\nrather \"guides his neighbour.\" Delitszch reads, \"looketh after his\npastures.\" The Hebrew word signifies \"abundance\" (see Miller's\nremarks in the comments on the verse). +27.+ The word translated\n+roast+ does not occur in this sense elsewhere. In the Chaldee of\nDan. iii. 27, it is used in this sense. It may be read \"catcheth not\nhis prey.\" The second clause should be, \"a precious treasure is\ndiligence,\" or \"a diligent man.\" +28. No death,+ literally\n\"no-death,\" _i.e.,_ \"immortality.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nTHE LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE PROOF OF IT.\n\nTrue knowledge is to be loved--\n\n+I. For what it can do for him who loves it.+ 1. _It refines a man._\nGold when it is in its natural condition is valuable because it is\ngold, but when it has been purged from its impurities by the refining\nprocess it is more to be valued and is more beautiful. So a man may\nbe sterling gold without much knowledge, but when the dross of\nignorance is removed, he is worth more and is more attractive. If\nthis be true of knowledge in the general, it is pre-eminently true of\nthe knowledge which comes from above. If any knowledge exercises a\nrefining influence upon the human mind, much more does the highest\nknowledge--the knowledge of God. 2. _It will open up sources of\nenjoyment that would otherwise be hidden._ The blind are deprived of\nmany enjoyments by lack of sight. There is an abundance of beauty all\naround them, but their want of vision makes it useless to them.\nIntellectual ignorance is intellectual blindness; the ignorant man is\na stranger to a thousand pleasures which are enjoyed by a\nwell-informed man. Especially ignorance of Divine things shuts a man\nout from the highest, the only lasting unalloyed source of joy.\n3. _It makes a man less dependent on the outward and visible._ A man\nwho has stored up knowledge will be good company for himself. He can\nfind refreshment by meditating on what he has within him, and need\nnot be ever seeking it in external things. The contemplation of\nDivine and eternal truths especially, will ever be \"within him a well\nof water\" (John iv. 14).\n\n+II. For what it will do for others.+ If a man makes money only to\ndig a grave and bury it, he sins against himself and all whom he\nmight bless by its use. So there are men who seem to have no other\nend in getting knowledge than to bury it. Such a man is an\nintellectual miser, and a sinner against human kind. There ought to\nbe a love of giving, as well as a love of getting. For a man who\npossesses any kind of knowledge can bless others by its use. And this\nbeing true of all useful knowledge, how much more true is it of the\nknowledge which makes \"wise unto salvation?\" Christ insists that no\nChristian make himself a grave in which to bury this knowledge, but a\nmedium to communicate it (Matt. v. 16). And the influence of\nknowledge which has been acquired is not limited to the short life of\na man upon the earth. How much are we indebted to the knowledge\ngained by earnest seekers in every department of knowledge long\nbefore we were born? One earnest seeker may gain a knowledge that\nwill be a light to men as long as the world lasts. Especially those\nwho have been earnest seekers after Divine truth leave a legacy of\nblessing behind them, the influence of which will outlive the world.\nFor all these reasons men ought to love knowledge.\n\n+III. The proof of loving knowledge.+ He will seek instruction. This\nis the only way to knowledge. If a man loves the object of his\npursuit, he will show his love by the use of means. 1. Seeking\ninstruction is a confession of ignorance, and to be convinced that we\nare ignorant is the first step to becoming wise. Self-conceit is the\nfatal barrier to a man's gaining knowledge. 2. It involves\nself-denying labour. Little that is worth having can be obtained\nwithout labour. The gold-digger has to labour long and painfully\nbefore he finds the precious nuggets. If men would drink of a\nspringing well of pure water they must dig deep down for it. The\nstudent must plod over dry details if he wishes to taste the sweets\nof learning. 3. It generally involves correction by the instructor.\nIf a man sets out to dig for gold or to dig for water, he will most\nlikely make mistakes while he is a novice. If he is really in earnest\nabout his work he will receive \"reproof,\" although it will not be\naltogether palatable. So with the scholar, he must suffer the reproof\nof the master. Doubtless the main reference here is to that knowledge\nwhich regenerates the character; and certainly the man who loves this\nhighest knowledge will confess his ignorance, will not shrink from\nlabouring to attain it, will accept that \"reproof\" which is an\nindispensable element in Divine instruction. If the man of God is to\nbe \"thoroughly furnished\" or \"perfected\" he must accept \"reproof\" and\n\"correction,\" as well as instruction (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).\n\n+IV. The character of the man who does not love reproof.+ He is\n\"brutish.\" The great difference between a man and a brute is that the\none can grow intellectually and morally and the other cannot. Many\nanimals possess great sagacity, and to a certain extent that can be\ndeveloped. They sometimes, too, possess admirable qualities, but they\nare not capable of _soul-enlargement._ But man is, and in order to\nattain it he must submit to the instruction and reproof of those who\nare wiser than himself. He must stoop before he can rise. If he will\nnot do this, he will never attain to the high destiny for which he\nwas created--ever to be rising higher and higher in the scale of\nbeing. His lower nature will rule his spirit, and he will be little\nbetter than the beast. He must submit to the correction and\ninstruction of His God if he would not be classed with \"the horse and\nthe mule, which have no understanding\" (Psa. xxxii. 8, 9). The man\nwho will not take reproof will certainly have to submit to it, and\nthis not only from those who are wiser than himself, but from his\ncompanions in ignorance. A terrible reproof will be administered by\nDivine Wisdom to those who refuse reproof (chap. i. 24-31). And he\nwill not escape upbraidings from those who are involved in the same\nsentence. Ungodly men are the first to upbraid their companions in\nungodliness when they are all involved in the same penalty.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHere is shewed that adversity is the best university, saith an\ninterpreter. Corrections of instructions are the way of life. Men\ncommonly beat and bruise their links before they light them, to make\nthem burn the brighter. God first humbles whom He means to\nilluminate; as Gideon took thorns of the wilderness and briars and\nwith them he taught the men of Succoth (Judges viii. 16). M. Ascham\nwas a good schoolmaster to Queen Elizabeth, but affliction was a\nbetter, as one well observeth. He that hateth reproof, whether it be\nby the rebukes of men, or the rod of God, is fallen below the stirrup\nof reason, he is a brute in man's shape; nothing is more irrational\nthan irreligion.--_Trapp._\n\nThe most we can attain to in this life is, not to know, but only to\nhave a love of knowledge; we know in part, and a partial knowledge is\nnot to know indeed. If we can love knowledge entirely, that is the\nentireness of knowledge in this life. Now as knowledge cometh from\ninstruction, so the love of knowledge from the love of instruction.\nHe that is servant to the one, will soon be a master to the other. A\nloving obedience in receiving doth even command love to keep what is\nreceived. . . . There is the reproof of an _enemy_ and there is the\nreproof of a _friend,_ the one seeketh reproach, the other amendment,\nbut neither is to be hated, for howsoever reproof be used it is a\nprofitable thing.--_Jermin._\n\nReproof is not pleasant to nature. We may learn its value from its\nresults, but it will never be sweet to our taste. At the best it is a\nbitter morsel. The difference between a wise man and a fool is not\nthat one likes it and the other loathes it; both dislike it, but the\nfool casts away the precious because it is unpalatable, and the wise\nman accepts the unpalatable because it is precious.--_Arnot._\n\nThe grand secret of life is to hear lessons, and not to teach\nthem.--_Haliburton._\n\nIt is the property of all true knowledge, especially spiritual, to\nenlarge the soul by filling it; to enlarge it without swelling it; to\nmake it more capable, and more earnest to know, the more it\nknows.--_Bishop Sprat._\n\n Ignorance is the curse of God,\n Knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven.--_Shakespeare._\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The name \"Hottentot\" originally\n referred to particular African, tribal people. It may be\n considered offensive. Dr. Miller does not use it as a\n compliment in his remarks.\n\nThis is a great text. We may expect great texts where there is a look\nof commonplace. The thought raises itself two stories at least in the\nrespect of doctrine. He that, instead of fretting at that mysterious\nProvidence of God that we call _evil,_ enters into the deep\nexperiences, and learns to value it as precious to his soul--that man\nloves light, or Gospel \"knowledge.\" That is the first story. But,\nnow, he who takes a much wider view, and looks at all the gains from\nevil to the universe--how impossible would be high forms of\nknowledge, how utterly unconceived by anyone not Infinite, without\nthe foil of either observed or experienced misery--that man\nacquiesces in all the evils that are seen in the creation, _loving\ndiscipline because he loves knowledge,_ and acquiescing even in hell\nitself, because he suspects its absolute necessity in the\nprovidential system. Mourning over our griefs, which seems to be the\nwork often of a refined and delicate nature, is here asserted to be\n\"_brutish._\" He is but a Hottentot in the ways of the Almighty who\ndoes not see that the crushing of his hopes has been one of the\ntenderest methods of his redemption.--_Miller._\n\nHe, and he only, that loves the means, loves the end. The means of\nknowledge are \"instruction\" in what is right, and \"reproof\" for what\nis wrong. He who is an enemy to either of these is an enemy to the\nend.--_A. Fuller._\n\nIs there any man so like a beast as not to love knowledge? Solomon\ntells us, that those who hate reproof are brutish. Let us, therefore,\nexamine ourselves by this mark. . . . He is surely not a rational\ncreature who has swallowed poison, and will rather suffer it to take\nits course than admit the necessary relief of medicine, lest he\nshould be obliged to confess his folly in exposing himself to the\nneed of it.--_Lawson._\n\nIt was when Asaph recovered from that strange temptation, under the\npower of which he seemed to forget the eternity of man's being, and\nto confine his estimate to the present life, that he exclaimed, \"So\nfoolish was I, and ignorant; I was _as a beast_ before Thee\" (Psa.\nlxxiii. 22). And the same comparison is repeatedly used respecting\nthe ungodly. They sink themselves even below the level of the brutes,\nfor _they_ fulfil the ends of _their_ being, under the impulse of\ntheir respective instincts and appetites; but the man who forgets his\nimmortality and his God, does _not_ fulfil the end of _his._ There\nmay also be comprehended in the expression, the absence of what every\nrational creature ought to have--_spiritual discernment and taste;_\nthe destitution of all right sentiment and feeling in reference to\nGod and Divine things. This is the character of him whom Paul\ndenominates the \"natural\" or animal \"man,\" who receiveth not the\nthings of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto\nhim.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nThe subject of Verse 2 has been treated in previous chapters. See\nHomiletics on chap. iii. 1-4; xi. 21, etc.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 2. Or \"hath what he will of God.\" Thus it is written of Luther,\nthat by his prayers he could prevail with God at his pleasure. When\ngifts were offered him, he refused them with this brave speech, \"I\nsolemnly protested to God that I would not be put off with these low\nthings.\" And on a time praying for the recovery of a godly useful\nman, among other passages, he let fall this transcendent rapture of a\ndaring faith, \"Let my will be done,\" and then falls off sweetly; \"My\nwill, Lord, because Thy will.\" Blessed is he that hath what he will\nand wills nothing but what he should. If an evil thought haunt his\nheart, it is the devise of the man, he is not the man of such\ndevices.--_Trapp._\n\nA man can no way be so happy as by being in God's favour. If any\nother thing were better than this, it would here be named; for His\npurpose is to promise and perform the best. Good men do set their\nwits to work to find the way whereby they may best please Him, and He\ndoth set His wisdom to work to frame a recompense that may best\npleasure them. It is precious--1. In regard of the rareness of it, it\nis a flower which groweth only in God's own garden. It is a privilege\nand freedom peculiar to the children of God. 2. In regard to the\ncontinuance of it, it is not worn out by time, it vanisheth not away,\nit is never taken from them upon whom it is bestowed. 3. In regard to\nthose good effects wherewith it is always accompanied--defence from\nenemies, safety from danger, gladness of heart, the love and favour\nof God it doth minister to everyone that partakes of it.--_Dod._\n\nWere the goodness of the godly such as it should be, it would from\nGod's goodness even deserve praise, not stand in need of remitting\nfavour, it would carry favour with it, it would not be put by seeking\nto obtain it. But in the best, so little it is, that he must even\nfetch it out from the Lord with many prayers, earnest suit, and at\nlast it is the great mercy of God that he doth obtain it. But yet,\nsuch is the mercy of God toward the good, that however He dealeth\nwith the good man he still obtaineth favour from Him. St. Augustine\nsaith, \"Thou receivedst benefit both from His coming and His going;\nHe cometh to the increase of thy comfort, He goeth to the increase of\nthy care. He goeth away sometimes lest continual presence should make\nHim despised, and that absence should make Him more\ndesired.\"--_Jermin._\n\nA man of wicked devices may be artful enough to disguise his selfish\nplans under the mask of religion and benevolence, like the old\nPharisees; but the eyes of the Judge of the world are like a flame of\nfire, they pierce into the secrets of every soul, and there is no\ndark design harboured which shall not be completely disclosed in the\nday of Christ.--_Lawson._\n\nLet blind reason condemn God. (see on ver. 1.) He who has Gospel\nlight will see Him as one out of whom he can draw favour. A man not\nonly pure himself, but doing good to others, looks upon God as a\nfountain of blessing.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nA RIGHT DESIRE AND THE MEANS OF ITS ATTAINMENT.\n\n+I. There has always been a desire in men for establishment--for\nfixedness.+ 1. _It is a good and God-given aspiration, and manifests\nitself in many ways._ Men rightly desire to have a settled home--a\nspot on earth to which they may attach themselves and from which they\ncannot be driven. This is a desire especially strong in the western\nand northern nations, and has been a powerful element in their\ndevelopment. Men desire a permanent and certain income, and the\ndesire to obtain it is a great motive power to induce them to acquire\nknowledge of mechanical arts and professions. Men desire to earn a\nfixed reputation, and the desire acts as a moral power in the world.\n2. _It is a desire very old in its manifestation._ Very early in the\nhistory of our race we have an instance of man's desire for fixedness\nof position on the earth, and for a permanent reputation. It was this\nthat prompted the men of Shinar to say one to another, \"Go to, let us\nbuild us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let\nus make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the\nearth\" (Gen. xi. 4). They desired to have a centre of unity in the\nworld--a spot where they could settle down together and establish a\nname that would outlive them. The building of Babel is a parable of\nwhat has been going on ever since, and will go on until the end of\ntime. The building is not of bricks and mortar, but the desire is the\nsame.\n\n+II. Men can only have this desire satisfied in one way.+ The man who\npurposed to build the tower of Babel used wrong means to fulfil a\nlawful desire. It was right to aspire towards reaching the fixedness\nof heaven, but that cannot be done with _bricks_ were they never so\nmany or so well burnt. They did \"make a name,\" but not the name they\ndesired. And so it is with men now. They want to gain for themselves\na permanent resting place and a lasting name, and they think to\nattain their desire by linking themselves with something belonging\nonly to earth, they desire to reach the heavenly with the earthly.\nAnd if they could use all the clay upon the globe to make their\nbricks they would find their tower fall far short of reaching heaven.\nAll life without God is a life of wickedness, and such a life cannot\nbe an _establishment_ because it is contrary to Divine law. But this\ndesire towards the immutable is intended by God to lead man to turn\nhis face towards \"those things which cannot be shaken\" (Heb.\nxii. 27), that righteous character which fits a man for the \"house\nnot made with hands, eternal in the heavens\" (2 Cor. v. 1), which can\nbe obtained by union with Him who is immutable--\"The same yesterday,\nto-day, and for ever\" (Heb. xiii. 8). Men may build upon a foundation\nwhich shall not be removed, they may send their roots deep down into\nan eternal abiding place by falling in with the conditions laid down\nby Christ Himself in Matt. v. 24, 25.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Established_ may have reference not to the stability of his\n_fortunes,_ but to that of his _mind_--to tranquil self-possession\nand firmness. Even if, in the providence of God, his substance should\nfail, he himself remains unshaken and entire in all his best\nblessings, and in all his hopes.--_Wardlaw._\n\nA man, being wicked, how shall he expect anything, except that he\nshall be disturbed? While the saint, though \"_shaken_\" in leaf and\nbough, and storm-tossed, and, perhaps, broken in his branches, yet\n\"_shall not be shaken_\" in his \"_root._\"--_Miller._\n\nAhab strove to establish himself in despite of the threatened curse\nof God. He increased his family, trained them with care under the\ntutelage of his choicest nobility. And surely one, at least, out of\nseventy, might remain to inherit his throne. But this was the vain\n\"striving\" of the worm \"with his Maker.\" One hour swept them all away\n(1 Kings xxi. 21, with 2 Kings x. 1-7). The device of Caiaphas, also\n_to establish his nation by wickedness,_ was the means of its\noverthrow (John xi. 49, 50, with Matt. xxi. 43, 44).--_Bridges._\n\nA man shall not be established by wickedness, for he lays his\nfoundation upon firework, and brimstone is scattered upon his\nhousetop: if the fire of God from heaven but flash upon it, it will\nall be aflame immediately. He walks all day upon a mine of gunpowder;\nand hath God with His armies ready to run upon the thickest bosses of\nhis buckler, and to hurl him to hell. How can this man be sure of\nanything? Cain built cities, but could not rest in them; Ahab begat\nseventy sons, but not one successor to the kingdom. Sin hath no\nsettledness. But the righteous, though shaken with winds, are rooted\nas trees; like a ship at anchor, they wag up and down, yet remove\nnot.--_Trapp._\n\nWe shall lose our labour in seeking any sinful helps. We shall but\nmake quicksand our foundation, and mud our stonework, and stubble and\nreeds our strongest timber. It is time for us to pull down our own\nruinous building, lest it should fall upon our heads. For though it\nbe so slight, and as weak as a cobweb, to be a cover over us, yet it\nis very heavy, and as weighty as a mountain to press us under\nit.--_Dod._\n\nMany are established in wickedness, and cannot be removed from it,\nbut none shall ever be established by it.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nA HUSBAND'S CROWN.\n\n+I. A woman possessed of a quality which time will not destroy or\nimpair.+ Virtue is not a mere negative good--it is not simply an\nabsence of evil. A virtuous person is one who has _overcome_\nevil--one who is prevented from being a worker of evil by being a\nworker of good. Virtue is a thing of growth--human nature has to\nstruggle to acquire moral excellence--to attain that strength of\ngoodness which we call virtue. It has its seat in the regenerated\nheart. The river that is always flowing with pure, living water, is\nnot fed from a cistern, but from a living spring which is in\ncommunication with the parent of waters. So virtue is not a native of\nthis fallen world--it is of celestial birth--it is derived from the\nsource of all goodness and consequently partakes of the\nindestructibility of all eternal things. There is no annihilation of\nvirtue. Stabbing cannot kill it. Burning cannot destroy it. It will\nbreak the bonds of calumny and rise from the dead. Virtue adorns\neither sex, but it is especially attractive in a woman. It is _her_\ncrown, and because she is so crowned, she crowns her husband.\n\n+II. Man needs such a woman to complete, or crown his life.+ Even the\nfirst man in his sinless condition, with all the peculiar joys\nspringing from his sinless nature, felt his existence incomplete\nuntil God gave him the woman as the filling up--the crown and finish\nof his life. But this woman was crowned herself with innocence and\npurity or she could not have crowned her husband. If man in his\nsinless condition needed a wife to complete his life, how much more\ndoes he need now a virtuous woman to be a helpmeet for him. 1. _He\nneeds her because he needs help from virtue outside himself._ The\nmost perfect of imperfect men must lean upon some human support, and\nthey will consciously or unconsciously do so. A man who has a\nvirtuous wife has ever about him an atmosphere which is strengthening\nto his own virtue. She will help him to preserve his integrity more\neffectually than any other person because she is so constantly about\nhis path. She will give him that moral sympathy which is so helpful\nto men struggling to keep a good conscience in an evil world, which\nis like oil to the wheels of life, and makes what would otherwise be\nvery difficult easy and pleasant. 2. _He needs an intellectual\ncompanion._ He must have a rational and intelligent spirit in his\nhome if his life is to be what God intended it to be--one with whom\nhe can converse and to whom he can impart his thoughts on things\nhuman and divine. He cannot be _crowned,_ in the full sense of the\nword, unless he has such a wife, and the word virtue may embrace\nintellectual vigour as well as moral excellence. (See Comments on the\nverse.) When a man has such a wife as we have described his life is\ncompleted or crowned. The word among the Hebrews was also symbolic of\njoy and gladness (Cant. vi. 11), and such a woman is of necessity a\njoy to her husband.\n\n+III. The man who would be thus crowned must be wise in his choice of\na wife.+ The most precious things are not generally to be obtained\nwithout some amount of seeking. Pebbles can be gathered upon any\nshore, but diamonds are only to be had for patient seeking. Pinchbeck\nornaments are to be had for a trifle, but a golden diadem costs much\nmoney. There are plenty of women who may be won without much seeking,\nbut a wife who is virtuous in the sense of the text is not to be met\nwith every day or in every place. To find such an one he must ask\ncounsel of Him who provided the first man with the woman who supplied\nhis need in this respect. Though we have no record that Adam asked\nGod for a helpmeet for him, yet we do not know that he did not. This\nwe do know, that God's best gifts, as a rule, are only had for\nasking. And when we reflect upon the terrible blight that an ungodly,\nunsympathetic, incapable wife is to a man, causing him such shame as\nis \"rottenness to his bones,\" we can fully see the need of seeking\nDivine guidance in forming a relationship which has so much to do\nwith \"making\" or \"marring\" a man.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHere we have a king and a crown, a _holy woman_ the _crown;_ a _happy\nman,_ the _king._ I. _Inasmuch as a woman of grace is here called her\nhusband's crown we learn that a good wife is the husband's best\noutward blessing, the worthiest mercy that a man may have in this\nworld._ It follows: 1. That as he who would be introduced into the\ncrown of any kingdom or monarchy must match himself into the king's\nrace, so, he that would be sure to have a crown for his wife must\ntake the same course, he must marry into the house of heaven, with\nsome one to whom the King of Kings is a father, and who is by grace\nof the lineage and offspring of the Lord of Hosts. 2. The wife being\nthe husband's crown must be much respected by her husband. Crowns are\nno contemptible things. The Apostle Peter is exact in commanding this\n(1 Pet. iii. 7). She is called the \"glory of the man\" (1 Cor. xi. 7)\nand his companion (Mal. ii. 14) his second-self (Ephes. v. 28, 29).\nIf in these regards God hath made a woman an honour to a man, the\nLord looks that man should give honour to a woman. 3. A wife being a\ncrown, requireth maintenance as much as her husband's estate will\nafford. The crown must be maintained, it is for the honour and safety\nof the king, and for the content of the subjects that it have meet\nsupport. II. _If the wife be the crown, the husband is the king._\nTherefore: 1. She must acknowledge him and obey him in all\nmatrimonial loyalty and love. The proverb is, there is no service to\ncompare with that of a king, but, certainly there is no king's\nservice to this. Kings can give the greatest about them, but\n_rewards_ when they have done their best; but the husband gives the\nwife _himself_ for her obedience. 2. It is her duty to grace him. To\nbe a woman, and to be a wife, is not enough to be a crown, a man may\nhave both these and yet she that he hath may be a shame unto him.\nThere go more than _two_ words to this bargain; to be a woman, a\nwife, and _gracious,_ and she that is so cannot fail of her\nglory.--_John Wing_ (1620).\n\nMan, though made for the throne of the world, was found unfit for the\nfinal investiture until he got woman as a help. . . . When the\nrelations of the sexes move in fittings of truth and love, the\nworking of the complicated machinery of life is a wonder to an\nobserving man and a glory to the Creator God. . . . We need not be\nsurprised by the announcement of the horrid contrast. It is according\nto law; the best things abused become the worst. Woman is the very\nelement of home. When that element is tainted, corruption spreads\nover all its breadth and sinks into its core.--_Arnot._\n\nThe word implies the virtue of earnestness, or strength of character,\nrather than of simple chastity.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe weakness of women is never a reproach unto them, but when it\nappeareth in not resisting sin. And therefore the original is _a\nwoman of strength,_ such a woman as is by God's grace strong enough\nto withstand sin: a _manlike_ woman, the Syriac hath it, in spiritual\ncourage. But contrariwise she, who is not ashamed of her sinful\nweakness in yielding unto sin maketh him ashamed for whom she was\ncreated, and as rottenness in his bones destroyeth his strength,\nmaking him weak through grief, as she is through folly, for such\ngrief enters deeply, and it is the bones that it wasteth, when she is\nnaught who was made of man's bone.--_Jermin._\n\nLet man learn to be grateful to woman for this undoubted achievement\nfor her sex, that it is she--she far more than he, and she, too\noften, in despite of him--who has kept Christendom from lapsing back\ninto barbarism, kept mercy and truth from being utterly overborne by\nthose two greedy monsters, money and war. Let him be grateful for\nthis, that almost every great soul that has led forward, or lifted up\nthe race, has been furnished for each noble deed, and inspired with\neach patriotic and holy inspiration, by the retiring fortitude of\nsome Spartan--some Christian mother. Moses, the deliverer of his\npeople, drawn out of the Nile by the king's daughter, some one has\nhinted, is only a symbol of the way that woman's better instincts\noutwit the tyrannical diplomacy of the man. Let him cheerfully\nremember, that though the sinewy sex achieves enterprises on public\ntheatres, it is the nerve and sensibility of the other that arm the\nmind and inflame the soul in secret. Everywhere a man executes the\nperformance, but woman trains the man.--_Anon._\n\nThe figure in the second clause is strong. We may consider it as\nconveying _two_ ideas! 1. The \"bones\" are the _strength_ of the\nframe. Upon them the whole is built. There is, therefore, in the idea\nof _caries,_ or rottenness in them, that of the _wasting_ of the\nvigour of body and mind, and the bringing of the man prematurely to\nhis grave; and that, too, by means which cost him, ere this result is\neffected, exquisite suffering. 2. The \"bones\" are _unseen._ The poor\nman is pierced with inward and secret agony, which he cannot\ndisclose; pines in unseen distress--distress of which the cause is\nhidden, while the _effects_ are sadly and rapidly visible.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\"Capable;\" sometimes \"virtuous,\" literally _strong._ \"It is well\nobserved by Michaelis (Supp. No. 17), that in the early stages of\nsociety, when the government and laws had little influence, fortitude\nwas the first and most necessary virtue; and might therefore\nnaturally give its name to the other virtues. Hence _virtus_ in\nLatin, and \u0251\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u03b7 in Greek, which, according to their etymology,\ndenote mainly strength and fortitude, came, at length, to signify\nvirtue in general (Holder).\" \"_Crown,_\" that is (1) _ornament,_ and\n(2) _source of power._ A virtuous woman is both to her husband. A\nspendthrift, drunken, or adulterous wife is so entrenched in our\nbeing, that our very bone, that is, our dearest interests (Psalm\nxxxv. 10; John xix. 36), are rotten, when these qualities begin their\ninfluence. A man, linked with such disorders, cannot complain of his\ninevitable reproof (ver. 1). Does he link himself with evil, he must\npartake of the storms that buffet it. Women, however, in all this\nbook, seem to be types of qualities;--of Grace (xi. 16); of Wisdom\n(xiv. 1); of Folly (ix. 13). The \"virtuous woman\" has not stood\nbefore us in all her true light, till she stands as Wisdom; nor \"One\nthat causes shame,\" till we make her Impenitency. \"The virtuous or\ncapable woman\" is our \"_crown,_\" for, with faith, all things are\nours; and her great rival is our shame, for, with unbelief, there is\n\"rottenness\" in our very \"bones.\" This disposition always to see a\nfigure must not be set down as fanciful, till the Woman of Grace, of\nFolly, and of Wisdom, and other still more artificial cases (Rev.\nxii. 1), have been thoroughly considered.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-8.\n\nTHOUGHTS AND WORDS AND THEIR RESULT.\n\n+I. The thoughts of the righteous or godly man are right.+\n1. _Because he has the best material out of which to build his\nthoughts._ The kind of building which is reared will depend mainly\nupon the quarry from which the stones are hewn. The man of God gets\nthe material of his thoughts from the revealed Word of God. He obeys\nthe Divine command.--\"This book of the law shall not depart out of\nthy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night\" (Josh.\ni. 8). 2. _Because his thinking is under the rule of law._ He does\nnot allow his mind to dwell upon every suggestion that comes into it,\nhe forbids certain things to enter there, or if they enter in an\nunguarded moment, he will not give them a dwelling place. He does not\ngive unqualified assent to the boast that \"thought is free.\" The\nrighteous man does not aspire to be a \"_free_-thinker,\" if he did he\ncould not be a _good_ thinker. He rules his thoughts according to the\nlegislation of Christ (Matt. v. 28; xv. 18), and endeavours to bring\n_every thought_ into obedience to Him (2 Cor. x. 5).\n\n+II. The speech of the righteous.+ A man's words are never worse than\nhis thoughts. In a good man they are the outcome of his thoughts. As\nthe child is the undeveloped man, and the seed the undeveloped tree,\nso thought is the seed of speech. If the child's constitution is good\nand the seed is good, the man and the tree will be healthy and\nvigorous. If the thought is healthy and wise the speech will be so\nlikewise, for \"out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh\"\n(Matt. xii. 34).\n\n+III. The thoughts of the wicked.+ They are such as spring\nspontaneously from the human heart, which is, according to the\nestimate of One who knows, \"deceitful above all things\" (Jer.\nxvii. 9). In such a heart counsels or thoughts of deceit must be\ngenerated. His own life-work will be a deceit (chap. xi. 18), and he\nwill deceive others. The verse evidently refers to thoughts which\npurpose harm to other people. When a man's thoughts are not in\nsubjection to the law of God, they have a tendency to go from bad to\nworse. The ungodly man, either directly or indirectly, injures others\nas well as himself.\n\n+IV. The words of the wicked.+ The ungodly are here represented, as\nin chap. xi. 21, as combining to injure the godly (see Homiletics on\nthat verse). Their words are the outcome of their evil and malicious\nthoughts. Most ungodly men try to lessen the influence of the good by\ndepreciating their character when they do not dare to attack their\nproperty and their lives. This lying in wait for blood may cover all\nschemes to bring about the downfall of the good. The two characters\nnow stand before us. Let us look at what is in store for each. I. For\nthe righteous. 1. _Deliverance from the machinations of the wicked._\nThis is effected by means of the godly man's own words. He is able to\nrefute what his enemies bring against him. This proverb cannot of\ncourse be taken to assert that the righteous are always delivered\nfrom death at the hands of their persecutors. They are delivered as\nChrist was delivered from the counsels of deceit, and from the bloody\nplans of the Scribes and Pharisees. The words here used exactly\ndescribe their character, and the deliverance of the righteous is\nsuch a deliverance as our Lord wrought for Himself by the words of\ntruth and wisdom with which He silenced them Take the instance of the\ntribute-money as recorded by Matthew (chap. xxii. 15). \"Then went the\nPharisees and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk.\nAnd they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians,\nsaying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of\nGod in truth, neither carest Thou for any man; for thou regardest not\nthe person of men. Tell us, therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it\nlawful to give tribute unto C\u00e6sar, or not? But Jesus perceived their\nwickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the\ntribute money. And they brought Him a penny. And He saith unto them,\nWhose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, C\u00e6sar's.\nThen saith He unto them, Render therefore unto C\u00e6sar the things which\nare C\u00e6sar's, and unto God the things which are God's. When they had\nheard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.\"\nTwo other instances of Christ's delivering Himself by His \"mouth\" are\ngiven in the same chapter. And many of His followers have in like\nmanner defeated the plans of their enemies. 2. _The establishment of\nhis family._ His thoughts and words bless his own house--they are the\nmeans of reproducing other characters whose thoughts and words are\nlike his own. This of itself is a good reason why his house should\nstand. Each member of it thus becomes a centre of influence for good,\nand in this way the world is preserved from moral corruption and\nruin. And it is a law of God's kingdom that the godliness of the head\nof a family or race should bring a blessing upon his posterity. God\ndefended the people of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah for \"His\nservant David's sake\" (Isa. xxxvii. 35). He blessed Isaac for \"my\nservant Abraham's sake\" (Gen. xxvi. 24). And the same law is at work\nin New Testament times, \"The promise is unto you and to your\nchildren\" (Acts ii. 39). 3. _General commendation._ The wise and the\nrighteous are synonymous in the book of Proverbs, the wisdom of the\n8th verse is, doubtless, _moral_ wisdom. Paul calls his Corinthian\nconverts, whom he had begotten by his holy thoughts and wise words,\nhis \"letters of commendation\" (2 Cor. iii. 1-3). Every godly man has\nsome such commendatory epistles in the living souls who his life and\nwords have blessed. Men can but acknowledge that he is a blessing to\nhis fellow-creatures while he lives, and after he has left the world\nhe is praised by, and because of, those whom he \"turned to\nrighteousness\" (Dan. xii. 3). II. But for the wicked there must\nbe--1. _Overthrow._ They entered the lists against a power must\nstronger than their own, and must therefore come to ruin. The stubble\nof the field can contend for a time against the fire, but the latter\ngrows stronger the longer it burns, and the stubble is less and less\nable to resist its power, until presently there is nothing left but a\nfew ashes which are soon scattered by the winds, and the place that\nonce knew them knows them no more, _\"For behold the day cometh, that\nshall burn as an oven, and all the proud and all that do wickedly\nshall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith\nthe Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch\"_\n(Mal. iv. 1). 2. _General contempt._ The wicked or \"perverse of\nheart\" will not be able to respect himself, how then can he expect\nothers to hold him in honour? And in the day of his overthrow the\ncontempt or indifference with which both he and his fate will be\nregarded will not come from those who he has striven to injure, but\nfrom those who are like himself. Those who have already met with\ntheir overthrow will be those who will meet him with the taunt, _\"Art\nthou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?\"_ (Isa.\nxiv. 10). And those whose time of judgment is yet in the future will\nnot stoop to pity or succour him.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 5. That thoughts are free, is his lesson, by which we are made\nslaves unto sin. For if the thoughts be corrupted, the affections\nwill soon be polluted, and then the actions are easily perverted. If\nthe flies of Egypt get into our eyes, the frogs of Egypt will soon\nget into our chambers, the caterpillars of Egypt will soon destroy\nour fruits, the actions of our lives. The counsels of the wicked are\ndeceit--they deceive God of His honour, their neighbour of his right,\nthemselves of their salvation.--_Jermin._\n\nThe stress lies upon the words, \"thoughts\" or \"purposes,\" and\n\"counsels.\" Habits of good and evil reach beyond the region of\noutward act to that of impulse and volition.--_Plumptre._\n\nTo the righteous are ascribed simple and clear thoughts, to the\ngodless, prudently thought through schemes and measures, but on that\nvery account not simple, because of their tendency.--_Delitzsch._\n\nIf good thoughts _look_ into a wicked heart, they _stay_ not there,\nas those that like not their lodging; the flashes of lightnings may\nbe discerned into the darkest prisons. The light that shines into a\nholy heart is constant, like that of the sun, which keeps due times,\nand varies not the course for any of these sublunary\noccasions.--_Trapp._\n\nAt the first creation man was made to excel brute beasts more by the\nreason and gifts of the soul than by the fashion and shape of the\nbody, so at the second, a Christian is made to excel sinful men more\nby the holiness and working of the soul than by those of the\nbody.--_Dod._\n\nThe mere _thoughts_--the unpremeditated _resolves_ of a righteous\nman--are _right;_ the _deliberate counsels,_ the very _deliberations_\nof the wicked, are _deceit._--_Burgon._\n\nMany indeed are the deviations of the righteous. But there is an\novercoming law within that, in despite of all opposition, fixes _his\nthoughts_ with delight on God and His law (Pas. cxxxix. 17, 18; Rom.\nvii. 15, 23), and gives to them a single bias for His service. Widely\ndifferent are the thoughts of the wicked, ripening into _counsels_\nfraught with _deceit._ Such were those of Joseph's brethren to\ndeceive their father; of Jeroboam, under a feigned consideration of\nthe people; of Daniel's enemies, under pretence of honouring the\nking; of Herod, under the profession of worshiping the infant\nSaviour.--_Bridges._\n\nThis verse has been rendered, _\"The policy of the just is honesty;\nthe wisdom of the wicked is cunning.\"_ The righteous man deals in\nrectitude, and from his actions you know his thoughts. It is not so\nwith \"the wicked.\" He thinks one way and acts another. His words and\ndeeds are not the fair index of his thoughts.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_\"The plans of the righteous are a judgment.\"_ This word, which is\nvery common in the Bible, means a judicial decision. The \"judgment\"\nof the wicked is a verdict of the Almighty consigning them to hell.\nThe \"judgment\" of the righteous, by what Christ has wrought out, is a\nverdict of eternal reward. . . . The \"plans of the righteous,\"\nhowever disastrous they may seem, \"are a judgment.\" And, as the\n\"judgment\" of the righteous is in his favour, his plans, however bad,\nare shaped in him for his good. Whatsoever storms they may lead to,\nthey are from a most prosperous verdict, and have been allowed to\nsupervene, for his highest, and well-graduated good. Mark now the\nclimax (as in ch. xiv. 11). It says, the _plans_ of the righteous,\nleading us to suppose they might be very wretched But it says \"the\n_helmsmanship_ (counsels, see on chap. xi. 14) of the wicked,\"\nleaving us to suppose they are very shrewd. The keenest calculations\nof the wicked, where a cool eye is at the _helm,_ and where instead\nof marrying a foolish wife (ver. 4), he has built grandly for the\nworld; still, as a _judgment,_ I mean by that, as the whole verdict\nin his case, his very _helmsmanships_ are a deceit. (1) His own\nwisdom cheats him in ordering his life; and (2) God Himself, as a\npart of His award, takes care that he be deceived as to his total\nwell-being.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 6. The law of parallelism leaves it open to us to refer the\npronoun at the end of this verse to the righteous themselves, or to\nthose, the unwary and innocent, for whom the words of the wicked lie\nin wait.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe fiercer ebullitions of humanity may, indeed, be softened down and\nrestrained. But the principle remains the same. The fiery elements\nonly lie in slumbering cover, and often break out, wasting the very\nface of society.--_Bridges._\n\n_The words._ Speech is the great instrument of man. Talking is his\ntrade. Wall Street and Lombard Street make their fortunes by the\ntongue. The \"words of the wicked\" are, therefore, their highest\nactivities, and our proverb declares that these high acts are \"a\nlying in wait for blood.\" We would not deny that this may include the\nblood of others; but in the light of the last verse the grand victim\nis themselves (chap. i. 18). Each order on change is for a man's last\ndiscomfiture.--_Miller._\n\nThough nature hath denied man the weapons of his teeth, yet\nwickedness giveth to some such _words_ as are more bloody beasts. The\nfalse witness will frame his tale so cunningly as if he intended\nnothing but a clearing of the truth, whereas he seeketh nothing but\nthe shedding of blood. The corrupt judge will couch his words so\nclosely, as if he meant nothing but to have justice executed, whereas\nthey are nothing but ambushments to surprise innocent blood. But\nthere are words which issue from the mouth of the upright, as making\na sally out of some adjoining fort, whereby the prey is rescued, the\npillagers are defeated, the innocent are delivered, the upright as\nvictorious is crowned with the diadem of his judgment as in Job it is\ncalled (ch. xxix. 14); and which St. Gregory saith is rightly called\na diadem, because by the glory of an excellent work it leadeth to the\ncrown of a glorious reward. Now such were the words of Job's mouth,\nwho brake the jaws of the wicked and plucked the spoil out of his\nteeth, being eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the\npoor.--_Jermin._\n\nThe prayers of God's people ascend up to God's presence for His help,\nand those mouths prevail mightily that seek for redress of wrong at\nHis hands. Herod thought it would be too late for all the friends\nwhich Peter had to minister help to him when he had clapped him in\nprison. But he remembered not how swift the godly be to prayer and\nhow soon a prayer can come to God.--_Dod._\n\n\nVerse 7. The _persons_ of the wicked are _overthrown and are not,_\nthe _house_ of the righteous (the very roof that sheltered him) shall\n_stand._--_Burgon._\n\nHe that is strong may be overthrown and may rise again, he that\nriseth not to what he was may rise in part to something, he that\nriseth not at all, may lie where he has fallen; but in the overthrow\nof the wicked all hope is gone of anything, for they themselves are\n_nothing._ They _were not_ in goodness, they _are not_ by their\nwickedness. They are not to be recovered from their overthrow,\nbecause they are not changed to repentance by their overthrow. On the\nother side, not only the righteous shall stand, their family, their\nposterity shall stand, for God shall stand by them, and then no fear\nof falling can be unto them.--_Jermin._\n\nWhen a change of the estate of the ungodly is made from prosperity\nunto adversity, their utter destruction is commonly wrought, for\ntheir house being built upon the sand, the tempests and the winds\narise and quite overthrow it. The whole manner of the overthrow is\ndescribed in Job xviii. 15.--_Muffet._\n\nThe righteous shall \"have a place in the Lord's house,\" immovable\nhere (Isa. lvi. 4, 5), and in eternity (Rev. iii. 12).--_Bridges._\n\nSolomon had a signal exemplification of this in the case of _Saul_\nand his father _David._ Possibly this instance might be in his eye at\nthe time.--_Wardlaw._\n\nEventually there must be _overthrow,_ even if it be no overthrow but\ndeath. When the wicked do fall, there is positively _nothing of them\nleft._ While in the deepest disasters of the righteous, nothing is\nnot _left. \"His house,\"_ and by that is meant every possible real\ninterest (1 Sam. ii. 35) shall stand for ever.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 8. Sometimes, and very often, the wicked shall commend him,\ncommonly the righteous, and always the Lord Himself, but most of all\nat the last day, before all men and angels. They that are not void of\nuprightness shall not be destitute of praise and honour. Though some\nbe blind that they cannot discern their understanding and graces, yet\nothers have their eyesight and behold them. Though some be dumb and\nwill not speak of their virtues, yet others have their lips open to\ncommend them.--_Dod._\n\nAnd all wisdom consists in this, that a man rightly know and worship\nGod. Apollonius, Archimedes, and Aristotle were wise in their\ngenerations, and so accounted, but by whom? Not by St. Paul, he hath\nanother opinion of them (Rom. i. 22). Not by our Saviour (Matt.\nxi. 25).--_Trapp._\n\n_According_--\"in exact proportion;\" such as the meaning of the\nHebrew. A man is more applauded for good sense than perhaps anything\nelse. _Wisdom_--\"shrewdness;\" that attribute that leads to success.\nTherefore it sometimes means success (2 Kings xviii. 7). Successful\nshrewdness is a very positive sort. Such is the shrewdness of the\nrighteous man (ver. 7). _Perverse heart_--\"crooked sense,\" literally\n_heart;_ though heart contains more of sense (\u03bd\u03bf\u028a\u03c2) than we ascribe\nto it. If a man whose mind works crookedly every time becomes an\nobject of contempt, why ought not the wicked to become so, whose very\nhelmsmanships are a deceit? (ver. 5).--_Miller._\n\nHow thrilling will be the _commendation of wisdom_ before the\nassembled universe! (Luke xii. 42-44). Who will not then acknowledge\nthe _wise_ choice of an earthly cross with a heavenly\ncrown?--_Bridges._\n\nThis is capable of two interpretations. It may refer to commendation\nby _men,_ or to commendation by _God._ In the one case it may mean\nmere _secular discretions,_ in the other it must mean _religious\nprinciple,_ according to the invariable testimony that \"the fear of\nthe Lord, that is wisdom.\" This is not the wisdom that secures the\neulogy of men; but it will ever secure that of the infinitely Wise,\nthe Infinitely Good. And, indeed, the two things may be united. A man\nwho fears God will always be a _faithful_ counsellor, and if at the\nsame time he have sound discretion in regard to the affairs of life,\nthis will form the perfection of character, and there will be\ncommendation both from _men_ and _God._ . . . In the pride of your\nhearts, you may affect to hold very cheap the contempt of men; though\neven that is often mere pretension than reality, disappointment\nrankling at the heart, while scorn is curling the lip. But what must\nit be to be \"lightly esteemed\" at last, to be \"despised\" by that God\nwho has in his hands the destinies of the universe!--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nSHOW AND REALITY.\n\nWhichever rendering we adopt of this verse the subject is the\nsame--that of one man's allowing his vanity, his love for\nappearances, to rob him of all real comfort, and that of his wiser\nbrother's preference of comfort to outside show.\n\n+I. The wise man who is despised.+ Men who have the moral courage to\nlive in a simple style, and to labour with their own hands, will\ncertainly be regarded with contempt by some, but by whom? By those\nwhose good opinion and honour is not worth having. Children are taken\nwith what is showy on the surface--they have little regard for what\nlies underneath. They will be more delighted with a soap-bubble than\nwith a diamond. But _men_ look on things with different eyes. So it\nis only men and women of childish minds who estimate a man by his\nclothes, his house, or his establishment, and it is only such who\nwill despise the first man mentioned in the text. If we take the\ncommon rendering of the verse, then this man is more useful to\nsociety than the other; for, instead of spending all his money on\nhimself, he keeps a servant, and so gives another a means of living.\nFor as it is implied that he does not lack bread himself, so he will\nnot let those in his employ want the necessaries of life. Other\nthings being equal, the man who, by a judicious use of his means,\ngives employment to others, is a greater benefactor to his race than\nhe who spends his money in selfish luxury. At any rate, this man is a\nwiser man than the other, for he has the good sense to prefer the\ngreater to the less. It is only obeying a natural instinct to satisfy\nthe bodily wants, and to supply ourselves with all the substantial\ncomforts of life before we spend money on things which do not, after\nall, add in the least to our real enjoyment, and yet the majority of\nmen do sacrifice some of the former to the latter. He who has the\nmoral courage not to do so shows his real wisdom. And by such a\ncourse of conduct he blesses others as well as himself--he does\nsomething to stem the tide of passion for keeping up appearances\nwhich in our age and country is the fruitful source of so much crime\nand misery--he, and he only, is the truly honest man, for he is\ncontent to pass for just what he is as to wealth.\n\n+II. The foolish and wicked man who \"honours himself.\"+ 1. _He is a\nfool._ Vanity is one of the most despicable passions that can possess\na man--it often leads a man to the most childish actions. No man of\nmodern times was more entirely under its dominion than Voltaire,\nwhose only aim in life seemed to be to gain that unsubstantial homage\nwhich afforded his spirit at the last such an unsatisfying portion.\nHe did not literally lack bread, but he did find himself in his old\nage without anything which could give him any real comfort. The man\nmentioned in our text is so bent upon obtaining this false honour\nthat he will \"lack bread\"--suffer positive bodily discomfort--rather\nthan not obtain it. 2. _He is a sinner._ He lies in action, if not in\nword. While he is resorting to the meanest shifts in secret he is\ntrying to make people believe that he is much better off than he\nreally is. By stinting himself in the common comforts of life he sins\nagainst his own body and against his creator, for \"the Lord is for\nthe body\" (1 Cor. vi. 13), and it is man's duty to feed that house of\nthe soul which is so \"fearfully and wonderfully made\" (Psa.\ncxxxix. 14). He therefore sins against himself and against society.\nIt is worth while to inquire whether anybody will honour him after\nall his foolish efforts. God cannot, for He hates all hypocrisy. Men\nmay, for their own interest, flatter him, and feign to respect him,\nbut he will obtain no real honour, either from men like him in\ncharacter, or from those who are better and wiser. \"I have read,\"\nsays Thomas Adams, \"of Menecrates, a physician that would needs be\ncounted a god, and took no other fee of his patients than their vow\nto worship him. Dionysius Syracusanus, hearing of this, invited him\nto a banquet, and, to honour him according to his desire, set before\nhim nothing but a censer of frankincense, with all the smoke whereof\nhe was feasted till he starved, while others fed on good meat.\" Such\nsmoke as this is all the return such a man as the one pictured in\nthis proverb will get for starving himself, and for sinning against\nhis own body, against society, and against God.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe give a few of the many renderings of this verse:--\n\nBetter is he that laboureth and aboundeth in all things than he that\nboasteth himself and lacketh bread.--_Wordsworth._\n\nThis proverb, like xv. 17, commends the middle rank of life with its\nquiet excellencies. A man of lowly rank, who is, however, not so poor\nthat he cannot support a slave, is better than one that boasts\nhimself and is yet a beggar. The first necessity of an Oriental in\nonly moderate circumstances is a slave, just as was the case with the\nGreeks and Romans.--_Delitzch._\n\nBetter is the condition of the poor man, who has the means under his\ncontrol of aiding his exertions for sustenance, than the nobleman,\nreal or fancied, who is in a state of starvation.--_Stuart._\n\nEach interpretation is tenable grammatically. (1) He whom men\ndespise, or who is \"lowly\" in his own eyes (the word is used by David\nhimself, 1 Sam xviii. 23), the trader, the peasant, if he has a\nslave, _i.e.,_ if he is one step above absolute poverty, and has\nsomeone to supply his wants, is better off than the man who boasts of\nrank or descent, and has nothing to eat. Respectable mediocrity is\nbetter than boastful poverty. (2) He who, though despised, is a\nservant to himself, _i.e._ supplies his own wants, is better than the\narrogant and helpless.--_Plumptre._\n\nSome do think it more miserable to be known to be miserable than to\nbe so, and are more grieved to be disesteemed for it than to be\npinched by it, wherefore they will feed the eyes of others with a\nshow of plenty, although they have not bread to feed themselves. But\nhe is better who, disesteeming the esteem of others and being servant\nto himself, does get his own bread, and is contented with it. For as\nhe is servant, so is he master also; and howbeit he serveth, yet it\nis at his own pleasure. And this is his comfort, that while he\nserveth himself he hath to serve his need and occasions, when he that\n_honoureth himself_ is fain at last to live by others. Or else take\nthe meaning thus: the ambitious itch of many is so great, and so\ndisquieteth their hearts, that they can lack anything, even bread\nitself, rather than honour and preferment; so that when they are\nswollen big in greatness and dignity they are even starved in their\nestate, and have not of their own the next meal to feed themselves.\nBut better is he, especially if he be a good man, who--having to keep\nhimself and a servant--doth keep within his means; and though he be\n_despised_ by them that overlook him, yet he looks upon himself with\nthanks to God that it is so well with him. And, indeed, how can this\nman but be better than the other, when his servant is better than the\nother is. For as Chyrsostom speaketh, it cannot be but that he who is\nthe slave of glory should be servant of all, yea, more vile than all\nother servants. For there is no servant commanded to do such base\nthings as the love of glory commandeth him.--_Jermin._\n\nThe son of Sirach, who may well be called an interpreter of this book\nof the Proverbs, hath a very like saying to this where he speaketh\nthus, \"Better is he that worketh and aboundeth with all things, than\nhe that boasteth himself, and wanteth bread\" (Ecclus.\nx. 27).--_Muffet._\n\nWhen men are such slaves to the opinion of the world, they rebel\nagainst Him who makes no mistake in His allotments and often appoints\na descent from worldly elevation as a profitable discipline (Jas.\ni. 10, 11; Dan. iv. 32-37). Yet it is hard, even for the Christian,\nas Bunyan reminds us, \"to go down the valley of humiliation and catch\nno slip by the way.\" We need our Master's unworldly elevated spirit\n(John vi. 15) to make as safe descent. . . . \"Let our moderation be\nknown unto all men,\" under the constraining recollection, \"The Lord\nis at hand\" (Phil. iv. 5). How will the dazzling glory of man's\nesteem fade away before the glory of His appearing!--_Bridges._\n\nPaul travelling on foot, and living on the wages of a tent-maker, was\nmore respectable than the pretended successor of his brother apostle,\nwith a triple crown upon his head.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nCARE FOR ANIMALS AND CRUELTY TO MEN.\n\nEven the animal is benefited by being related to a righteous man.\n\n+I. The righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.+ 1. _Because\nof the entire dependence of the creature upon him._ Animals which are\nthe property of man are entirely at his mercy. They have no power to\nchange a bad master for a good one--no voice to utter their\ncomplaints--no means of getting redress for their wrongs. All these\nconsiderations tend to make a good man care for them, for the\nrighteous man's sympathies are always drawn out in proportion to the\nneed of the object. And with regard to the animal creation, it may be\nthat the present life is the only opportunity a man may have of\nshowing kindness to them. If, on the other hand, animals live in\nanother world, it may be all the better for men to treat them well\nhere. 2. _Because of his dependence upon his beast._ Men are very\nlargely indebted to animals for the sustaining of their life--it\nwould be very difficult for the work of the world to be carried on\nwithout their help; man would certainly have to labour much harder if\nthey had it not. Therefore, the righteous man feels that he is paying\n_a debt_ when he \"regards the life of his beast.\" 3. _Because the\nanimal is an object of Divine care._ The Bible has many references to\nthe brute creation, and many passages which show that \"_God_\nregardeth the life of the beast.\" Christ tells us that not a\n_sparrow_ falls to the ground without His Father's notice, and God\nhas given special commands with reference to the care of dumb\ncreatures. _\"Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the\ncorn\"_ (Duet. xxv. 4). Seeing, then, that \"God doth care for oxen,\" a\nrighteous man will do likewise. 4. _Because of the lessons that may\nbe learned from the animal creation._ God often sends man to learn of\nthem (see Isa. i. 3; Jer. viii. 7), and much suggestive teaching may\nbe got from observation of their dispositions and habits. It would be\ningratitude not to repay them with considerate care.\n\n+II. The wicked man is cruel.+ Wickedness is, in its nature,\ndestitute of kindliness. The sea is by nature salt, and its saltiness\nmakes it unfit to sustain human life. The father of wickedness is a\ncruel being--his only aim is to increase the misery of the universe.\nAll his children have partaken more or less of his character since\nthe first human murderer killed his brother. It is said here that\neven his acts of mercy are cruel. History gives many instances of men\nwhose so-called acts of mercy were only refined cruelties. It follows\nthat if wicked men are cruel to their fellow-creatures--to men and\nwomen of their own flesh and blood, they will be even more\nindifferent to the welfare of creatures below man.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATIONS._\n\nSir Robert Clayton, as commander of a troop of British cavalry, which\nafter service on the Continent was disbanded in the city of York, and\nthe horses sold, could not bear to think that his old\nfellow-campaigners, who had born brave men to battle, should be\nridden to death as butcher's hacks, or worked in dung-carts till they\nbecame dogs' meat, he therefore purchased a piece of ground upon\nKnavesmire heath, and turned out the old horses to have their run for\nlife. What made this act to be the longer had in remembrance, was the\ncurious fact, that one day, when these horses were grazing, a\nthunder-storm gathered, at the fires and sounds of which, as if\nmistaken for the signs of approaching battle, they were seen to get\ntogether and form in line, almost in as perfect order as if they had\ntheir old masters on their backs.\n\nSir James Prior tells us, in the last year of the life of Burke, that\na feeble old horse which had been a favourite with young Richard--now\ndead--and his constant companion in all his rural journeyings and\nsports, when both were alike healthful and vigorous, was turned out\nto take the run of the park at Beaconsfield during the remainder of\nhis life, the servants being strictly charged not to ride or in any\nway molest him. This pour worn-out steed it was that one day drew\nnear to Burke, as the now childless and decrepit statesman was musing\nin the park, and after some moments of inspection, followed by\nseeming recollection and confidence, deliberately rested his head\nupon the old man's bosom. The singularity of the action, the\nremembrance of his dead son, its late master, and the apparent\nattachment and intelligence of the poor brute, as if it could\nsympathise with his inward sorrows, rushing at once into his mind,\ntotally overpowered his firmness, and throwing his arms over its\nneck, he wept long and loudly.\n\nJohn Howard writing home from the Lazaretto, himself sick and a\nprisoner: \"Is my chaise-horse gone blind or spoiled? Duke is well, he\nmust have his range when past his labour; not doing such a cruel\nthing as I did with the old mare. I have a thousand times repented of\nit.\"--_Jacox._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWhat a cruelty of the wicked is, at its words, words might seem\nwanting to show, after it has been said that the tender mercies of\nthe wicked are cruel. But \"a righteous man regardeth the life of his\nbeast.\" Jacob, as flock-master, is studiously careful for his flocks\nand herds as well as for his tender children; \"if men should\nover-drive them one day, all the flock would die;\" so \"I will lead on\nsoftly,\" said he to Esau, \"according as the cattle that goeth before\nme is able to endure.\" The angel of the Lord standing in the way,\nrebukes Balaam for smiting his ass three times: that unrighteous man,\nwishing there were a sword in his hand, too literally regardeth not\nthe life of his beast. . . . We certainly ought not, pleads Plutarch,\nto treat living creatures like shoes or household goods, which, when\nworn out with use, we throw away; and, were it only to learn\nbenevolence to human kind, we should be merciful to other creatures.\nTo be kind to these our fellow-lodgers is common humanity. To be\ncruel to them is to be below it. It is almost, if not quite, to be a\nlittle lower than themselves. It is, maintains, Sir Arthur Helps, an\nimmense responsibility that Providence has thrown upon us in\nsubjecting these sensitive creatures to our complete sway, and he\navowedly trembles at the thought of how poor an answer we shall have\nto give, when asked the question how we have made use of the power\nentrusted to us over the brute creation. . . . The question of\ninterposing law has been a vexed one, upon which the humanest have\ndiffered. . . . So hard-headed and cool-headed a thinker as Stuart\nMill is decisive and incisive in his arguments in favour of legal\nintervention. Mr. Lecky's suggestion of a doubt whether cruelty to\nanimals can be condemned on utilitarian grounds, is met by the\nobvious answer that a utilitarian may rationally include in his\ndefinition of the greatest number whose happiness is to be the aim of\nhuman beings, not only human beings themselves, but all animals\ncapable of being happy or the reverse; besides which it is urged\nthat, even if we limit our view to the good of our own species, the\nargument is as strong as can be desired. \"If the criminality of an\naction were to be measured simply by its direct effects on human\nhappiness, we might probably urge that the murderer of a grown-up man\nwas worse than the murderer of a child, and far worse than the\ntorturer of a dumb animal. Yet, as a matter of fact, we should\nprobably feel a greater loathing for a man who could torment a beast\nfor his pleasure than for one who should ill-use one of his equals.\"\nFor such cruelty is held to indicate, as a rule, a baser nature. A\nmurderer, though generally speaking a man of bad character, is not of\nnecessity cowardly or mean; he may not improbably show some courage,\nand possibly even some sensibility to the nobler emotions. The\ntormenter of animals, on the other hand shows callousness of nature,\na pleasure in giving pain for the sake of giving pain, which has\nabout it something to be described as devilish. . . . John Foster\ndeclared it to be a great sin against moral taste to mention\nludicrously, or for ludicrous comparison, circumstances in the animal\nworld which are painful and distressing to the animals that are in\nthem; the simile, for instance, \"Like a toad under a\nharrow.\"--_Jacox._\n\nLit. \"knoweth.\" The Authorised Version gives the right application,\nbut the words remind us that all true sympathy and care must grow out\nof knowledge. The righteous man tries to _know_ the feelings and life\neven of the brute beast, and so comes to care for it. _\"Tender\nmercies.\"_ Better \"the feelings, the emotions\" all that should have\nled to mercy and pity towards man. The circle expands in the one\ncase, narrows in the other.--_Plumptre._\n\nWhen the pulse of kindness beats strong in the heart the warm stream\nis sent clean through the body of the human family, and retains force\nenough to expatiate among the living creatures that lie beyond. . . .\nCruelty is a characteristic of the wicked in general, and in\nparticular of antichrist--that one, wicked by pre-eminence, whom\nChrist shall yet destroy by the brightness of His coming. By their\nfruits ye shall know them. The page of history is spotted with the\ncruelties of papal Rome. The red blood upon his garments is generally\nthe means of discovering a murderer. The trailing womanish robes of\nthe papal high priest are deeply stained with the blood of the\nsaints. The same providence which employs the bloody tinge to detect\nthe common murderer has left more lasting marks of Rome's cruelty.\nThe Bartholomew massacre, for example, is recorded in more enduring\ncharacters than the stains of that blood which soaked the soil of\nFrance. The pope and his cardinals rejoiced greatly when they heard\nthe news. So lively was their gratitude that they cast a medal to\nrecord it on. There stands the legend, raised in brass and\nsilver--_\"Strages Huguenotorum\"_ (the slaughter of the Huguenots)--in\nperpetual memory of the delight wherewith that wicked antichrist\nregarded the foulest butchery of men by their fellows that this\nsin-cursed earth has ever seen. That spot will not out with all their\nwashings.--_Arnot._\n\nIt is better to be the beast of a righteous man than the son of a\nwicked man; nay, it is better to be the beast of a righteous man than\nto be a wicked man. For the righteous will do right unto his beast;\nthe merciful man hath sense of mercy wheresoever is sense of misery,\nand while in mercy he regardeth the life of the beast that is beneath\nhim, he is made like unto God, who is so far above him. But the\nwicked man's tender mercies are \"mercies of the cruel,\" or else his\ntender mercies are cruel, hurting as much as severe cruelty; and\ntherefore many times a wicked father's fond affection is the utter\nundoing of a petted child, and sparing pity, where evil should be\nchastised, is the breeding nurse of mischief which cannot be helped.\nThe fond mercies whereby the wicked favoureth himself in sloth and\nidleness, whereby he pleaseth himself with pleasures and delights,\nwhereby he pampereth himself with delicate and luscious meats,\nwhereby he restraineth not his lusts and desires--what are they but\ncruelties whereby he tormenteth his body with sickness and quickly\nkilleth it, and whereby he wilfully destroyeth his soul.--_Jermin._\n\nThe worldly care of a high prosperous man may seem very tender to\nthose dependent on him and towards others; but the very tenderness of\nan impenitent example is the higher snare, the tender mercies of the\nwicked are cruel. . . . Religion has no austerities that make a true\nsaint careless of the life or feelings even of his _beast._ On the\ncontrary, it breeds the most pervading tenderness; whereas the wise\nworldling, however careful of his home and tender towards all who\nhave any claim upon his care, yet in admitting that there is a hell,\nand neglecting all prayer for his household, and all example, except\none that braves the worst, breeds children simply to destroy\nthem.--_Miller._\n\nThe tender mercies of the wicked are when base and guilty men are\nspared that should be smitten with the sword of justice. Pity of this\nsort is more cruel than cruelty itself. For cruelty is exercised upon\nindividuals, but the pity, by granting impunity, arms and sends forth\nagainst innocent men the whole army of evil doers.--_Lord Bacon._\n\nWe have been used to hear much of the benevolence of infidels and the\nphilanthropy of deists. It is all a pretence. Self is the idol and\nself-indulgence the object, in the accomplishment of which they are\nlittle scrupulous about the means. Where self is the idol, the heart\nis cruel. While they talk of universal charity, they regard not the\ncruelty of robbing thousands of the consolations of religion. . . .\nWhile they speak of harmless gaiety and pleasure they would\ntreacherously corrupt piety and pollute unsuspecting\ninnocence.--_Holden._\n\nThe word \"regard\" is of twofold application, and may either apply to\nthe moral or the intellectual part of our nature. In the one it is\nthe regard of attention; in the other it is the regard of sympathy or\nkindness. But we do not marvel at the term having been applied to two\ndifferent things, for they are most intimately associated. They act\nand re-act upon each other. If the heart be very alive to any\nparticular set of emotions the mind will be alert in singling out the\npeculiar objects which excite them; so, on the other hand, that the\nemotions be specifically felt the objects must be specifically\nnoticed. . . . So much is this the case that Nature seems to have\nlimited and circumscribed our power of noticing just for the purpose\nof shielding us from too incessant a sympathy. . . . If man, for\ninstance, looked upon Nature with a microscopic eye his sensibilities\nwould be exposed to the torture of a perpetual offence from all\npossible quarters of contemplation, or, if through habit these\nsensibilities were blunted, what would become of character in the\nextinction of delicacy of feeling? . . . There is, furthermore, a\nphysical inertness of our reflective faculties, an opiate infused, as\nit were, into the recesses of our mental economy, by which objects,\nwhen out of sight, are out of mind, and it is to some such provision,\nwe think that much of the heart's purity, as well as its tenderness,\nis owing; and it is well that the thoughts of the spirit should be\nkept, though even by the weight of its own lethargy, from too busy a\nconverse with objects which are alike offensive and hazardous to\nboth. . . . But there is a still more wondrous limitation than\nthis. . . . The sufferings of the lower animals may be in sight, and\nyet out of mind. This is strikingly exemplified in the sports of the\nfield, in the midst of whose varied and animating bustle that\ncruelty, which is all along present to the senses, may not, for one\nmoment, be present to the thoughts. . . . It touches not the\nsensibilities of the heart, but just because it is never present to\nthe notice of the mind. The followers of this occupation are reckless\nof pain, but this is not rejoicing in pain. Theirs is not the delight\nof savage, but the apathy of unreflecting creatures. . . . We are\ninclined to carry this principle must further. We are not sure if,\nwithin the whole compass of humanity, fallen as it is, there be such\na thing as delight in suffering for its own sake. But, without\nhazarding a controversy on this, we hold it enough for every\npractical object that much, and perhaps the whole of the world's\ncruelty, arises not from the enjoyment that is felt in consequence of\nothers' pain, but from the enjoyment that is felt in spite of\nit. . . . But a charge of the foulest delinquency may be made up\naltogether of wants or of negatives; and just as the human face, by\nthe mere want of some of its features, although there should not be\nany inversion of them, might be an object of utter loathsomeness to\nbeholders, so the human character, by the mere absence of certain\nhabits or sensibilities which belong ordinarily and constitutionally\nto our species, may be an object of utter abomination in society. The\nwant of natural affection forms one article of the Apostle's\nindictment against our world; and certain it is enough for the\ndesignation of a monster. The mere want of religion is enough to make\na man an outcast from his God. Even to the most barbarous of our kind\nyou apply, not the term of anti-humanity, but of inhumanity--not the\nterm of anti-sensibility; and you hold it enough for the purpose of\nbranding him for general execration that you convicted him of\ncomplete and total insensibility. . . . We count it a deep atrocity\nthat, unlike to the righteous man of our text, he simply does not\nregard the life of a beast. . . . The true principle of his\ncondemnation is that he ought to have regarded. . . . Our text rests\nthe whole cause of the inferior animals on one moral element, which\nis in respect of principle, and on one practical method, which is, in\nrespect of efficacy, unquestionable: \"A righteous man regardeth the\nlife of his beast.\" Let a man be but righteous in the general and\nobvious sense of the word, and let the regard of his attention be but\ndirected to the case of the inferior animals, and then the regard of\nhis sympathy will be awakened to the full extent at which it is\neither duteous or desirable. . . . The lesson is not the circulation\nof benevolence within the limits of one species. It is the\ntransmission of it from one species to another. The first is but the\ncharity of a world; the second is the charity of a universe. Had\nthere been no such charity, no descending current of love and\nliberality from species to species, what would have become of\nourselves? Whence have we learned this attitude of lofty unconcern\nabout the creatures who are beneath us? Not from those ministering\nspirits who wait upon the heirs of salvation. . . . Not from that\nmighty and mysterious visitant who unrobed Him of all His glories,\nand bowed down His head unto the sacrifice, and still, from the seat\nof His now exalted mediatorship, pours forth His intercessions and\nHis calls in behalf of the race He died for. Finally, not from the\neternal Father of all, in the pavilion of whose residence there is\nthe golden treasury of all those bounties and beatitudes that roll\nover the face of nature, and from the footstool of whose empyreal\nthrone there reaches a golden chain of providence to the very\nhumblest of His family.--_Chalmers._\n\n He prayeth best who loveth best\n All things both great and small;\n For the dear God that loveth us,\n He made and loveth all.--_Coleridge._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.\n\nSATISFACTION FROM TILLAGE.\n\n+I. Satisfaction as the result of tillage depends--+1. _Upon the\nperformance of a Divine promise._ It is long ago since God gave Noah\nthe promise that \"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,\nand cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not\ncease\" (Gen. ix. 22), and it has been so invariably fulfilled that\nmen have come to forget upon whom they are depending--in whom they\nare exercising faith--when they plough the ground and sow the seed.\nGod's regularity in His performance has bred in men a contempt for\nthe promise and the promise maker. Men speak of the laws of nature\nand ignore the fact that it is by the Word of the Lord that the \"rain\ncometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but\nwatereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may\ngive seed to the sower and bread to the eater\" (Isa. lv. 10). But so\nit is. The promise is the power that set the laws in motion at first\nand that have kept them in motion ever since. There can be no tillage\nwithout dependence upon God either acknowledged or unacknowledged.\nThe promise is an absolute one, and implies power in God to fulfil it\nto the end of time. It can never fail unless God's power fail, or\nunless He break His Word; these are blessed impossibilities with Him.\nTherefore, so far as God is concerned the _shall_ of the text is\nabsolute. But it depends likewise--2. _Upon man's fulfilment of their\nduties._ First, it is not _all_ tillage that will satisfy a man with\nbread, the tillage must be painstaking and intelligent. The promise\nof God does not set aside the necessity for the man to be very\nlaborious and to study carefully the nature and needs of the soil\nwhich he tills. Agriculture is a science which must be acquired--a\nman must learn how to till the ground. God claims to be man's\ninstructor in this matter (Isa. xxviii. 26). Then, again, it must be\n_his_ land that he tills, not land taken by fraud or violence from\nanother. Neither if a man tills the land of another as his servant is\nhe always paid sufficient wages to be satisfied with bread. But this\nis the greed of man interfering with God's ordination.\n\n+II. The promise suggests symbolic teaching.+ We may look at it in\nrelation to the human spirit. As land must be ploughed and sown with\npainstaking intelligence if a man is to have the satisfaction of\nreaping a harvest, so the human soul must be the object of spiritual\ntillage if it is ever to yield any satisfaction to God or man. There\nis very much to be got out of the land, but no man can obtain the\nfull blessing unless he cultivate it. So it is with the man himself.\nA human soul left to lie barren can never become as a \"field which\nthe Lord hath blessed.\" 1. It must be prepared to receive the words\nof God. The \"fallow ground\" must be broken up, lest the sowing be\n\"among thorns\" (Jer. iv. 3), or the seed fall where it can find no\nentrance (Hosea x. 12; Matt. xiii. 4). 2. Good seed must be sown. The\nword of God (Mark iv. 14), that \"incorruptible seed\" by which men are\n\"born again\" (1 Pet. i. 23). 3. And the spiritual sower must be\npersevering and prayerful. It is true of natural tillage that \"He\nthat observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the\nclouds shall not reap\" (Eccles. xi. 4); it is equally so of\nsoul-husbandry. The world, the flesh, and the devil will be always\nputting difficulties in the way of a man's caring for his \"own soul.\"\nBut these obstacles must be surmounted, and if the seed is watered by\nprayer God will assuredly send down the rain of the Holy Ghost.\n4. And in spiritual tillage there is also a certainty of\nsatisfaction. This also depends upon not _one_ Divine promise but\nupon many--upon the revelation of God as a whole. (Upon the opposite\ncharacter--him \"that followeth vain persons,\" or vanity, instead of\ntilling his land or his spiritual nature--see Homiletics on chapters\nvi. 11 and x. 5, pages 79 and 147.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe might have expected that the antithesis of the second clause would\nhave ended with \"shall lack bread,\" but the real contrast goes\ndeeper. Idleness leads to a worse evil than that of\nhunger.--_Plumptre._\n\nVain persons or \"_empty people_\"--most signally the impenitent--for\nthey are empty of all good. \"That follows after empty people\" is a\nfine characteristic of the impenitent man's decline. Following others\nis the commonest influence to destroy the soul.--_Miller._\n\nSpecial honour is given to the work of tilling the land. God assigned\nit to Adam in Paradise. It is the employment of his eldest son. In\nancient times it was the business or relaxation of kings. A blessing\nis ensured to diligence, sometimes abundant, always such as we should\nbe satisfied with.--_Bridges._\n\nOf all the arts of civilised man agriculture is transcendently the\nmost essential and valuable. Other arts may contribute to the\ncomfort, the convenience, and the embellishment of life, but the\ncultivation of the soil stands in immediate connection with our very\nexistence. The life itself, to whose comfort, convenience, and\nembellishment other arts contribute, is by this sustained, so that\nothers without it can avail nothing.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe only two universal monarchs practised husbandry. . . . Some\npeople think that they cannot have enough unless they have more than\nthe necessaries and decent comforts of life: but we are here\ninstructed that bread should satisfy our desires. Having food and\nraiment, let us be therewith content. There are few that want these,\nand yet few are content. . . . To be satisfied with bread is a happy\ntemper of mind, and is commonly the portion of the man of industry,\nwhich not only procures bread, but gives it a relish unknown to men\nthat are above labour.--_Lawson._\n\nSin brought in sweat (Gen. iii. 19), and now not to sweat increaseth\nsin. . . . _\"But he that followeth vain persons,\"_ etc. it is hard to\nbe a good fellow and a good husband too.--_Trapp._\n\nHere is encouragement to those who travail in husbandry. They are of\nas good note with God for their service, if they be faithful, as\nothers whose trades are more gainful, and better esteemed among men.\nThe merchants, and goldsmiths, and others of such places, are not so\noften mentioned in Scripture as they be, nor animated with so many\nconsolations as they are. The grand promises for blessing on their\nlabour are made to them in special, and the rest must deduct their\ncomforts from thence by proportion.--_Dod._\n\nIn a moral point of view the life of the agriculturist is the most\npure and holy of any class of men; pure, because it is the most\nhealthful, and holy, because it brings the Deity perpetually before\nhis view, giving him thereby the most exalted notions of supreme\npower, and the most fascinating and endearing view of moral\nbenignity.--_Sir B. Maltravers._\n\n Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,\n Where wealth accumulates and men decay;\n Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;\n A breath can make them, as a breath has made:\n But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,\n When once destroyed, can never be supplied.--_Goldsmith._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-14.\n\nTHE DESIRE OF WICKED MEN AND THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.\n\n+I. Concerning wicked men we have--+1. _A blessed instance of their\ninability to do all they desire._ Verse 12 speaks of their \"desiring\nthe net of evil men\"--of their reaching out after larger\nopportunities of ensnaring their fellow-creatures than they have at\ntheir command at present. The desires and abilities of _good_ men are\nnot always equally balanced. They have more desire to be good and to\ndo good than they have ability to be or to do. The first teachers of\nChristianity desired a \"net\" that should enclose all to whom they\npreached the gospel, and this has been the desire of godly men ever\nsince. They desire a \"net\" in which to catch their fellow-creatures\nfor their good, but their ability always comes short of their\ndesires. This is a saddening truth, but there is no denying the fact.\nBut \"the net of evil men\" desired by the wicked is one in which to\nentrap men to their hurt. In this case it is a matter of rejoicing\nthat their desires and their ability are not balanced. If ungodly men\nhad their desires fulfilled they would soon transform the world into\na mirror in which they would see them reflected in every human\ncreature. We ought ever to give thanks to God that wicked men lack\npower to do all they desire to do to good men, and that they cannot\neven go to the length of their aspirations even with other ungodly\nmen. They hate each other often with deep hatred, and human and\nDivine law alone prevents the world from being turned into a hell by\nthe fulfilment of their desires against each other. There are\noutstanding debts always waiting to be settled whenever a net can be\nfound large enough to entrap the victim, but God's providence is a\nlarger net, and so arranges the events of human life that wicked men\nare often prevented from committing greater crimes then they do\nagainst each other. 2. _Retribution falling upon them._ A net is\nlaid, and prey is ensnared, but it is he who desired to entrap his\nbrother who \"is snared by the transgression of his own lips\" (ver.\n13). It is as certain as that water will find its level that men who\nlay traps for others will be entrapped themselves (see chap. xi. 8).\nAnd this will come about not by another man's laying a net for them\nbut by their own plans being turned against them. Thus Haman made a\nsnare for his own feet by the \"transgression of his own lips\" when he\nsought to persuade Ahasuerus that \"it was not for his profit to\nsuffer the Jews\" (Esther iii. 8). He thought this net would enclose\nMordecai, but it enwrapped himself in its meshes. So when Daniel's\nenemies laid their plans against him. Many a time has a godly man had\noccasion to sing David's song, _\"The heathen are sunk down in the pit\nthat they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot taken\"_\n(Psa. ix. 15). It is a law of God's government. _\"He that leadeth\ninto captivity shall go into captivity\"_ (Rev. xiii. 10). This is the\n\"recompense which shall be rendered unto\" the man who lays plans to\ninjure others (ver. 14).\n\n+II. Concerning righteous men we have--+1. _A godly character\nspringing from a root of piety._ The principal thing to be aimed at\nin building a house is to get a good foundation; if the foundation be\ninsecure, the house will be worthless. That which makes a healthy\nfruit-bearing tree is a healthy, strong root; however fair the\nbranches may at present look, they will soon betray any disease at\nthe seat of its life. The root of a man's character is his _desire;_\nif the desire is righteous, he is a righteous--though not a\nperfect--man. As the wicked man was made by his evil desire, so the\ngood man is made by his desires after that which is true and\nbenevolent. 2. _That which is yielded by such a root._\n(1) _Deliverance._ He is delivered from the net laid for him by the\nevil counsels of the wicked. His character is often the means of\nbringing him _into_ trouble, but the same character is a guarantee\nthat he shall come _out_ of it. The time of trouble is by permission\nor by appointment of God, and it is only for a limited time. Job and\nJoseph were both brought into trouble because their characters\nawakened the envy--the one of angelic, the other of human sinners;\nbut their histories are left on record to show to all just men, who\nfind themselves in similar circumstances from the same cause, what\nthe \"end of the Lord\" is, and will be to them (Jas. v. 11). There\nmust come a final and blessed deliverance from all trouble for those\nwho yield the fruit of a holy life from the root of a holy character\n(Rev. xxi. 4). (2) _Satisfaction_ (verse 14). One of the fruits of a\nrighteous man will be his holy and wise speech--speech which blesses\nmen in opposition to that \"transgression of the lips\" which is meant\nto injure them (verse 13). From this \"fruit of the mouth\" he shall be\n\"satisfied with good\"--he will have the reward of knowing that his\nwords bless others, and this will be to him a source of satisfaction.\nOr his wise speech may be the means of bringing him material good and\ntemporal honour.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. Man is always restless to press onwards to something not\nyet enjoyed. The wicked emulate each other in wickedness, and if they\nsee evil men more successful than themselves, desire their net (Psa.\nx. 8-10; Jer. v. 26-28).--_Bridges._\n\nThe words are somewhat obscure, both in the original and in the\ntranslation. The meaning, however, seems as follows: The \"net of evil\nmen,\" as in chap. i. 17, is that in which they are taken--the\njudgment of God in which they are ensnared. This they run into with\nsuch a blind infatuation that it seems as if they were in love with\ntheir own destruction. The marginal \"fortress\" (a meaning given to\nthe feminine form in Isa. xxix. 7; Ezek. xix. 9) gives the thought\nthat the wicked seek the protection of others like themselves, but\nseek in vain the \"root of the just\" (_i.e.,_ that in them which is\nfixed and stable), alone yields that protection. The latter rendering\nis, on the whole, preferable.--_Plumptre._\n\nSome render the latter clause, _He_ (_i.e.,_ the Lord) _will give a\nroot of the righteous;_ that is, will enable them to stand\nfirm.--_Wordsworth._\n\nThe impenitent does not prefer to work the soil of his soul, as in\nthe last verse, but is in hopes to gain by something easier; he likes\nto seize as in the chase, or as robbers do. He likes to seize without\nhaving produced or earned. But the righteous not only goes through\nsolid processes of piety, but (another intensive clause, chap.\nxi. 14) earns for others, as well as for himself. While impenitence\nwould take heaven as in a net, religion works for it, and, in so\ndoing, \"gives\" or \"yields.\"--_Miller._\n\nThe word \"_net_\" may be understood of _any means_ by which the wealth\nand honours of the world may be acquired. Thus it is used in Habakkuk\ni. 13-17. The net described here is that of the oppressor, who\nregards his fellow-men as of any value only as he can render them\nconducive to his own benefit and aggrandisement, and who uses them\naccordingly, and when his oppressive powers prove successful vaunts\nhimself in the power and the skill by which the means has been\nsecured. There seems to be a special reference, in the verse before\nus, to illegitimate or fraudulent means. When \"the wicked\" see the\ndevices of \"evil men\" succeed, they desire to try the same\narts. . . . If, in any case, conscience _should_ remonstrate and\nrestrain, and will not allow them to go quite so far, that yet envy,\nand regret their restraints. They still _desire_ the net, even when\nthey can't bring themselves to use it. They wish they could get over\ntheir scruples, and, in this state of mind, the probability is that\nby and by they will. The \"root of the righteous\" might be understood\nas meaning the fixed, settled, stable _principle_ of the righteous,\nand the sentiment may be, and it is an important one, that, _acting\non rooted principle,_ the righteous may and will ultimately prosper.\nI incline, however, to think that \"the net\" signifies the varied\nartifice, cunning, and fraud employed to gain riches quickly, the\nroot of the righteous may rather represent the _source of his revenue\nor income;_ and, in opposition to the art of making rich quickly, to\nexcite the surprise and the envy of others, a steady,\nfirmly-established, regularly; and prudently and justly-conducted\nbusiness, bringing in its profits fairly and moderately, as a tree,\ndeeply-rooted in the soil, draws thence its natural nourishment, and,\n\"receiving blessing from God,\" brings forth its fruit in due season.\nThe two views are closely, if not inseparably, connected.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe wicked seek their good from without; the righteous have it\nwithin, their own root, deep and firmly sunk, supplying\nit.--_Fausset._\n\nHe so furiously pursueth his lusts, as if he desired destruction; as\nif he would outdare God Himself; as if the guerdon of his\ngracelessness would not come time enough, but he must needs run to\nmeet it. Thus thrasonical Lamech (Gen. iv. 23) thinks to have the\nodds of God seventy to seven. Thus the princes of the Philistines,\nwhilst plagued, came up to Mizpeh against Israel, as it were, to\nfetch their bane (1 Sam. vii.).--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 13. The words _saphah_ (lip) and _lashon_ (tongue) occur, the\nfirst in verses 13, 19, 22, the second in verses 18, 19 in the\nchapter. The former occurs about _forty-five_ times in this book; and\nthe words connected with them, such as _strife, wrath, slander,\nscorn,_ and their contraries, _love, peace, truth,_ etc., are very\nfrequent, showing the importance to be attached to the right\ngovernment of the tongue.--_Wordsworth._\n\nMatters are so arranged, in the constitution of the world, that the\nstraight course of truth is safe and easy; the crooked path of\nfalsehood difficult and tormenting. Here is perennial evidence that\nthe God of providence is wise and true. By making lies a share to\ncatch liars in, the Author of being proclaims, even in the voices of\nnature, that He \"requireth truth in the inward parts.\" \"The just\nshall come out of trouble;\" that is the word; it is not said he shall\nnever fall into it. The inventory which Jesus gives of what His\ndisciples shall have \"now in this time,\" although it contains many\nthings that nature loves, closes with the article \"persecutions\"\n(Mark x. 30). . . . Those who wave their palms of victory and sing\ntheir jubilant hymns of praise, were all in the horrible pit\nonce.--_Arnot._\n\nAll human conduct is represented by the lips (verse 6 and chap.\nxiv. 3). The tongue is a foremost business agent. The impenitent,\nthough he may stand out very clear, and see no tokens of a net, yet,\nas his life is false his not seeing the snare shows only how the more\ninsidiously he may be entangled in. While the righteous, though he\nmay be born to the snare; originally contemned; and though he may be\ncaught in the toils of great worldly evil, yea, of sin itself; yet\nout of the very jaw of the trap where he may have foolishly entered,\nhe will in the end by helped to get out.--_Miller._\n\nThey (the just) suffer sometimes for their bold and free invectives\nagainst the evils of the times, but they shall surely be\ndelivered. . . . John Baptist, indeed, was, without any law, right,\nand reason, beheaded in prison as though God had known nothing at all\nof him, said George Marsh, the martyr. And the same may be said of\nsundry other witnesses to the truth, but then by death they entered\ninto life eternal. . . . Besides that heaven upon earth they had\nduring their troubles. . . . The best comforts are usually reserved\nfor the worst times.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 14. Albeit the opening of the mouth is a small matter; yet,\nwhen it is done in wisdom, it shall be recompensed by the Lord with\ngreat blessing. For such as use their tongues to God's glory, and the\nedification of their brethren, instructing them and exhorting them\nfrom day to day, shall be loved by God and man, and taste many good\nthings. Now, as good words, so good works shall be rewarded. For the\nrecompense of a man's hands shall reward him; not only shall the\nwicked be plagued for their evil doing, but the godly shall be\nblessed for their well-doing.--_Muffet._\n\nThis is the whole question of capital and labour put in a nutshell.\n_All_ is not to be claimed by the _hands_, for there is the mouth\nthat directs and orders. _As much_ is not to be claimed by the\n_hands,_ for the Bible is a good, truthful book, and it claims for\nthe mind more than for the muscle. (See this distinction in Eccles.\nx. 10.) \"_A man of the better sort,_\" with his education, and\nexpensive capital, earns more, according to the inspired Solomon,\nthan the \"labouring man.\" What he demands of the Christian gentleman\nis, that he shall make an estimate of all this, and, while he keeps\nhimself \"_the earnings of the mouth,_\" he render carefully to the\nlabourer the wages of his hands. We have no authority for this\ninterpretation. We present it as unquestionably just. The translation\nit would be hard to give literally. But the words are about thus:\n_\"From the fruit of the mouth of a man of the better class, a good\nman will be satisfied; and the wage (lit. the work) of the hands of a\ncommon man he will render to him.\"_ This fair, calculating spirit, in\nall questions between man and man, not tending to communism on the\none hand and not yielding to tyranny on the other, is the true spirit\nof the inspired Gospel.--_Miller._\n\nThere are \"empty vines that bear fruit unto themselves\" (Hosea x. 1).\nAnd as empty casks sound loudest, and base metal rings shrillest, so\nmany empty tattlers are full of discourse. Much fruit will redound by\nholy speeches to ourselves--much to others. Paul showeth that the\nvery report of his bonds did a great deal of good in C\u00e6sar's house\n(Phil. i. 14). . . . One seasonable truth, falling upon a prepared\nheart, hath oft a strong and sweet influence. Sometimes, also,\nalthough we know that which we ask of others as well as they do, yet\ngood speeches will draw us to know it better by giving occasion to\nspeak more of it, wherewith the Spirit works most effectually, and\nimprints it deeper, so that it shall be a more rooted knowledge than\nbefore.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 15 _and_ 16.\n\nTWO EXAMPLES OF FOOLISHNESS AND WISDOM.\n\n+I. The man who guides his life by his own self-conceit--rejecting\nthe advice of others.+ No finite creature possesses sufficient wisdom\nwithin himself to direct his path through life. The largest and\ndeepest rivers are dependent upon small streams to sustain their\nvolume of water, and each little stream again must be fed from a\nsource outside itself, and the springs which feed the streams have\ntheir origin in the ocean's fulness. So the very greatest minds are\nin some things dependent upon minds which in many things are their\ninferior, and it is a mark of wisdom to acknowledge this, and to be\nwilling to take advice of anyone who is able to give it upon matters\nin which they are better informed. Thus men are led to exercise a\nmutual dependence on each other, and all to depend upon Him whose\nwisdom is the parent of all finite counsel that is of any value.\n(1) A man who will not acknowledge and act upon this principle is a\nfool, because he practically shuts his eyes to a self-evident fact,\nand denies that he is a member of a race, the members of which are\nevidently intended to supply each other's lack in such a manner as to\nform a mutually dependent body. It is in human society as it is in\nthe individual human body--\"the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have\nno need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of\nyou\" (1 Cor. xii. 21), or if they do say so they only proclaim their\ngreat want of wisdom. (2) He is a fool because he declines to profit\nby the experience of men in the past. To recur to the simile of the\nhuman body, it is intended to live upon material outside itself, and\na man is counted insane who refused to take food. So we are intended\nto profit by the experience of men who have lived before us, and it\nis quite as foolish to set it aside as useless to us as it is to\nrefuse to eat in order to live. It is indeed like expecting to keep\nin health and strength by consuming one's own flesh. No man does\nactually and in all cases refuse to profit by the wisdom and\nexperience of others, but he is foolish in proportion as he does so.\n(3) He is a fool because he is so declared by the highest authority.\nGod by His offers of guidance, by the very existence of the Bible,\ndeclares that men need counsel. (See upon this subject Homiletics on\nchap. iii. 7, 8, page 34.) The human soul is like a blind Samson,\nbecause of the blinding nature of sin relative and sin personal, and\nall its endeavours to find a right way without harkening to Divine\ncounsel only result in stumbles and wounds, and finally, if persisted\nin, in moral ruin. All a man's endeavours only increase his misery,\nuntil he take the counsel offered him by God. He is like a\nshipwrecked mariner suffering from raging thirst having drunk of the\nbriny water, every draught only increases the disease, and nothing\ncan save him but drinking of pure water. (4) This man is his own\ndestroyer. It is bad to be ruined by the temptations of others, but\nthere is this advantage, we can fall back upon the excuse of our\nfirst parents: \"The woman gave me of the tree and I did eat,\" or \"the\nserpent beguiled me\" (Gen. iii. 12, 13). But when a man's rejection\nof counsel ruins him, he finds himself in a \"blind alley,\" from which\nthere is not even the outlet of an excuse.\n\n+II. The passionate man.+ This is often the companion of self-conceit\nand is indeed a proof of it. If a man is unable to hold a restive\nhorse well in hand, it proves that he has not taken lessons in\nhorsemanship. If a man cannot steer a vessel in ordinary\ncircumstances without running her upon the rocks, it shows that he\nhas not learned the art of navigation. A man who cannot keep his\nanger from over-mastering him--who cannot keep a firm hold of the\nrudder of his own spirit--proclaims that he has not subjected himself\nto moral discipline, that he has disdained to learn the art of moral\nrulership. Such a man is a fool, because a man in passion is always\ndespised by others, he often utters words which he would afterwards\ngive much to recall, and generally ends by losing his own\nself-respect.\n\n+III. In contrast to this character stands the man who is in all\nrespects the opposite--+him whose character is sketched in the first\nclause of these verses, who \"loveth instruction\" (ver. 1) who\nacknowledges that \"he is a stranger in the earth and needs Divine\nguidance\" (Psa. cxix. 19), that \"the way of man is not himself; it is\nnot in man that walketh to direct his step\" (Jer. x. 23.--See\nhomiletics on chap. x. 8, page 151). Such a man is willing to listen\nto the advice of any who are capable of giving it, and his prudence\nin this matter is generally accompanied by an ability to \"cover\nshame\"--to take a reproof or an insult in silence. He has learned to\ntake George Herbert's advice--\n\n \"Command thyself in chief. He life's war knows\n Whom all his passions _follow_ as he goes.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 15. All through our lost nature the truth of this proverb is\nvisible. A man may be on the road to hell, but think that he is fair\nfor heaven. A man may build by rapine, but think that he is the pink\nof fair dealing. A man is not a judge about himself. A Christian,\ntherefore, will feel this, and while the impenitent is hard as to his\nown right, the Christian will be humble, and will be glad, in\nreasonable ways, to leave his duties to be advised upon by\nothers.--_Miller._\n\nWe have one great \"Counsellor\" Messiah, who is made unto us \"wisdom\"\n(Isa. ix. 6; 1 Cor. i. 30). Let us \"hearken unto\" Him (chap.\ni. 33).--_Fausset._\n\nAnd such a fool is every natural man (Job xi. 12); wise enough, haply\nin his generation--so is the fox too--wise with such wisdom as, like\nthe ostrich's wings, makes him outrun others upon earth, but helps\nhim never a whit towards heaven.--_Trapp._\n\nThe worse any man is, or doth, the less he seeth his evil. They that\ncommit the most sins have hope that they stand guilty of fewest; they\nthat fall into greatest transgressions, imagine that their faults be\nthe smallest; they that sink into the deepest dangers do dream of\ngreatest safety; they that have longest continued in rebellion\nagainst God, of all others, for the most part are slowest to\nrepentance. . . . St. Paul testifieth that when he was in the worst\ncase, he knew nothing but that he had been in the best.--_Dod._\n\nEvery man's way is, and must be, in some degree, acceptable to\nhimself, otherwise he would never have chosen it. But, nevertheless,\nwhoever is wise, will be apt to suspect and be diffident of himself.\nLet men's abilities be ever so great, and their knowledge ever so\nextensive, still they ought not, and without great danger and\ninconvenience cannot, trust wholly and entirely to themselves. For\nthose abilities and that knowledge easily may be, and often are,\nrendered useless by the prejudices and prepossessions of men's own\nminds. Nothing is more common than for men's appetites and affections\nto bribe their judgments, and seduce them into erroneous ways of\nthinking and acting. They are often entangled and set fast, not\nthrough the want of light and knowledge, not through any defect of\ntheir heads, but through the deceitfulness of their hearts. In many\ncases where they could easily direct other men, they suffer\nthemselves to be misled, and are driven into the snare by the\nstrength of inclination, or by the force of habit. . . . This\nacquired darkness, this voluntary incapacity, as well as the wont of\ncounsel thereby occasioned, nowhere appears more frequently, or more\nremarkably, than in the transaction of our spiritual concerns, and\nwhat relates to the discharge of our duty. \"The way of Man,\" says our\nroyal author, \"is right in his own eyes,\" though the end \"thereof be\nthe ways of death.\" When we have wandered out of the road, and almost\nlost ourselves in bye-paths, we can make ourselves believe that we\nhave continued all the while in the highway to truth and\nhappiness. . . . But, however lightly we may esteem the helps and\ndirections of men, shall we not attend to the counsels of Our\nHeavenly Father, and the admonitions of the Most High? Can we have\nmore regard to what is \"right in our own eyes\" than to what is right\nin His?--_Balguy._\n\n\nVerse 16. \"Covereth,\" with the mantle of patience and charity,\ninstead of exasperating himself, and losing self-control by dwelling\non the indignity of the word or deed, and the worthlessness of the\ninjurer. He does not publish the act to the discredit of the other,\nbut consults for the reputation of the other, lest he should add sin\nto the injury suffered.--_Fausset._\n\nTruly is _wrath_ called _shame._ For is it not a _shame_ that unruly\npassions should, as it were, trample reason under foot, disfigure\neven the countenance, and subjugate the whole man to a temporary\nmadness? (Dan. iii. 19.)--_Bridges._\n\nA fool hath no power over his passions. Like tow, he is soon kindled;\nlike a pot, he soon boils; and like a candle whose tallow is mixed\nwith brine, as soon as lighted he spits up and down the room. \"A fool\nuttereth all his mind\" (chap. xxix. 11). The Septuagint renders it\n\"all his anger.\" For, as the Hebrews well note in a proverb they\nhave, \"A man's mind is soonest known in his _purse,_ in his _drink,_\nand in his _anger._\" But \"A wise man covereth shame\" by concealing\nhis wrath, or rather by suppressing it when it would break forth to\nhis disgrace, or the just grief of another. This was Saul's wisdom\n(1 Sam. x. 27); and Jonathan's (1 Sam. xx. 34); and Ahasuerus's,\nwhen, in a rage against Haman, he walked into the garden. The\nphilosopher wished Augustine, when angry, to say over the Greek\nalphabet.--_Trapp._\n\nThe meaning of the Holy Ghost is not here to condemn all kinds of\nanger, for it is one of the powers of the soul which God created as\nan ornament in men, and godly anger is a part of God's image in him,\nand a grace commended in Moses, Elijah, etc., and our Saviour\nHimself, and he that is always altogether destitute of this doth\nprovoke God to be angry with him, for want of zeal and hatred of sin;\nbut it is a _passionate_ anger that is here reproved, which is not a\npower of the soul, but an impotency. He that conceiveth the other is\nan _agent,_ and doth a service to God; but he that is moved with this\nis a _patient,_ and sin hath in that case prevailed against\nhim.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17 _to_ 19,\n_and verse_ 22.\n\nWOUNDING AND HEALING.\n\n+I. The mischief that may be done by a lying tongue.+ 1. _In a legal\nmatter._ It is the duty of a witness to testify exactly what he\nknows, and no more nor less. If a man speaks deceitfully he may bring\nmuch misery upon the innocent, whom his straightforward testimony\nwould have acquitted. And he may do this by withholding truth as well\nas by uttering direct falsehood. The first is \"showing forth deceit\"\nas well as the last. 2. _In common conversation._ The word\n\"speaketh,\" in verse 18, is \"babbleth,\" and seems to point to those\nwho are great talkers, and who are not careful what they say. (See\nHomiletics on chap. x. 19-21, page 168.) In both these cases words\nmay inflict a more deadly wound than a sword. If spoken _to a man_\nthey may break his heart, if spoken _of him_ they may kill his\nreputation, which no sword of steel can touch, and which to the best\nmen is more precious than bodily life. A lying or even a _babbling_\ntongue can pierce a much more vital organisation than flesh and\nblood--it can enter the human spirit, and hurt it in its most\nsensitive part; or by slander it can destroy all the joy of a man's\nearthly life. And as a sword can in a moment sever the spirit and the\nbody of a man, and work such ruin and misery as can never be done\naway with, so a lying tongue may by one word, or one conversation, do\nmischief that can never be undone. The sword of steel can divide\nhuman friends locally; but it cannot sever their love; it tends\nrather to increase and brighten the flame; but a word of slander may\ndo all this, and estrange those who were bound in the tenderest ties,\nuntil the God of Truth shall bring the truth to light. Though the\nlying tongue is comparatively \"but for a moment,\" yet in a moment it\ncan deal a thrust that will last as long as life. It can open a wound\nwhence will flow out all the joy of life, as the heart's blood flows\nfrom a mortally wounded man.\n\n+II. Its judgment and its destiny.+ It is an abomination in the sight\nof a God of Truth, and, therefore, its life is comparatively\nshort--it is \"but for a moment\" compared with the eternal duration of\ntruth. A lying man or devil is the very antipodes of the Divine\ncharacter. All truthful men instinctively shrink from a liar as the\nsensitive plant withdraws from the human touch. How much more must he\nbe held in abhorrence by Him who is a \"God of Truth, and without\niniquity\" (Deut. xxxii. 4). Christ characterises lying as the\ncardinal sin of the greatest sinner in the universe (John viii. 44).\nIt was his lying tongue that \"brought death into the world, and all\nour woe,\" and so spoiled the Paradise which God had prepared for man.\nHow then can lying be any other than an abomination to Him? But,\nbecause it is so, its doom is fixed. It is destined to destruction by\nthe victory of truth, as the night is destroyed by the overcoming\nlight of day. (On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. x. 18,\npage 166.)\n\n+III. The blessed results of a truthful and wisely-governed tongue.+\n1. _it will \"show forth righteousness.\"_ A man who speaks the truth\nshows forth righteousness in two ways--(1) _in his own character._ He\nreveals himself to be a righteous man. He gives a living example of\nuprightness and integrity. (2) _He helps on righteousness in the\nworld._ By being a faithful witness he furthers the ends of justice\nand righteousness--he helps on the just administration of the law.\n2. _It will heal wounds inflicted by the untruthful tongue._ In\nnature we have a two-fold exhibition of power. The hurricane comes\nand breaks the branches of the tree, and strips off its leaves; but a\nmore beneficent power clothes it again with beauty. So the tongue of\na fool strips a man of what made life beautiful to him--takes away\nhis good name, or breaks bonds of close friendship--but wise and kind\nwords have a healing power in them--they help to cheer the wounded\nspirit, and enable the bowed head to lift itself again. Such a tongue\nof healing had the Divine Son of God, who came \"to heal the broken in\nheart\" (Isa. lxi. 1), and to restore the friendship between God and\nman, which was first broken by the slandering tongue of the\ndevil--that great slanderer of God to man, and of man to God (Gen.\niii. 5; Job i. 10). To Him the _\"Lord God gave the tongue of the\nlearned, that He might know how to speak a word in season to him that\nwas weary\"_ (Isa. l. 4). The tongue of all true servants of God is an\ninstrument of healing, for they are enabled to tell to their\nfellow-men \"words whereby they may be saved\" (Acts iv. 12).\n\n+IV. God's estimation of it and its destiny.+ It is \"God's delight,\"\nverse 22. Whatever gives delight to a noble and benevolent man must\nbe a blessing to humanity, and everything will delight him that tends\nto minister blessing to the world. This is pre-eminently true of the\ngood God. Truth is the great need of the race--truth in word and deed\nand thought. To this end Christ came into the world \"to bear witness\nof the truth\" (John xviii. 37), because that alone is the cure for\nthe world's woes. Then every man who is _true_ must bless humanity\nand consequently delight God. A good father rejoices to see his own\nexcellencies of character appear in his son, and the Father of the\ngood likewise delights to see His children copy Him in \"dealing\ntruly.\" (See also on chap. xi. 1, page 190.) And because it is God's\ndelight it will last for ever. Truth of any kind will be established\nin the course of time. If a man proclaim a scientific truth, however\nmuch he may be laughed at and disbelieved at first, his \"lip,\" or his\nwords, will be established in the end. In the words of Galileo, when\nhe uttered the truth, that the earth moved round the sun, have long\nsince been \"established.\" Time only is needed for any truth to take\nroot-hold--it can never be overturned, whether it be physical or\nmoral truth. Many truths which were scoffed at by most men, when they\nwere first promulgated, are now regarded as truisms by almost\neverybody. And the lips that uttered them are now established and\nheld in honour. Such men, for instance, as Cromwell and Milton, when\nthey declared that the right of private judgment in religious\nmatters, the freedom of the press, etc., were the right of every man,\nare now established in the estimation of this nation, and the truths\nwhich they uttered are regarded by all Englishmen as undoubted facts.\n\"This,\" says F. W. Robertson, \"is man's relation to the truth. He is\nbut a learner--a devout recipient of a revelation--here to listen\nwith open ear devoutly for that which he shall hear; to gaze and\nwatch for that which he shall see. Man can do no more. He cannot\ncreate truth; he can only bear witness to it; he can only listen and\nreport that which is in the universe. If he does not repeat and\nwitness to that, he speaks of his own, and forthwith ceases to be\ntrue. . . . Veracity is another thing. Veracity is the correspondence\nbetween a proposition and man's belief. Truth is the correspondence\nof the proposition with fact.\" It is to such\nwitness-bearers--especially to those who witness concerning moral\ntruth--that the promise of the text applies.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 17. He who is brought to a spiritual discernment of the\n_\"truth\"_ \"breathes\" it like his breath, instinctively and\nunconsciously. (See Critical Notes.) And he who does this not simply\n\"covers shame\" (verse 16), but causes others to, for he _advertises_\nrighteousness--_i.e., publishes_ it. This, therefore, is the meaning\nof the sentence: \"He that breathes forth truth publishes\nrighteousness\"--_i.e.,_ saving righteousness: and does it like\nuttering forth his breath. While the \"deceived\" (false) witness;\nliterally, _the witness of falsehood;_ a phrase which is ambiguous,\nbecause it might mean a _witness to falsehood_ (see chap. vi. 9)--the\n\"deceived witness\"--_i.e.,_ the man who sees or witnesses falsehood\ninstead of truth, \"_publishes_ (understood) _delusion\"--i.e.,_ is a\nconstant fountain of deceit to other men. This sense of the witness\nof falsehood is necessary to many proverbs (chap. xiv. 5), and saves\na number from tautological or truistic interpretations.--_Miller._\n\nThere is more here than lies upon the surface. It might seem enough\nfor a faithful witness to _speak truth._ But no--he must _show forth\nrighteousness;_ what is _just,_ as well as what is _true._ The best\nintentioned purpose must not lead us to conceal what is necessary to\nbring the cause to a righteous issue.--_Bridges._\n\nThe words read at first almost like a truism; but the thought which\nlies below the surface is that of the inseparable union between truth\nand justice. The end does not justify the means, and only he who\nbreathes and utters truth makes the righteous cause\nclear.--_Plumptre._\n\nHe that _speaketh,_ ordinarily, in his common speech, that which is\ntrue, will _show righteousness_--that is, will carry himself justly,\nand further righteousness with his testimony, when he shall be\npublicly called thereunto. There must be a training of the tongue to\nmake it fit for equity and justice, as of the hands, and other parts\nof the body, to make them skilful in handling a weapon and bearing of\narms. . . . No man is competent for any work that is public unless\nhis former upright and honest conversation commend him unto it. The\nrule which our Saviour gives in another case will hold as firmly in\nthis. _\"He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also\nin much\"_ (Luke xvi. 10). For, _first,_ the mouth of the man is the\nmouth of the man's treasure. That which he speaketh he best loveth.\nThat which is most in the lips hath greatest place in the heart. If,\ntherefore, the truth be dear unto him, he will certainly show it\nforth when he shall stand forth before God and His substitute for\nthat purpose, and so do a good service of love and piety; but if he\nhave any fellowship with falsehood he will now take part with it,\nbeing void of the fear of God, and afraid to displease man.\n_Secondly,_ no man exerciseth the truth at any time conscionably, but\nby the spirit of truth, and that directing men's hearts at other\ntimes, in matters of less weight, will not fail them at their\ngreatest need, when they are to perform a duty of so great\nimportance; and so, on the other hand, Satan hath the disposing of\ntheir tongues that give themselves to lying. He is their father, he\nteachest them their trade, and tasketh them in their work, and they\nbe wholly at his commandment, and who doubteth but he will command\nthem to be on his side, and to take against the truth, so far as a\nknowledge of the truth shall make against his practices.--_Dod._\n\n\nVerse 18. _Wit,_ when not chastened and controlled by an amiable\ndisposition, often wounds deeply. Jibes, jests, irony, raillery, and\nsarcasm, fly about. No matter what the wounds, or where they be\ninflicted, if the wit be but shown. A _happy hit,_ a clever, biting\nrepartee, will not be suppressed for the sake of feelings, or even\nthe character of a neighbour, or, as it may happen, a friend. The man\nof wit _must_ have his joke, cost what it may. The point may be\npiercing in the extreme; but if it _glitters_ it is enough; to the\nheart it will go.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAbimelech and his fellow priests were killed with the tongue, as with\na rapier; so was Naboth and his sons; so was our Saviour Christ\nHimself. An honest mind is ever more afflicted with words than blows.\nYou shall find some, saith Erasmus, that if they be threatened with\ndeath can despise it; but to be belied they cannot brook, nor from\nrevenge contain themselves. How was David enraged by Nabal's\nrailings! Moses, by the people's murmurings! Jeremiah by the\nderisions of the rude rabble! (chap. xx. 7, 8.)--_Trapp._\n\nAmong all the complaints which the godly, and God's own Spirit make\nagainst the wicked in the Scriptures, they seldom complain of\nanything more than of their virulent and pestiferous mouths (Psa.\nlv. 21, lii. 2; Prov. xxv. 18; Rom. iii. 13). _First,_ they cause\nswords to be drawn, and blood to be shed, and men to be slain, and\nmuch mischief to be wrought. _Secondly,_ The sword, or any other\nweapon, can only hurt them that are present, and in places near to\nit; but the stroke of the tongue will light most dangerously upon\nthem that are absent; no place or distance can help against it, and\none man may do mischief to a great multitude.--_Dod._\n\n\nVerse 19. Liars need to have good memories. A lying tongue soon\nbetrays itself. \"No lie reaches old age,\" says Sophocles.--_Fausset._\n\nThe verse has been differently rendered. \"The tongue of truth is ever\nsteady: but the tongue of falsehood is so but for a moment\"\n(_Hodgson_). There is unvarying consistency in the one case; for\ntruth is always in harmony with itself; while there is shifting\nevasion, vacillation, contradiction, in the other.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWho will gainsay the martyr's testimony--\"Be of good comfort, Master\nRidley, play the man! We shall this day light such a candle in\nEngland as I trust shall _never be put out._\"--_Bridges._\n\nThe Christian shall utter for ever just the things that he utters on\nearth.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 22. Not merely they that _speak_ truly, but they that _deal_\ntruly. Deeds of true dealing must confirm words of fair\nspeaking.--_Fausset._\n\nA lie is a thing absolutely and intrinsically evil; it is an act of\ninjustice and a violation of our neighbour's rights. The vileness of\nits nature is equalled by the malignity of its effects; it first\nbrought sin into the world, and is since the cause of all those\nmiseries and calamities that disturb it; it tends utterly to\noverthrow and dissolve society, which is the greatest temporal\nblessing and support of mankind; it has a strange and peculiar\nefficacy above all other sins to indispose the heart to religion. It\nis as dreadful in its punishments as it has been pernicious in its\neffects.--_South._\n\n_Honesty_ is just _truth in conduct;_ and _truth_ is _honesty in\nwords._--_Wardlaw._\n\nSuch as speak the truth in uprightness will not vary in their talk,\nbut tell the same tale again, and be like to themselves in that which\nthey shall say; whereas liars be in and out, affirming and denying,\nand speaking contradictions in the same manner. Only true men are\nconstant in their words. _First,_ their matter will help their\nmemory, for that which is truth once will be truth ever. _Secondly,_\nthe same Spirit that worketh a love and conscience of the truth,\nwhereby men are made to be true, doth never cease to be the same,\ntherefore, as it seasoneth the heart and guideth it at the first, so\nit will establish it, and direct the lips to the end. For sincerity\nand uprightness is of all things most durable, and least subject to\nalteration or change. And that St. Paul assigneth for a cause of his\ninvariable constancy, that he minded not those things that he did\nmind according to the flesh, whereby there should be with him, _yea,\nyea,_ and _nay, nay_ (2 Cor. i. 17).--_Dod._\n\nTruth is always consistent with itself, and needs nothing to help it\nout; it is always near at hand, and sits upon our lips, and is ready\nto drop out before we are aware; whereas a lie is troublesome, and\nsets a man's invention upon the rack, and one trick needs a good many\nmore to make it good. It is like building upon a false foundation,\nwhich constantly needs props to shore it up, and proves at last more\nchargeable than to have raised a substantial building at first upon a\ntrue and solid foundation.--_Tillotson._\n\n Dare to be true, nothing can need a lie:\n A fault which needs it most grows two thereby.--_Herbert._\n\nGod \"desireth truth in the inward parts\" (Psa. li. 6), and all His\nare \"children that will not lie\" (Isa. lxiii. 8); they will rather\ndie than lie. As they \"love in the truth\" (2 John 1) so they \"speak\nthe truth in love\" (Ephes. iv. 15), and are therefore dear to the\nFather in truth and love (2 John 3), especially since they \"do truth\"\nas well as speak it (1 John i. 6), and do not more desire to be truly\ngood than they hate to seem to be so only.--_Trapp._\n\nGod doth never hate anything that is not hateful, and that most needs\nbe odious which He abhorreth, and especially when it is abomination.\nYe may know by their companions among whom they are marshalled what\naccount He maketh of them (see Rev. xxi. 8). . . . That truth which\nis acceptable to God consisteth both in speaking and doing. 1. His\nSpirit doth make every man that hath attained to the one to be able\nto do the other. That which St. John setteth down in a more general\nmanner doth strongly confirm this particular point. _\"If any man sin\nnot in word, he is a perfect man, and able to bridle all the body.\"_\nHis meaning is that some be absolute without sin in word, and\nperfect, without infirmity in goodness; but that many be gracious\nwithout sinfulness, though they have their slips in speeches; and\nsincere, without wickedness, though they have their frailties in\nbehaviour. 2. Both are infallible and essential fruits of\nregeneration, and the Apostle doth thereby persuade us thereby to\ndeclare ourselves to be of the number of the saints, and faithful,\nsaying, _\"Cast off lying, and let him that stole steal no more\"_\n(Ephes. iv. 24, 28). 3. Both are required of them that would know and\nmanifest themselves to be natural members of the Church in this\nworld, and inheritors of salvation in the life to come. (See. Psa.\nxv. 1, 2.)--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 20.\n\nJOY FROM PEACE.\n\n+I. There must be counsel if there is to be peace.+ There can be no\npeace either in a soul, a family, or a nation, where there is no\ncounsel given and taken. There must be some centre of authority and\nrule whence counsel issues, if there is to be any order, and where\nthere is no order there can be no peace. The peace of the text must\nbe peace based upon _righteousness,_ indeed all that bears the name\nthat is not built upon this foundation, is false and transitory. It\nis like that house built upon the sand, which, when the winds come,\nis swept away, although it may look like a solid structure on a\nsummer day. It is \"the work of _righteousness,_\" that _\"shall be\npeace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for\never.\"_ \"The mountains shall bring peace . . . by righteousness\"\n(Psalm lxxii. 3; Isa. xxxii. 17).\n\n+II. Where there is true peace by righteousness there will be joy.+\nJoy is the overflow of peace. Peace is like a river flowing\ntranquilly between its banks, and joy is like the same river when\nthere is such a volume of water that it overflows the banks. When\nthere is \"an abundance of peace\" in a soul, or a family, or a nation,\nit must overflow into joy--it must take a more active form. (The\nsubject of the first clause of this verse has been treated before.\nSee on verse 3.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThat deceit is in the heart of him who deviseth evil appears to be a\nplatitude, for the devising is directed against a neighbour. But, in\nthe first place, it says that the evil which a man hatches against\nanother always issues in a fraudulent malicious deception of the\nsame; and, secondly, it says, when taken into connection with the\nsecond clause, that with the deception he always at the same time\nprepares for him sorrow. The contrast denotes not those who give\ncounsel to contending parties to conclude peace, but such as devise\npeace--viz., in reference to the neighbour, for the word means not\nmerely to impart counsel, but also mentally to devise, to resolve\nupon, to decree. Hitzig and Z\u00f6ckler give to _peace_ the general idea\nof welfare, and interpret _joy_ as the inner joy of a good\nconscience. But as the _deception_ in the first clause is not\nself-deception, but the deception of another, so the joy is not that\nwhich men procure for others. Thoughts of peace for one's neighbour\nare always of procuring joy for him, as thoughts of evil are thoughts\nof deceit; and thus of procuring sorrow for him.--_Delitzsch._\n\nEvil counsel most hurteth those that give it. By deceit is here meant\na deceitful reward; or an issue of a matter deceiving a man's\nexpectation--_Muffet._\n\nThey shall have peace for peace; peace of conscience for peace of\ncountry; _pax pectoris_ for _pax temporis._ They shall be called and\ncounted the children of peace; yea, the children of God.--_Trapp._\n\n_First,_ no man can soundly seek to reconcile man to God, or one man\nto another, or give direction for his neighbour's welfare, unless he\nhimself be reconciled to God, and peaceable towards men, and have\nChristian love in his heart, and these graces are never separated\nfrom holy comfort and gladness. For the same sap that sendeth forth\nthe one, doth in the like manner also yield the other, as the apostle\ntestifieth (Gal. v. 22; Rom. xiv. 17). _Secondly,_ if their counsel\nbe embraced and followed, the good effect thereof, with God's\nblessing, besides thanks and kindness which the parties holpen by\ntheir counsel, will yield to them; as David to Abigail, and Naaman to\nElisha, etc. _Thirdly,_ though their advice be rejected, yet, as\nIsaiah saith, their reward is with the Lord, and they shall be\nglorious in His eyes (Isa. xlix. 4, 5).--_Dod._\n\n_Deceit is in the heart (or cometh back to the heart) of them that\nimagine evil (or practise mischief)._ +I. The persons are described.+\nThey are evil-doers, but not every evil-doer, but the practiser, the\ntrader, the artificer in evil, one wholly bent upon sin, not every\nbungler or beginner, but an expert workman, that can despatch more\nbusiness of sin in one day than some other in a month or a year. Nor\nis every evil here aimed at, but evil against others--_mischief._\nMany evil men are only greatest enemies to themselves, intent to\nserve and satisfy their own lusts; but these with whom we have now to\ndo, always have evil in their hearts or hands, in their consultations\nand executions, whereby to hurt others. Again, this man in our text\nis subtle in evil; as he is a cunning workman and active in high\ndesigns of evil, so he carrieth his business as subtilely, for which\nthe whole work carries in the original the name of _deceit,_\npretending all fair weather, as still water is deepest and most\ndangerous, or like a waterman that looks one way and rows another.\n+II. The condition of these persons.+ Their deceit returns to them\nthat first hatched it; that is, brings unavoidable mischief on\nthemselves. 1. There is no small unquietness in the heart, while it\nis plotting evil. 2. Whomsoever they deceive, they cannot deceive\nGod, Who will make them deceivers of themselves (See Job v. 12, 13).\n3. Whereas sin is a sure paymaster, and the _wages death,_ the sin of\nthese men must needs slay them and play the part both of an _officer_\nto apprehend them, of a _gaoler_ to hold them, and of an\n_executioner_ to bring them to shameful death.--_Thos. Taylor, 1650._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nALL WORKING FOR THE GOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUS.\n\nThe first clause cannot, of course, mean that nothing that appears\nevil--that no sorrow or loss happens to the just. Such an assertion\nwould be contrary to other teachings of Scripture, as well as to\nexperience and history. The righteousness of the first man who is\ncalled righteous (Luke xi. 51) led to his murder. If Joseph had been\na less virtuous man, the iron of imprisonment would not have entered\ninto his soul (Psa. cv. 18). If John the Baptist had been a\ntime-serving godless man, he would not have had the bitter experience\nof the dungeon of Machaerus. To these men, and to all the noble army\nof martyrs, many of the things which happened were very evil in\nthemselves. The Word of God likewise forewarns men that all who will\nlive godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, that through\nmuch tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of God (2 Tim.\niii. 12; Acts xiv. 22). And every just man now living has had\nexperience of evil befalling him in his health, his circumstances, or\nin some other form. But--\n\n+I. No evil shall really injure the godly man.+ It shall not hurt his\nbetter part, that which is the man himself--his spiritual nature, his\nmoral character. The storms that cannot uproot a tree only make it\ntake deeper root-hold, and so add to its strength. If it break some\nof the branches it makes it more fit to weather another tempest. So\nall the trials of the just man tend to strengthen his character by\ncausing him to lay a firmer hold upon the things that are unseen and\neternal.\n\n \"Affliction then is ours;\n We are the trees whom shaking fastens more,\n While blustering winds destroy the wanton bowers,\n And ruffle all their curious knots and store.\"--_Herbert._\n\nThe true interpretation of the text is found in the inspired\ndeclaration of Paul, _\"We know that all things work together for good\nto them that love God, to them who are the called according to His\npurpose\"_ (Rom. viii. 28). Many elements work together to produce a\ngood harvest at the appointed time. Winter winds and snow, summer\nbreezes, gentle rain and noontide heat, all have a part in the work.\nOne of these agencies alone would not bring forth one golden ear, but\nthe \"working together\" will cover the land with fields of grain ready\nfor the sickle. Many and various materials and agencies must be\nbrought together to build a seaworthy ship. Iron and wood, fire and\nwater, men skilled in many different arts must work together to bring\nabout the required result. And so with the just man. Manifold\nexperiences, failure and success, joy and sorrow, make up his earthly\nlife. Not sorrow alone, nor joy alone, would fit him for his eternal\ninheritance--would fit him to be presented \"faultless before the\npresence\" of his Lord (Jude 24). But it is the combination of both,\nthat many things \"working together,\" that effect the desired good.\nAnd so no evil befals him, because all the evil shall work together\nwith the good for his eternal well-being.\n\n+II. The wicked man shall likewise attain to a completion of\ncharacter.+ \"The wicked shall be filled with mischief\" teaches\n(1) that wicked men are not so bad as they _can_ be. Thorns and\nbriars grow stronger year by year. Time is needed to transform the\nblade into the full ear. As the present season of probation is but\nthe beginning of man's life, we conclude that men can go on eternally\nprogressing in the character which now belongs to them--that all\ntheir present habits of thought and feeling can become must stronger\nthan they are at present. Therefore, a wicked man can grow worse than\nhe is at present. (2) That wicked men are not as bad as they _shall_\nbe. If a stone is set in motion down a hill it will keep on its\ncourse unless it is arrested by some opposing force. So, unless a\ngodless man yields to a Divine influence, and so is brought to\nrepentance, he shall \"wax worse and worse\" (2 Tim. iii. 13). No man\ncan stand still in character; if he do not grow better, he must grow\nworse. And this \"filling up\" of the measure of wickedness is but the\nnecessary reaction of his own actions. He is filled with his _own_\nmischief. And the just man's present actions go to strengthen and\ndevelop his spiritual nature, and to complete and perfect his\ncharacter in goodness, so every act of the godless man is one more\nlink of the chain of evil habit which binds him daily more tightly,\nand sinks him every day a little lower in the moral universe of God.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNo \"evil,\" or _calamity;_ literally nothing _worthless_ or _empty._\nThe root means _nothingness, entire vacuity._ The expression, too, is\npeculiar. _\"There shall not happen to the righteous any nothingness\nat all.\"_ But as several of the nouns that mean evil, through a deep\nphilosophy, trace to the same kind of root, \"calamity,\" or _actual\nevil,_ is the proper translated sense. No event that turns out an\nactual _calamity_ can ever happen to the saint. And if anyone points\nto their tremendous agonies it is well enough to go back to the root,\n_nothingness._ Nothing _worthless;_ that is, nothing that proves not\nso useful as to be better than present joy. Nothing not actually\nprecious. In the whole course of their lives each is \"filled\" with\n\"their own proper lot.\" The wicked, if he have joys, will find them\nsorrows; and the righteous, if he have sorrows, will find them, not\n_nothings,_ but for his eternal joy.--_Miller._\n\nThe word signifies evil as ethical wickedness, and although it may be\nused of any misfortune in general, it denotes especially such sorrow\nas the harvest and produce of sin (chap. xxii. 8; Job. iv. 8; Isa.\nlix. 4), or such as brings after it punishment (Hab. iii. 7; Jer.\niv. 15). That it is also here thus meant the contrast makes\nevident.--_Delitzsch._\n\nFirst, for evil of sin. God will not lead him into temptation; but\nwill cut off occasions, remove stumbling-blocks out of his way;\ndevoratory evils, as Tertullian calls them, he shall be sure not to\nfall into \"That evil one shall not touch him\" (1 John v. 18) with a\ndeadly touch; nibble he may at their heels, he cannot reach their\nheads, shake he may his chain at them, but shall not set his fangs in\nthem, or so far thrust his sting into them as to infuse into them the\nvenom of that sin unto death (1 John v. 17). Next, for evil of pain,\nthough \"many be the troubles of the righteous\" (Ps. xxxiv. 19), and\nthey \"fall into manifold temptations\" (Jas. i. 2), they go not in\nstep by step into these waters of Marah, but \"fall into\" them, being,\nas it were, precipitated, plunged over head and ears, yet are bidden\nto be exceeding glad, as a merchant is to see his ship come laden in.\nTheir afflictions are not penal, but probational; not mortal, but\nmedicinal. \"By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this\nis all the fruit, the taking away of his sin\" (Isa. xxvii. 9). Look\nhow the scourging and beating of a garment with a stick drives out\nthe moths and the dust; so doth affliction corruptions from the\nheart; and there is no hurt in that; no evil thereby happens to the\njust. . . . To treasure up sin is to treasure up wrath (Rom ii. 5).\n\"Every bottle shall be filled with wine\" (Jer. xiii. 12); the bottle\nof wickedness, when once filled with those bitter waters, will sink\nto the bottom; the ephah of wickedness, when top full shall be borne\n\"into the land of Shinar, and set there upon her own base\" (Zech.\nv. 8, 11). He that makes a match with mischief shall have his\nbellyfull of it (Hosea iv. 17; Prov. xiv. 14); he shall have an evil,\n\"an evil, an only evil\" (Ezek. vii. 5), that is, judgment without\nmercy, as St. James expounds it (chap. ii. 13). _Non surgit hic\nafficitior,_ as the prophet Nahum hath it (chap. i. 9); affliction\nshall not rise up the second time. God will have but one blow at him;\nhe shall totally and finally be cut down at once. The righteous are\nsmitten in the branches; but the wicked at the root (Isa. xxvii. 8);\nthose he corrects with a rod; but these with a grounded staff (Isa.\nxxx. 32); and yet the worst is behind too. For whatever a wicked man\nsuffers in this world is but hell typical; it is but as the falling\nof leaves--the whole tree will one day fall on them. It is but as a\ndrop of wrath forerunning the great storm; a crack forerunning the\nruin of the whole building; it is but as paying the use-money for the\nwhole debt, that must be paid at last.--_Trapp._\n\nThe great principle of self-preservation implanted in our nature\nwhich puts us on our guard against the slightest inconvenience, and\nmaketh us arm for the repelling of a single evil, fails to engage men\nin the pursuit of that which would powerfully protect us in the most\ndifficult circumstances, and universally secure us against all manner\nof hazards. Piety alone is that armour of proof which renders those\nthat wear it safe and invulnerable, and yet, as if the Christian were\nthe only infidel, how few of us are so thoroughly convinced of this\ngreat truth as to pursue it with an eagerness proportionate to its\nvalue. The text assures us--_That a religious life and conversation\nis the best security against all manner of evils._ All evil to which\nwe can be liable, may be reduced under three heads. +I. Such as are\ninflicted immediately by God.+ Here it is necessary to distinguish\nbetween such afflictions as He vouchsafeth in mercy and those with\nwhich He visiteth in judgment. The best of men are not exempted from\nthe former, they are not always so intent upon their duty, but that\nthey stand in need of a remembrancer, or it pleaseth God to afflict\nthem for the trial of their faith, for the exercise of their\npatience, and to wean them from the world. But these are but like the\nmore difficult talks of a discreet and loving tutor; which recommend\nthe pupils to a higher applause and a more excellent advantage, and\nare, therefore, so far from doing them any harm that they ought to be\nlooked upon as most valuable blessings. Those inflictions therefore\nof God, which may be justly entitled to the name of evils, are such\nonly as He visiteth in judgment, and from such nothing can more\neffectually secure us than a godly life and conversation. +II. Such\nas are occasioned by ourselves.+ Many evils are the effect of sin and\ncarelessness, and as it is the work and office of true piety to make\nus at the same time holy and considerate, it will evidently appear\nthat none of these evils _shall happen to the just._ +III. Such as\nare brought upon us by the malice of men or devils.+ These are only\ntolerated by God's connivance and permission. The devil, furious and\nmalicious as he is, always drags his chain after him, by which he may\nbe drawn back to his infernal dungeon, and therefore, unless He hath\nsome such favourable ends, as I formerly instanced in His own\ninflictions, He will certainly keep His own out of their ravenous\njaws. Shall we then neglect the only means by which we may be\ndefended against such numerous calamities? To be just is no more than\nto follow after the thing that is good, and good is desirable in its\nown nature; we have such an inward tendency towards it that nothing\nwhich is ill can debauch our affections, but by taking upon itself\nthe appearance of being good. If, then, a seeming good doth so allure\nus, how ought we to be enamoured of the real substances.--_Nicholas\nBrady._\n\nThe wicked are hurt, wounded, or grieved, by every occurrence, and\nnothing turns to their profit.--_A. Clarke._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nTHE CONCEALMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE PROCLAMATION OF FOOLISHNESS.\n\n+I. The concealment of knowledge is always a mark of self-control.+\nIt proves that a man has himself \"well in hand.\" He is like a skilful\nworkman whose tools are all arranged in order, so that he can select\nor reject them according to his need, or the need of others. Or he\nresembles a skilful rider who is thoroughly master of his steed, and\ncan either arrest his course or urge him to put forth all his speed\nat any moment. If a man does not possess this power over himself he\ncan never be a king among men, and even the possession of knowledge\nwill not prove very serviceable either to himself or others. All the\ntreasures of his mind ought to be under the lock and key of his will,\nand his will under that of his conscience, for,\n\n+II. Under some circumstances the concealment of knowledge is a mark\nof prudence.+ 1. _It is so when to proclaim it would feed personal\nvanity._ To reveal our knowledge from no other motive than to let\nothers know that we know is to sin against ourselves by ministering\nto our pride. In such a case to conceal our knowledge is a means of\ngrace to a man's own soul, and will carry with it the approbation of\nconscience. 2. _It is also prudent to conceal knowledge when we know\nthat it would not benefit others._ It is not always seasonable to\nreveal even the most precious knowledge that we possess. Men are\nsometimes manifestly unprepared for its reception--unable to\nappreciate it. God concealed the gospel of salvation from the men of\nthe early ages of the world because the \"fulness of time\" (Gal.\niv. 4) had not come, by which we understand that the world then was\nnot in a condition to profit by a revelation of it. Our Lord charged\nHis disciples not to disclose what they had witnessed on the mount of\ntransfiguration until \"the Son of Man should be risen again from the\ndead\" (Matt. xvii. 9). He exhorts them also not to \"cast pearls\nbefore swine\" (Matt. vii. 6). Hence we learn that concealment of\nknowledge is sometimes to be preferred to a revelation of it, and\nthat a due regard must be had to the mental and moral condition of\nthose to whom we would impart it. The revelation of scientific truth\nwould only bewilder people of little education and small capacity,\nand the revelation of even moral truth would sometimes increase men's\nguilt. It would only lead them to blaspheme the God of Truth and\nscoff at His messengers, and thus harden them instead of enlightening\nthem. And even when this is not the case men cannot always receive\nall kinds of moral truth. A parent conceals from his son when he is a\nboy the knowledge of things which he will reveal to him when he is a\nman. A wise teacher does not at once disclose to his pupil all that\nhe desires him to learn. Both bring prudence into exercise, and give\n\"line upon line, here a little and there a little\" (Isa. xxviii. 10),\nfollowing the example of the Great Father and Teacher in His dealings\nwith His ancient people, and that of the Incarnate Son when He said\nto His disciples, _\"I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot\nbear them now\"_ (John xvi. 12). All who are possessors of knowledge\nshould always remember to bring prudence into exercise in proclaiming\nit, whether it be Divine or human truth that they have to reveal.\n\n+III. The man who tells out all he knows without any regard to the\nfitness of time and circumstances proclaims only his foolishness.+ He\nis as much a proclaimer of his own folly as he who should sow seed on\nthe high road instead of in ploughed ground. He may be very injurious\nto others. If a teacher of the young were to tell out all he knows\nabout men and things to those under his care he might inflict on\ntheir spiritual nature a life-long injury. Indiscreet parents who\nutter all their mind and tell out all their experience in the hearing\nof their children not only \"proclaim their foolishness,\" but are a\ncurse to their family. They are like an unskilful surgeon who takes\nthe first instrument that comes to hand, regardless of its fitness\nfor the needs of the patient. They are like men upon a fiery steed\nwithout power to guide him--they not only put themselves in jeopardy\nbut endanger the well-being of others.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNot that he grudges to impart his knowledge to others, but he does\nnot obtrude it or make a display of it, nor babble out all that he\nknows, in order that he may be counted wise. . . . The fool, trying\nto make a display of knowledge, only betrays foolishness. Fools, wise\nin their own esteem, babble out everything at random; not _wisdom,_\nwhich they have not, but _foolishness,_ which they have. Proclaiming\nfoolishness is attributed to a fool's _heart,_ not to his _mouth,_\nfor a fool's heart is in his mouth. He has no sense within. On the\ncontrary, \"The mouth of the wise is in their heart\" (Ecclus.\nxxi. 26).--_Fausset._\n\nThe Apostle _concealed his knowledge_ for fourteen years, and even\nthen mentioned it reluctantly, to vindicate his own rightful claims\nof apostleship (2 Cor. xii. 1-6). Elihu, though \"full of matter,\" and\nlonging to give vent, yet _prudently concealed his knowledge,_ till\nhis elders had opened his way (Job xxxii. 6, 18, 19). Circumstances\nmay sometimes _prudently_ dictate _concealment._ Abraham spared the\nfeelings of his family, and cleared his own path, by hiding the\ndreadful message of his God (Gen. xxii. 1-7). Joseph _concealed_ his\nkindred for the discipline of his brethren (Gen. xlii. 7). Esther,\nfrom a _prudent_ regard of consequences to herself (Esth. ii. 10).\nNothing can justify speaking contrary to the truth. But we are not\nalways obliged to tell the whole truth. Jeremiah answered all that he\nwas bound to speak; not all that he might have spoken (Jer.\nxxxviii. 24). In all these cases \"the wise man's heart will discern\nboth time and judgment\" (Eccles. viii. 5; xv. 2). . . . The fool is\ndogmatical in dispute, when wiser men are cautious. He is teaching,\nwhen he ought to take the learner's place; his self-confidence\nproclaiming his emptiness (1 Tim. vi. 3, 4).--_Bridges._\n\nTrue are the words of Paul, \"knowledge puffeth up,\" and the\naugmentation of it may only puff up the more. This produces a very\nanomalous and incongruous combination, a mind filled with solid\ninformation and a heart distended with the emptiness of vanity. And\nthis generates the _pedant,_ one of the most contemptible and\ndisgusting of all creatures--the man who is ever showing off, ever\naiming at effect, ever speaking as nobody else would speak, ever\ndwelling on his own theme in his own terms, and in every word and\nlook and movement, courting notice of _self,_ as the only object of\nhis own admiration, or worthy of admiration of others. What a fool\neven the man of _knowledge_ does at times make of himself!\nexemplifying the truth of the old quaint adage, _\"An ounce of mother\nwit is worth a pound of clergy.\"_ Still it is true that, the more\nextensive the knowledge which a man acquires, he is, generally\nspeaking, the more conscious of remaining ignorance, and consequently\nthe less vain; that it is in the early stages of acquirement that\nself-sufficiency and conceit are most apparent. It is the _empty_\nthat are usually the most prone to vain glory.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_\"Prudent,\" subtle,_ from a root meaning _crafty, cunning;_ opposed\nto _\"stupid,\"_ literally, _fat, crass._ The saint has the highest\n_craft,_ and the lost are more _fat_ in mind than even the beasts\naround them.--_Miller._\n\nAnother aspect of the truth of chap. x. 14. The wise are not quick to\nutter even the wisdom that deserves utterance. He broods over it,\ntests it, lives by it.--_Plumptre._\n\nWe deem them not the most thrifty husbands and wealthiest men that\nwill lock up nothing in their coffers, nor keep anything close in\ntheir purses, but carry all their money in their hands and show it to\nevery comer-by, and so do they that have no more matter within their\nhearts, than all the standers-by shall hear their lips deliver. It is\na point of humility to be silent in modesty, and their words are so\nmuch more desirable, and better accepted as they are rare, and few,\nand seasonable. The ointment that is close kept in a box will yield a\nsweeter savour when it is poured out, than that which is continually\nopen. A wine fresh from the vessel hath a better relish than that\nwhich was drawn long before there was any need of it.--_Dod._\n\nThink not silence the wisdom of fools, but, if rightly timed, the\nhonour of wise men who have not the infirmity but the virtue of\ntaciturnity; and speak not of the abundance, but the well-weighed\nthoughts of their hearts. Such silence may be eloquence, and speak\nthy worth above the power of words. Make such an one thy friend, in\nwhom princes may be happy, and great counsels successful. Let him\nhave the key of thy heart who hath the lock of his own, which no\ntemptation can open; where thy secrets may lastingly lie, like the\nlamp in the urn of Olybius, alive and alight, but close and\ninvisible.--_Sir T. Browne._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nThe Reward of Diligence.\n\n+I. What is here meant by diligence?+ _It is not being always active,\nbut active in the right direction_--active in the right use of\ntalents and opportunities. There is an activity that is worse than\nidleness, an activity that brings men into contempt and bondage\ninstead of enabling them to rule themselves or others. Men may have\ngreat talent and keep it in constant exercise, and yet their diligent\nuse of it may be destroying both themselves and others. A machine\nthat is constructed to work in one direction may be very active in\ngoing in the opposite direction--this is worse than if it stood\nstill, for it will certainly work injury to itself, and may do so to\nother things and to those that have to work it. A thief may be very\ndiligent, but his diligent hand will not bring him to _\"bear rule.\"_\nIt will probably, in the end, bring him into a most irksome\nservitude. There was once a Roman Emperor who was very active in\ncatching flies; this was certainly not the diligence which would\nenable him to bear rule. If a man who is capable of a high and noble\nwork spends his time in a childish and ignoble manner, he is not\ndiligent although he may be very active. Diligence consists not in\nbeing very busy, but in being busy in what will build up our own\nmoral nature and, as a necessity, bless our fellow-creatures.\nMoreover, diligence is not the right exercise of our talent or the\nwise use of our time at intervals, by fits and starts, but a constant\nand steady continuance of that exercise and activity.\n\n+II. The consequence of such diligence.+ He who is thus diligent will\nbear rule over the slothful man--over the man who wastes his time or\nhis talent. 1. _This is right._ Even the slothful man must, in his\nconscience, feel that he deserves to be ruled by the diligent. The\nhuman conscience will not sanction such waste--such a destruction of\ncharacter, and, while it is allowed to speak at all, will utter its\ntestimony against it. And all impartial judges must concede that it\nis the just reward of diligence--that, when a man has rightly used\nthat which the Great Ruler of the universe has committed to his\ntrust, it is right that he should receive the reward. _\"Well done,\nthou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few\nthings, I will make thee ruler over many things\"_ (Matt. xxv. 21).\n2. _It is necessary._ First, _for the slothful man himself._ When he\nis under the rule of a diligent man he is doing better with his life\nthan if he were left to himself; he is compelled to act, whether he\nwill or not, and he has the guidance of the wisdom of another when\nhis slothfulness has prevented him from gaining any of his own. His\nslothfulness grows greater, and therefore his guilt is increased\nevery day that he is his own master. His powers will become more and\nmore incapable of being exercised the longer they are unused, and the\nonly thing that can save him from being entirely buried in the grave\nof his own sloth is that he become a servant to a diligent man.\nSecondly, _for humanity in general._ A slothful man in power is a\ncurse to society. If he is a husband and father, and will endanger\ntheir characters and industrious habits. Those who rule ought to be\nwise, and no slothful man can be a wise men.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Diligent;\"_ from a root meaning _to cut._ Hence the idea of\nsomething _incisive_ or _decided._ The primary _idea_ is _promptness_\nor _determination. \"Sloth;\"_ primarily _remissness_ or what is\n_indecisive._ In this world, diligence puts a man at the head. In the\neternal world, it will have made the man a king, and made all hell,\nand of course, all \"sloth, under tribute\" to him.--_Miller._\n\nThis was Joseph's road to _bearing rule_ (chap. xxii. 29). But if it\ndoes not raise in the world, it will command in its own sphere. The\nfaithful steward is made ruler over his lord's household (Matt.\nxxiv. 45-47). The active trader _bears rule_ over many cities (_Ib._\nxxv. 21). Diligence, therefore, is not a moral virtue separate from\nreligion, but rather a component part of it.--_Bridges._\n\nThe slothful are like Issachar, who saw that the rest was good, and\nbowed down his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute; by\ntheir laziness they expose themselves to want, and reduce themselves\nto a slaving dependence on those who, through the blessing of God on\ntheir own diligence, or on that of their fathers, are in better\ncircumstances. Spiritual sloth weakens men, and exposes them to the\nspiritual sloth of their spiritual enemies. We must be strong,\nresolute, and active, if we would escape the tyranny of the rulers of\nthe darkness of this world (Ephes. vi. 10-18).--_Lawson._\n\nThe comparison is suggested by the contrast common in most ancient\nmonarchies in the east, between the condition of a conquered race,\ncompelled to pay heavy taxes in money or in kind (like the Canaanites\nin Israel, Josh. xvi. 10; Judges i. 30-33), and that of the freedom\nof their conquerors from such burdens. The proverb indicates that\nbeyond all political divisions of this nature there lies an ethical\nlaw. The \"slothful\" descend inevitably to pauperism and servitude.\nThe prominence of this compulsory labour under Solomon (1 Kings\nix. 21), gives a special significance to the\nillustration.--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nHEAVINESS OF HEART AND ITS CURE.\n\n+I. The causes of \"heaviness of heart\" are many and various.+ It may\narise, 1. _From great bodily pain._ The human mind and the human body\nact and re-act upon each other. The mind or spirit may be made heavy\nby physical pain, as the body may be brought under the dominion of\ndisease by mental suffering. It is only when a more powerful\ninfluence comes into operation that pain of body is prevented from\nexercising a depressing influence upon the spirit. In the case of Job\nwe have an instance of severe bodily suffering, weighing down a\nspirit that had borne other most terrible calamities without being\novercome (Job vii). In the case of Stephen, and many others, we see\nintense bodily suffering exercising no depressing influence upon the\nman, because he is lifted above it by supernatural interposition.\nWhen this special grace is not given pain of body will make the heart\n\"to stoop\"--that is, it will disqualify the man for duty by depriving\nhim of hope and courage, and will leave him more or less passive in\nthe hands of circumstances. 2. _Heaviness of heart is often caused by\nbringing the future into the present._ The man that has every day to\ncarry a heavy burden upon his shoulders will find that an attempt to\ncarry the load of two days at once will weigh down his body beyond\nall his power to rise and stand upright. The weight of the present is\nas much as he can carry, his heart must \"stoop,\" if he dwells upon\nthe possible or certain trials of the future. The right way to bear\nburdens is to take the advice of One who Himself was a burden-bearer.\n_\"Take therefore no thought (no anxious care) for the morrow; for the\nmorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto\nthe day is the evil thereof.\"_ There are many other burdens which\nmake the heart to stoop, we will mention but one more. 3. _A\nconsciousness of unpardoned guilt._ There is no burden so heavy to\nbear as this. Guilt makes the spirit feel as if the hand of God's\ndispleasure was sinking the soul lower and lower. The language of\nScripture is very vivid in describing the feelings of man in such a\ncase. _\"When I kept silence my bones waxed old, through my roaring\nall day long.\" \"Mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as a heavy\nburden, they are too heavy for me.\" \"Mine iniquities have taken hold\nupon me, so that I am not able to look up,\"_ etc. (Psa. xxxii. 3;\nxxxviii. 4; xl. 12).\n\n+II. The human heart can be uplifted by seasonable words.+ \"A good\nword maketh it glad.\" Such words sometimes take the form of a promise\nof help. A man bowed down by disease is made glad by the word of the\nphysician, which assures him that his malady can be cured. The debtor\nwho feels himself hopelessly involved is made glad by the promise of\none who engages to meet his debts. The man who is bowed down under a\nsense of guilt is lifted out of his heaviness by the promises of a\nforgiving God. In all these cases the worth of the word depends upon\nthe character of him who utters them. It is a \"good word\" if it is\nnot only a _cheering_ word, but a _reliable_ word--if the promise is\nuttered by one whom we know would not promise what he was unable to\nperform. It is this certainty which makes every promise of God so\n_good_ a _word_ to the soul. And when a man's heaviness of heart\narises from a source which is beyond the power of human help, there\nis no greater service that a friend can do him than to remind him of\nsome \"good word\" of the Heavenly Father which is suitable to his case.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNot \"heaviness,\" but _\"anxiety.\"_ This last is the fashion of most\ngriefs. We are bound to conquer it. The _determined_ man (see\ncomments on verse 24) is just the character to do it. \"Anxiety\"\ndiscredits faith. \"A good word,\" and such words are plenty in this\nvery book, should _gladden_ it, as the expression is; or, as a freer\ntranslation, _\"cheer it away.\"_ It is a sin for men to be dejected.\nIt is a great folly, too; for it broods over half their lives. Our\npassage tells all this, and tells the mode to dissipate it. It was\nthe mode of Christ when he quelled the foul fiend. The sword of the\nSpirit is the \"word\" of God (Ephes. vi. 17).--_Miller._\n\nThere is nothing that claims our grief so much as sin, and yet there\nmay be an excess of sorrow for sin, which exposes men to the devil\nand drives them into his arms.--_Lawson._\n\nA single good or favourable word will remove despondency; and that\nword, \"Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,\" will\ninstantly remove despair.--_A. Clarke._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nTHE GUIDE AND THE SEDUCER.\n\nTranslating this verse, \"The righteous guides his neighbour aright,\"\nwe remark:--\n\n+I. That the righteous man guides his neighbour both by his word and\nby his life.+ He guides him by wise counsel--by giving him \"a word in\nseason\" (see verse 25)--and he more especially guides him by his holy\nlife. His character is a revealer of the way of life. The light which\nshines through a lantern reveals the path, not only to the man who\ncarries it, but to him who beholds it if he should be disposed to\nfollow in the same road. The righteous man is a light-bearer--he has\nmoral light within him, which breaks forth in the acts of his daily\nlife, and sets a good example to other men, and so, to some extent,\nhis life, like that of his Master's, is a \"light of men.\"\n\n+II. That he guides him aright because he shows him how to make the\nmost of his life.+ Men are generally anxious to live long, and the\nrighteous man shows his neighbour how to live _long_ by living\n_well._ A husbandman values his trees, not by the length of time they\nhave stood in the ground, but by the amount of fruit they yield.\nThere are trees which bring forth more fruit in one season than\nothers do during the whole time they stand in the orchard. And the\nlength of a man's life is to be estimated not by the number of years\nhe has been in the world, but in the use which he has made of them.\nMany men who leave the world comparatively young have lived longer,\nbecause to more purpose, than others who have not died until they\nwere a hundred years old (On this subject see homiletics on chap.\nx. 17, page 164).\n\n+III. That the wicked man also exercises an influence upon his\nneighbour; but his influence leads to evil.+ He is a _seducer_--one\nwho leads astray by false professions and promises. Like the good\nman, he emits a light, but it is the false light of the _ignis\nfatuus,_ which is the offspring of the stagnant swamp, and which will\nonly lure him who follows it to destruction. One of the chief\nemployments of the bad, and that which seems to afford them the\ngreatest pleasure, is to carry other men to ruin. And even when the\nwicked man is not an _active_ seducer, his _way,_ or his life,\nseduces his neighbour. The force of an evil example is very great,\nand men are insensibly influenced by it. Men of ungodliness diffuse\naround them an atmosphere of moral unhealthiness, which insensibly\naffects those around them, who are not godly, and strengthens them in\nall their downward tendencies. Such men are \"as graves which appear\nnot\" (Luke xi. 44), and are centres of spiritual disease and death.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIf then, the \"righteous be more excellent than his neighbour,\" how is\nit that men do not follow their way? Because \"the way of the wicked,\nwhich is apparently more _excellent,_ or _abundant_ in temporal\nadvantages, seduces them\" _(Kimchi in Mercer),_ It \"seduceth\" with\nfalse hopes, doomed in the end to destruction.--_Fausset._\n\nThe way of the godless leads them into error; the course of life to\nwhich they have given themselves up has such a power over them that\nthey cannot set themselves free from it, and it leads the enslaved\ninto destruction. The righteous, on the contrary, is free with\nrespect to the way which he takes, and the place where he stays. His\nview (regard) is directed to his true advancement, and he _looks\nafter his pasture_ (see Critical Notes), _i.e.,_ examines and\ndiscovers where, for him, right pastures, _i.e.,_ the advancement of\nhis outer and inner life, is to be found.--_Delitzsch._\n\nLet him dwell by whomsoever, he is ever a better man than his\nneighbours; he is \"a prince of God\" among them, as Abraham was\namongst the Hittites. Said Agesilaus, when he heard the King of\nPersia style himself the Great King--\"I acknowledge none more\nexcellent than myself, unless more righteous; none greater, unless\nbetter.\" \"Upon all the glory shall be a defence\" (Isa. iv. 5)--that\nis, upon all the righteous, those only glorious, those \"excellent of\nthe earth\" (Psa. xvi. 2), that are \"sealed to the day of redemption\"\n(Ephes. iv. 30). Now, whatsoever is sealed with a seal, that is\nexcellent in its own kind, as Isa. xxviii. 25. The poorest village is\nan ivory palace, saith Luther, if it have in it but a minister and a\nfew good people. But the wicked will not be persuaded of the good\nman's excellency, he cannot discern, nor will not be drawn to believe\nthat there is any such gain in godliness, any such difference between\nthe righteous and the wicked. He, therefore, goes another way to\nwork.--_Trapp._\n\nI. _In regard to their condition in this present life._ They have all\nprerogatives and preferments. By parentage every one of them is God's\nchild. By dignity they are all kings. By inheritance they have title\nto heaven and earth; their food is heavenly manna, their clothing is\nChrist's righteousness, their attendants are the holy\nangels.--II. _In respect of their state that shall be in the life to\ncome._ They shall have perfect happiness, and be made like unto Jesus\nChrist, more excellent and puissant than the most glorious\nangels.--_Dod._\n\nThe _\"wicked\"_ man not only does not _\"guide\"_ his neighbour, but\ndoes not guide himself, actually _\"leads\"_ himself _\"astray.\"_ Here\nis the same climax we have so often noticed (chap. xi. 14).--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nTHE LOSS OF THE SLOTHFUL, AND THE GAIN OF THE DILIGENT.\n\n+I. Even the slothful man may be sometimes roused to activity.+ He is\nhere represented as having made an effort, he has \"taken spoil in\nhunting.\" There are probably few men who are not sometimes roused to\nexertion, who do not every now and then make a start towards an\nindustrious life, but they lack perseverance, they do not let one act\nof industry follow upon another so as to form industrious habits.\nTherefore--\n\n+II. The slothful man loses by negligence what he has gained.+ \"He\nroasteth not that which he took in hunting.\" He is too lazy to finish\nhis work. He naturalises the one action by neglecting to perform the\nother. The food that he has taken is wasted because he is too lazy to\nroast it, and therefore he might as well have remained idle\naltogether.\n\n+III. He may thus rob an industrious man.+ The game which he has\ntaken and wasted might have fallen into better hands. Another man\nmight have taken it and put it to good use. A man has no right thus\nto deprive another of what he is too lazy to put to a good use\nhimself.\n\n+IV. A diligent habit of life is a fortune in itself.+ 1. _It is a\npossession of which a man cannot be robbed by any of the mischances\nof life._ A habit is a second nature, and if a man has once acquired\nthe habit of a diligent improvement of his time and opportunities, he\ncan no more lose it than he can his identity. It can be touched by no\nrise or fall of the market, nor affected by any commercial panic. If\nhe is rich, he will be diligent, and if he becomes poor he will make\nthe most of what still remains to him. 2. _It is a source of\ncontinual satisfaction._ God has made men for work, and a rightly\nconstituted mind is never so happy as when all its powers are\nactively employed. It is a great source of consolation in times of\nsorrow to have acquired industrious, active habits, for they often\nhelp a man to forget, or to rise above his trials. 3. _It makes a\nman, in one respect, an imitator of God._ The Eternal Ruler of the\nuniverse is ever active; diligence is one of His attributes. It is\nthe boast of the Hebrew prophet, concerning the everlasting God, that\n\"He fainteth not, neither is weary\" (Isaiah xl. 28). Christ declares\nthat He and His Father are unceasing in their activities: \"My father\nworketh hitherto, and I work\" (John v. 17).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWhat a diligent man gains becomes, in his hands, precious by the use\nhe makes of it. It is the means of further increase. And his\nsubstance becomes \"precious\" to others as well as to himself. It is\nindustriously, profitably, benevolently used. In _this_ lies the true\nvalue of a man's substance;--not in the _acquisition,_ but in the\n_use._--_Wardlaw._\n\nBy translating _remiyah_ the _deceitful,_ instead of the _slothful_\nman, which appears to be the genuine meaning of the word, we may\nobtain a good sense, as the Vulgate has done. \"The deceitful man\nshall not find gain, but the substance of a (just) man shall be the\nprice of gold.\" But our version, allowing _remiyah_ to be translated\n_fraudulent,_ gives the best sense. \"The fraudulent man roasteth not\nthat which he took in hunting,\" the justice of God snatching from him\nwhat he had acquired unrighteously. Coverdale translates \"A\ndis-creatfull man schal fynde no vauntage: but he that is content\nwith what he hath, is more worth than golde.\"--_A. Clarke._\n\nThe substance of a diligent man is great in value, whatsoever it be\nin quantity, as a small boxful of pearls is more worth than mountains\nof pebbles. The house of the righteous hath much treasure. He is\nwithout that care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in losing--those\nthree fell vultures that feed continually on the heart of the rich\nworldling, and dis-sweeten all his comforts. Jabal, that dwelt in\ntents, and tended the herds, had Jubal to his brother, the father of\nmusic. Jabal and Jubal, diligence and complacence, good husbandry and\nwell-contenting sufficiency, dwell usually together.--_Trapp._\n\nIs not this a graphical picture of _the slothful_ professor? He will\ntake up religion under strong excitement. He begins a new course, and\nperhaps makes some advance in it. But, \"having no root in himself,\"\nhis good frames and resolutions wither away (Matt. xiii. 20, 21). The\ncontinued exertion required, the violence that must be done to his\ndeep-rooted habits, the difficulties in his new path, the invitations\nto present ease, all hang as a weight upon his efforts. . . . No\npresent blessing can be enjoyed without grasping something beyond\n(Phil. iii. 12-14). Godliness without energy loses _its full reward_\n(2 John 8).--_Bridges._\n\nThe impenitent, who wait for something to turn up, are the same type\nof lazy people as love hunting and fishing better than more regular\nlabour. The wise man goes to the root and says, There are no such\nhunting gains in the spiritual world. He goes further. He seems to\nremind his reader that character is all that will be left for a man\nat the last. He seems to imply that man will bring home from his hunt\nnothing but \"his laziness,\" and would ask whether one can \"roast\"\nthat like a quail or a duck. And though we start at such horrible\nabsurdity, yet it brings out in keen light a very different\npossibility for diligence. Diligence _can_ be roasted. It earns for\nus an eternal heaven, and yet, for all it gets, it is itself our\nrichest dainty. _\"One cannot roast laziness as something he has taken\nin the chase; but a precious treasure of a man is a diligent one.\"_\nIt is tantalizing to come so near other and important renderings.\nMany see very plausibly a meaning like this: _\"The slothful man\nroasteth not that which he took in hunting\"_ (so far the English\nversion), meaning that he is wasteful, and suffers what he has\nactually now to run to loss; _\"but the substance of a common man\"_\n(making the distinction as in verse 14) _\"is precious\"_ (that is,\nmade account of, and kept) _\"by a man of diligence.\"_ A sinner throws\naway treasures; a saint values the very smallest. This would be a\nfine sense if the verse before meant that the _\"saint gains from his\nneighbour.\"_ _Per contra,_ though, there are difficulties. _\"The\nslothful man\"_ (E.V.) in the Hebrew is the _\"sloth\"_ or _\"laziness\"_\nitself. And the word is feminine, and must be the object rather than\nthe subject of the verb. The meaning is, that sloth cannot be roasted\nand eaten, but diligence can.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nTHE WAY OF LIFE.\n\n+I. There is a way of righteousness in the world.+ 1. _This fact is\nuniversally recognised._ Men regard each other as moral and\nresponsible beings. The doctrine of necessity will not do for\nevery-day life. In all positions and conditions, man is met with the\nassumption that there is a \"way of righteousness,\" and his fellow-men\ndeal with him accordingly. Man could not be held accountable for his\nactions if a right way of life did not exist, in which it was\npossible for him to walk. 2. _This fact is confirmed by conscience._\nBad actions are followed by remorse, and good deeds bring gladness to\nthe soul. If there were no way of righteousness, how could this be\nthe case? 3. _It is revealed to us by God._ The Bible sets forth two\npaths, in one of which man must walk, it foretells a day in which God\nwill judge men, and will hold them guilty who have refused to walk in\nthe way of righteousness after it has been made known to them. Where\nthere is no way of righteousness there can be no transgression, and,\nconsequently, no penalty.\n\n+II. The way of life implies+--1. _A beginning._ All ways or paths\nhave a starting-point, all methods or plans of life date from point\nof time. 2. _An object in view._ If men walk in a certain road it is\npresumed that they have some purpose in view. 3. _An end or goal._ So\nthe way of righteousness. Its beginning is \"repentance towards God\nand faith in our Lord Jesus Christ;\" the object at which it aims by\n\"patient continuance in well-doing\" is \"glory, and honour, and\nimmortality;\" its end is \"eternal life\" (Acts xx. 21; Rom. ii. 7),\nfor \"in the pathway thereof is no death, or immortality\" (On this\nsubject see also homiletics on chap. iv. 18.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFrom life being said to be in the way of righteousness, I should urge\nthe lesson from the deeds of the hand have a reflex influence upon\nthe state of the heart. There is life in spiritual-mindedness, and it\nserves to aliment this life to walk in the way of\nobedience.--_Chalmers._\n\nAnd life, in any sense, is a sweet mercy, a precious indulgence. Life\nnatural is but a little spot of time between the two eternities,\nbefore and after, but it is of great consequence, and given us for\nthis purpose, that glory may be begun in grace, and we have a further\nand further entrance into the kingdom of heaven here, as Peter saith\n(2 Peter i. 2). Christ hath unstinged the first death, and made of a\npostern to let out eternal life, a street-door to let in eternal\nlife. Surely the bitterness of this death is past to the righteous;\nthere is no gall in it; nay, there is honey in it, as once there was\nin the corpse of Samson's dead lion. And for the second death there\nis no danger, for they shall pass from the jaws of death to the joys\nof heaven. Yet, though hell had closed her mouth upon a child of God,\nit would as little hold him as the whale could Jonah; it must,\nperforce, regurgitate such a morsel.--_Trapp._\n\n_\"Righteousness,\"_ which is the very path of the righteous man, is\nitself eternal life. All men have a _\"way,\"_ and this implies that\nall men have an _\"end.\"_ The Psalmist had before announced (Psa.\ni. 6) that \"the way of the ungodly shall perish;\" that is, not only\nshall they not reach their end, but their very way shall die down and\nperish. They shall cease to take an interest in it. But this passage\ngoes deeper. It says the path of righteousness is life itself, and\nthen, contrasting them with the wicked, it says, _\"their way is a\npath,\" i.e.,_ it leads somewhere; and then implies that all other\nways are _\"a death.\"_ These are striking truths. Immortality is a\n_path._ It travels the ages. It begins among believers. It is itself\nits destiny. Impenitence is _\"a death.\"_ It travels no where. The\nvery mind of the impenitent can announce no terminus for his way-worn\ntread.--_Miller._\n\nNOTE.--It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that Miller\ntranslates the latter clause of this verse, _\"The way is a path, not\na death.\"_\n\n\nHOMILY ON THE ENTIRE CHAPTER.\n\nOn the true wisdom of the children of God as it ought to appear\n(1) In the _home,_ under the forms of good discipline, diligence, and\ncontentment (vers. 1-11); (2) In the _State,_ or in the intercourse\nof citizens, under the forms of truthfulness, justice, and unfeigned\nbenevolence (vers. 12-22); (3) In the _Church,_ or in the _religious\nlife,_ as a progressive knowledge of God, a diligent devotion to\nprayer, and striving after eternal life (vers. 23-28).--_Lange's\nCommentary._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Instruction,+ or \"correction.\" The Hebrew is\nliterally, \"a wise son _is_ his father's correction,\" _i.e.,_ is the\nproduct of his father's correction; or \"heareth\" may be supplied to\ncorrespond to the verb in the second clause. +2. Shall eat,+ in the\nsecond clause is, supplied by the English translation. Many\ncommentaries render this clause \"the delight of the ungodly is\nviolence.\" So Z\u00f6ckler and Delitzsch. Mill translates the verse, \"Out\nof the fair earnings of the mouth of a man a good man will get his\nfoot; but the appetite of the faithless out of robbery.\" +4. Fat,+\n_i.e.,_ abundantly satisfied. +5. Lying,+ rather \"deceit.\" Stuart\nrenders it \"a false report.\" Z\u00f6ckler translates the latter clause of\nthis verse, \"the ungodly acts basely and shamefully.\" The\ntranslations of Stuart and Delitzsch are nearly the same. Miller\nreads the whole verse, \"A deceiving business hates the righteous man,\nbut also shames and disgraces the wicked.\" +6. Sinner,+ literally\n\"sin,\" hence Miller reads \"wickedness subverts the sin-offering,\" and\nZ\u00f6ckler \"wickedness plungeth into sin.\" +7. Maketh,+ or \"showeth.\"\n+8.+ The latter clause of this is very obscure, but _rebuke_ is\ngenerally translated \"threatening,\" and is understood to mean that no\nthreatening can gain anything from the poor as they have nothing to\nlose. Stuart understands it that \"notwithstanding the obvious\nadvantage of wealth, yet the poor man will not listen to those who\nrebuke him for sloth and wastefulness which have made him poor. The\nsupposition on this ground is that the man is poor by his own fault.\"\n+9. Rejoiceth,+ \"burns brightly.\" The words _light_ and _lamp_ are\nregarded by most modern commentators as synonymous. +10.+ This may\nread \"Only by pride cometh contention,\" or \"by pride cometh only\n(nothing but) contention.\" +11. Vanity,+ rather \"fraud.\" +By labour,+\nliterally, \"by the hand,\" or \"handful after handful.\" +12.+ Latter\nclause, \"a desire accomplished is a tree of life.\" +13. Shall be\ndestroyed,+ rather \"is bound,\" or \"is in bonds to it.\" +Rewarded,+\n\"be at peace.\" +14. Law,+ rather \"doctrine,\" \"instruction.\" +15. Good\nunderstanding,+ rather \"discretion.\" +Hard,+ \"stony,\" \"uncultivated.\"\nThis is the generally received rendering, but the word often\nsignifies \"perpetual.\" Miller says \"We find it in thirteen places,\nand in every one of them it means perpetual.\" \"_Strong_ or\n_perpetual_ is thy dwelling-place\" (Num. xxiv. 21). \"Mighty rivers\"\nare _perpetual,_ or perennial rivers (Psa. lxxiv. 17). \"Mighty\nnation\" (Jer. v. 15) corresponds with the next expression, \"ancient\nnation,\" and is to be rendered \"perpetual\" (or permanent). Umbreit\ntranslates it \"a standing bog\" or \"marsh.\" +16. Dealing with\nknowledge,+ _i.e.,_ acteth with foresight. +Layeth open,+ rather\n\"spreadeth abroad.\" Delitzsch says, \"There lies in the word something\nderisive; as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order\nto commend them, so the fool deals with his folly.\" +19.+ Literally\n\"quickened desire,\" \"a desire that has come to be.\" Z\u00f6ckler and\nMiller say this cannot be designed to express \"appeased desire,\" but\nDelitzsch renders it \"satisfied desire,\" and Stuart agrees with him.\nThe latter connects the second clause of the verse with the former,\nthus, \"Yet it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil,\ntherefore, they cannot be satisfied\"; while Delitzsch understands it\nto mean, \"Because satisfied desire is sweet to the fool and his\ndesires are evil, therefore he will not depart from evil.\"\n+23.+ \"Tillage,\" rather \"fallow ground\" or \"a new field,\" land which\nrequires hard labour.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nTHE WISE SON AND THE SCORNER.\n\n+I. A condition implied.+ That the father who gives the instruction,\nor administers correction, is a _wise father._ There are many fathers\nwho are incapable of instructing their children in the right way,\nbecause they do not walk in it themselves. The \"father\" of these\nproverbs is always pre-supposed to be one who is himself morally\nwise--one whose life is a practical exposition of the good\ninstruction which he gives. The father who can only instruct with his\n_lip,_ but not with his _life,_ cannot expect to command respect and\nobedience. He is like a man who tries to save a vessel from sinking\nby bailing out the water in bucketfuls, while he leaves the great\nleak-hole unplugged. All that which is _done_ is more than\nneutralised by what is left _undone._ If a physician prescribes a\ncertain medicine for a disease from which he is suffering himself,\nbut for which he refuses to take the remedy, he will find that his\npatients will think, if they do not say, \"Physician, heal thyself.\"\nAnd children will not be slow to see if a father's practice fails to\nendorse a father's precept.\n\n+II. He who takes the advice of a morally wise father shows himself\nto be wise also.+ The greatest proof of wisdom is a willingness to\nlearn from those who know more than we do. Other things being equal,\na father must know more than a son, and the son who hears his\ninstruction, and submits to his discipline, not only uses the means\nby which to become wise, but shows that he is already wise enough to\nuse the right means to attain a desirable end. Christians are the\nsons of God, if they are wise sons they will hear the instructions of\ntheir Father. They show their wisdom in proportion as they submit\ncheerfully to His discipline as to that of the \"Only wise God\"\n(1 Tim. i. 17).\n\n+III. He who will not listen to parental rebuke is in the last degree\na sinner.+ We understand the last clause of this verse to refer\nlikewise to a father and son. Parental instruction and correction are\nGod's ordained and special methods of training a human soul. There\nare many reasons why a parent's rebuke should be regarded, if that of\nstrangers is not listened to (see Homiletics on chap. iv. 1-4, p.\n53). He who disregards _that_ must be considered in as hopeless a\ncase as he who scuttles the lifeboat sent to save him. When the word\nof a good father or mother is not obeyed it is practically _scorned,_\nand a scorner is the most hopeless of sinners.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe language of this verse is capable of two meanings: either that\nhearing instruction and not hearing reproof are the effect and the\nmanifestation, respectively, of a wise or a scornful mind; this wise\nson showing himself to be so by \"hearing his father's instructions,\"\nand the scorner showing himself to be so by \"not hearing rebuke,\" or\n(reversing cause and effect), that wisdom and scorning are the\nresults, respectively, of hearing or not hearing instruction and\nrebuke. In other words--_\"The son that is instructed by his father\nturns out to be wise; he who receives no correction turns out a\nfool.\"_ In the first of the two senses the abomination is chiefly to\n_children_--in the second, to _parents._--_Wardlaw._\n\nPiety is the fruit of training. If a man is a believer, it is a sign\nthat he has had believing nurture; and if a scorner, it is a sign he\nhas had _\"no rebuke.\"_ This text reiterates the promise made to the\ntraining of a child. To treat it as in our English version is simply\nto evoke a truism, and might do very well, grammatically, if the verb\nwere future, and not perfect. The idea embraces the solemn lesson,\nthat Christians are not to be made without training.--_Miller._\n\nOr heareth and jeereth; as Lot's sons-in-law, so Eli's sons, and\nafterwards Samuel's. Samuel succeeds Eli in his cross, as well as in\nhis place, though not in his sin of indulgence. God will show that\ngrace is by gift, and not by inheritance or education.--_Trapp._\n\nThere is in the conscience of the scorner a hidden discouragement,\nand privy despair, both of pardon of his sinfulness, and possibility\nto leave it: and that doth exasperate him against such as shall be\ndealing with it. Who is willing to have his wound laid open to his\ndisgrace and torment, when he taketh it to be altogether\nincurable?--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 2 _and_ 3.\n\nKEEPING THE MOUTH.\n\n+The human tongue needs keeping, or guarding.+ 1. _Because there is a\ntendency in men to speak as soon as they think._ First thoughts are\nnot always the fittest thoughts to be made public. It is always\nadvisable to view them and review them in the light of our judgment\nbefore we give them utterance. Hence our tongue ought to be always\n\"well in hand.\" 2. _Because when loosed it is a great power for evil\nas well as for good._ It may bring much good to a man's life. \"A man\nshall eat good by the fruit of his mouth,\" when his mouth brings\nforth good fruit--when \"out of the good treasure of his heart he\nbringeth forth that which is good.\" A tongue wisely used gives a man\nthe respect and confidence of his fellow-men, yields him the\nsatisfaction of having been a blessing to them (See Comments on chap.\nxii. 6 and 14). But a tongue which is uncontrolled is mischievous to\nothers and to the man himself. \"He that openeth wide his lips shall\nhave destruction.\" As we saw in chapter x. 19, there is often a sin\nin _much speaking._ Such a tongue as that described in chapter\nii. 12, or that in chapter xii. 18 (see Homiletics and Comments on\nthose verses), destroy not only their victims but those to whom they\nbelong. Such a tongue, the Apostle tells us, is \"a fire, a world of\niniquity: and is set on fire of hell\" (Jas. iii. 6). 3. _Because it\nis the last stronghold which is brought under complete control to\nspiritual rule--the weak point in the spiritual man's armour where\nthe adversary's arrow may enter._ This we know from inspired\nauthority. _\"If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect\nman, and able also to bridle the whole body\"_ (Jas. iii. 2). We have\nan example of its truth in the case of Moses. That man who was \"meek\nabove all men which were upon the face of the earth\" (Num. xii. 3),\nforfeited his right of entrance into the earthly Canaan by an\nunguarded use of the tongue. The prayers of the Psalmist show us the\nimportance which he attached to the keeping of this stronghold and\nthe difficulty attending it, as well as that only sure means of\nsafety, that of calling in Divine help. _\"Set a watch, O Lord, before\nmy mouth; keep the door of my lips\"_ (Psalm cxli. 3). Every morally\nwise man will make the resolve of David, \"I will keep my mouth with a\nbridle,\" not only \"while the wicked is before me,\" but at all times\nand in all places. Life is lost and won both in its higher and lower\nsenses by not keeping the mouth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 2. The \"mouth of a man\" in that _viva voce_ country, as\nformerly in our southern states, was the great instrument of a\nbusiness man. He lived by giving orders. The mail conducts our\nbusiness in our days. A _false lip_ stood for all sorts of bad\nactivity (Eccles. x. 12). A good man will be satisfied to earn his\nliving. The bad man, in some way or other, wants to steal it. But\napace with this secular meaning is one that concerns the saints. The\ngood man expects to fight for heaven; the lost man to get heaven by\ndeceit (see rendering in Critical Notes). It is true the tendencies\nmight seem reversed. The good man hails a work done for him, and\nexpects a ransom without money and without price. The bad man would\nintersperse some struggles of his own. But, in fact, the Christian,\nthough saved by grace, works the more for it; and, in fact, the\nsinner, rejecting grace and interposing his own works, is just the\nman expecting blessings without costs, and without any earnest toil.\nNot _\"eat good\"_ (English version) but \"a good man will eat\" (get his\nfood). \"The earnings of the mouth.\" No one can go into a great city\nnow without noticing how much of men's money they make by their\nmouth. The gainful merchants are talking all day long. No man can buy\nsalvation; but he reaches it by hard labour, and partly by earnest\nspeech.--_Miller._\n\nAlthough the spirit and practice of _retaliation_ are nowhere\nvindicated in Scripture, but everywhere explicitly and strongly\ncondemned: yet a treatment corresponding to their own treatment\ntowards others is what everyone may expect, even independently of\nwhat deserves the name of _retaliation._ In the nature of things it\ncannot be otherwise. It is not in _human_ nature, nor in _any_\nnature, not even in the Divine itself, to love (with the love of\ncomplacence) that which is _unamiable._ An amiable disposition alone\ncan secure _love;_ and it is greatly indicated by the _tongue._ The\nman who is charitable in his judgments, and disposed to speak well of\nothers, will be himself the subject of charitable judgment, and of\ncordial commendation. Thus \"he shall eat good by the fruit of his\nmouth.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe mouth of a man doth _blossom_ when he speaketh fairly and\npromiseth well, but then it _beareth fruit_ when that is performed\nwhich is promised. And by this fruit it is, which though others eat,\nyet a man himself eateth good, as having his soul cheered and\nnourished by the comfort of it. But as for the soul of the perfidious\nand false dealers, who make a show to do a thing, and do quite the\ncontrary, although they carry it slightly and without violence, yet\nviolence shall seize upon them, either to compel them to a\nperformance, or else to a just suffering for not performing, which\nwill be bitter food.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 3. Speech, though our great activity, gives us more toil in\nholding it back than in actually employing it. So activity, which it\ntypically represents, is harder to hold than to promote. Religion is\nan every-day battle. He that is not conscious of it, has no true\nreligion.--_Miller._\n\n\"Keep thine heart\" (chap. iv. 23). This guards the citadel. _Keep thy\nmouth._ This sets a watch at the gates. If they be well guarded the\ncity is safe. Leave them unprotected--thus was Babylon\ntaken.--_Bridges._\n\nNo wonder that the Holy Ghost here labours so much for the\nreformation of the tongue; for the Apostle also (Rom. iii. 13, etc.),\nwhen giving an anatomy of human depravity in the embers of the body,\ndwells more on the tongue than all the rest.--_Cartwright_, from\n_Fausset._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nTHE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE SLUGGARD'S DESIRES.\n\n+I. The desires of the sluggard cannot be satisfied--+1. _Because\nthey are contrary to the ordination of God._ The Divine ordination\nis, \"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread\" (Gen. iii. 19),\nin other words, that reward shall be the result of labour. If a man\nis to have that which he desires, he must frame his desire in harmony\nwith the law of the universe, or he must be disappointed. If men\ndesire to bring about any material result they take care to work in\nharmony with physical law. He would be looked upon as a madman who\nexpected to achieve anything by setting at nought the law of\n_gravitation,_ for instance. It is quite as useless for men to desire\nto set aside God's moral laws. 2. _Because they are contrary to the\npractice of God._ God, as we saw in homiletics on chap. xii. 24, 27,\nis a great worker. He desired to save man, but He used means to\naccomplish His desires, even means which involved the highest\nself-sacrifice. Shall men expect to realise his wishes without\neffort, when God \"spared not His own Son\" (Rom. viii. 32) to bring\nabout the salvation of the world, when Christ \"endured the cross\" to\nattain \"the joy set before Him?\" (Heb. xii. 2). 3. _Because they are\nunfair to his fellow-creatures._ He desires to consume, but not to\ncontribute to the general good; he wants to have the reward of the\ndiligent without his toil. It would be unjust to the industrious to\ngive to him for _desiring_ what others gain by _working._ Therefore,\n\n+II. He wearies himself far more by his laziness than he would do by\nhonest labour.+ If a man is constantly desiring and never having his\ndesires fulfilled, his life must become a weariness to him. Fulfilled\ndesires become an incentive to renewed activity--he who has reaped\none harvest as a result of his labour is quickened to new energy to\nsow for another crop. The sluggard knows not the enjoyment which\ncomes to the man who has worked hard for the reward which he now\nenjoys; he knows not what it is to enjoy rest and recreation, because\ntrue diligence only can give them any true relish. (See also\nHomiletics on chap. vi. 6-11 and xii. 24.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe sluggard in religion _desires_ to overcome his bad habits, to\nenjoy the happiness of God's people. So far, well. _Desires_ are a\npart of religion. There can be no attainment without them. Many have\nnot even the desire, yet the sluggard hath nothing, because it is\n_desire_ without effort. \"Hell,\" says an old writer, \"is paved with\nsuch desires.\"--_Bridges._\n\nWishes and woulders are never good householders.--_Muffet._\n\nDoddridge says most people perish by laziness. Laziness is the\nattribute of a man who desires an object, but will not work for it.\nThe impenitent desires heaven--nay longs for it--yea, confidently\nexpects it (just as many a sluggard expects wealth), but religion\nnever \"turns up,\" it never comes like game taken in the chase (chap.\nxii. 27), it is a solid product; we must stir up ourselves to take\nhold on God (Isa. lxiv. 7). With no exceptions, such as are on\n\"change,\" it is the _\"diligent soul\"_ that _\"shall be made fat\"_ and\nthe _yearning sluggard,_ at the very last, _\"has nothing.\"_--_Miller._\n\nThe slothful man has one mighty objection against heaven, that he\ncannot make sure of it in a morning dream.--_Lawson._\n\nLabour is the original law of man's nature. The _fatigue_ and\n_distress_ of labour, are, no doubt, the result of sin. Even in the\ngarden of primeval innocence, it was by his \"dressing\" and \"keeping\"\nthat everything was to thrive.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe sluggard would and he would not, he would have the end, but would\nnot use the means; he would \"sit at Christ's right hand,\" but he\nwould not \"drink of His cup,\" or \"be baptized with His baptism.\"\nAffection without endeavour is like Rachel, beautiful, but\nbarren. . . . David, ravished with the meditation of the good man's\nblessedness, presently conceives this desire and pursues it; not \"Oh\nthat I had this happiness,\" but \"Oh that I could use the means!\" \"Oh\nthat my ways were directed to keep thy statutes\" (Psa. cxix. 4,\n5).--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.\n\nA LAWFUL HATRED.\n\n+I. A righteous man hates lying.+ 1. _Because it is contrary to his\nruling disposition._ His own righteous character has been created by\nbelieving the truth. His spiritual life is constantly renewed and\nsustained by believing the truth, and reducing his belief to\npractice. He is a child of the truth, and, therefore, apart from all\nthe consequences of lying he instinctively abhors it. 2. _He hates it\nalso because of its evil influence upon men._ Confidence in a lie\nruined our first parents, and confidence in a law has ruined whole\nnations and mighty empires in the past. In proportion as men \"believe\na lie\" (2 Thess. ii. 11) in the same proportion will be their ruin.\nThe righteous man knows that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of truth\n(John xviii. 37), and as his great desire is to see that kingdom\nspread he must hate all that opposes it, and thus mars the happiness\nof the human race.\n\n+II. Wicked men are untruthful men.+ As the righteous man's character\nis built by truth and upon truth, so that of an ungodly man is built\nupon falsehood. All such men are the children of him who was a liar\nfrom the beginning, and although they may not be _liars_ in the\ncommon acceptation of the word, there is a lack of truthfulness in\nthe character of the most outwardly moral. In some shape or other he\nis a liar--he is a subject of him whose kingdom is built upon lying,\nand who could not retain under his influence a man who \"hated lying\"\nin every form and under every disguise. Such a man must come to\nshame. What would be the fate of a cripple if he were to challenge a\nman with sound limbs to run a race? Must he not be worsted in the\nend? Not more surely than will every subject of the kingdom whose\nfoundation was laid in a lie. There is an Italian proverb which says,\n\"A liar is sooner caught than a cripple.\" If \"lying lips are an\nabomination to the Lord,\" he who owns the lips must be an abomination\nalso (see Homiletics on chap. xii. 22).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nClear and round dealing is the honour of man's nature; and that\nmixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold or silver, which\nmay make the metal work the better but embaseth it. For these winding\nand crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely\nupon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so\ncover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious; and,\ntherefore, Montaigne sayeth prettily, when he inquired the reason why\nthe word of the lie should be such a disgrace and such an odious\ncharge, \"If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much\nas to say that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men. For\na lie faces God and shrinks from man.\"--_Lord Bacon._\n\nThe natural man shuns lying and deceit on account of the outward\nshame and reproach; the pious abhors them with all his heart for\nGod's sake.--_Starke, in Lange's Commentary._\n\nThe allegiance of the soul to truth is tested by small things, rather\nthan by those which are more important. There is many a man who would\nlose his life rather than perjure himself in a court of justice,\nwhose life is yet a tissue of small insincerities. We think that we\nare hating falsehood when we are only hating the consequences of\nfalsehood. We resent hypocrisy and treachery, and calumny, not\nbecause they are untrue, but because they harm us. We hate the false\ncalumny, but are half-pleased by the false praise. It is evidently\nnot the element of untruth here that is displeasing, but the element\nof harmfulness. Now he is a man of integrity who hates untruth _as_\nuntruth; who resents the smooth and polished falsehood of society,\nwhich does no harm; who turns in indignation from the glittering\nwhitened lie of sepulchral Pharisaism which injures no one. Integrity\nrecoils from deception, which men would almost smile to hear called\ndeception. To a moral pure mind the artifices in every department of\nlife are painful. The stained wood which passes for a more firm and\ncostly material in a building, and deceives the eye by passing for\nwhat it is not--marble. The painting which is intended to be taken\nfor reality; the gilding which is meant to pass for gold; and the\nglass which is worn to look like jewels; for there is a moral feeling\nand a truthfulness in architecture, in painting, and in dress, as\nwell as in the market-place and in the senate, and in the judgment\nhall. \"These are trifles.\" Yes, these are trifles; but it is just\nthese trifles which go to the formation of character. He that is\nhabituated to deceptions and artificialities in trifles will try in\nvain to be true in matters of importance; for truth is a thing of\nhabit rather than of will. . . . And it is a fearful question, and a\ndifficult one, how all these things, the atmosphere of which we\nbreathe in our daily life, may sap the very foundation of the power\nof becoming a servant of the truth.--_F. W. Robertson._\n\nIt is not said that a righteous man never lies. David lied more than\nonce, and yet he could say with truth that he abhorred lying. Though\nhe lied to Abimelech the priest, and to the king of the Philistines,\nyet his fixed hatred of sin was an evidence of piety, to which those\ncan lay no claim who never spoke a lie in their lives, if their\nabstinence from this sin was caused by some other motive than\nhatred. . . . God and man agree in almost nothing but this, that a\nliar is detestable to both, and therefore he must, sooner or later,\ncome to disgrace.--_Lawson._\n\nThe affections are of as great force in the service of God as the\nwords and actions, and the heart hath no less place than the members\nof the body. It must be one and the principal agent in love, where\nthey have calling; and it must deal alone with detestation of those\nabominations which they are discharged to intermeddle with. . . .\nHere we have instruction to inform our hearts against all manner of\nwickedness, that they may be the more incensed against it. The less\nwe like sin the more righteous we are, and the better the Lord will\nlove us. And the more agreement there is between sin and our souls,\nthe less peace there is between our souls and God. All the hurts and\nmiseries that have ever come upon us, or on Christ for our sakes, do\ngive just occasion to fall out with sinfulness, that hath been the\ncause thereof.--_Dod._\n\nWhere grace reigns, sin is loathsome, where sin reigns the man is\nloathsome.--_Henry._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.\n\nOVERTHROW BY SIN.\n\nFor Homiletics on the first clause of this verse see on chap. xi. 3,\n5, 6.\n\n+I. The person overthrown--the sinner.+ 1. _To be a sinner implies\nthe existence of a law._ Where there is no law there is no\ntransgression. The sinner here spoken of is a transgressor against\nmoral, Divine law. 2. _There may be sin against a law which is in\nexistence but which is not known._ A man may not know of the\nexistence of a law, and thus may sin ignorantly. 3. _But the sinner\nof the Bible is one who, if he does not possess a written revelation,\ndoes possess a \"law written in his heart\"--his conscience._ (See Rom.\nii. 14, 15.) Though the guilt is incomparably greater when a man sins\nagainst both conscience and revelation, yet he who transgresses the\nlaw of the _first only_ is a sinner, and there must be overthrow in\nboth cases, because moral transgression contains within itself the\nelements of destruction.\n\n+II. His overthrow.+ 1. _For a man to be overthrown by breaking a\nlaw, that law must be good._ There have been laws that common\nintegrity has compelled men to transgress, and men have been rewarded\nby the Great Lawgiver for the transgression. There are still laws in\nforce in the world, the violation of which is a proof of moral\ncourage. But the sinner here doomed to overthrow is a sinner against\na law to which his own conscience bears witness that it is holy and\njust, and good (Rom. vii. 12). 2. _The breaking of this law must\noverthrow a man, even if no power were ever put forth against him._\nSin debases a man by the law of cause and effect. Nothing can prevent\na man who throws himself over a precipice from finding the bottom of\nthe chasm--nothing can keep a sinner from sinking lower and lower in\nthe moral scale. The first man finds a bottom--comes to the end of\nhis fall--he who sins keeps sinking lower and lower while he\ncontinues in sin. 3. _The law against which the sinner transgresses\nis backed by the highest authority, and by the greatest power of the\nuniverse._ It represents the greatest Being. Sin is not directed\nagainst an _abstraction,_ but against a _person._ He who has\npromulgated it is a living personality, and has all power to enforce\nits penalties. The Almighty God is against the sinner. Must he not\nthen be overthrown? 4. _The sinner can be placed in such a position\nas will justify him from the guilt of his past transgressions, and\nwill enable him to keep the law in the future._ The Lawgiver has\nHimself provided the way of escape. He Himself gives the power to\nobey. Hence he who sins against this law sins against mercy too, and\ndoubles his condemnation, \"is overthrown,\" not by God's law, but by\nhis rejection of God's method of deliverance from the guilt and power\nof sin.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Wickedness is ruin._ 1. It exhausts a man's _property,_ whether much\nor little. Sin is a very expensive thing; a person cannot commit it\nto any extent, but at a considerable loss, not of time only, but of\nsubstance. The passions are clamorous, exorbitant, and restless, till\ngratified, and this must be repeated. The case of the prodigal is in\npoint, he wasted all his patrimony in riotous living. 2. It blasts\nhis _reputation._ Sin can never be deemed honourable on correct\nprinciples; yet while sinners possess means of supporting themselves\nin their vices, they still keep up their name and rank in the world;\nnot in the Church of God, or in the estimation of heaven. But when\nthe means of supplying fuel to feed the fires of foul desire and\ntowering ambition fail, then their outward splendours go out into\ndarkness. (See Prov. x. 7; xxiv. 30.) 3. It destroys _health._\nIntemperance undermines the best constitution; it is a violence done\nto the physical order of things; it renders a man old in\nconstitution, while he is young in years. 4. It hastens the approach\nof _death._ Wicked men frequently do \"not live out half their days\"\n(Psa. lv. 23), \"for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then\nsudden destruction cometh as a thief in the night\" (1 Thess. v. 3).\nSometimes their passions hurry them forward to the commission of\ncrimes which terminate in the most disgraceful exit. 5. It effects\nthe damnation of the _soul._ A sinner \"wrongeth his own soul\" (Prov.\nviii. 36). He quenches the Spirit of grace, neglects the salvation of\nthe gospel, till he goes to his own place. \"The wicked shall be\nturned into hell\" (Psa. ix. 17).--_Theta,_ from _Sketches of Sermons._\n\nRighteousness keepeth the upright, so that, though belied or abused,\nhe will not let go his integrity (Job xxvii. 5). David's \"feet stood\nin an even place\" (Psa. xxvi. 12). The spouse, though despoiled of\nher veil and wounded by the watch, yet keeps close to Christ (Cant.\nv). Not but that the best are sometimes disquieted in such cases; for\nnot the evenest weights, but at their first putting into the balance,\nsomewhat swap both parts thereof, not without some show of\ninequality, which yet, after some little motion, settle themselves in\na meet poise and posture.--_Trapp._\n\nAs he walketh safely in the way who hath a faithful convoy with him,\nso he is most sure of a faithful convoy who is a strong convoy unto\nhimself. Righteousness alone is a puissant army, and he cannot perish\nwhom righteousness preserveth. But how can he escape who is beset in\nthe way by his own villainy. The Hebrew is, that wickedness\noverthroweth _sin._ When a sinner is grown settled in sinning, he\njustly getteth the name of sin, and such an one it is that is here\nspoken of.--_Jermin._\n\n_\"Righteousness,\"_ that good claim in law which merit gives some of\nthe creatures. Our _righteousness_ comes to us as the merit of\nChrist. The condition of our being held righteous is faith and new\nobedience. Therefore, if one is obedient, or, as this verse expresses\nit, _\"is upright\"_ or \"of integrity _in the way,\"_ _\"righteousness\nkeeps guard over him.\"_ Once righteous, always righteous. Having the\nproof of our righteousness now, that righteousness, or good standing\nin the law, shall guard us for ever; while sin, becoming equally\nperpetual, does not only not guard us, but (another intensive second\nclause) rejects what guard we have; that is, as it is most\nevangelically expressed, _\"subverts\"_ or _\"overturns\"_ the\nsin-offering. This word, _sin-offering,_ instead of _allowing_ such\nan interpretation (see Critical Notes) _has_ it in all preceding\nbooks. _\"Sin\"_ is the rare rendering. Some of the most beautiful\nScriptures, that are Messianic in their cast (Gen. iv. 7), are ruined\nby the translation _\"sin.\"_ Leviticus never has the translation\n_\"sin\"_ even in the English version.--_Miller._\n\nThere is more bitterness following upon sin's ending than ever there\nwas sweetness flowing from sin's acting. You that see nothing but\nwell in its commission will suffer nothing but woe in its conclusion.\nYou that sin for your profits will never profit by your sins.--_Dyer._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 7 _and_ 8.\n\nTHE LAW OF COMPENSATION.\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Be very careful with the word\n \"niggardly\" because it can sound like a racial slur,\n especially to those who do not know the word or who are not\n paying attention. Consider substituting \"miserly,\"\n \"sparing,\" or \"parsimonious.\"\n\n+I. There may be pretensions to wealth where there is comparative\npoverty.+ Many men endeavour to make other people believe that they\nare richer than they are--indeed, it seems to be the common vice of\nmodern society. It is to be deprecated for several reasons. 1. _It is\nan injury to the man himself._ It very often happens that his foolish\nartifices fail to blind others; he is like the ostrich who, when he\nplaces his head into the sand, thinks he has hidden himself entirely\nfrom observation; he only makes himself an object of ridicule to\nthose who he thinks he has deceived. If, for a time, he that \"hath\nnothing\" succeeds in making people believe he is rich, the truth\ncomes out in time, the bubble bursts, and the pretender comes to such\nshame as would never have been his portion if he had been content to\npass for what he really was--a poor man. 2. _Such pretenders are a\ncurse to others._ One such man makes many others. His costly\nfurniture and brilliant entertainments, and all the adjuncts which\nare necessary to keep up the reputation of being a millionaire, lead\nhis neighbours and associates to keep up appearances of the same\nkind, and so the mischief grows. Then such men rob honest men by\nleading them to trust them with their goods or money, and when the\nend comes many are brought to ruin. Examples of this truth are not\nfar to seek, they are, alas, far too common in the present day.\n3. _Such pretension is base hypocrisy._ A sin against which a\nrighteous God levels His sternest threatenings (see on chap. xi. 9).\n\n+II. He who is really wealthy and yet does not use his wealth to the\nglory of God \"hath nothing.\"+ 1. _He is poor in relation to his\nfellow-creatures._ The greatest beggar cannot do less for the world\nthan he does, and he is poor in the love and gratitude of those from\nwhom he might win a rich reward by the exercise of benevolence.\n2. _He is poor in spiritual riches._ A miserly, niggardly man must be\npoor \"towards God\" (Luke xii. 21)--must be destitute of all that God\ncounts worth possessing. The rich Church of Laodicea was so\n\"increased with goods\" that she said, \"I have need of nothing,\" but\nin the sight of the Son of God she was \"poor\" (Rev. iii. 17).\n\n+III. In a spiritual sense this text is true.+ Possibly the rebuke to\nthe Laodicean Church may refer to that satisfaction in spiritual\nthings \"which maketh itself rich yet hath nothing,\" because its\npossessor is destitute of any real knowledge of his own spiritual\nneeds and, consequently, of his spiritual poverty.\n\n+IV. There are men who are in every respect the opposite of those\nwith whom we have been dealing.+ 1. _There is the miser who \"maketh\nhimself poor, yet hath great riches.\"_ It is difficult to know what\nmotive can prompt a man to do this except covetousness--a fear that\nhe will be expected to part with some of his wealth for the good of\nothers. What, therefore, was said under the second head will apply to\nhim. 2. _There are those who make no show of wealth, yet having\nenough to sustain their position in life are really rich._ The man\nwho is content to be known for what he really is, and has enough to\nlive honestly, is _rich,_ for riches and poverty are merely\ncomparative terms, and the riches of one man would be poverty to\nanother.\n\n \"For he that needs five thousand pounds to live,\n Is full as poor as he that needs but five.\"\n\nTherefore, \"a man that maketh (or sheweth) himself poor\" in this\nsense, has great riches. He has a sufficiency for all his wants, he\nretains his self-respect and the respect of his fellow-men. 3. _The\nreally poor man is rich when he spends his little with regard to the\nglory of God._ Who of all those who cast their gifts into the\ntreasury was so rich as the poor widow who cast in \"all her living?\"\nShe was rich in the commendation of her Lord (Mark xii. 43), and all\nsuch as she will have the same recognition and will be rich in the\ngratitude and love of their fellow-creatures. Such an one shows that\nhe is in possession of the \"true riches\" (Luke xvi. 11) which alone\ncan preserve from moral bankruptcy. To them belongs the commendation\n\"I know thy poverty, but thou art rich\" (Rev. ii. 9). Such \"poor of\nthis world\" are \"rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom\" (Jas.\nii. 5). 4. _Those who are thus really, because spiritually, rich have\nalways a sense of spiritual poverty._ They esteem themselves \"less\nthan the least of all saints\" (Ephes. iii. 8), their watchword is\n\"not as though I had already attained\" (Phil. iii. 12), therefore, to\nthem belongs the rich possession of the friendship of \"the High and\nLofty One, that inhabiteth eternity\" (Isa. lvii. 15). Thus \"making\nthemselves poor,\" they \"yet have great riches.\"\n\n+V. There are advantages and disadvantages connected both with\nmaterial wealth and with poverty.+ \"The ransom of a man's life are\nhis riches.\" This was more literally true in Solomon's days than in\nours, and is more so now in Oriental countries than among the western\nnations. There, even now, a man's riches often excite the greed of\nsome despotic ruler, or one of his irresponsible officials, and he is\naccused of some crime in order that his accuser may pocket a large\nransom. In times of war, too, the rich are exposed to losses and\nvexations from their conquerors, which the poor escape. Wealth is the\nmagnet which draws the plunderers upon them; although, at the same\ntime, it enables them to ransom their lives. This is one of the\npenalties of riches. The spirit, although not the letter of the\nproverb, may be applied to modern European life. It is the hall of\nthe nobleman what is exposed to the visits of the burglar. It is the\ngreat capitalist that loses when banks fail, and when there is a\ncommercial panic. But none of these things touch a poor man. The\ndespots pass him over, because he has no riches wherewith to ransom\nhis life; in the time of war he is unmolested, as when Judea was\ninvaded, \"the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be\nvine-dressers and husbandmen\" (2 Kings xxv. 12). No thief plans a\nmidnight surprise upon his humble abode; he cannot lose his money, he\nhas none to lose. Vultures are not attracted to a skeleton, they\ngather round a carcase covered with flesh. So it is with those who\nmake it their business to live upon the wealth of others. They leave\nthe poor man free. He hears not \"rebuke\" or \"threatening,\" he is left\nundisturbed. \"He that is down need fear no fall,\" says Bunyan. \"He\nthat hath empty pockets may whistle in the face of a highwayman,\"\nsays Juvenal. Therefore it is man's wisdom, whether poor or rich, to\nbe content with such things as he has (Heb. xiii. 5); to appear only\nwhat he really is, and to dedicate his earnings, or his savings, or\nhis inheritance, to the glory of God; to follow George Herbert's\nadvice--\n\n \"Be thrifty; but not covetous: therefore give\n Thy need, thine honour, and thy friend his due.\n Never was scraper brave man. Get to live;\n Then live, and use it; else, it is not true\n That thou hast gotten. Surely use alone\n Makes money not a contemptible stone.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe teaching of chap. xi. 24 finds its echo here. There is a seeming\nwealth behind which there lies a deep spiritual poverty and\nwretchedness. There is a poverty which makes a man rich for the\nkingdom of God.--_Plumptre._\n\nThis is a world of making show, the substance of truth is gone out of\nit, and ever since man ceaseth to be what he should be, he striveth\nto seem to be what he is not. Every sin masking in its own vizard;\nthe vainglorious and the covetous both seeking by their seeming to\ngain some real advantage to themselves.--_Jermin._\n\nThese opposite faults originate in the same cause, an excessive\nesteem of worldly riches. It is this that makes poor men pretend to\nhave them, and rich men conceal them for the purpose of preserving\nthem more safely. But although money is sometimes a defence, the want\nof it is sometimes a shadow under which poor men live unmolested by\nthe plunderers.--_Lawson._\n\nSurely it is just that riches should be the ransom of a man's life,\nfor it is by them that a man's life is brought into danger.--_Jermin._\n\nThe seventh verse is terse beyond all expression. Such are all these\nproverbs. Making oneself rich may be itself the poverty, and making\noneself poor may be itself the wealth; inasmuch as these acts may\nhave been sins or graces of the soul, which enter by the providence\nof Heaven into the very condition of the spirit. The meaning is that\noutward circumstances are nothing in the question. A saint is poor or\nrich as is most useful for him. The treasure is himself. _\"There is\nthat maketh himself rich and is all nothing;\"_ because himself, not\nthe wealth, is the important matter. On the other hand, _\"There is\nthat maketh himself poor,\"_ and not only \"hath great riches,\" which\nis the imperfect translation of our Bibles, but \"is a great\ntreasure.\" He himself bereft of wealth, is all the greater for what\nGod may have assigned. Solomon expounds more specially in the eighth\nverse: _Ransom,_ covering--_i.e.,_ the covering of his guilt. Poverty\nis a mere incident. A man's true opulence is his eternal redemption.\nHe is not poor who is pinched by want; but he who has not listened to\nrebuke.--_Miller._\n\nIt is not poverty so much as pretence that harasses a ruined man--the\nstruggle between a proud mind and an empty purse--the keeping up a\nhollow show, that must soon come to an end. Have the courage to\nappear poor, and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nTHE ABIDING LIGHT.\n\n+I. The analogy between the righteous and the wicked.+ Both have a\nlight or lamp. The words here translated lamp and light are elsewhere\nused interchangeably, and are often used to signify _prosperity_\n(1 Kings xv. 4; 2 Kings viii. 19) _of any and every kind._ Prosperity\nresembles a lamp in that _it is an attractive force._ A benighted\ntraveller in the darkness is drawn towards a light wherever he sees\nit, although he does not know whether it is the light of a thief or\nof an honest man. Tempest-tossed mariners look anxiously for a light\nin their extremity, and hope for help from it whether it swings from\nthe masthead of a pirate or from a vessel which carries the police of\nthe seas. So prosperity in any man is an attractive force. A\nprosperous wicked man attracts to himself the needy and unfortunate.\nThe unprincipled gather round him, hoping to share in some degree in\nthe light and heat of his worldly success, and the good man who is\npoor is often compelled by need to do the same. The lamp of\nprosperity, like the net of the kingdom, \"gathers of every kind\"\n(Matt. xiii. 47), not because of what the prosperous man _is,_ but\nbecause of what he _has._ Many saints are dependent on sinners for\ntheir daily bread. Lazarus lay at the rich man's gate hoping to be\nfed with the crumbs which fell from his table. The prosperity of the\nrighteous is equally attractive both to good men and bad for the same\nreason. The great mass of men in the world are toiling upon the sea\nof life for daily bread like tempest-tossed mariners, and wherever\nthey see the light of prosperity they make for it, hoping for help in\ntheir need. And prosperity in the general acceptance of the world is\nas often given to the good as to the bad--to the wicked as to the\nrighteous. Some commentators regard the _light_ or the _lamp_ as\nemblematic also of _posterity._ The words in 2 Kings viii. 19 may be\ntranslated \"to give him always a light _in_ his children\" (see Lange\non 2 Chron. xxi. 7), and in this sense also the analogy holds good,\nseeing that both good and bad men become the heads of households, and\nhave joy and honour in their children.\n\n+II. The contrast between the righteous and the wicked.+ 1. _The\nrighteous man will grow more and more prosperous._ Present and\nmaterial prosperity is but an earnest and a shadow of that higher\n_light_ which shall _\"rejoice\"_ throughout eternity. For the contrast\nimplies that his light shall _not_ \"be put out.\" And this continuance\nhas its root in his character. Although in this world character does\nnot govern circumstances, there is a world in which it does. And,\nafter all, a good man's light--or occasion of satisfaction--consists\nmore in what he _is_ than in what he _has,_ and this shines \"more and\nmore unto the perfect day\" (chap. iv. 18)--See Homiletics, page 58.\n2. _The wicked man's prosperity will come to an end._ His candle\n_will_ be put out by the hand of death. It may burn well for a time\nand he may rejoice in its light, but even if it continue to shed its\nrays around him till the last hour of earthly life, death will put it\nout. All that has made him a prosperous man has belonged to the\nearth, and this can shed no light beyond the grave. It _may_ be put\nout by the hand of _retribution_ before death. Lamps kindled by\nunjust means may burn well for a time, and human retribution may\nnever put out their light, because men may not know how they were\nlighted; but God's providence may put them out. (On this subject see\nnext verse.) Or if Divine retribution reserves its extinguisher for\nanother world, another avenger may \"put out\" the light. _Conscience_\nmay assert its right, and without actually taking from a man that in\nwhich he has promised himself satisfaction, may take the satisfaction\nfrom it, and thus as surely \"put out\" his \"lamp.\"\n\n\n_outlines and suggestive comments._\n\nHow glowing, then, is the light of the Church in the combined shining\nof all her members! Many of them have no remarkable individual\nsplendour; yet, like the lesser stars forming the Milky Way, they\npresent a bright path of holiness in the spiritual firmament. . . .\nBut it is the _light_ of the righteous that rejoiceth. Sin,\ntherefore, will bring the cloud. Do we hope to shine in the heavenly\nfirmament? Then we must shine with present glory in the firmament of\nthe Church. So delicate is the Divine principle, that every breath of\nthis world dims its lustre.--_Bridges._\n\nThe comfort of the righteous is a heavenly _light,_ whose shining is\n_rejoicing,_ and which even in this life maketh the darkness of Egypt\nto be light in Goshen, maketh the night of troubles to be day; but at\nlength it shall be such a sunshine of glory, as that it dazzleth the\nhuman understanding to conceive it now. On the other side, the best\ncomfort which the wicked have is but a lamp or a candle which shineth\nin the night; for as the light of a candle is shut up within a narrow\ncircle of space, so their comfort is shut up within a narrow compass\nof time, until at length the candle be put out, never again to be\nlighted. But what I say _at length,_ when Job saith the candle of the\nwicked is often put out. Upon which words St. Gregory saith,\n\"Ofttimes the wicked thinks his child to be his candle, but when his\nchild, too much beloved, is taken away, _'his candle is put out,'_\nand so with present honour or wealth.\" He, therefore, that desireth\nnot to rejoice in eternal things, cannot here always rejoice where he\nwould be eternal.--_Jermin._\n\nThey may not always rejoice, but their light will. _\"The lamp of the\nwicked\"_ shines upon their own transitoriness. They never say that it\nwill last. They know _\"that it shall be put out.\"_ This is rather a\ndismal provision for being very cheerful. But _\"the light of the\nrighteous,\"_ however much they look at it, _\"rejoices.\"_ The more\nthey try it, the more it burns. It does not shine upon its own lack\nof oil. And, though they are not self-luminous, yet their _\"light\"_\nis, for it is the light of the Spirit, and it shines more and more\nthrough eternal ages.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nTHE PARENT OF STRIFE.\n\n+I. Unlawful contention is the offspring of pride.+ If she is not her\n_only_ child, she is her eldest-born. Scripture language more than\nhints that pride was the beginning of contention among the angels.\nPaul, speaking of the qualifications of a \"bishop\" or teacher, tells\nTimothy that such an one is in danger of \"being lifted up with\npride,\" and thus falling \"into the condemnation of the devil\" (1 Tim.\niii. 6), thus seeming to indicate that pride was at the bottom of all\nthe contention that is at present going on in the universe between\nlight and darkness, between good and evil. From the pride of this\nfallen star has come contention in heaven, and earth, and hell.\n\n He it was whose guile,\n Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived\n The mother of mankind; what time his _pride_\n Had cast him out from heaven, with all his host\n Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring\n To set himself in glory 'bove his peers,\n He trusted to have equalled the Most High,\n If he opposed, and with ambitious aim,\n Against the throne and monarchy of God,\n Raised impious war in heaven, and battle proud,\n With vain attempt.\n\nAnd in the history of man's dealings with man pride is the root of\ncontention. _\"Whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not\nhence, even of your lusts that war in your members?\"_ (Jas. iv. 1).\nAnd is not the lust of pride, or envy, which is her foster-sister,\nthe great cause of all domestic, and social, and national\ncontentions? Has it not been the cause of every unrighteous war from\nthe days of Chedorlaomer to the present century? And pride breeds\ncontention on a narrower battle-ground still. It often creates war in\nthe human spirit. Pride brings contention between duty and\ninclination, and, although there is no bloodshed, the contest is\noften very sharp and painful. The fact that \"by pride cometh\ncontention\" is so plain that it may be said to be written upon the\nscroll of time, like Ezekiel's roll, within and without. It is\nimpossible that it should be otherwise. Pride is a thinking more of\nourselves than we are--an over-estimation of our own worth. This must\nlead us to strive for supremacy over others who are our equals, or\neven our superiors. This must bring contention, for they will not\nwillingly accord to us that to which we have no lawful claim.\nTherefore, while there is pride in the universe contention will never\nend. The fountain must be dried up before the streams cease to flow.\nWhen a human soul is emptied of pride there will be peace within. In\nproportion as it ceases to be a ruling force in the world contention\nwill cease. Pride keeps the fallen principalities in contention with\nheaven, keeps the sinner in contention with his Saviour, and keeps\nman in contention with man.\n\n+II. Those who are not ruled by pride are well advised.+ 1. _Because\nof the consequences that obedience to the dictates of pride must\nbring to men themselves._ There is in all men a wholesome fear of the\nconsequences which flow from certain actions. If a child sees another\nburnt from playing with the fire, he will avoid doing that which he\nhas seen to bring such pain and deformation to his brother. Self-love\ndeters him from the act. Those who are well advised, because advised\nby the highest wisdom, know that the consequences of pride have been,\nand take cognisance of the deformation of character which it works in\nmen around them. Therefore, the natural and spiritual instinct of\nwholesome self-love leads them to dread that which would bring such\nan additional scar to their already too much deformed character. The\nchildren of wisdom are well advised to be afraid of pride on account\nof its consequences to themselves. 2. _Because of the misery it would\nbring to those nearly related to them._ Isolation is not possible in\nthis world. Every man, woman, and child is more or less nearly\nrelated to some others. The relation may be physical, intellectual,\npolitical, or moral--in some instances all are combined. A proud man,\nor woman, or child, makes those who belong to them miserable. A proud\nfather makes his children miserable, a proud king involves his\ncountry in war, and brings misery upon his subjects. How many friends\nhas pride severed? How many homes and countries has family or\nnational pride blighted? Surely, then, those are well advised who\nshun it for the sake of those related to them. 3. _Because of its\nconsequences to humanity._ The miseries of the human race are\nincreased by pride, and the progress of the gospel is hindered by it.\nThe man who does not scruple to pour oil upon a burning house, not\nonly shows that he has no intention to help to extinguish the flames,\nbut that he intends to widen their influence. Each drop that he pours\nupon the fire increases its intensity, and spreads the destruction.\nThere are men who do not hesitate, by the indulgence of pride, to\nincrease that war of passions which burns so fiercely and\ndestructively in the world and desolates ten thousand hearts and\nhomes. But the well advised, by the exercise of the grace of\nhumility, endeavour to quench the conflagration which, first kindled\nby hell, has devastated the earth for so many generations.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nPride, if there be no cause of contention given, will make it.\n_Transcendo non obedio perturbo_ is the motto written upon pride's\ntriple crown. . . . Pride is a dividing distemper. Bladders blown up\nwith wind spurt one from another, and will not close; but prick them,\nand you may pack a thousand of them in a little room. . . . It was a\ngreat trouble to Haman to lead Mordecai's horse, which another man\nwould not have thought so. The moving of a straw troubleth proud\nflesh; whereas, humility, if compelled to go one mile, will go two\nfor a need; yea, as far as the shoes of the gospel of peace can carry\nit. \"The wisdom from above is _peaceable._\"--_Trapp._\n\nAs to the great quarrel with God, which needs the _ransom_ (ver. 8),\nand which is mended by the _righteousness_ (ver. 6), how long would\nthat last, if we abandoned pride?--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.\n\nTWO WAYS OF GROWING RICH.\n\n+I. Wealth can be gotten.+ Wealth may be acquired by those who have\nit not. The wealth of the sea is within the reach of the fisherman.\nIf he put down his net, sooner or later he will probably be rewarded\nwith some gain. There is wealth in the sea of human life. Although\nthe experience of some may be \"to toil all night and to take\nnothing,\" yet the rule is that men who make an effort will succeed in\nbringing into their nets more or less of worldly gain. Some degree of\nskill and toil are needed to do this, but probably there was never a\ntime when talent of any kind, or patient endeavour, was more certain\nto meet with a reward than in the present day. Aptitude for business\nwill probably make a man a thriving tradesman if it does not make him\na merchant prince. Intellectual power and artistic skill have a wide\nfield in which to work, and are generally sure of liberal reward.\nProbably there never was an age when those who have nothing but the\nnet of genius to spread upon the sea of life were so certain to land\ngold upon the shore.\n\n+II. But there are two ways of getting rich.+ There is the way of\n_vanity._ Some men come into a fortune by a single throw of the\ndice--by a fortunate speculation--a lucky hit. They may not be\ndishonest as men generally understand the word, although as a rule\nsuch transactions will not bear too much exposure to the sunlight,\nbut it is not the best way to get money. Then there are others who\nfor a lifetime have nibbled at the lawful gains of other men, and\nhave thus become rich. And others have gotten their wealth by some\none act of dishonesty, of which society is ignorant or is unable to\npunish. All these ways of making money are vain in comparison _with\nthat of patient, honest, daily toil._ The reaper gathers in the\ngolden grain in the sweat of his face, an armful at each stroke of\nthe sickle; step by step, \"hand by hand,\" he makes himself master of\nthe field and gathers the wheat into the garner. So patient daily\ntoil is the Divinely-ordained way to grow rich. The daily practice of\nindustrious habits and the exercise of patience, which are thus\nrendered necessary, are beneficial to a man's moral nature.\n\n+III. The possession of wealth will be permanent or short-lived\naccording to the way in which it has been acquired.+ 1. _Wealth\ngotten at a leap is generally \"diminished\" by the man who gained it._\nSuch men are generally reckless in their expenditure, and squander a\nfortune in almost as short a time as they gained it. Such a sudden\nacquisition of wealth has been unfavourable to the formation of\nthrifty habits, and the man is not equal to his position. Many a\ngold-digger who has found in a day a nugget worth many thousands, has\nbeen a poor man again in a few months, and the experience of most men\nfurnishes them with some similar illustration of the truth although\nnot perhaps so striking. 2. _Wealth gotten by dishonesty will be\ndiminished by God._ Time only is needed to make manifest the\nrighteous judgment of God upon wealth gotten by such \"vanity.\" Like\nthe prophet's gourd, although it affords pleasant shelter to those\nwho sit under it now, there is a worm at the root which will\ncertainly bring it to nothing. Did we but know how some fortunes have\nbeen acquired, we should be less surprised at their possessors being\nsuddenly reduced to beggary. It may be that those who are thus\nbrought low are not the makers, but the possessors only, of wealth\ngotten by vanity, yet they have to pay the penalty. On the contrary,\nthe man who has patiently and honestly gathered, little by little, a\nsufficiency, or even more, has gathered at the same time wisdom to\nuse it, and has not forfeited the blessing of the Lord (chap. x. 22).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"It is easier to make a fortune than to keep it.\" So say the worldly.\nSpecifically forbidden is the keeping of the bread of heaven (Exod.\nxvi. 19). It was to be gathered every morning. A man who keeps\ngathering on the hand is the man to stay rich. But the saint who\nhoards up the past, and lives upon the fortune that he had, is the\nIsraelite who kept the manna, and who found that it \"bred worms and\nstank.\" Even happiness is not promoted by over-guard. \"Things won are\ndone; joy's soul lies in the doing.\" . . . Continuing to work not\nonly keeps wealth, but \"increases it,\" most particularly spiritual\nwealth.--_Miller._\n\nThe words admit of three renderings (1) That of the A.V. \"Wealth\ngotten by vanity,\" _i.e._, by a windfall, or sudden stroke of\nfortune, not by honest labour, is soon diminished; or (2) wealth is\ndiminished by vanity, by empty or hollow ostentation; or (3) wealth\nis diminished quicker than a breath. Of these (1) is believed to be\nthe best. In any case the general meaning seems to be that the mere\npossession of riches is as nothing; they come and go; but the power\nto gain by skill of hand is everything. By labour, \"or by the hand,\"\nhas three possible meanings (1) as in the A.V.; (2) in proportion to\nhis strength; (3) \"in due measure.\"--_Plumptre._\n\nIll-gotten goods fly away without taking leave of the owner; leaving\nnothing but the print of talons to torment him (chap. xxiii. 5). \"But\nhe that gathereth by labour shall increase.\" Howbeit, sometimes, it\nis otherwise. \"Master, we have toiled all night, and taken nothing\"\n(Luke v. 5).--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nDEFERRED AND ACCOMPLISHED HOPE.\n\n+I. Two things are necessary to constitute hope.+ 1. _There is the\ndesire for the real or supposed good._ The man conceives there is in\nthe distance that which he esteems a good, and he desires to possess\nit. No man desires what he deems is an evil. The fact that he desires\nit shows that he regards it as a good. 2. _There is an expectation._\nA man may desire a good thing without hoping for it because he may\nfeel that it is impossible to have his desire fulfilled. He has no\nexpectation of its accomplishment, consequently he has no hope. Hope\nincludes some amount of expectation, some foundation for the hope. A\nman who knows that his disease is incurable may _desire_ to recover\nhis health, but as he has no reason to expect recovery he does not\n_hope_ for it. Sometimes, also, hope is founded on the promise of\nsome person who is presumed to be both able and willing to perform it.\n\n+II. The constant postponement of the attainment of the desired and\nexpected good produces mental sickness.+ Sickness of body enfeebles\nits powers, so does sickness of soul. A man derives strength to work\nwhen he possesses hope of enjoying some good thing in the future.\nHope is a kind of spiritual food, by feeding upon which a man renews\nhis energy. But the constant postponement of its realisation renders\nthe hope less and less strong, and has the same effect upon the mind\nas insufficient food has upon the body, it enfeebles its resolution\nand lessens its courage. If a hungry man finds each day that his\nportion of food grows less, he will soon be conscious of the loss of\nflesh and strength, and if the process goes on for many months he\nwill lose all power of action and probably his very life. The same\nthing takes place in a man's spirit when hope is indefinitely\n\"deferred.\"\n\n+III. The accomplishment of the desire and expectation renews mental\nhealth and strength.+ \"It is a tree of life.\" The fruit of the tree\nof life in Paradise was designed to lengthen man's life, to\nperpetuate his youth by constantly renewing his bodily vigour. It is\nsaid of the tree of life in the Paradise yet to come that \"its leaves\nare for the healing of the nations\" (Rev. xxii. 2). So the\nrealisation of hope renews the life of the spirit, quickens all its\npowers, perpetuates its youth. And if the hope has been so long\ndeferred as to induce \"heart sickness,\" its \"coming\" brings healing\nwith it. Bodily health is restored by the operation of something from\nwithout. It is not usually brought about by that which is within us,\nbut by the coming to us of that which is without. A man desires\nsomething which he has not--something outside of himself--either a\nmaterial or a spiritual good; and if he comes to possess it, it is to\nthe soul what healing medicine is to the body. And as those who eat\nof the tree of life in the heavenly world are \"children of the\nresurrection,\" and sons of undying youth, so realised hope makes the\nspirit conscious of new life, because it brings _joy,_ and when a man\nis filled with joy he feels young, however many years he has lived. A\nrenewed youth brings renewed activity. It lifts up the hands which\nhang down, and restores the feeble knees, and gives a man a new start\nin the race of life. Applying the words to the revelation of the New\nTestament, to the \"hope of the Gospel\" (Col. i. 23), we\nremark--1. _That the Christian must be the subject of deferred hope._\nHe _must_ wait for the realisation of his desires and expectations.\nThat \"adoption of the body\" (Rom. viii. 23) must be waited for. A\nglorified body would be out of place in an unglorified world. This\nhope must be deferred until his Lord's expectations with regard to\nthis world are fulfilled. The Son of God is waiting until the Father\nshall give the word that \"time shall be no longer\"--until the times\nof restitution of all things (Acts iii. 21). He is \"at the right hand\nof God; from henceforth _expecting_ till his enemies be made His\nfootstool\" (Heb. x. 13). When that _expectation_ is fulfilled, the\n_desire_ of the Christian with regard to the resurrection body will\nbe fulfilled also. He must also wait until after death for perfect\nvictory over sin and its consequence, for the full revelation of what\nit is to be one of the sons of God. _\"Beloved, now are we the sons of\nGod, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.\" \"When this mortal\nshall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the\nsaying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'\"_ (1 John\niii. 2; 1 Cor. xv. 54). 2. _That even the deferred hope of the\nChristian is a tree of life._ It is an eater that yields meat. It\nbears fruit (1) It gives birth to _patience,_ and there is no grace\nthat the human spirit needs more. According to apostolic teaching it\nis needful to _\"let patience have her perfect work,\"_ if the\nChristian is to _be perfect and entire, wanting nothing_ (Jas. i. 4).\nIt is the evidence of a great mind to be able to wait. The Eternal is\na \"God of patience\" (Rom. xv. 5). He can wait, because He is\ninfinitely great. (2) It brings forth joy. Paul says, _\"We rejoice in\nhope of the glory of God\"_ (Rom. v. 2). (3) It satisfies the soul.\n_\"Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself\"_ (1 John\niii. 3). (4) It gives sympathy with God in relation to unregenerate\nhumanity. God defers the realisation of the Christian's hope, because\nHe is not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. iii. 9). While we\nwait the Divine desire grows in us also, that \"all should come to\nrepentance.\"\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nPerhaps in all history there is not a more salient instance of hoping\nagainst hope deferred than that of Columbus. Years and years were\nwasted in irksome solicitation; years spent, not indeed in the drowsy\nand monotonous attendance of ante-chambers, but, as his foremost\nbiographer narrates, amid scenes of peril and adventure, from the\npursuit of which he was several times summoned to attend royal\nconferences and anon dismissed abruptly. \"Whenever the court had an\ninterval of leisure and repose (from the exigencies of the Moorish\nwar), there would again be manifested a disposition to consider his\nproposal, but the hurry and tempest would again return, and the\nquestion be again swept away.\" . . . He came to look upon these\nindefinite postponements as a mere courtly mode of evading his\nimportunity, and after the rebuff in the summer of 1490, he is said\nto have renounced all further confidence in vague promises, which had\nso often led to chagrin; and, giving up all hopes of countenance from\nthe throne, he turned his back upon Seville, indignant at the thought\nof having been beguiled out of so many years of waning existence. But\nit is impossible not to admire the great constancy of purpose and\nloftiness of spirit displayed by Columbus ever since he had conceived\nthe sublime idea of the discovery. When he applied again to the court\nafter the surrender of Granada, in 1492, more than eighteen years had\nelapsed since the announcement of the design, the greatest part of\nwhich had been consumed in applications to various sovereigns,\npoverty, neglect, ridicule, contumely, and the heart-sickness of hope\ndeferred, all that hitherto had come of it. Five years later, when\npreparations were afoot for his third voyage, we read that, \"so\nwearied and disheartened did he become by the impediments thrown in\nhis way,\" that he thought of abandoning his discoveries\naltogether.--_Jacox._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn his analysis of \"the immediate emotions,\" Dr. Thomas Brown adverts\nto that weariness of mind which one would so gladly exchange for\nweariness of body, and which he takes to be more difficult to bear\nwith good humour than many profound griefs, because it involves the\nuneasiness of hope that is renewed every moment, to be every moment\ndisappointed. He supposes a day's journey along one continuous\navenue, where the uniformity of similar trees at similar distances is\nof itself most wearisome; but what we should feel with far more\nfretfulness would be the constant disappointment of our expectation,\nthat the last tree that we beheld in the distance would be the last\nthat should rise upon us; when \"tree after tree, as if in mockery of\nour very patience itself, would still continue to present the same\ndismal continuity of line.\" Lord Bolingbroke, a professed expert in\nits power to weary and wear out, called suspense the only\ninsupportable misfortune of life.--_Jacox._\n\nThe rule, as expressed in the first clause, is universal, but in the\nsecond clause it is applied to a particular case. . . . The second\nmember is a dividing word. The accomplishment of the desire is \"a\ntree of life.\" This belongs only to the hope of the holy. Many, after\nwaiting long and expecting eagerly, discover, when at last they reach\ntheir object, that it is a withered branch and not a living tree.\nWhen a human heart has been set on perishable things, after the\nsickness of deferred expectation comes the sorer sickness of satiated\npossession. If the world be made the portion of the immortal Spirit,\nto want it is one sickness, to have it is another. The one is a\nhungry mouth empty, the other is a hungry mouth filled with chaff.\nThe clog of disappointed possession is a more nauseous sickness than\nthe aching of disappointed desire. There is no peace to the wicked.\nThey are always either desiring or possessing; but to desire and to\npossess a perishable portion are only two different kinds of misery\nto men. They are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. You stand\non the shore, and gaze on the restless waters. A wave is hastening\non, struggling and panting, and making with all its might for the\nshore. It seems as if all it wanted was to reach the land. It reaches\nthe land, and disappears in a hiss of discontent. Gathering its\nstrength at a distance, it tries again, and again, with the same\nresult. It is never satisfied, it never rests. In the constitution of\nthe world, under the government of the Most Holy, when a soul's\ndesire is set on unworthy objects, the accomplishment of the desire\ndoes not satisfy the soul.--_Arnot._\n\nAquinas noteth that hope in itself causeth joy, it is by accident\nthat it causeth sorrow. Inasmuch as it is a present apprehension of\ngood to come, it breedeth delight, but as it wanteth the presence of\nthat good, it bringeth trouble. It is therefore the delay of hope\nthat afflicteth. And indeed a lingering hope breedeth in the heart as\nit were a lingering consumption. It is a long child-bearing travail\nof a weak mind, for hope having conceived comfort is still in labour,\nuntil it be brought forth. So it is with the servants of God with\nrespect to heaven. They having begun in hope their journey\nthitherward, it makes them even _sick at heart_ to think how long it\nis until they can get there. Wherefore, St. Gregory saith, the\npunishments of the innocent are the desires of the righteous. For all\nhaving lost heaven by sin, even the just are punished with the\n_deferred hope_ of recovering it.--_Jermin._\n\nHere is instruction--+I. To hope for nothing but that which is\nhaveable, and may well be had, and whereof we are capable, and that\ndoth belong unto us.+ For if protraction cause the heart to languish,\nwhat will frustration and disappointment? It is one of the\nthreatenings against the wicked in Deuteronomy, that _\"their sons and\ntheir daughters shall be given unto another people, and their eyes\nshould look for them until they fail, and there shall be no might in\ntheir hand\"_ (chap xxviii. 32). Now what is meant by this is that\ntheir expectation deceived should turn them to as much woe as if\ntheir eyes had lost their sight. And that was because that they,\nincurring the curse by their sinful behaviour, did yet presume of a\nrestitution to happiness as though nothing had appertained to them\nbut blessings. +II. Not to limit God or prescribe to Him in what\nspace He shall fulfil His promise.+ It was a heathenish speech of the\nKing of Israel's messenger, when he said, in blasphemous manner, that\nhe neither _would_ nor _ought to attend on the Lord any longer_\n(2 Kings vi. 33). But we need not draw admonitions against this from\nthe infidelity of the wicked, but from the infirmities of the godly,\nas Abraham and Sarah had much ado to believe that a child should be\ngotten and conceived of their body after their natural vigour was\nconsumed, and, therefore, Hagar was brought in to help the matter.\n+III. Not to depend on man, nor to repose our hope in flesh and\nblood.+ For thereby we shall not only be delayed of our help too\nlong, but defeated of it altogether. For it is a righteous thing with\nGod, that they who will deify creatures with confidence, should be\ndeceived by creatures with confusion. The poor Israelites found and\nfelt this (Lam. iv. 17). +IV. Where we undertake to minister succour,\nnot to grieve the hearts of them that are in affliction by lingering\ntoo long before we relieve them.+ God doth teach us to show\nbeneficence timely and in due season (chap. iii. 28). This was one\ntestimony of a good conscience that comforted Job in his extremities,\nthat \"he had not held the poor from their desire nor caused the eyes\nof the widow to fail\" (Job xxxi. 16).--_Dod._\n\nHope's hours are full of eternity; and how many see we languishing at\nhope's hospital, as he at the pool of Bethesda! Hope unfailable (Rom.\nv. 5) is founded upon faith unfeigned. The desire will come to those\nwho patiently wait on God; for waiting is but hope and trust\nlengthened. We are apt to antedate the promises and set God at a time\nas they (Jer. viii. 20) who looked for salvation in summer at\nfurthest. We are short-breathed, short-spirited. But as God seldom\ncomes at our time, so he never fails at His own, and then He is most\nsweet, because most seasonable.--_Trapp._\n\nThe fourth verse has said that \"the sluggard desireth, and hath\nnothing.\" This verse declares that longing, accompanied by\nprocrastination, _enfeebles the heart;_ but that a bold plunging\nafter the good, and attaining it, is a \"tree of life.\" This, dimly,\nis true in worldly affairs. A man who desires some worldly good and\nwavers, enfeebles his heart, but he who will dash boldly in\nstrengthens it. . . . The least taste of arrived-at desire in the\nspiritual world, like the apples of Eden, breeds \"life.\" The soul\nwill go on after that eternally.--_Miller._\n\nIf Jacob serve the churl Laban seven years longer, if he think he\nshall have Rachel at the end of it, it will be but as seven days.\nThus it is that the hope of better days sweeteneth the present\nsadness of any outward condition. There is no grief so heavy, but if\na man tie heaven at the end of it, it will become light, but put them\ntogether, and the one will be swallowed up in the other.--_Spencer._\n\nThe world dares say no more of its devices than _Dum spiro spero_\n(while I breathe, I hope); but the children of God can add by virtue\nof their living hope, _Dum expiro spero_ (while I expire, I\nhope).--_Leighton._\n\nHope is the hunger that makes our food acceptable; but hope deferred,\nlike hunger prolonged, brings a kind of torture. . . . With the child\nof God \"the patience of hope\" issues in \"the full assurance of hope.\"\nWhat was it to Abraham, when, after long deferred hope, the answer\ncame? Laughter. What was it when the Lord turned again the captivity\nof Zion, and they were like unto them that dream? What was it to old\nSimeon and the waiting remnant when \"the _desire_ of all nations\"\n_came?_ What to the disciples, when, at the manifestation of their\nrisen Lord, their _sickening hearts_ believed not for joy, and\nwondered? . . . But what will be the joy at the great consummation of\nhope? (Rom. viii. 23-25).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nBOUND BY LAW.\n\nThe literal translation of the first clause of this verse is \"Whoso\ndespiseth the law is bound by it,\" or \"is in bonds to it\" (see\nCritical Notes).\n\n+I. Divine law is a necessity of human nature.+ There must be a\nstandard of right and wrong for moral and responsible creatures, and\nthe law which is that standard ought to be appreciated in proportion\nto its perfection. Law in a family is a necessity for its right\nregulation, and in proportion as it approaches perfection it will\nmeet the needs of its members. 1. The law of God is a necessity, in\norder to educate man's moral sense. The human conscience sometimes\nlies buried under ignorance, or is passive in the hands of lawless\ndesire, and it needs the law to arouse it to perform its proper\nfunctions, and thus prepare men for a Saviour. \"Christ,\" says Paul,\n\"is the end of the law.\" It arouses men to feel their need of His\natonement. 2. It is needed as a basis of punishment and reward. There\nare some actions upon which men, by almost universal consent, pass\njudgment, and their judgment is embodied in their law, and thus forms\na basis of conviction for the transgressor. And there are other\nactions which, by the same consent, are allowed to deserve reward,\nand that universal consent forms a kind of law. So the holy, just,\nand true law of God is needed as a standard by which men's actions\nmay be judged.\n\n+II. Whether men honour or despise the law they are bound by it.+\nThere is no place and there are no circumstances in this world in\nwhich men are not bound by _physical_ law. Every man finds that if he\nwould have health he must inhale pure air. No man can afford to\ndespise this law, but whether he do so or not, it will hold him in\nbonds. He must obey it if he would have health, to disobey may be\ndeath. If a moving object is coming to meet us, if it has more force\nin it than we have, we shall be overthrown by it if we do not get out\nof its path. We may do as we please about meeting it, but we cannot\nbe loosed from the law which governs it. These laws of our earthly\nlife may not be universal laws, they are doubtless many of them\nconfined to our present state of being, but the moral law of God is\nin force throughout the universe and there is no escape from it. What\nis good here is good everywhere, what is morally right now can never\nbe wrong through all eternity. Whether men obey it or defy it, they\nwill be for ever bound by it.\n\n+III. It is seen to be a good law by the results of keeping it.+ \"He\nthat feareth the commandment shall be rewarded,\" or \"shall be at\npeace.\" Even when men violate physical law they do not pronounce it\nbad. But it is seen to be good by its effects on those who keep it.\nMen who obey the laws of health recommend those laws in their own\npersons. Those who acknowledge the binding nature of Divine law and\nfear it, recommend it to others as good. \"Great peace have they that\nlove Thy law and nothing shall offend them\" (Psa. cxix. 165).\nSelf-love binds men to obey it. \"Whoso breaketh\" this \"hedge, a\nserpent shall bite him\" (Eccles. x. 8). The whole Bible is an\nexposition of this text. (See Homiletics on verse 6.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe slave _fears_ the penalty; the child _the\ncommandment._--_Bridges._\n\nIn many things we offend all, but we are not all despisers of the\nWord of God. Good men have reason to lament their manifold breaches\nof the commandment, and yet they have a sincere love and esteem for\nit.--_Lawson._\n\nWhatever comes with Divine authority is a Divine commandment. The\nGospel is on this as well as other accounts called the \"law of\nfaith,\" being the _Divine prescription_ for the salvation of\nsinners.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThis word has a private and personal, as well as a public\napplication; but it is in the providential government of the nations\nthat its truth has been most conspicuously displayed. The kingdoms of\nthis world in these days prosper or pine in proportion as they honour\nor despise God's Word. . . . Number the nations over one by one, and\nsee where property is valuable and life secure; mark the places where\nyou would like to invest your means and educate your family; you will\nshun some of the sunniest climes on earth, as if they lie under a\npolar night, because the light of truth has been taken from their\nsky. Traverse the world in search of merely human good, seeking but\nan earthly home, and your tent, like Abraham's, will certainly be\npitched at \"the place of the altar.\"--_Arnot._\n\nThe more we despise the law, the more we are bound by it. \"But he\nthat fears.\" This is a splendid picture of the Christian. He is not\none that keeps the law, but \"fears\" it, _i.e.,_ tries to keep it,\nfears it with a godly fear, and as a climax, frequent in a second\nclause (see chap. xiv. 11 and _passim_), he is not one who comes\nsimply less under bonds, but is forgiven altogether.--_Miller._\n\nThe word of Divine revelation is here, as it were, personified as a\nreal superhuman power, whose service one cannot escape, and in\ndefault of this he comes into bondage to it, _i.e._, loses his\nliberty.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nLIVING BY RULE.\n\n+I. The wise man lives by rule or according to law.+ \"The law of the\nwise.\" Wherever there is any _force_ or _power_ there must be rule,\nor there will be destruction _from_ the power and possibly\ndestruction _to_ the power. The power that sets in motion the\nlocomotive must be governed by law, or it will destroy the driver and\nthat to which it was intended to give motion. Under the guidance of\nlaw it will minister to man's convenience, left to itself it will\ninjure him and put an end to itself. Power is lodged within the hand\nof every human being which may be used to bless himself and others,\nbut in order that it may do so it must act in accordance with some\nlaw, it must have some rule for its guidance. Nothing on earth is so\npowerful for good or for evil as a human soul, because its power is\nexercised in the domain of spirit, but without rule it cannot\nexercise its power for the good of others, and will even destroy all\nits capabilities of working good to itself. Where men live without a\nrule of life there is power without law, and this must work evil and\nnot good. It is the characteristic of a morally wise man that all his\npowers of mind and soul are under control, he has them well in hand.\n\n+II. Living by rule gives distinctness and definiteness to life, and\nthus augments its power.+ The chaff that is lifted from the sieve by\nthe wind has no definite destination, it is entirely at the mercy of\nthe breeze to carry it anywhere that it pleases. How different is the\ncourse of the eagle out in the storm wind! He moves by rule, either\nfacing or cleaving the blast, or utilising its force to bring him to\nhis destination. The vessel that has no hand to hold the rudder is\nbound for no special port. The sea will take her somewhere, either\nbefore or after she has gone to pieces; but it is very uncertain to\nwhich point of the compass she will be carried. How different is the\nsteady ploughing of the waves by the ship whose head is under the\nrule of the helmsman. There is a definiteness in her path, which\nshows that she has one point to make, one port in view. Those who\nlive without rule are \"like the chaff which the wind driveth away.\"\nThe blasts of passion, the current of outside circumstances, carry\nthem whithersoever they list. But the wise man lives under a law by\nwhich those winds are rendered powerless to drive him, and are made\nto carry him forward in the path which he is treading. The man\nwithout a rule is a vessel without a rudder, and is destined,\nfinally, to be washed upon the shore of eternity a wreck. The very\ngait of the child of wisdom indicates that he is bound for a certain\ndestination. By the way in which he guides his bark he shows that he\nhas a port to make upon the sea of life. And this definiteness is\nalways about him, whether he is in solitude or among the multitude.\nHe lives by rule, in the private recesses of his soul (see on chap.\nxii. 5), and this enables him to rule his outward life. He finds that\nthe rule which governs his private life is strong enough to keep him\nin public. The power of the multitude is not strong enough to\novermaster the power that is resident in his single will, because\nthat will is under a rule which gives it definiteness; and,\ntherefore, increases its force of resistance. Elijah is a fine\nexample of such a man. He was a man emphatically whose whole forceful\nnature was under Divine rule. Whether he was in the wilderness or\nupon Mount Carmel he was in subjection to the law of his God, and\nthis made him a man whose life was possessed with one definite aim\nand purpose. Hence the mighty wave of opposition with which he was\nmet had no more power to move him than the ocean has to move the\nsolid rock. So with his great antitype, John the Baptist. He lived by\nrule as much when alone in the desert as he did when he was in the\nmidst of the multitude; and, therefore, neither their applause or\nblame, nor Herod's outburst of rage, had any power to change his\npre-determined course. Hence the question of Him who declared the\nBaptiser to be the \"greatest born of woman.\" \"What went ye out in the\nwilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind,\" implying that he was\nno reed bending to every blast, but a storm-resisting cedar, which\namid the uproar of the storm holds its own, and comes out of it more\nfirmly rooted and grounded by the power of the elements which it has\nresisted. This is the inevitable consequence of living by rule. The\nunruled though mighty locomotive wastes and loses its power in\ndestroying, that which is under the guidance of law preserves and\nincreases it. A lawless man possesses a terrible capacity for\ndestruction; but his power diminishes, even while he exercises it,\nwhile he who is under Divine rule grows stronger and stronger. Sin\nweakens a man, goodness increases his power.\n\n+III. Snares are laid to turn men's power into a wrong channel--to\nbring their lives under the dominion of lawlessness.+ There are\n\"snares of death\" set to entrap men's feet. The aim of every tempter,\nwhether human or Satanic, is to lead men to abuse that power which\nGod has put into our hands in giving us a will. This being the\nsupreme force in a human soul, it is the great aim of the devil that\nit should not be \"subject to the law of God.\" His aim in Eden was to\nloose the bonds which had hitherto held it firm to the Divine\ncommand. The end of the temptation was, and has always been concealed\nunder a specious pretence of freedom, hence it is a _snare._ It is a\n_snare of death,_ because, as we have seen, power without rule\ndestroys itself and others. As soon as Eve had fallen into the snare\nof the devil, she began to know what it was to be under the dominion\nof sin--she was conscious of having lost her hold upon herself, and\nof having set in motion within her spirit a mighty power of evil. The\ngreat aim of Satan in his temptation of Christ was to get His will to\nexercise its power, if only for a moment, in antagonism to the will\nof His Father. If the devil could have prevailed upon the Saviour to\nhave but created a loaf of bread to satisfy His hunger, he would have\nsucceeded in getting Him to use His Divine power in a manner which\nwould not have been in accordance with the purpose or plan of God.\nThe same aim is seen in each temptation under different forms, to\nendeavour to lead the Son of God to free Himself by His Divine power\nfrom the law of His Father. But the snare was avoided in each\ninstance by close adherence to the words of the law. \"It is written\"\nis a sure preservative from the snares of death.\n\n+IV. The rule by which the morally wise are governed is--+First,\n_Abundant._ It is a _fountain._ A fountain is supplied from a living\nspring--a never-failing source--and it therefore yields an unfailing\nsupply of water for men of all classes and conditions whenever they\nneed it. The Divine rule which governs the gild of wisdom originated\nin God. The fountain of Divine truth came from this Holy and\nInfinite spring. Therefore it is an all-sufficient guide or rule of\nlife for men in all ages, and under all circumstances.\nSecondly--_Lifegiving._ It is a \"fountain of life.\" By being the\nconserver and strengthener of his spiritual power, as we saw under\nthe first head, and by being the means of his escape from the great\nsoul-ensnarer. Allowed to flow through the garden of the soul, and\nexert there its due influence, it produces fruit unto holiness, and\nthe end everlasting life (Rom. vi. 22). _The law of the Lord is\nperfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure,\nmaking wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing\nthe heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the\neyes. . . . Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping\nof them there is great reward_ (Psalm xix. 7-11). This was the\ntestimony of one who had drunk long and deeply of the waters of this\nlife-giving fountain.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nOf law there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is in the\nbosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world. All things in\nheaven and earth do her homage; the very least, as feeling her care,\nand the greatest, as not exempt from her power, both angels and men,\nand creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort\nand manner, yet all with uniform consent admiring her as the mother\nof peace and joy.--_Hooker._\n\nThe holy instructions of a wise man are to be valued in this world.\nThere is a living virtue in the world of truth, even when earthen\npipes are the channel of its conveyance.--_Lawson._\n\nThe figure leads to the idea of death as a fowler (Psa. xci. 3). If\nit is not here a mean formula for the dangers of death, then the\nproverb is designed to state that the life which springs from the\ndoctrine of a wise man as from a fountain of health, for the disciple\nwho will receive it, communicates to him knowledge and strength, to\nknow where the snares of destruction lie, and to hasten with vigorous\nsteps away when they threaten to entangle him.--_Delitzsch._\n\nIf we take the _law of the wise_ for the law of wise men as given by\nthem, we may thus consider the words. He that goeth on according to\nthe stream and course thereof, shall be sure at last to come to the\nfountain. The law of the wise is but a stream for the fountain of\nlife, and he that keepeth to the stream shall be sure at last to meet\nwith the fountain.--_Jermin._\n\nSin is Satan's snare to catch men to perdition. He that is in the\npower of it, and entangled therewith, is in great peril of perishing,\nbeing caught in a trap and held fast there, till either grace deliver\nhim or death devour him. There is no safe treading but in the ways of\nGod. Every step without it, though the length and breadth of the\nwhole world, hath somewhat set in it to entangle us.--_Dod._\n\nEven in defect of liberal prescript, the spirit of _the law_ will\nsupply practical rules for keeping the heart and life. Dr. Payson\nsays, \"By the help of three rules I soon settle all my doubts--viz.,\nto do nothing of which the lawfulness is questionable; to do nothing\nwhich indisposes for prayer, or interrupts communion with God; to go\ninto no company, business, or situation in which the presence and\nblessing of God cannot conscientiously be asked and\nexpected.\"--_Bridges._\n\nThe _\"law of the wise\"_ can be nothing but the Book of God. . . . It\nis essentially _life-giving._ Its design is not to publish and\nconfirm the sentence of death, but to show how death may be escaped.\nThe declaration of the sentence of death is only intended to show the\nnecessity, and to impress the importance and value of the tidings of\n_life. Life_ is the end of Divine revelation.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nA BAD WAY AND A GOOD UNDERSTANDING.\n\n+I. Favour is here spoken of as a thing to be desired.+ It is\ndesirable to have the favour of _any_ man if thereby we can do him\nany good. It was desirable that Joseph should have Pharaoh's favour,\nas he was thereby enabled to gain his ear and help him in his\nperplexity. The favour which Daniel obtained from Nebuchadnezzar\nenabled him to be a great blessing to that monarch. A man who is\nregarded by his fellow creatures with favour possesses a powerful\ninstrument which he may use to do them good. On this account the\nfavour of men is to be desired. It is also desirable to have the\nfavour of _good_ men as thereby we may _get_ good. Good men are the\nonly living representatives of God in the world, and next to the\nblessedness of having the favour of the parent is the blessedness of\nhaving that of His children. Therefore the favour of men is to be\ndesired both for their sakes and for our own.\n\n+II. The instrument of obtaining favour.+ \"Good understanding\" or\n\"good intelligence.\" Man's highest and truest intelligence springs\nfrom moral relation and sympathy with God. All intellectual\nintelligence is derived from Him, and this intelligence alone will\noften gain for men a large share of human favour. There are many men\nof great mental intelligence, who do not acknowledge the existence of\nGod, who have won high places in the esteem of men. But these words\nrefer to those who have been enlightened by the teaching of the\nDivine spirit, and are in sympathy with God and with His moral laws.\nSuch men are not less intelligent concerning other matters, but more\nso. Other things being equal, a godly man's purely intellectual\npowers are quickened by his godliness. If an ungodly man becomes a\ntrue servant of God, all the powers of his mind are thereby\nstrengthened. Observation confirms this, and it is impossible that it\nshould be otherwise. If a man cannot come into communion with a wiser\n_man,_ without gaining in intelligence, how can he come into\ncommunion with the _Fountain of all wisdom_ without becoming a more\nintelligent man in every sense of the word? What a capable man of\nbusiness Joseph was. When quite a youth, and without any previous\ntraining, he became controller of the household of an Egyptian\nnobleman; and when only thirty was not only the first lord of Egypt,\nbut showed himself fully equal to all the exigencies of his position.\nWhence did his \"good understanding\" proceed? Was it not from his\nmoral relationship with the God of his fathers? \"Can we find such an\none as this is?\" said the heathen king,--\"a man in whom the Spirit of\nGod is\" (Gen. xli. 38). The possession of this \"good understanding\"\nin temporal and secular matters gives a man favour in the eyes of\nother men. The possession of _spiritual intelligence_ gives him\nfavour in the eyes of all the good. There is a relationship among all\ntrue members of the family of God, which is stronger and deeper than\nany merely human relationship. And this spiritual intelligence gives\na man a moral power among all his fellow-men. They cannot withhold\nthe testimony of their consciences, unless they are altogether\nhardened they must secretly, if not openly, give him their esteem and\nconfidence. \"Natural conscience,\" says Trapp, \"cannot but do homage\nto the image of God stamped upon the nature and works of the godly.\"\n\n+III. The way of those who are destitute of this spiritual\nintelligence.+ All such men are \"transgressors.\" Their spiritual\nnature is dormant--they are without spiritual discernment. In\nscriptural phrase they are \"blind\" (Rev. iii. 17) and \"dead\" (Ephes.\nii. 1). Their way is _hard,_ however we use the word. (See Critical\nNotes.) 1. _It is hard in the sense of being a well-trodden way._ It\nhas become hard by being much frequented--by being perpetually used.\nIt has several elements of attraction. 2. _Antiquity is on its side._\nIt is an _old_ way--it has been in use for ages. \"No man,\" says our\nLord, \"having drunk old wine, straight way desireth new\" (Luke\nv. 39). Men are naturally conservative--naturally inclined to go as\ntheir fathers went. True it is that there is an _older_ way--the way\nof the good (see Homiletics on chap. iv. 14-19, page 58), but still\nthe way of the transgressor is very ancient. 3. _Men's natural\ninclination leads into that way._ Men are led by their inclination,\nunless there is a stronger principle within them. We are born with a\ntendency to evil rather than to good--to walk after the devices of\nour own heart rather than according to the will of God. In most men\n\"inclination is as strong as will,\" and leads them to tread the \"way\nof the transgressor.\" 4. _It is attractive because of the numbers who\ntread it._ \"Many there be which go in thereat\" (Matt. vii. 13). Many\nmen make that fact a city of refuge wherein to shelter themselves\nfrom the admonitions of conscience. \"I only do as others do\" is\nregarded by many men as an impregnable citadel wherein they can\nsecurely await the righteous judgments of God (See Homiletics on ch.\ni. 10-19, page 8, 2nd head). 5. _It is hard and therefore desolate,\nunfruitful._ The common highway that is trodden down by many feet is\nnot the place in which to look for a golden harvest. The stony rock\nis not a soil whence flowers spring. Men do not expect to gather\nchoice fruit on the desolate moorland. Neither can the way of the\ntransgressor yield the flowers or the pleasant fruits of life. Thorns\nand nettles are there, but no golden harvest. The favour neither of\nGod nor man is his portion. He can only reap as he has sown (See\nHomiletics on chap. xi. 18-20, page 223). 6. _It is a hard way in the\nsense that it is a miserable way._ Every act carries with it present\njudgment. Every action has its reaction of pleasure or of pain. Every\nstep, therefore, in the way of transgression has its accompanying\nreproach of conscience. Then the way of sin is a way of\nself-deception. What is more painful than to be the subject of\nconstant deception? We have just dwelt upon the heart-sickness of\nhope deferred (verse 12); the sinner is a constant victim of this\nmalady. Nothing can be a more bitter experience than to stake our all\nupon a promise, and when the time comes for its fulfilment, to find\nthat it was made only to be broken. Yet this is the experience of a\ntransgressor of God's law, not once or twice, but all through his\nlife. It is his lot not only to deceive but _to be deceived_ (2 Tim.\niii. 13). He is ever promising himself, and is ever being promised by\nthe master whom he serves, satisfaction as the result of his deeds,\nbut he is always finding that the performance falls as far short of\nthe promise as it did when the devil led our first parents into sin,\nby the promise \"ye shall be as gods,\" and performed it by making them\nslaves to himself. This is another ingredient in the hardness of the\nway. He is a slave to him who has deceived him. Many a man is fully\nalive to the deceptive nature of sin--to its utter powerlessness to\ngive him real pleasure--and yet he goes on it. Why is this? He is\nbound by a chain which he finds it well nigh impossible to break.\nEvil habits, as well as good ones, grow stronger by exercise. Slavery\nis hard under any master, excepting under Him whose service is\nperfect freedom. How bitter, then, is slavery to one who has deceived\nus. Yet this is not the _hardest_ part of the _hard_ way. None who\nare thus victims of the great deceiver--none whom he has made his\nbond slaves but feel that they are so by their own consent. Each evil\nthought unchecked, each evil thought indulged, has forged a link in\nthe chain. Their condition has been likened, by an old writer, to\nthat of a man who has been busily at work in carrying stick after\nstick to make a pile of wood, and then finds that he has only been\nheaping up materials for a fire upon which he is to be burned.\n\n+IV. But though the way of transgressors is hard, it is not too\nhard.+ Its very hardness is intended to lead them to leave it.\nBecause the end will be worse than the way, it is the tenderest mercy\nto make the way hard. It only tells him that he has taken the wrong\nroad. The pain that he suffers is only the voice of God, saying, \"Do\nthyself no harm.\" When a mountain pass becomes so blocked with fallen\nrocks that every step is a misery, does it not admonish the traveller\nto turn back before he makes a fatal slip? When in the regions of\neternal snow a man feels intense pain from the biting cold, and\nencounters at every step the corpse of one who has been frozen to\ndeath by persistently disregarding the voice of nature, is it not\nsuicide to continue? Can he say he received no admonition? Is it not\na sentinel with a drawn sword to turn back the unwary from the\nprecipice? Even so is the hardness of the way of the transgressor.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFor the most part the word translated \"good understanding\"\ncorresponds with that which, in a deep ethical sense, we call fine\nculture, which shows men how to take the right side, and in all\ncircumstances to take the right key, exercise a kindly, heart-winning\ninfluence, not merely to the benefit of its possessor, but such as\nremoves a partition wall, and brings men closer to each other. The\nword translated \"hard\" denotes that which stretches itself far, and\nwith reference to time, that which remains the same during the course\nof time. That which does not change in time, continuing the same,\naccording to its nature, strong, firm, thus becomes the designation\nof the enduring and the solid, whose quality remains always the same.\nThe fundamental idea of remaining like itself, continuing, passes\nover into the idea of the firm, the hard, and, at the same time, of\nthe uncultivated and the uncultivatable. The way of transgressors, or\nof the _treacherous,_ _i.e.,_ the manner in which they transact with\nmen, is stiff, as hard as stone, repulsive; they follow selfish\nviews, never placing themselves in sympathy with the condition of\ntheir neighbour; they are without the tenderness which is connected\nwith fine culture; they remain destitute of feeling in things which,\nas we say, would soften a stone.--_Delitzsch._\n\nMany _seek_ favour as the gift of others which it is in their own\npower to give themselves. For, get a _good understanding,_ whereby to\nunderstand well what thou goest about, and how to go about it. It is\ntrue, as Tertullian speaketh, now and then it falls out, that in a\ngreat tempest wherein sea and heaven are confounded, the haven is\nattained by a happy error; and now and then, in darkness, the way of\nentrance and going out is found by a blind happiness. But this is a\nfavour which has no holdfast--it is a _good understanding_ that\ngiveth favour.--_Jermin._\n\nIs not the way of transgressors pleasant in prospect, although it\nends in death? No; sin barters away future safety but does not secure\npresent peace in return. Things are not always what they seem. The\npleasures of sin are not only limited in their duration, they are\nlies even while they last. . . . The race is torture and the goal\nperdition. . . . But the right way is not a soft and silky path for\nthe foot of man to tread upon; and, if one thing happens to all in\nthe journey of life, what advantage have the good? Much every way,\nand specifically thus: The hardness which disciples experience in\nfollowing their Lord is righteousness rubbing on their remaining\nlusts, and so wasting their deformities away; whereas the hardness of\na transgressor's way is a carnal mind in its impotent enmity dashing\nitself against the bosses of the Almighty's buckler. . . . As the\npains of cure differ from the pains of killing, so differs the\nsalutary straitness which presses the entrance at the gates of life,\nfrom the hardness which hurts transgressors as they flee from\nGod.--_Arnot._\n\nSin, as of its nature, sinks always lower under bond (ver. 13), and\nmust, therefore, _de jure,_ be _\"perpetual\"_ (see Miller's rendering,\nin Critical Notes). For, strange enough, the man without \"_good_\nintelligence,\" _i.e.,_ the best kind of knowledge, neglects to act on\nwhat knowledge he has. The worst man has knowledge enough to save\nhim--that is (to expound an averment which is only in one sense\ntrue), God's goodness is such that if a man would use the light he\nhad, he would start from that point, and be helped into the\nkingdom.--_Miller._\n\nDifferent senses have been affixed to these words--1. \"Good\nunderstanding showeth favour to others\"--_i.e.,_ is mild and\nconciliatory, while the \"way of transgressors is hard, unyielding,\nstern.\" 2. \"Ingenuous manners procure favour; but rugged is the path\nof the artful\"--_i.e.,_ exposing him to incessant difficulties, while\nopen dealing makes a man's way plain before him. 3. More probably the\nmeaning in both parts of the verse terminates on the person's self.\nIntelligent and sound judgment, by fitting a man to be a wise and\nuseful counsellor, procures him favour. On the contrary, the \"way of\ntransgressors,\" like \"Bypath Meadow\" in the _Pilgrim's Progress,_\npresents at its entrance all that is tempting to allure into it, but\nsupplies no real enjoyment to the traveller in it at last.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWicked men live under a hard taskmaster. \"I was held before\nconversion,\" said Augustine, \"not with an iron chain, but with the\nobstinacy of my own will.\" The philosophical infidel bears the same\ntestimony. \"I began to fancy myself in a most deplorable condition,\nenvironed with the deepest darkness on every side\" (Essays, I. 458).\nVoltaire, judging of course from his own heart, pronounces, \"In man\nis more wretchedness than in all other animals put together. Man\nloves life, yet knows he must die.\" \"I wish,\" continues the wretched\nwitness for his master, \"I had never been born.\" The worldly infidel\nadds his seal to the record. Colonel Gardiner declared, that in his\ncourse of wickedness he had often envied the existence of a\ndog.--_Bridges._\n\n_The hardness of the transgressor's way._ +I. A truth to be\nconfirmed.+ It is hard to themselves--to others, to their families,\ntheir friends, to society. +II. A dispensation to be approved.+ It\nillustrates the mingled justice and mercy of God, who has made the\nway to hell difficult. The hardness of the way of sin is often the\nmeans of stopping sinners in their course. The sufferings of the\nwicked operate as a check and preservative to the righteous. +III. A\nwarning to be enforced.+ Take care how you take the first step. Be\nanxious, if you have entered the road, to retrace your step. Remember\nthat the hardness of the way is nothing like the bitterness of the\nend.--_S. Thodey._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nDEALING WITH KNOWLEDGE.\n\nFor a definition of prudence see Homiletics on chap. viii. 12, 13,\npage 109. Carrying out the thought that prudence is wisdom applied to\npractice, we remark,\n\n+I. That a prudent man deals, or acts with knowledge from a sense of\nresponsibility.+ 1. _In commercial life._ No prudent man will engage\nin any business transaction without first making himself thoroughly\nacquainted with it in all its bearings. He will, if possible, look\nfar into the future and weigh probabilities and calculate results, so\nas to secure himself from ultimate loss. He will not deal with the\nmatter at all unless he understands it. This we conceive is \"dealing\nwith knowledge.\" And it is the course pursued by every prudent man of\nbusiness from a sense of responsibility. He feels that he has\nobligations to fulfil to others and a character to maintain, and\ntherefore he thinks before he acts. A man who values his life at all\nwill not deliberately walk over a precipice, and a prudent man will\nnot go very near the edge, he will know what is the safe distance at\nwhich he may walk without even risking the possibility of a false\nstep. 2. _As a teacher or leader of others._ A man who undertakes the\nguidance of his fellow-creatures in any way, is especially bound to\n\"deal with knowledge.\" If he is a teacher of youth, and is a prudent\nman, he will make it his business to know his pupils, to become\nacquainted with the best methods of imparting instruction and\ndeveloping their mental and moral powers. He feels that they are in\nhis hands very much as clay in the hands of the potter, and that it\ndepends very much upon him whether they become vessels of honour or\ndishonour, and this invests all his dealings with them with a deep\nsense of responsibility. So with the statesman, the Christian\nteacher, or any other man who finds himself entrusted with influence\nover his fellows. Prudence is almost as necessary as goodness and\nright intentions. A man may have abundance of wealth at his disposal\nwhereby to accomplish some desired end. But if he does not know how\nto use it, he may as surely miss his aim as if he were poor. So a man\nmay have much spiritual wealth and an earnest desire to use it for\nthe good of others, but if he is not a prudent man--if he neglects to\nacquire a knowledge of the how, and the when, and the where to do it,\nhe may not only fail to realise his desire, but may cause his good to\nbe evil spoken of. And the principle applies to every good man,\nhowever limited his sphere or humble his position. It is the special\ntrade of a _good man to do good,_ but he may greatly injure his trade\nby neglecting to \"deal with knowledge.\" _\"What king,\"_ says our Lord,\n_\"going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and\nconsulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that\ncometh against him with twenty thousand?\"_ (Luke xiv. 31). It is\nimplied that this man has a sense of the importance of the\nundertaking upon which he is about to embark, that he duly estimates\nthe possible loss or gain which may result from it. He may serve as\nan illustration of what is meant by a prudent man \"dealing with\nknowledge\" in any and every step of life, whether it be apparently\ngreat or small, weighty or trivial. For there are no _little_ things\nin human life--the greatest issues often hang upon what men\nignorantly call trifles.\n\n+II. A fool by rash and inconsiderate conduct \"layeth open\" or\n\"publishes\" his folly.+ It is implied by contrasting him with the\nprudent man who \"deals with knowledge\" that he deals without it, that\nhe leaps before he looks and walks in the dark when he might avail\nhimself of a light to guide him. Such conduct arises from a lack of\nthe sense of responsibility. He does not consider what is involved in\nhis failure, how much misery may thus be entailed on himself and\nothers. Every man who does not weigh results proves himself thereby\nto be a fool.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHe that is wise will not be doing or dealing in anything unless he\n_know_ what it is wherein he dealeth, and unless he deal so as _he\nknoweth_ that he should. He knoweth that a man is known by his\ndealing. He knoweth that others look on his dealing, and therefore he\nlooketh so to it as that they may know him to be wise by it. But a\nfool will be dealing, although by dealing he uncover his nakedness.\nThe shame of his folly shall be spread abroad as wide as his dealings\nare heard of.--_Jermin._\n\nObserves circumstances, and deports himself with discretion; thrusts\nnot himself into unnecessary dangers; carves not a piece of his heart\nbut to those he is well assured of. See an instance of this prudence\nin Ezra, chap. viii. 22; in Nehemiah, chap. ii. 5. He calls it not\nthe place of God's worship--such an expression might have disgusted\nthe heathen king--but the place of his father's sepulchres. In\nChrist, when He was tried for His life; in Paul, who lived two years\nat Ephesus, and spake not much against the worship of their great\ngoddess Diana (Acts xxiii. 6, and xix. 10).--_Trapp._\n\nFools might be esteemed half-wise if they had sense enough to keep\ntheir folly to themselves.--_Lawson._\n\nWide is the sphere for trading with this responsible talent. _In the\nfamily economy_ (Judges xiii. 8-12; chap. xiv. 1; xxxi. 27). _In the\nchurch;_ in a wise accommodation to circumstances (Gal. ii. 2); in\nthe conviction of gainsayers (Tit. i. 9); in forbearing with the\nprejudices of the weak (Acts xv. 22-29); in the exercise of Christian\nadmonition (Rom. xv. 14).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nA SOCIAL LINK.\n\n+I. An important link in human society--a messenger.+ This link may\nor may not be important _in himself._ He may belong to the highest or\nto the lowest stratum of human life. He may be a princely ambassador,\nor he may be a telegraph boy. The link which holds two bodies\ntogether may be of great intrinsic value. It may be of wrought gold,\nand much skill may have been expended on its workmanship; but what it\nis in itself is not of so much importance as what it is as a link.\nIts beauty and costliness will not avail much if it gives way when it\nis subject to strain, and thereby causes loss and vexation to its\nowner. The link that holds the cable to the anchor is not in itself\nworth much; but when it holds an ironclad off a rocky coast, there\nhangs upon it half a million of money, and the sorrow or joy of many\nhuman hearts for years to come. Untold loss or gain depend upon\nwhether that ring of iron can bear the strain or not. So it is with a\nmessenger. He may be a person of great intellectual powers, and of\ngreat social importance, or he may not have either. But he is always\nof value in his _relative position._ Like the link in a cable, he\nalways holds in his keeping more than he is. He may be the bearer of\nthe secrets of one who has hanging upon his will an army of many\nthousands, and a nation of as many millions may be interested in the\nmessage which he bears. Whether he be a prince or peasant is of no\nimportance in comparison with the fact that he bears a message.\n\n+II. The one all-important qualification in a\nmessenger--faithfulness.+ No greater praise can be given to a man\nthan to say that he is _faithful,_ yet nothing less will make him\nworth anything in human life. All men's hopes for time and eternity\nrest upon the faithfulness of God. This is the sheet-anchor of\nhumanity that He is \"a faithful Creator\" (1 Pet. iv. 19). That He is\nfaithful that promised (Heb. x. 23). It is for _faithfulness,_ not\nfor _success,_ that He gives the \"well done\" (Matt. xxv. 21), to His\nservants. In a messenger it is the one thing needful, and its\nimportance is increased in proportion to what hangs upon his message.\nLife or death may depend upon it, and often not the fate of an\nindividual merely, but the destiny of a nation. An unfaithful\nmessenger _\"falleth into mischief himself.\"_ He who betrays his trust\ninjures himself. He goes down in the moral scale. He loses his\nreputation, and is not trusted again. If the link in the cable gives\nway, it is itself broken. But this is not all, not the worst. He is\nthe cause of _mischief falling upon others._ How true is this in\nsocial life. A message, coloured in its delivery, to gratify some\nselfish purpose, may divide men who would have been friends, if it\nhad not been for the third person. And its omission, through\ncarelessness, may bring about a like mischief. And it is also true in\nnational relationships. The ambassador, who is entrusted to express a\nnation's will, may be a fruitful source of mischief if he is\nnegligent or unwary when war and peace hang in the balance. Millions\nof hearts may be made sad by an under or over statement of facts.\n\"But a faithful messenger is health,\" or \"healing.\" He is health in\nhimself. A faithful messenger, apart from his official or\nrepresentative character, is an embodiment of moral health, and when\nhe is entrusted to make peace where there has been war, he is\n\"healing.\" He may be only a counsellor of peace between individual\nmen who have been at strife, or he may be the bearer of terms of\npeace between hostile nations. But, whether in the one case or the\nother, the faithful discharge of his duties will bring healing: for\nall real peace must be founded on a truthful statement of facts. This\nverse is especially true of an ambassador of Christ. He who is truly\nsent of God will be faithful in the delivery of his message, and will\nthus bring healing to many. He will _\"not walk in craftiness, nor\nhandle the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth\ncommend himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God.\"_ And\nso he will be the means of bringing moral health (2 Cor. iv. 2;\n1 Cor. vi. 11).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nEvery man is a \"messenger,\" and has an errand, and that is as a\nwitness for God (chap. xiv. 25). The word for _\"messenger\"_ is the\nword for \"angel.\" How soon did the wicked angel fall, when he became\nof no use? and men, how long do they tolerate a false messenger? The\nsoul sent out by the Almighty, if wicked, shall fall; but a soul that\nis _\"faithful\"_ is needed, and will hold its place.--_Miller._\n\nA wicked messenger hath no sooner a business committed unto him than\nhe falleth into mischief, by betraying the trust reposed in him, and\ntherefore justly doth mischief fall on him. He that is a faithful\nambassador is, indeed, the ambassador of truth itself. He, being\nsent, hath healing under his wings, whereby he giveth soundness and\nhealth unto his business, whereby he giveth soundness and health to\nthose that employed him. The proverbial sense is, That the good or\nbad success of a business proceedeth much from the goodness or\nbadness of him that is employed in it.--_Jermin._\n\nHow much more then, wicked ministers, those \"messengers of the\nchurches\" (2 Cor. viii. 23) that do the Lord's work negligently (Jer.\nxlviii. 10), that corrupt His message (2 Cor. ii. 17). Who is blind\nbut my servant, or deaf as my messenger? (Isa. xlii. 19).--_Trapp._\n\nWhile the wicked messenger prepares misfortune for himself, as well\nas for his master, the faithful makes good even his lord's\nmistakes.--_Von Gerlach._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nTHE WAY TO HONOUR.\n\n+I. Man needs instruction because his natural intuitions are not\nenough to meet the needs of human life.+ The instinct of the animal\nis enough to enable it to fulfil its destiny. Its limited powers find\nsufficient guidance in the use of the faculties which are born with\nit. But it is not so with man. If, as some philosophers suppose, a\nman comes into the world without any ideas, if he receives everything\nfrom the outside world, instruction is so much the more needed, but\neven if he does bring with him a small stock of knowledge, experience\nshows us that the amount is very small, and he needs instruction for\nbody, soul, and spirit from the first day of his dawning intellect to\nthe last of his probationary life.\n\n+II. Instruction is to be obtained.+ Somebody will teach him either\ndirectly or indirectly. He will learn much from observation and much\nfrom direct teaching. The word here, as in chap. xii. 1, includes the\nidea of correction. This forms an inevitable part of man's\ninstruction in matters relating both to his bodily and spiritual\nlife. God has provided for man's instruction in relation to his\nspiritual needs. It is within the reach of all men in a Christian\nnation (See Isa. lv. 1-3.)\n\n+III. If he refuses what he needs, he will have what he does not\ndesire.+ He will have _poverty._ This is a calamity when\nself-inflicted. Whatever is the outcome of sin must be a calamity. If\na man refuses to submit to the correction and instruction of others\nin connection with matters relative to every-day life, he shuts\nhimself up to his own ignorance and shuts out all possibility of\nadvancing in any profession or calling. Therefore he must be poor in\nworldly wealth. And it is pre-eminently true of him who refuses the\ndisciplinary instruction of God. Such a man must be poor in a\nspiritual sense throughout eternity. And this will bring shame. Shame\nis always the result of sin. There is no shame in being poor in\nmaterial things when poverty is the outcome of righteousness, but\nthere is shame in poverty which is the result of neglected\nopportunities. What is the root of this rejection of instruction? Is\nit not pride? (See Homiletics on chap. xi. 2, page 193; also on chap.\nxii. 1, page 246.)\n\n+IV. Reproof is instruction.+ This is implied here, and in many other\npassages in this book where the words are used interchangeably. A man\nwho reproves us gives us information about ourselves. He lets us know\nhow we appear in the eyes of others. This ought to be valued by us.\nWe are too partial to see our own defects, therefore we ought to be\nglad when they are pointed out to us by another.\n\n+V. Taking reproof in a spirit of humility is the only road to\nhonour.+ In the long run, men will give honour where honour is due.\nThey will give their esteem, and respect, and confidence to men who,\nfrom moral or intellectual eminence, deserve it. And, as we have\nseen, this height can be reached only by those who are willing to be\ntaught both by God and by man.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nPoverty is in itself a want; but no misery unless shame be joined\nwith it. Shame is in itself a misery; but much greater if joined with\npoverty, which hath no means to shelter or cover it. Now both are to\nhim that refuseth instruction. For, indeed, instruction is a glorious\ntreasure, offered and opened to him who hath need of it; and,\ntherefore, to refuse it, what can be but poverty and shame? And,\nthough it be the too common fault of those that are great, either in\nriches or honour, to despise reproof, yet the most honor, the truest\nriches, are to those that embrace it. St. Bernard, therefore, writing\nunto a great person, but deserving reproof, saith \"Charity hath\nforced me to reproof thee, which grieveth with thee, although thou be\nnot grieved, and which pitieth thee, although thou pitieth not\nthyself, and therefore it doth lament the more, because thou dost not\nlament, who art to be lamented; therefore doth it pity thee the more,\nbecause thou dost not pity thyself, who art in so pitiful a\ncondition.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 19.\n\nIn common with most commentators we regard the first clause of this\nverse as embodying the same thought as that expressed in the last\nclause of verse 12. We will therefore consider the last clause only.\n\nTHE ABOMINATION OF THE FOOL.\n\nThis verse pourtrays a man whose character is most unnatural.\n\n+1. He is unnatural because he belies his origin.+ What should we say\nif we saw the son of a king taking delight in the society and in the\npastimes of the most degraded men? Or if we saw a man finding his\nenjoyment in herding with the beasts of the field? We should judge\nthat they had lost all sense of their high origin. The sinner who is\nin love with evil gives the lie to the historic fact that God made\nman in His own image.\n\n+2. He is unnatural, because he burdens himself unnecessarily.+ In\nother matters men are not wont to carry heavier burdens than they are\nobliged. They do not generally desire an increase of their load. They\nare content with what is allotted to them. The burdens of life that\nmust be borne are numerous and heavy enough for men to bear, yet this\nmoral fool must weigh himself down with the evil that he need not\nbear--the evil consequences of evil deeds. He prefers to carry about\nwith him the burden of his guilt, and all its accompanying evils. As\nwe saw in verse 15, his way is hard, yet he pursues it. In the face\nof God's expressed desire (Isa. lv. 7), that he should be rid of his\nburden, and although it weighs him to the earth \"it is an abomination\nto the fool to depart from evil.\"\n\n+3. He is unnatural, because he is an unnecessary burden on the heart\nof humanity.+ He burdens the hearts of God's children. They sigh over\nhim, because he is bad, and refuses to be better. They are weighed\ndown with a sense of his present sad condition, and the retribution\nthat awaits him. He is a burden to those who are less wicked than he,\nbecause he prevents their being better, and he adds to the burden of\nthose who are as bad as himself, because he increases their guilt by\nyielding to their temptations.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe sentence that fulfilled desire does good to the soul appears\ncommonplace; but it is comprehensive enough on the ground of Heb. xi.\nto cheer even a dying person, and conceals the ethically significant\ntruth that the blessedness of vision is measured by the degree and\nthe longing of faith. But its application in its pairing with the\nlast clause of the verse give it quite another aspect. On this\naccount, because the desire of the soul is pleasant in its\nfulfilment, fools abhor the renouncing of evil, for their desire is\ndirected to that which is morally blameworthy, and the endeavour,\nwhich they closely and constantly adhere to, is to reach the\nattainment of this design.--_Delitzsch._\n\nA canon of interpretation in Proverbs is, _In antithetical clauses an\nopposite member is often suppressed in one clause and has to be\nsupplied from the opposition of the other member in the corresponding\nclause (Gataker)._ Thus, here, the desire of the wise or _good_ being\naccomplished _by their departing from evil_ is sweet to their soul,\nbut as it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil, _their\ndesire being not accomplished is not sweet, nay, \"it maketh the heart\nsick\"_ (ver. 12). Cf. Psa. cxlv. 19: \"The Lord will fulfil the desire\nof them that fear Him.\" As the wise desire the possession of the true\ngood, and by departing from evil attain to it, so that it is \"sweet\nto the soul,\" so fools desire the possession of what is good and\n\"sweet to the soul,\" but shall have bitter and everlasting grief.\nJust as if there were two patients, both desiring health; the one\navoiding forbidden foods, and using the prescribed drugs, would\nrecover health, to his joy; the other, disliking the remedies, and\nindulging his appetite, would fail to recover and would die\n(_Gejer_). The reason why fools abominate to depart from evil is\nbecause evil is sweet to them.--_Fausset._\n\nI have three interpretations of this verse. 1. Solomon has been\nthought to express the sentiment that the final attainment and\nenjoyment of a desired good abundantly compensates for all the\nself-denial and difficulty endured in waiting for it. This is a truth\nof practical importance, holding out as it does encouragement to\nperseverance. And it is a truth which holds with unfailing certainty,\nin regard to spiritual blessings. But the fool cannot be persuaded to\ndeny himself the gratification of the passing moment, even for the\nsake of the best and highest blessings and hopes. 2. Some render, \"It\nis sweet to the soul to enjoy what we love; therefore it is an\nabomination\" etc. Here the reason or principle is assigned, from\nwhich it arises that fools will not depart from evil. Their enjoyment\nis in it. They feel that there are pleasures in sin. These pleasures\nthey love. And, as these pleasures arise from sin, sin is what they\nlike; sin is sweet, and they will indulge their present propensities,\nfor the sake of the present pleasure they yield. 3. \"Desire,\"\nsubdued, restrained, or overcome \"is sweet to the soul; but it is an\nabomination,\" etc. According to this translation the former clause\nexpresses the inward satisfaction arising from the successful curbing\nand subjugation of any sinful desire--any evil propensity. This forms\na fine and striking antithesis to the second clause. While the good\nman can hardly enjoy a greater satisfaction than is imparted by the\nexercise of self-control, and the overcoming of any powerful and\nimperative desire that has tempted and endangered his virtue; on the\ncontrary, to the ungodly, the exercise of self-restraint is irksome,\nthe denial of any sinful propensity is misery. They \"draw iniquity\nwith cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope.\" The\ncharacter is portrayed with great spirit in the tenth\nPsalm.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_A desire that has sprung up is sweet to the Soul._ (See rendering in\nCritical Notes.) A sinner can get on comparatively well when a pious\n_\"desire\"_ has been once enkindled. What is said of the lips of the\nstrange woman dropping honey (chap. v. 3) is true also in this case.\nThe soul is so near to the sinner that if there is anything sweet to\nit it is easy to follow it on. The soul once converted and conceiving\nits first desire will follow it afterward. And, therefore, the\nPsalmist begs us to \"taste and see\" (Ps. xxxiv. 8), that we may have\nthis first desire. But the unconverted man finds it loathsome to take\nthe first step. His desires that have \"come to be,\" are of another\nnature. How can a man will when unwilling? \"It is the first step\nwhich costs.\"--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 20.\n\nCOMPANIONSHIP, CONSTRUCTIVE OR DESTRUCTIVE.\n\nWe have here:--\n\n+I. Habit, assimilation, and transformation.+ 1. _Habit._ A habit is\nformed by the constant repetition of an act. Walking is the constant\nrepetition of an act. The child first gets courage to take a single\nstep, that step leads to another, and by degrees he acquires the\nhabit of walking. To walk with wise men is to have habitual\nintercourse with them, either through reading their written thoughts\nor by immediate contact with their living selves. As bodily walking\nis only acquired by practice, so it is in soul-walking--in mental and\nspiritual communion. It is at first difficult for the uninitiated to\nmaster the arguments of the wise and grasp the truths which they\nutter. But the power to do so comes by making the effort. If the wise\nmen are morally wise, it may not be so easy to apprehend Divine truth\nas they do with their keener spiritual perceptions. But constant\nintercourse and communion enable one to do so. The religious\nfaculty--the conscience--is thus developed. 2. _Assimilation._ The\nlaw of assimilation is in operation within us and around us in the\nworld of matter. The plant drinks in the moisture and chemical\nelements of the earth, and they are assimilated to itself and come\nforth in bud, and flower, and fruit. Man eats vegetable and animal\nfood and it becomes flesh and bone. The man who walks with wiser men\nthan himself imbibes their thought, and those thoughts become part of\nhimself. As the health of the body depends upon the kind of food\nwhich it assimilates and its power of assimilation, so the health of\nthe mind depends upon the character of the thoughts which it receives\nand its power of making them its own. 3. _Transformation._ It is\nimplied that those here represented as walking are, when they begin\ntheir walk, comparatively ignorant. But a constant reception and\nassimilation of the wisdom of others, whether it be intellectual or\nmoral wisdom, will in time transform the pupil into a teacher--the\nstudent into a master. The ignorant becomes in time a wise man. The\nstrong animal life nourishes the weaker--the new born--life until the\nweak child becomes as strong as the parent. So in mind and soul life.\nHence the constant repetition in this book of exhortations to receive\ninstruction. The assimilating and transforming power of intercourse\nwith the Fountain of all Wisdom by the reception of the Divine\nthought is thus set forth by Paul:--_\"But we all, with open face\nbeholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the\nsame image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord\"_\n(2 Cor. iii. 18).\n\n+II. That if our companionship is not a constructive influence, it\nwill be destructive.+ It is implied that human beings will have\ncompanionship of some kind--that if a man does not \"walk with wise\nmen,\" he will be \"the companion of fools.\" 1. _Companionship in early\nlife the outcome of necessity._ A child of foolish parents cannot\nhelp being \"the companion of fools.\" This is the sad portion of\nmillions, and it is the destruction of millions in the sense that it\nis the cause of their missing the great end of life--to glorify and\nenjoy God. 2. _But there is a companionship of choice._ When a human\nbeing comes to years of maturity he chooses his companions. He cannot\nalways choose his _associates,_ for then \"he must needs go out of the\nworld.\" And there is no necessity that those with whom duty compels\nhim to associate should exert any evil influence upon his character.\nBut \"companion\" evidently means him with whom he communes--a man\nwhose society he chooses. And if this society is not morally good, a\nman begins to deteriorate from the first moment that he enters it.\nHis choice of it is an indication of some moral flaw in his\ncharacter, and is a strong presumption that he does not intend or\ndesire to resist its destructive influence. If a sound apple is\nplaced beside one that has begun to decay, nothing is needed to\ncomplete the work of destruction in both, but that they should remain\nin contact. An utter missing of all that makes life worth\nhaving--that which our Lord calls the \"loss of the soul\"--is the\nportion of every man who does not continually grow in moral wisdom.\nFor there is no standing still. Neglect is ruin in most material\nthings. The house that is not constantly repaired will be ruined by\nthe constant action of the elements. A man is surrounded on all sides\nby adverse moral influences, and if he only neglects to _grow_ he\nwill _die._ And to grow he must \"walk with the wise.\"\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nThe following statement was made to a Wesleyan minister by a young\nman under sentence of death: \"I am the child of pious parents, who\nwere connected with the Wesleyan body. At the age of 16, through\ntheir instrumentality, and under the preaching of the Gospel, I\nbecame the subject of religious impressions. These, in the course of\ntime, were effaced; but I still continued to read the Bible and\nrespect the Sabbath. One Lord's Day I went to hear a celebrated\nminister deliver a discourse on 'Prophecy.' As I was returning I\nexpressed to an acquaintance who I met my admiration of the sermon.\nHe replied that no doubt Mr. ---- was a superior orator, and it would\nafford him great pleasure to hear him discuss on any subject having a\ntrue claim upon the attention of a rational being; but that such was\nnot the case with religion. A conversation followed, which led him to\ninvite me to his house, to hear his reasons for disbelieving the\nBible. There I met others, of a kindred spirit, and from that moment\nthey were my principal, because my favourite, associates. I soon\nadopted all their opinions as my own, and used every effort in my\npower to diffuse our common views. I could at this moment almost say\nthe bitterness of death is passed, if I were sure that no one had\nbecome an infidel through me. But I have too much reason to fear that\nmany have. Before this time I had married a very respectable young\nwoman, and had entered into business. I was, however, brought to ruin\nby my own folly and extravagance, and went to America. There, my\nprinciples not fully satisfying me, I read _Watson's Apology for the\nBible_, and similar works, and again avowed myself a believer in the\nWord of God. It was my bitter lot, however, soon to see that it is\nmuch more easy to renounce the principles of error than to cease from\nthose evil practices of which they are the productive sources. It\nwill not be wondered that, even after I had disavowed the creed of an\ninfidel, I was confirmed in the habits of infidelity, and was\n_still,_ on returning to my native land, ready to perpetrate any deed\nof darkness which the fury of passion might prompt, or the straits of\npoverty suggest. The act for which I may soon be suspended on the\ngallows is the final consummation of a wilful disbelief in the\ninspired record.\" The minister continues, \"I was often with him, and\nfound him to possess an extensive acquaintance with the Scriptures,\nand a considerable knowledge of our religious poets. As the person at\nwhom he fired, though severely wounded, was not killed, he seemed to\nthe last to expect a reprieve. The governor of the gaol entered his\ncell half-an-hour before the time which had been fixed for his\nexecution, saying, 'I have a communication from the Secretary of\nState.' A smile of hope played for a moment round his pallid face,\nbut it seemed only as if to give the gloom of despair the opportunity\nof coming in deeper and more terrible shadows over his features, for\nthe governor instantly added, 'but there is nothing said respecting\nyou--_you must therefore die._' We were again alone, and pacing his\ncell he said, with deep emotion, 'It is then a fact that I must\nsuffer the extreme penalty of the law. In a few minutes I shall be in\neternity, my wife will be a widow, and my children will be\nfatherless, bearing part of my reproach, notwithstanding they had no\npart in my guilt.' On his way to the place of execution we passed\nthrough the turnkey's room. Seeing a lad seated in a distant corner,\nhe went to him, and said, 'Look at me, and learn never to stand in\nthe way of the ungodly, nor sit in the seat of the scorner of\ntruth.'\"--_Evangelist._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe influence of society upon man is great, and was intended to be\ngreat. As the natural world is held together by the influence of\nmatter upon matter by the law of gravitation, so the moral world is\nheld together by the influence of mind upon mind. We are made to\nattract and to be attracted, to influence and to be influenced, to\ninstruct and to be instructed. But this power of mind over mind is\nnot a neutral power, it is necessarily great for evil and for good.\nPaul says that \"Evil communications corrupt good manners.\" There is\nnothing to be expected from evil companions but an increase of sin,\nand an increase of punishment. The best is a briar, the most upright\nsharper than a thorn-hedge, which will rob us of our fleece, if they\ndo not pierce our skin. Most likely they will do both.--_S. Thodey._\n\nThe literal meaning of the word _rahah,_ from which \"companion\"\ncomes, is to feed; boon-companions, who _feed_ together (chap.\nxxix. 3). There is a play upon like Hebrew sounds, in \"companion\" and\n\"destroyed,\" _roheh_ and _roang._ The Greek _Theognis_ says, \"Thou\nshalt learn good from the good; but if thou wilt associate with the\nbad, thou shalt lose even the mind thou hast.\" _Seneca_ says, \"The\nroad is long by precept; it is short and effectual by example.\" What\none sees makes more impression than what one hears. As bad air\ninjures the strongest health, so association with the bad injures the\nstrongest mind.--_Fausset._\n\nWhat you learn from bad habits and from bad society you will never\nforget, and it will be a lasting pang to you. I tell you in all\nsincerity, not as in the excitement of speech, but as I would confess\nand have confessed before God, that I would give my right hand\nto-night if I _could forget_ that which I have learned in evil\nsociety; if I could tear from my remembrance the scenes which I have\nwitnessed, the transactions which have taken place before me.--_J. B.\nGough._\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Swansea, for miles round, no vegetation\nexists, owing to the smoke from the large copper-works there: even\nso, exposure to the influence of bad companions prevents man from\ngrowing and flourishing in the Divine life.--_T. Jones._\n\nIt is not left to us to determine whether there shall be any\ninfluence; only, what that influence shall be. Joash, while he\n_walked with his wise_ guardian, was _wise._ But when, after his\nguardian's death, he became _\"a companion of fools,\"_ he was\n_\"destroyed\"_ (2 Chron. xxiv.). . . . The first warning to sinners\njust plucked out of the fire, was--\"Save yourselves from this\nuntoward generation\" (Acts ii. 40).--_Bridges._\n\nWe shall never get the good \"desire\" (ver. 19) if we keep out among\nthe wicked. In heathen lands all are _\"fools,\"_ and therefore all do\nbadly. In Christian lands piety is in circles and in families, and\nmoves in lines. The mutual influences are immense. A noble way to be\n_\"wise,\"_ is to go boldly among the good, confess Christ, and ask\ntheir prayers and influence.--_Miller._\n\nIt is better--safer, I am sure it is--to ride alone than to have a\nthief's company; and such is a wicked man, who will rob thee of\nprecious time, if he do thee no more mischief. The Nazarites, who\nmight drink no wine, were also forbidden to eat grapes, of which wine\nis made. So we must not only avoid sin itself, but also the causes\nand occasions thereof, amongst which bad company (the lime-twigs of\nthe devil) is the chiefest, especially to catch those natures which\nare most swayed by others.--_Fuller._\n\nMany scriptural illustrations press for notice. _The family of Lot,_\nsuffering from the fearful contamination of Sodom; _Rehoboam,_\nfollowing the counsel of his young companions in preference to that\nof the experienced counsellors of his father, and losing thereby\nfive-sixths of his kingdom; _Jehoshaphat,_ associating with Ahab\n\"helping the ungodly, and loving them that hated the Lord\" (2 Chron.\nxvii., xix. 1, 2), wrath, therefore, coming upon him from\nJehovah.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt is not talking with the wise, but walking with the wise that will\nmake you wise. It is not your commending and praising of the wise,\nbut your walking with the wise that will make you wise. It is not\nyour taking a few turns with the wise that will make you wise, but\nyour walking with the wise that will make you wise. There is no\ngetting much good by them that are good but by making them your\nordinary and constant companions. Ah, friends! you should do as\nJoseph in Egypt, of whom the Scripture saith--Psa. cv. 22--(according\nto the Hebrew phrase) that he tied the princes of Pharaoh's court\nabout his heart. If ever you would gain by the saints, you must bind\nthem upon your souls. The Jews have a proverb that two dry sticks put\nto a green one will kindle it. The best way to be in a flame Godward,\nChristward, heavenward, and holinessward, is to be among the dry\nsticks, the kindle-coals, the saints; for as live coals kindle those\nthat are dead, so lively Christians will heat and enliven those that\nare dead.--_Brooks._\n\n_Character affected by intercourse. He that walks with religious men\nwill become religious._ Walking signifies a continued course of\nconduct. To walk with religious men is not to mingle with them\noccasionally, or to unite with them in performing some of the more\npublic duties of religion. Ahithophel, who died as a fool dieth,\nwalked with David to the house of God in company. It is not to live\nin a pious family, for a person may do this without making its\nmembers his associates. Nor does uniting with religious men in\npromoting some of the great objects which the Christian world is now\npursuing, necessarily prove that we walk with them, for this may be\ndone from a wrong motive. To walk with them is to choose them for our\nassociates, our fellow travellers in the journey of life; and this\nimplies an agreement with them in our views and objects of pursuit.\nCan two walk together, says the prophet, except they be agreed? In\norder that two persons may walk together they must be agreed, first,\nas to the place to which they will go, and secondly, they must agree\nin opinion as to the way that leads to that place. If they disagree\non either point they will soon separate. Every religious man is\ntravelling towards heaven, and all who would walk with them must make\nheaven the object of their pursuit. The only way to heaven is Jesus\nChrist, and all who walk with religious persons must at least assent\nto this truth although they may not immediately and cordially embrace\nit. He who perseveres in this course will become religious. 1. The\nsimple fact that he chooses such associates proves that he is already\nthe subject of religious impressions--that the Spirit of God is\nstriving with him. 2. He will see and hear many things which\npowerfully tend to increase and perpetuate his serious impressions.\nHe moves in a circle where God, the soul, and salvation are regarded\nas of supreme importance--where religion is presented to him--not as\na cold abstraction, but living in the persons of its disciples. 3. No\none will continue to walk with religious persons after his serious\nimpressions are effaced, and it is presumed that no one who continued\nto be the subject of religious impressions for any length of time\never failed to become religious. It is true persons may be seriously\naffected, occasionally, and perhaps for years together, and at\ndifferent seasons may associate much with religious characters\nwithout becoming religious; but such persons cannot be said to walk\nwith good men in the sense of the text; for their religious\nimpressions are often effected for a considerable time, and long\nintervals of carelessness succeed, during which they, in a measure,\nforsake religious society.--_Payson._\n\nIt is not for us to let our hearts have their own way in the\nselection of companions. On that choice depend interests too great to\nbe safely left to chance. The issue to be decided is not what herd\nyou shall graze with a few years before your spirit returns to the\ndust; but what moral element you shall move in during the few and\nevil days of your life, till your spirit returns to God who gave it.\nI like this companion; he fascinates me; I cannot want him; an\nenforced separation would be like tearing myself asunder. Well, if\nthat companion's heart be godless, and his steps already slipping\nbackward and downward, why not tear yourself asunder? The act will be\npainful, no doubt, but \"skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will\nhe give for his life.\"--_Arnot._\n\nHe that comes where sweet spices and ointments are stirring, doth\ncarry away some of the sweet savour, though he think not of it; so\nholiness is such an elixir as by contraction (if there be any\ndisposition of goodness in the same metal), it will render it of the\nproperty.--_Trapp._\n\nAll sorts of companions are market men, and they usually traffic\ntogether, when they meet together, whether they be good or bad, the\nwares being commonly precious or vile, according to the dispositions\nof the persons who utter them.--_Dod._\n\nIt is not said, he that sitteth still with the wise, for both sitting\nstill, neither doth the one teach nor the other learn. But he that\nwhen a wise man walketh in the ways of wisdom, walketh also with him\nby following his example and steps, he it is that shall be wise. To\nbe with the wise, and not in their ways of wisdom, is to be out of\nthe way for getting any good by them. Be therefore with them so as\nthat their wisdom may be with thee.--_Jermin._\n\nNo person that is an enemy to God can be a friend to man. He that has\nalready proved himself ungrateful to the Author of every blessing\nwill not scruple, when it will serve his turn, to shake off a\nfellow-worm like himself. He may render you instrumental to his own\npurposes, but he will never benefit you.--_Bishop Coleridge._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nPURSUIT AND REPAYMENT.\n\n+I. Evil pursues sinners because sinners pursue evil.+ The huntsman\nwho pursues the hare in the direction of a precipice is pursuing a\ncourse which, if continued, must be followed by evil. It is an evil\nthing for him to follow such a trifle at such a risk. There is evil\nbefore him in the form of the precipice, and evil will follow if he\ncontinues to pursue his present course. Should he try his strength\nagainst the law of gravitation by leaping over the precipice, he will\nfind that law will exact its penalty. There are but two things that\nwill prevent evil from pursuing him, either he must desist from his\npresent course or a great law of nature must be suspended. The first\nalternative rests with himself, the second does not. He will find\nthat this \"battle is to the strong,\" and that \"the race is to the\nswift,\" even to the mighty law which holds together the material\nuniverse. So with sinners against the moral law. \"Evil be to him who\nevil thinks\" is a wish that is always fulfilled. It is a law in\nconstant operation. The consequence of pursuing evil in the form of\nevil thinking _is_ evil thinking, the consequence of evil feeling\n_is_ evil feeling, the consequence of evil doing _is_ evil doing, for\nit is the tendency of evil to repeat itself, and this in itself is a\npunishment. Peter speaks of sinners who \"cannot cease from sin\"\n(2 Pet. ii. 14). They have sinned until they have bound themselves in\nfetters of sinful habit. Evil, in this sense, pursues them, and will\npursue them so long as they pursue it. Then there is, of course, the\npositive retribution, which both in time and beyond time visits\npursuers of evil. Of this we have several times treated.\n\n+II. Good men are repaid with good because their characters are\nrighteous.+ The law of repayment runs through nature. He who sows\nseed is repaid by a harvest. All her forces--rain, sunlight, heat and\ncold--combine to give back to the husbandman that which he has\nentrusted to her care. And she repays of the same kind, wheat for the\nsowing of wheat, thistles for the planting of thistles. She also\nrepays with liberal interest. One head of thistledown scattered over\na field will reproduce a hundred heads in a few months. One grain of\ncorn will produce an ear of thirty or forty grains. The law in the\nkingdom of nature is also the law of the kingdom of grace. Evil sown,\nas we have just seen under another metaphor, necessitates a reaping\nof evil. Good sown endures a reaping of good. And grace is not behind\nnature in liberal repayment. He who sows handfuls shall reap armfuls.\nHe that goes forth with the _seed basket_ returns with _sheaves_ (Ps.\ncxxvi. 6). The one \"corn of wheat bears much fruit\" (John xii. 24).\nThis repayment begins in time, and extends beyond it. Righteousness\nas well as sin is its own present reward, and is the present first\nfruits. But the righteous man must wait for the \"resurrection of the\njust\" for the abundant harvest.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Evil\"_ is rapacious in its gains. Each inch _\"evil\"_ holds. It\nnever lets back any advance. It is versatile to tempt, and ruins with\nmany instruments while the good, however, have just the opposite lot.\nThey gain by every advance. Each act that is holy in their lives is\nrewarded by better acts and higher holiness on through their whole\nprobation,--nay, eternally! The pit is bottomless. But evil never\nceases to hound sinners and make them worse.--_Miller._\n\nThe reprobation here is very striking. \"Evil _pursueth_ sinners.\" It\nfollows them every step. It keeps pace with the progress of time.\nEach moment it comes nearer. Silent and unperceived it tracks them\nthrough their whole course. Insensibly it gains upon them; and at\nlast--it may be suddenly and when least expected--it seizes and\ndestroys them.--_Wardlaw._\n\nNot the smallest good, even \"a cup of cold water to a disciple\"\n(Matt. x. 42), or honour shown to his servants (Matt. x. 41; 1 Kings\nxvii. 16-23) shall \"lose its reward\" (Heb. vi. 10). And if a single\nact is thus remembered much more \"a course, a flight held out to the\nend\" (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8). How manifestly is this the constitution of\ngrace; that when perfect obedience can claim no recompense (Luke\nxvii. 10), such unworthy, such defiled work should be so honoured\nwith an infinite overwhelming acceptance.--_Bridges._\n\nTo be out of the hands of evil is not to be free from it; for it\nstill pursueth sinners, and it ceaseth not until it be gotten to the\nplace where they are. . . . For, as St. Augustine saith, that God\ndoth not forthwith avenge sinners is His patience, not His\nnegligence. Wherefore it is to be feared lest by how much He stays\nthe longer that we may repent, by so much He will punish us the more,\nif that we will not amend.--_Jermin._\n\nCaius--Agrippa having suffered imprisonment for wishing him\nemperor--when he came afterwards to the empire, the first thing he\ndid was to prefer Agrippa, and give him a chain of gold as heavy as\nthe chain of iron that was on him in prison. Those that lose anything\nfor God He seals them a bill of exchange of a double return.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nAN INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE.\n\n+I. A good man has always spiritual inheritance to leave his\nchildren.+ He has always his own holy character and example. And this\nis often of great service to them in a material point of view. Men\nwho have obtained fame in the world leave their children the\ninheritance of a famous name, which is often a fortune in itself. The\nson or daughter of a famous man can command positions of worldly\nadvantage which are closed against the children of obscure parents.\nBut while a famous father can leave his fame as an inheritance to his\nchildren he cannot ensure to them the possession of the genius by\nwhich he gained it. Talent is not hereditary, and it often happens\nthat a very gifted father has very common-place children. But moral\nworth--a godly character--is an inheritance that not only makes a son\nrespected in the world for his father's sake, but is very likely to\nmake him also a partaker of the same godliness. A good man's\ncharacter is not hereditary, but it is very apt to propagate other\ncharacters of the same kind. This inheritance of a good man is an\nincorruptible inheritance. No inheritance of lands or money are\nentirely out of reach of the changes and chances of human life, but\nthe example, and the memory, and the blessings which have come from a\ngodly parentage, make an inheritance which, like the heavenly one,\n\"fadeth not away.\" It is the best possible safeguard that a father\ncan leave his children against the temptations of the world, the\nflesh, and the devil. The remembrance of what belief in the Gospel\ndid for a holy father has saved many a son for drifting on the\nquicksands of infidelity. There have been times in the history of\nmany a child of godly parents, when such an anchor has been the only\none which has held them from \"making shipwreck of faith\" (1 Tim.\ni. 19). The character of a good man is such an indisputable fact, and\nis so entirely unexplainable on any other ground than that of the\nexistence of a supernatural and Divine power, that it constitutes an\nunanswerable argument for the truth of revelation. And so with every\nother form of evil that assails men. The inheritance which Christ has\nleft to his disciples--to His spiritual children--is His _character._\nThis has produced and reproduced its own kind through all the ages\nsince His sojourn upon earth. This has held them to the faith in the\ndark days of persecution. And when the infidel himself has come face\nto face with it, even he has been compelled to acknowledge the\nintrinsic worth of the children's portion. This holy life, lived\namong sinful men, has been the \"unsearchable riches\" (Ephes. iii. 8)\nof one Christian generation after another, for more than eighteen\ncenturies, and it is by virtue of this inheritance that good men have\nbeen enabled to transmit to their posterity their own godly lives and\nexamples.\n\n+II. A good man may have a material as well as a moral inheritance to\nbequeath.+ He may possess both character and substance. But the fact\nthat a man is good is no guarantee that he will have any worldly\nwealth to leave behind him. If Lord Bacon's assertion be correct,\nthat \"Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, and adversity\nthe blessing of the New,\" he is quite as likely to die poor as rich.\nStill there is often a blessing of some amount of material riches\ngiven to honest labour, and probably there are far more godly men in\nproportion to their number, who acquire _some_ inheritance to leave\nbehind them, than there are godless men. (See on verse 11, etc.)\n\n+III. Good men sometimes inherit wealth which has been gathered by\nbad men.+ It is not a universal rule, but it may be oftener fulfilled\nthan we are aware of. It may be inherited by generations of wicked\nmen and at last come into the hands of a just one. That it should be\nso is seen to be a wise and good law of providence. 1. _Because a\ngood man will make a far better use of \"the mammon of\nunrighteousness.\"_ He will use it to minister to both the bodily and\nspiritual needs of his fellow-creatures as well as his own.\n2. _Because the laid-up wealth of the wicked has often been obtained\nby defrauding the good._ God does not always cause it to be repaid to\nthe identical _persons_ who were thus defrauded, but He may often\ncause it to be restored to identical _characters._ This proverb must\nbe taken to assert the straightforward motion of the wheels of\nprovidence, although by reason of their \"great height\" (Ezek.\ni. 18),--their vast circumference--they take a long time to go round.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe usurer lightly begets blind children that cannot see to keep what\ntheir father left them. But when the father is gone to hell for\ngathering, the son often follows for scattering. But God is\njust.--_T. Adams._\n\nThat the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just appears to have\nbeen a prominent feature of the Old Dispensation (chap. xxviii. 8;\nJob xxvii. 16, 17), and it will be openly renewed in the latter-day\nglory of the Church (Isa. lxi. 6).--_Bridges._\n\nThis is the direct promise of heaven (Psa. ciii. 17; Prov. xxii. 6).\nThat it ever fails, must be by palpable neglect. A man may be saved\nhimself, and lose his children; but the Bible speaks of this as the\nparent's fault (1 Sam. iii. 13; Prov. xiii. 24), and brands it as the\ngreat curse upon the earth (Mal. iv. 6). While the sinner not only\ncannot send down his wealth, but cannot himself possess it. It is a\ncurse to him. It will be used for the saints (Matt.\nxxv. 28).--_Miller._\n\nIt is quite clear that in this and other passages an inheritance is\nregarded _as a good,_ and that no blame is attached to \"the good man\"\nwho leaves it to his children. The principle expressed in the latter\nclause is the same as that laid down by the apostle, _\"All things are\nyours,\"_ and, among other things, \"the world.\" That may most truly be\ncalled mine, from which I derive the greatest possible benefit it can\nbe made to yield. It would be strange, indeed, were I to wish\nanything else, or anything more. . . . The wicked man calls his\nwealth _his own._ But it is _God's._ God is the friend of His\nchildren, and holds that property, like everything else, for their\ngood; so that it is _theirs_ by being _His._--_Wardlaw._\n\nPersonal goodness profiteth for posterity. God gives not to His\nservants some small annuity for life only, as great men used to do,\nbut \"keepeth mercy for thousands\" of generations \"of them that fear\nHim.\" The opposite is not perpetually and universally true of every\nwicked person, . . . but, together with their lands, they bequeath\ntheir children their sins and punishments, which is far worse than\nthat legacy of leprosy that Joab left his issue (2 Sam.\niii. 29).--_Trapp._\n\nAn expression of trust like that in Eccles. ii. 26, that in the long\nrun the anomalies of the world are rendered even.--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nLAND AND ITS TILLERS.\n\n+I. That untilled land+ (see Critical Notes) +possesses a latent\npower to produce food.+ There are many things in nature in which\nthere exists a latent power to minister to man's needs; but his hand\nmust be put forth to arouse the sleeping power. There is heat in coal\nto warm him, but he must kindle the coal before it will put it forth.\nSo in the earth, there are stores of life-giving power wrapped up in\nits bosom, but the hand of man must till it before it will yield him\nfood. And it will yield food to the poor man as well as to the rich;\nhis hard toil will be rewarded by receiving bread for his labour.\n\n+II. That though much food is to be got out of the land by the poor\nman, yet more is to be got out of it by the rich.+ This is implied in\nthe contrast, though it is not directly expressed.--(See Fausset's\nNote in the Comments.) The poor man cannot spend so much upon his\nland as the rich man can. He can give little beside hard labour,\nwhile the man who possesses wealth can call in every appliance to\nincrease the fruitfulness of the land. It is well known that the more\nliberally a land is farmed the more abundant will be the crop.\n\n+III. Yet want of judgment--_i.e.,_ a sense of justice, often leads a\nrich man to neglect to cultivate his land so as to increase its power\nof yielding food.+ All landowners are responsible to God for a right\nuse of His earth. Holding in their hands, as they do, the power of\nmaking food abundant or scarce, they have much for which to give an\naccount to Him whose stewards they are. When they turn into\nhunting-grounds and parks for their own exclusive use acres of land\nwhich, if cultivated, would yield much food, and thus lighten the\nburdens of their poorer fellow-creatures, they \"destroy it for want\nof judgment,\" or \"justice.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nBy the rule of interpretation by the contrast of opposites, and by\nsupplying the wanting member in one clause from its opposite\nexpressed in the other clause, the sense is, \"But there is food\n(wealth) possessed by rich men that is destroyed for want of honesty\nin its acquisition and its employment.\" The poor man's (honest)\nlabour forms the contrast to the rich man's \"want of justice\" in his\nacquisitions. The _newly_ tilled land of the poor forms the contrast\nto the rich man's possessions held for some time.--_Fausset._\n\nWhat is the practical or extended application? If talents lie\ninactive, or if their activity is not wisely directed, a rich harvest\nis _destroyed for want of judgment._ The same ruin flows from a\nneglect of religious advantages. The harvest of grace withers into a\nfamine. Slothful professor! rouse thyself to _till_ the ground; else\nthou wilt starve for want of _food._ Then let thy roused energy be\ndirected by a _sound judgment;_ for want of which, the fruits of\nindustry, temporal, intellectual, and spiritual, will run to\nwaste.--_Bridges._\n\nThere seems an interesting connection between the former verse and\nthis. Talk of _inheritances!_ says the poor man, with his scanty\nmeans and daily hard toil; _we_ have no inheritance, either _from_\nour fathers, or _for_ our children: all is homely with us, and likely\nto remain so. Well, says Solomon, the poor man is not without his\nconsolations, even of a temporal nature, _\"much food is in the\ntillage of the poor.\"_ The maxim is not to be confined to the one\nkind of labour specified, but extends equally to all the different\nmodes in which the poor make their daily bread. The poor peasant, who\ncultivates his plot industriously and by \"the sweat of his brow,\"\nwill, through the Divine blessing, procure thereby an ample supply of\n_food_ for himself and his family, and industry and tidy economy will\nmake the cottage fireside and table snug and comfortable, and its\nlowly tenants will enjoy plenty, though in a plain and homely form.\nOn the other hand, how often in the case of those who obtain\n_inheritances_ may the poor see the saying verified, \"There is that\nis destroyed for want of _judgment._\" By prodigality, by bad\nmanagement, they waste their fortunes. Their lands are extensive, but\nunproductive; or if productive, the product is mis-spent and\nsquandered; it goes, no one can tell how. To such persons the homely\ncomfort of the poor is a just object of envy; far more, in many\ncases, than the wealth of the rich is to the poor.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe proverbial sense is, that a little is made much by God's blessing\nand pains, and that much is made little by wickedness and\ncarelessness.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nTHE CHILD AND THE ROD.\n\n+I. Pain is a necessary instrument in human training.+ The rod is to\nbe included in the means of education. Some natures need an\nexperience of pain to quicken their _mental_ capabilities. Sometimes\nchildren are like untilled land (see ver. 23), they have large\ncapabilities lying dormant, which will not awaken unless they are\nsubjected to severe discipline and punished for their shortcomings.\nAnd what is necessary in intellectual training is also necessary in\nmoral training. Children must be made to feel that pain is the\noutcome of transgression, and evil habits must if possible be crushed\nwhile in the bud. They can be overcome then at the expense of far\nless suffering than when they have taken firmer hold, and the pain is\nas nothing compared with that which the habits themselves will\ninflict if they are allowed to go on through life and enthrall the\nsoul entirely. A thorn which has but just entered the skin can be\nextracted with a very small amount of suffering, even by an unskilful\nhand; if left for a few days it may produce a festering wound; if not\nextracted at all, it may end in mortification. The fear of suffering\nis also a great _preventive_ of sin. The Great Father of men uses it\nas an instrument to dissuade men from breaking His laws. He warns\nthem, over and over again, of the suffering which they will bring\nupon themselves if they disobey His commands and their experience of\nthe suffering that has followed sin in the past often leads them to\navoid it in the future. And what is effectual in the training of men\nis effectual also with children. They will often avoid the repetition\nof an act which they know has brought them punishment before and will\ndo so again. This fear of pain is not the highest motive for\nabstinence from wrong-doing, but in both the child and the man it may\nbe the foundation of an upbuilding of character which shall by-and-by\ngo on growing in goodness without this instrumentality.\n\n+II. That infliction of pain is compatible with the highest love, and\nis often a token of it.+ The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews\ntells us that God scourges His children whenever He sees that they\nneed it. And yet they have become His children only by the exercise\nof His own Infinite love. But we know that He chastens not for His\npleasure, but for our profit (Heb. xii. 10); that He has love and\nwisdom enough to see the \"far-off interest of tears.\" So it is the\nfather or mother, who truly loves his or her child, who is willing to\nundergo the present suffering of inflicting pain in order to ensure a\nfuture blessing to their children. \"You only have I known of all the\nfamilies of the earth; _therefore_ I will punish you for your\niniquities\" (Amos iii. 2). What is true of the Divine parent is true\nalso of the human. It follows--\n\n+III. That the neglect of chastisement is a proof of the want of real\nlove.+ \"He that spareth his rod _hateth_ his son.\" What should we\nthink of a father who would see his child bleed to death rather than\nbind up the wound, because in so doing he would inflict some present\nbodily pain upon the child, and some mental suffering upon himself?\nOr of the physician who would not use the knife to stop the progress\nof mortal disease because the patient shrinks from the incision, and\nhe himself is averse to the sight of blood? We should say they were\ndestroyers of life which had been entrusted to them to preserve. But\nwhat shall we say of a parent who is so fond of his child that he\ncannot inflict pain upon him now for deeds that, if repeated until\nthey become habits, will ruin him for time and for eternity? Such\nsickly sentimentalism in a parent makes him unworthy of his name, and\nturns him who should have been his child's highest earthly blessing\ninto his direst curse. Many inmates of our gaols are there because\nthey have been the victims of this so-called love; and when God sums\nup their misdeeds a large portion of the guilt will fall elsewhere\nthan on the child cursed by such a parent.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFond parents think it love (that spares the rod), but Divine wisdom\ncalls it hatred.--_John Howe._\n\nThe discipline of our children must commence with self-discipline.\nNature teaches us to love them much. But we want a controlling\nprinciple to teach us to love them wisely. The indulgence of our\nchildren has its root in self-indulgence.--_Bridges._\n\nThe phrase \"betimes,\" or \"early in the morning,\" admonisheth parents\nto procure the means of their children's welfare before all other\nmatters; and, as it were, as soon as they rise out of their beds. The\nLord be merciful to us for the neglect of this duty; for if we have\nany worldly business to do we go first about that, and then teach and\ninstruct our children at our leisure. O reckless carelessness about\nthe chiefest matters! Oh that as we use to feed our children in the\nmorning so we could once be brought to instruct them also\nbetimes.--_Muffet._\n\nJustice must be observed in the correction of children. 1. That there\nis a fault committed. 2. That the fault so committed deserveth\npunishment. 3. That the punishment do not exceed the quality of the\nfault, which will otherwise seem to rage and revenge rather than to\nchastise for amendment.--_Spencer._\n\n_To spare the rod_ in the first clause being opposed to _chastening_\nin the second, by the rod must be meant not only that particular\ninstrument of punishment, but everything besides that may prove the\nmeans of our correction and amendment. And by chastisement is here\nintended every means of correction, every means of effecting what we\nintend by chastening, whether it be reproof, restraint of liberty,\ndisappointment of our children's wills, or corporal punishment. By\n_loving_ and _hating_ is not here meant the exerting actually those\npassions in the heart, for then the text would be untrue, but the\nacting agreeably to the _reason,_ and not the _blindness_ of those\npassions; the producing such effects as are in God's account, and in\nwise men's too, and in our own when freed from partial prejudices;\nthe consequences and fruits of love and hatred acting regularly, such\nas are commonly esteemed the effects of those two causes, whether\nthey indeed proceed from them or no. For if we are to reckon of love\nor hatred by the effects, then it is easy to discern when parents\nhate their children, namely, when, through neglect or fondness, they\npermit them to enter on a course of ruin, and so let them fall into\nsuch miseries as the utmost hatred of their inveterate enemies could\nneither wish nor make them greater, whatever love there may be at the\nbottom. A mother is as much a murderess who stifles her child in a\nbed of roses as she that does it with a pillow-bear _(pillow-case)._\nThe end and mischief is as great, though the means and instrument be\nnot the same.--_Bishop Fleetwood._\n\nHe that spareth the rod from his son maketh him to be _his rod,_\nwherewith he whips himself, and wherewith God whips both of them. It\nis better thy son should feel thy rod than thou feel the sorrow of\nhis wicked life. And do not _hate_ him in not correcting of him, lest\nhe _hate thee_ by thy not correcting of him, and God shew His hatred\nagainst both by His wrath upon you.--_Jermin._\n\nThe Koh-i-noor diamond, when it came into the Queen's possession, was\na mis-shapen lump. It was very desirable to get its corners cut off\nand all its sides reduced to symmetry; but no unskilful hand was\npermitted to touch it. Men of science were summoned to consider its\nnature and capabilities. They examined the form of its crystals and\nthe consistency of its parts. They considered the direction of the\ngrain, and the side on which it would bear a pressure. With their\ninstructions, the jewel was placed in the hands of an experienced\nlapidary, and by long, patient, careful labour, its sides were ground\ndown to the desired proportions. The gem was hard, and needed a heavy\npressure; the gem was precious, and every precaution was taken which\nscience and skill could suggest to get it polished into shape without\ncracking it in the process. The effort was successful. The hard\ndiamond was rubbed down into forms of beauty, and yet sustained no\ndamage by the greatness of the pressure to which it was subjected.\n\"Jewels, bright jewels,\" in the form of little children, are the\nheritage which God gives to every parent. They are unshapely and need\nto be polished; they are brittle and so liable to be permanently\ninjured by the pressure; but they are stones of peculiar\npreciousness, and if they were successfully polished they would shine\nas stars for ever and ever, giving off, from their undimming edge,\nmore brilliantly than other creatures can, the glory which they get\nfrom the Sun of Righteousness. Those who possess these diamonds in\nthe rough should neither strike them unskilfully nor let them be\nuncut. . . . Prayer and pains must go together in this difficult\nwork. Lay the whole case before our Father in heaven; this will take\nthe hardness out of the correction, without diminishing its\nstrength.--_Arnot._\n\nCorrection is a kind of cure, saith the philosopher (Arist. _Ethic._\nlib. ii.), the likeliest way to save the child's soul; where, yet,\nsaith Bernard, it is the care of the child that is charged upon the\nparent, not the cure, that is God's work alone.--_Trapp._\n\nIn order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is\n_to conquer the will._ To inform the understanding is a work of time,\nand must, with children, proceed by slow degrees, as they are able to\nbear it; but the subjecting of the will must be done at once, _and\nthe sooner the better;_ for, by neglecting timely correction, they\nwill contract a stubbornness and obstinacy which are hardly ever\nconquered, and not without using such severity as would be as painful\nto me as to the child. I insist upon the conquering of the will\nbetimes, because this is the only strong and rational foundation of a\nreligious education, without which both precept and example will be\nineffectual. But when this is thoroughly done, a child is capable of\nbeing governed by the wisdom and piety of its parents till its own\nunderstanding comes to maturity, and the principles of religion have\ntaken root in the mind.--_Mrs. S. Wesley._\n\nIt is _his_ rod that must be used, the rod of a parent, not the rod\nof a servant.--_Henry._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nWANT AND SATISFACTION.\n\n+I. The limited truth of the assertion in relation both to the\nrighteous and the wicked.+ Read in the light of personal experience,\nand in the light of history, it is found _true,_ and is found _not\ntrue_ in the case of the righteous. Elijah _ate to satisfaction_\nbeside the brook Cherith, while many of his idolatrous countrymen\nsuffered _want._ But Paul was often in hunger (2 Cor. xi. 27), while\nNero lived in luxury. Christians have died from hunger, and others\nhave had all their bodily wants supplied all their lives, and\nsometimes by most remarkable providential interpositions. Godliness\nis often profitable in this sense for the \"life that now is\" (1 Tim.\niv. 8), but not always, and wickedness often brings a man literally\nto the condition of the prodigal when he would \"fain have filled his\nbelly with the husks that the swine did eat;\" but many a wicked man,\nlike him of the parable (Luke xvi. 19), have \"fared sumptuously every\nday\" from their cradle to their grave. To take our text as absolutely\ntrue of material food would be to contradict the testimony of\nScripture itself.\n\n+II. Its absolute truth in relation to both characters.+ 1. _That\nwickedness gives a man no real satisfaction is a fact of experience._\nMen have testified over and over again that while they lived in sin\nthey knew nothing of real heart-satisfaction and rest, and have borne\nwitness to the words of St. Augustine, who spoke from experience when\nhe said, \"Thou hast made us for thyself, and the heart is restless\ntill it finds rest in Thee.\" A man who feeds upon unwholesome food is\nalways in want, because that upon which he feeds is not suited to\nmeet the demands of his physical frame, so it is with the soul of a\ngodless man. 2. _The history of the world testifies that it is so._\nThe unrest of the ungodly is the explanation of much of the ambition,\nof many of the selfish schemes of some men, as well as the voluntary\nasceticism, the self-imposed sufferings of others. The key to both is\nthat they have spent _\"money for that which is not bread, and their\nlabour for that which satisfieth not\"_ (Isa. lv. 2). The teaching of\nChrist confirms it. Want was the condition of the prodigal; he wanted\nthe bread which his father's home and table alone could supply.\n\"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye\nhave no life in you\" (John vi. 53). On this subject see Dr. Arnot's\nremarks on verse 12 in the comments on that verse. 3. _That there is\nsatisfaction in sainthood is declared by Christ, and testified to be\ntrue by all His followers._ The bread upon which a renewed man feeds\nis the Divine Word--the thoughts of God in the abstract, and the\npersonal thought or word _Jesus Christ._ \"As the living Father hath\nsent Me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me shall live by\nMe\" (John vi. 57). And life is but another word for satisfaction. \"He\nthat believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly\nshall flow rivers of living water\" (John vii. 38). Millions of men\nand women in all circumstances, both poor and rich in worldly wealth,\nhave set their \"seal that God is true\" (John iii. 33) when He invites\nmen to \"hearken diligently unto Him, and eat that which is good, and\nlet their souls delight themselves in fatness\" (Isa. lv. 2).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nOne of the confidences of the wicked is that he, at least, has his\npleasure in this world. The inspired Solomon denies it. He himself\nhas left us an experience (Eccles. i). The righteous man seeks\nrighteousness and peace, and these things do satisfy him. He seeks\nthem, not as the world does, under a mistake, but for what they\nreally are. He seeks them more and more as he knows them better, and\nshall be seeking them and enjoying them though eternal ages. _\"But\nthe wicked,\"_ even in his _\"belly,\"_ wants. His delights, even of the\nmore carnal sort, are not to be directly gazed at. If they are, they\nvanish. He cannot trust himself to theorise over any solid pleasures.\nSo hollow are they that he would not live over again the history of\nthe past, and so poor that he grows tired of enjoying them.--_Miller._\n\nHave he more or less, he hath that which satisfies him. Nature is\ncontent with little, grace with less. If Jacob may have but \"bread to\neat and raiment to put on\" it sufficeth him; and this he dare be bold\nto promise himself. Beg his bread he hopes he shall not, but if he\nshould, he can say with Luther (who made many a meal of a broiled\nherring) \"Let us be content to fare hard here: have we not the bread\nthat came down from heaven?\"--_Trapp._\n\nTo have to eat is the common mercy of God, who openeth His hand and\nfeedeth all things living. To have enough to eat is a great mercy in\nitself, and greater than man's nature, which hath never enough of\nsinning anyway deserveth; but to be _satisfied_ with that which is\nenough is a peculiar property bestowed on the righteous. The belly of\nthe wicked wanting enough to eat in some degree is punished for\nfeeding too greedily on the husks of sin. Wanting all food is more\nhardly punished, and it may be for the hardness of their hearts in\nresisting all instruction; but that it shall _want_ though it have\nenough, this is a severe punishment of wickedness, though thought to\nbe the least. The wise man doth not speak of the want of the _mouth_\nof the wicked as showing that the mouth should have sufficient, and\nyet the belly be punished with want in not being satisfied.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_HOMILETIC TREATMENT OF THE CHAPTER AS A WHOLE._\n\n\"The true Christian education of children.\" (1) Its basis: God's Word\n(vers. 1, 13, 14); (2) Its means: Love and strictness in inculcating\nGod's Word (vers. 1, 18, 24); (3) Its aim: Guidance of the youth to\nthe promotion of his temporal and eternal welfare (vers. 2 sq. 16\nsq.)--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Wise woman,+ or \"woman's wisdom.\" +2. He that\nwalketh,+ etc., or, \"He walketh in his uprightness who feareth\nJehovah, and perverse in his ways is he that despiseth Him\"\n_(Delitzsch.)_ +3. Rod,+ or \"sceptre.\" Z\u00f6ckler reads, \"In the mouth of\na fool is a rod _for_ his pride.\" Stuart, \"Haughtiness is a rod,\"\netc. +5.+ Miller here translates, \"He who witnesses things correctly,\ndoes not lie; but of a deceived witness the very breath is lies\" (See\nhis comments on the verse). +6.+ Rather, \"The scorner has sought\nwisdom,\" etc. +7.+ Stuart translates the latter clause, \"_for_ thou\nhast not discerned,\" etc.; Miller, \"_and_ thou shalt not know,\" etc.\n+8. Deceit,+ or \"deception.\" +9.+ Many translators read this verse,\n\"The sacrifice,\" or \"the sin-offering, makes a sport of,\" or \"mocks\nfools.\" So Z\u00f6ckler, Elster, Ewald, Stuart, Wordsworth, etc. Miller\ntranslates, \"Sin makes a mock at fools.\" +Among,+ or \"to.\"\n+10.+ Z\u00f6ckler reads the latter clause, \"Let no stranger,\" etc. Miller\nrenders the whole verse, \"A knowing heart is a bitterness to itself;\nbut with its joy it does not hold intercourse as an enemy.\"\n+11. Tabernacle,+ \"tent.\" +13. The heart is sorrowful,+ or \"will be\"\n(perchance). +14. Filled with,+ _i.e.,_ \"satisfied with.\" Stuart\ntranslates the latter clause, \"Away from him is the good man,\"\n_i.e.,_ he will keep aloof from the backslider. +16. Rageth,+ \"is\npresumptuous,\" or \"haughty.\" +21. Poor,+ or \"suffering\"\n_(Delitzsch)._ +24.+ Or, \"It is a crown to the wise when they are\nrich, but the folly of fools remains folly\" _(Delitzsch)._\n+28.+ Miller translates, \"In a _great_ people.\" +30. A sound heart,+\n\"a quiet heart.\" +Envy,+ \"passion,\" \"perturbation.\" +32. Driven\nforth,+ or \"thrust lower\" _(Miller)._ Delitzsch translates, \"When\nmisfortune befals him, the wicked is overthrown, but the righteous\nhath hope even in his death.\" +34.+ The Hebrew word for _reproach_\nmeans also \"mercy.\" Hence Gejer and Miller translate \"Mercy for\nnations is the sin-offering,\" the word _sin_ being often used to\nexpress the sin-offering. +35.+ Miller reads, \"The kindness of a king\nis a wise servant, but his wrath becomes one that bringeth shame\"\n(See his comments).\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nTHE HOUSE BUILDER AND THE HOUSE DESTROYER.\n\n+I. A woman's special sphere of work--her house.+ In this word is\nincluded all that in any way relates to the home life. Woman's\nrelation to it is three-fold. 1. _The house--properly so-called--the\ninterior of the building, is under her especial care._ It is her\ntemple of service, she is its priestess. As the female priestess in\nthe Roman temple and the Hebrew priest in the temple of God were\nresponsible for the internal order of their temples, so is every\nwoman responsible for the order, the cleanliness, and comfort of the\nhouse of which she is the social priestess. It is _her_ house, and in\nit she is expected to perform duties to which she is not called in\nany other house. Her oversight and presence, if not her actual\nlabour, are indispensable to the proper arrangement of everything in\nit. 2. _The affairs or business of the house is her special care._ It\nis for her to preside over the domestic economy of the house--over\nthat which we call _housekeeping._ All transactions of this nature\nseem naturally to fall within her jurisdiction, and it looks odd and\nout of place to see them in other hands. 3. _She is specially related\nto the life of the house._ If she is a mother, she, above all others,\nhas the charge of the children, her opportunities for influencing\nthem are greater than those possessed by the father. Her life is\nalways before them. Her words are treasured up and repeated by them.\nIf she is a mistress, the servants are under her special jurisdiction\nand guidance.\n\n+II. The wise woman is a social architect.+ She \"builds her house.\"\n1. _Building implies a plan._ No man sets about building a house\nwithout first having a plan, which is well considered in proportion\nto the wisdom of the builder. No argument-builder, with any wisdom,\nenters into an argument without first considering what he is going to\ndo, and how he is going to do it, in order, if possible, to arrive at\nan unanswerable conclusion. So, to build a house in the sense of the\ntext, there must be a plan of action. Every wise woman has an end in\nview in the government of her household. She has plans in relation to\neach department. She knows what she purposes to do before she begins\nto do anything. 2. _Building implies personal exertion on the part of\nthe architect._ All his work is not done when he has drawn the plan\nand issued his orders. He must see that they are executed. He must,\nif needful, show how they are to be carried out. In times of\nemergency the general of an army must--like Napoleon at the Bridge of\nLodi--engage himself in a hand-to-hand fight with the enemy. So will\na wise woman. She does not always say, \"Go,\" but sometimes, \"Come.\"\nShe does not say, \"_That_ is the way,\" when \"_This_ is the way\" is\nnecessary. She never contents herself with saying, \"Do this,\" without\nassuring herself that _it is_ done. 3. _Building implies a union of\ndiverse materials to form a complete whole._ Many and diverse\nmaterials are brought together to build a house. It would be\nimpossible to erect a building of usefulness and beauty of one\nmaterial alone. So a wise woman brings together many different\nelements, and blends them in due proportion, in order to make the\nhome-life true, and beautiful, and good. Her wisdom is shown in\ndeveloping the abilities and capacities of each member of the\nhousehold, so that each may contribute to the strength and comfort of\nthe whole. Upon the female head of the house, more than upon anyone\nelse, depends the unity, peace, and concord of this temple of living\nstones.\n\n+III. An unwise woman, who is at the head of a house, caricatures her\nposition by her conduct.+ Her position implies that she is a\nbuilder-up. Her conduct has the effect of pulling down. A clown upon\na kingly throne is not more out of place than a foolish woman who\nbears the name of mistress, wife, and mother. The reins are in her\nhands, but she does not know how to guide the chariot; the materials\nare in her possession but she has no skill to use them. She is not\nonly no centre of unity, she is a source of discord; she not only\ncannot build the house herself but she makes it impossible for\nanybody else to do anything towards it. She is not only no \"crown to\nher husband,\" but she is \"rottenness to his bones\" (chap. xii. 4).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA good wife is heaven's last best gift to a man; his angel of mercy;\nminister of graces innumerable; his gem of many virtues; his casket\nof jewels; her voice, his sweetest music; her smiles, his brightest\nday; her kiss, the guardian of his innocence; her arms, the pale of\nhis safety; the balm of his health, the balsam of his life; her\nindustry, his surest wealth; her economy, his safest steward; her\nlips, his faithful counsellors; her bosom, the softest pillow of his\ncares; and her prayers, the ablest advocates of heaven's blessings on\nhis head.--_Jeremy Taylor._\n\nThe following is a translation of a Welsh Triad:--A good wife is\nmodest, void of deceit, and obedient; pure of conscience, gracious of\ntongue, and true to her husband; her heart not proud, her manners\naffable, and her bosom full of compassion for the poor, labouring to\nbe tidy, skilful of hand, and fond of praying to God; her\nconversation amiable, her dress decent, and her house orderly; quick\nof hand, quick of eye, and quick of understanding; her face\nbenignant, her head intelligent, and provident, neighbourly, gentle,\nand of a liberal way of thinking; able in directing, providing what\nis wanting, and a good mother to her children; loving her husband,\nloving peace, and God.--_New Handbook of Illustration._\n\n_\"House\"_ means _all interests._ \"Has built\" is preterite. If all\ninterests are prosperous at present, it has been the work of the\npast. The second clause wisely returns to the future, which we\ncommonly translate as the present, because the act is steadily\nrunning on, and includes both the present and the future. _Wisdom in\nwoman_ has built _her house,_ beginning a long time ago; but\n_\"folly\"_ in woman is an affair of the present. If it had been at\nwork long, it would have had no house to pull down. As entering upon\nthe work of the wise, ungodly mothers tear down the house which\ngenerations of the righteous have been slowly building. The grand\ncomment, however, is that this womanly wisdom or wise woman, like the\nwoman of grace (chap. ix. 16), or woman of folly (chap. ix. 13) has\nan allegoric meaning. Women do much toward building up. But the text\nmeans more, that _\"wisdom,\"_ as personified, is the only builder of a\n_\"house,\"_ and _\"folly,\"_ as impenitence, all that can pull it\ndown.--_Miller._\n\nOnly the characteristic wisdom of _woman_ (not that of the man) is\nable to \"build itself a house,\" _i.e.,_ to make possible a household\nin the true sense of the word; for the woman alone has the capacity\ncircumspectly to look through the multitude of individual household\nwants, and carefully to satisfy them; and also because the various\nactivities of the members of a family can be combined in a harmonious\nunity only by the influence, partly regulative, and partly fostering,\nof a feminine character, gently but steadily efficient. But where\nthere is wanting to the mistress of a house this wisdom attainable\nonly by her, and appropriate only to her, then that is irrecoverably\nlost which first binds in a moral fellowship those connected by\nrelationship of blood--that which makes the house, from a mere place\nof abode, to be the spiritual nursery of individuals organically\nassociated.--_Elster._\n\nThe fullest recognition that has as yet met us of the importance of\nwoman, for good or evil, in all human society.--_Plumptre._\n\nWith calm, clear eyes, deep insight, ready sympathy; active, without\nbustle; alert, without over-anxious vigilance; ignorant perchance of\n\u00e6sthetic rules, yet with subtle touches transforming into a fine\npicture the home-spun canvas, and with soft fairy music blending into\nharmony the noises of the day; apathetic about stocks and shares, and\nfar-off millions; but with a keen appreciation of new sovereigns and\nno disdain for sixpences; a mere formalist, if professing interest in\ncity improvements and parochial reforms, but as touching torn\ncurtains and threadbare carpets much exercised in spirit; sure that\nthe commotions of Europe will all come right, but shedding bitter\ntears at any outburst of juvenile waywardness, and praying earnestly,\n\"Oh, that Ishmael may live before thee!\" with small belief in the\ntranscendental philosophy, and allowing that much may be said on both\nsides, but in the interpretation of the Ten Commandments positive,\nunreasoning, absolute; in theology hopelessly confounding the\ntheology of the schools, and in an innocent way adopting half the\nheresies, but drinking direct from the fountain that living water\nwhich others prefer, chalybeate, through the iron pipe, or \u00e6rated\nfrom the filtering pond, and in a style which Calvin or Grotius might\nequally envy teaching the little ones the love of the Saviour; the\nangel of the house moulds a family for heaven, and by dint of holy\nexample, and gentle control, her early and most efficacious ministry\ngoes farther than any other to lay the foundations of future\nexcellence, and train up sons and daughters for the Lord\nAlmighty.--_Dr. Jas. Hamilton._\n\nSt. Ambrose noteth that when God asked Abraham, \"Where is thy wife,\nSarah?\"--He was not ignorant where Sarah was; but that He asked the\nquestion that by Abraham's answer, \"Behold, in the tent,\" He might\nteach women where they ought to be--namely, in the house, and not so\nmuch in the house as in the affairs of the house, making ready\nprovision to entertain God as Sarah was.--_Jermin._\n\nThe modest virgin, the prudent wife, or the careful matron, are much\nmore serviceable in life than petticoated philosophers, blustering\nheroines, or virago queens. She who makes her husband and her\nchildren happy, who reclaims the one from vice and trains the other\nto virtue, is a much greater character than ladies described in\nromance, whose whole occupation is to murder mankind with shafts from\ntheir quiver or their eyes.--_Goldsmith._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nFEARING AND DESPISING THE LORD.\n\n+I. A wholesome fear.+ \"The fear of the Lord.\" When we fear to grieve\nor offend a person because of his or her goodness the fear does not\nspring from dread of their power, but from our high estimate of their\ncharacter. It may exist where there is no power to injure. Strong men\nhave sometimes had this fear for little children. There is also a\nfear which may spring from a conception of both goodness and power.\nIt is the feeling which a child has for a good parent. There is a\nconsciousness of the parent's goodness, and also a consciousness of\nhis power to enforce his authority. In proportion as these elements\nare combined in relation to human creatures the fear which men have\nfor them is wholesome--is salutary. Benevolence alone tends to weaken\nthe fear--to lessen the reverence. Power alone is likely to produce\nhatred as well as fear. But when benevolence is linked with power it\nlooks doubly attractive. The fear which a good man has for God arises\nfrom a conception of both the Infinite power and Infinite love of the\nDivine Father. If the first were wanting it would lack reverence; if\nthe latter it would be a fear that \"hath torment.\"\n\n+II. The proof that a man possesses this wholesome fear.+ \"He walks\n_uprightly._\" Fear is a feeling of the mind. It can only be proved to\nexist when it brings forth action. Uprightness of life is an\nunanswerable proof that a man speaks truly when he says that he fears\nthe Lord. God asks for no greater (Gen. xvii. 1, 2). This\ndemonstration does not consist in a single act of integrity, but in a\nconstant succession of acts, in a habit of life. It is a _walk._ (On\n\"walking uprightly,\" see on chap. x. 9, 10, page 153.)\n\n+III. The character of a perverse man--of a man whose walk is not\nupright.+ He is a \"despiser of God.\" His life proves it, even if his\nwords deny it. We despise that to which we do not attach a due value.\nAll men who perversely refuse to accept God's plan of salvation\n_despise_ both the \"riches of His goodness and forbearance and\nlong-suffering,\" which are intended to \"lead them to repentance\"\n(Rom. ii. 4), and also that \"power of His anger,\" of which no man can\nform an estimate (Psalm xc. 11).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n+I. Grace and sin in their true colours.+ Grace reigning is a\nreverence of God. Sin reigning is no less a contempt of God; in\n_this,_ more than in anything, sin appears exceeding sinful, that it\ndespises God, whom angels adore. +II. Grace and sin in their true\nlight.+ By this we know a man that has grace, and the fear of God,\nreigning in him, he makes conscience of his actions, is faithful to\nGod and man. But on the contrary, he that wilfully follows his own\nway, is a wicked man, however he pretend to devotion.--_Henry._\n\nA man walking over a field has a certain _level_ course (if there be\nsuch) that he naturally follows. If he walk not _level,_ or if he\nturn constantly out of his way, men think him either drunk or mad. It\nis this reasonable instinct of our nature that our text embodies. We\ndo not say _uprightness,_ but _\"levelness,\"_ for it agrees with the\nidea of walking. Such meaning is, that folly is self-condemned; that\nif a man would put one foot before another, or mentally move as he\nhimself thinks level and right, he would practically _\"fear\"_ God;\nbut that he drops out of his own \"way,\" and walks brokenly, and with\nchange of gait. It is careless to define _fear_ as anything beside\n_fear_ itself. A holy _fear,_ however, is not terror; and yet a being\nafraid more really and more tremblingly often than the sinner. It is\nremarkable that when men have escaped wrath they begin most healthily\nto _fear_ it, and when men are faithless even to their own ways, they\ndespise the most the law of the Almighty. This text, like many\nanother, is pregnant. Pregnant texts are ambidextrous, and the\nalternative meanings, though distinct, are mutually embracing.\nAnother sense is grammatical and equivalent in thought. It would read\n_\"His\"_ levelness, and _His_ ways, referring to Jehovah. It is only\nsubstituting capitals. It would mean, _\"He that walks in God's level\ntrack fears Him; but he that is turned out of God's way,\"_ that is,\nhe that has got out of the line for which he was made, instead of\n_fearing,_ as he might, chooses that horrid moment for despising God.\nHe would rank this higher than an ambiguity; for God's ways and man's\nways, when they are _levelness_ and suited to our step, are the same\nblessed track, for we are created in the image of God.--_Miller._\n\nHe that walketh so that the sincerity of his heart maketh the\nuprightness to be _his,_ for a feigned uprightness is of the devil,\nnot a man's own. God is feared where goodness is embraced. And, as\nSt. Basil speaketh, the despising of the laws is the reproach of the\nlawmaker.--_Jermin._\n\nHere is consolation to faithful men, though not void of infirmities,\nagainst the temptations of Satan, the calumniations of wicked men,\nand the fears of their own hearts. None are so much accused of\ncontempt against God as those which are most religious. The devil\nseeketh to persuade them there is nothing in them but fraud. Sinful\nmen, when they can charge against them no misdemeanours or lewdness\nof life, exclaim that they are hypocrites, and many doubts arise in\ntheir own souls by reason of the manifold imperfections of their\nlives. But are they desirous impartially to keep every commandment,\nif their power were answerable to their will? Do they endeavour to\nplease God, though they cannot do it perfectly? Then they are upright\nin their ways, and walk in the law of the Lord; then God testifieth\nof them here, that they are of the number of them that fear Him, and\nelsewhere He testifieth that all those that fear Him they are\nblessed.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nSPEECH A ROD.\n\n+I. Speech is a rod because it is emblematic of power.+ A rod is an\nemblem of position and authority. It represents more than it is.\nSpeech is a sign of man's superiority to animal creation. Words in\nthemselves are not much, but they are mighty because of what they\nrepresent, viz., the soul of man. The sceptre of a king may not in\nitself be of much value, but it is of worth because of what it\nsignifies.\n\n+II. Speech will be man's destruction or salvation according to his\ncharacter.+ The mouth of the fool represents the soul of the fool. We\nhave before noted the unwisdom and danger of him who is too proud to\nreceive instruction (see chap. xi. 1, page 192; xiii. 18, etc.). His\nproud boasting speech will by-and-by become the cause of his\nchastisement--a rod for his own back. And the godly wise speech of\nthe wise will be the means of his preservation and honour (See on\nchap. xii. 5-8, page 255, vers. 17-19, page 274).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe fool's rod of pride is his _tongue,_ wherewith he assails and\nstrikes others. But it recoils on himself. The instrument of\npunishment is called a rod, not a sword, to denote the contumely with\nwhich the proud shall be visited.--_Fausset._\n\nThe _rod in the mouth_ is often sharper than the rod in the hand\n(Jer. xviii. 18). Sometimes it strikes against God (Exod. v. 2; Psa.\nxii. 3, 4; 2 Kings xix. 10); sometimes it is \"the rod of His anger\nagainst His people\" (Isa. x. 5) permitted (Rev. xiii. 5) yet\nrestrained (Psalm cxxv. 3). Always in the end it is _the rod_ for the\n_fool_ himself (Psa. lxiv. 8).--_Bridges._\n\nThe _\"mouth\"_ is the great word in the Proverbs for our whole earthly\nagency. The word translated _\"rod\"_ is the favourite emblem of\nsovereignty. A fool's life-work or energy is his sovereignty, by\nwhich he would carve his way. But it is a _\"sceptre of pride.\"_ His\nkingship is a notion of pride. But the _\"lips of the wise\"_ do really\nwin, and do really govern. They have a true sceptre which shall\nreally guard them.--_Miller._\n\nThe lips of the wise preserve them. 1. _From doing wrong to others,_\nin their loving mildness. 2. _From suffering wrong from others,_ by a\nwary heedfulness. 3. _From the rod of God's anger,_ in a humble\ncraving pardon for their errors. The former part of this verse St.\nGregory applieth unto arrogant preachers, who desire more sharply to\nreprove their afflicted hearers, than sweetly to comfort them, for\nthey study more how they may condemn evil things by blaming of them,\nthan how they may commend good things by praising them. They always\ndesire those things which, by fierce chiding, they may beat\nupon.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nTHE CLEAN CRIB.\n\n+I. An empty and clean crib does not fulfil the end for which it was\nmade.+ It was made for use; it was made to hold food for the ox, who\nearns, by his labour, the means of keeping it full. When God first\ncreated this world, and saw it lie before him in all its unsullied\nbeauty, He said that it _was very good._ But, beautiful as it was, it\nwas not to remain simply beautiful--it was to fulfil a higher\npurpose: it was to be a dwelling-place for man. And God gave it into\nthe hands of men to build cities in it, to dig quarries in it, to mar\nin many respects its first beauty and order, but to make it of more\nreal worth as man's dwelling, as his market, as his workshop. If man\nhad never been compelled by hunger to put forth his hand and blacken\nits surface, and spoil some of its lovely landscapes, it would not\nhave become what it now is, his training-school for a higher life. It\nwould have been in perfect order and beauty, but it would not have\nfulfilled the purpose for which it was created. So with a large\nmanufactory. No doubt it looks cleaner and fresher on the day that it\ncomes from the hands of the builder than it does when its chimneys\nare pouring forth smoke and its floors are covered with grimy\nmachinery, but if its owner were to build it simply to keep it clean\nby keeping it empty, he would be looked upon as a madman. So with the\ncrib. So long as there are no oxen to use it, it can be kept empty\nand clean, but there is no use in having a crib unless it is put to\nits use.\n\n+II. If men want wealth they must not mind the labour and trouble of\ngetting it.+ This seems to be the idea of the proverb. A clean crib\ncan be kept, if there are no oxen to use it; but without oxen, in\nSolomon's days (when wealth was chiefly gained by agriculture) there\nwould be no increase. Many men would like to be rich, but they do not\nlike the means by which alone they can obtain it. They would like to\nhandle the golden coins, but they do not like to soil their fingers\nwith honest toil to get it. They would like to gather in a harvest in\nthe sunny autumn, but they do not like to plough and sow in the days\nof winter. They would like the increase which the ox would bring, but\nthey do not like the trouble of cleaning his crib and caring for his\nwants. But this is not possible. The toil and the increase go\ntogether; the labour must come before the wealth, whether in relation\nto the body, the soul, or the spirit.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn its liberal meaning a household proverb, \"Labour has its rough\nunpleasant side, yet it ends in profit.\" But here, as elsewhere,\nthere may be a meaning below the surface. The life of contemplation\nmay seem purer, \"cleaner,\" than the life of action. The outer\nbusiness of the world brings its cares and disturbances, but also\n\"much increase.\" There will be a sure reward of that activity in good\nworks for him who goes, as with \"the strength of the ox,\" to the task\nto which God calls him.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe literal sense of this verse seems to commend the care and pains\nof tillage. Or else we may take the words as shewing how the want of\nany needful instrument denieth the success of that which is desired,\nthough other things be ready. But the words are more useful when\ntaken by way of application. Wherefore, in God's tillage, for \"we are\nGod's husbandry\" (1 Cor. iii. 9), the oxen are His ministers--they\nare, as Jerome speaketh, oxen that bear the yoke of the Lord after\nwhose steps he that soweth seed is blessed; yea, God Himself is\npleased to be joined in yoke with them, for they are labourers with\nGod in His husbandry. They plough up the fallow ground by preaching\nand pressing repentance, they bring the corn into the barn by\nbringing home wandering sinners into the bosom of the Church; they\ntread out the grains from the chaff and straw by subduing the\ncorruptions of nature, and separating it from the graces of God's\nSpirit. Now, where these oxen are wanting, there the room will be\nempty, swept and _clean_ for him to enter in, who quickly will fill\nit with the filth of the corruption of death. But, by the pains of\nthe minister, much increase there is of corn in the field of the\nLord--much increase is there of the seed of grace in the hearts of\nthe people, and of the fruits of godliness in their lives.--_Jermin._\n\nThe ox is the most profitable of all the beasts used in husbandry.\nExcept merely for _speed,_ he is almost in every respect superior to\nthe horse. He is longer-lived, scarcely liable to disease, steady,\nlives, fattens, and maintains his strength on what a horse will not\neat, and when he is worn out in labour his flesh is good for food,\nhis horns useful, and his hide almost invaluable.--_A. Clarke._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 5 see on chapter xii. 17, 19, page 274; also\non verse 25 of this chapter.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe man not _walking in His levelness_ (see verse 2) shows by his\nstaggering that he does not _\"witness things correctly.\"_ (See\nCritical Notes for Miller's translation of this verse.) The grand\ntruth is here broached that the man who _lies_ does not see\ncorrectly. This is a universal doctrine. Moreover, _lies_ stand for\nall sin. All sin, therefore, flows from being deceived. _A deep moral\nblindness is the source and measure of all possible transgression._\nSeveral proverbs depend for their significance upon this meaning, a\n_\"deceived\"_ rather than a _deceiving \"witness.\"--Miller._\n\nHe that for conscience sake doth speak the truth in common and small\nmatters, he will also speak the truth in things of greater\nimportance; and he that is not ashamed of a lie in his private\ndealing, he will also without shame bear false witness before a\njudge. Here, then, we be taught in the least things to ensure our\ntongues to speak the truth, so shall we be preserved from\nfalse-witness bearing, for the Lord would not have us daily with\nsin. . . . If we would not have Him punish our lesser frailties with\ngreater sins--if we would not have Him punish our secret sins with\nopen and notorious offences, then let us be afraid to tell a lie in\nthe very lightest and most secret causes.--_Greenham._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.\n\nSEEKING, BUT NOT FINDING.\n\n+I. A contradictory character--a scorner in quest of wisdom.+ It\nwould be strange to hear a man ask advice of a physician whose\nopinion he held in contempt, or to ask guidance of a traveller whose\njudgment and ability he despised. It would be obvious that the advice\ngiven or the rules laid down would not be followed. So a scorner,\nwhile he seeks wisdom, scorns the only method of becoming wise. He\nasks advice of those whom he despises, he inquires the way to wisdom,\nwhile he holds the road to it in utter contempt. The antithesis of\nthe verse implies that he does not find wisdom because he lacks\nunderstanding--because he finds it above his comprehension. Two\nchildren may be equally ignorant of knowledge, but if one has the\ndesire and the will to acquire it, and the other has not, what was\nhard to both at first will only continue hard to him who despises\nknowledge. So the scorner fails to find wisdom because he does not\nvalue it enough to make an effort to acquire it. The spirit in which\nhe seeks is an effectual barrier against his finding.\n\n+II. A man of teachable spirit is the only one who will ever find\nwisdom.+ The man of understanding knows its value, and therefore\nscorns neither it nor the means of attaining it. Therefore, to him\n\"knowledge\" becomes \"easy.\" A clever man and a dull one may be pupils\nof the same master, but if the clever one thinks that he needs no\ninstruction and the dull one feels his need, what was above the\ncomprehension of both at first will become easy to the teachable\nscholar, while it will remain out of the reach of the self-sufficient\none. Even a dull but willing pupil will learn faster than one who has\nintellectual ability, but lacks the docile spirit. A seeker of wisdom\nin any department of knowledge must become in relation to it as a\nchild before his teacher; he must acknowledge his ignorance, and be\nwilling to submit to the conditions of acquiring knowledge. The same\nspirit is indispensable for the attainment of moral wisdom. Those who\nwould _learn_ of Christ must take his _yoke;_ those who would know of\nthe doctrine, whether it be of God, must be willing to do His will\n(Matt. xi. 29; John vii. 17).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe Greeks sought after wisdom, but Christ crucified was foolishness\nto them. They were already too wise to admit of the preaching of the\ncross, and scorned a tent-maker who would inform them of new\ndoctrines which had never entered into their own minds, and who would\nprove them by other methods than their favourite ones--eloquence and\nreasoning.--_Lawson._\n\nThere are two descriptions of scorners. There are \"scorners\" of\n_truth,_ from _pride of intellect;_ and there are \"scorners\" of\n_authority,_ from the _pride of self-will._ They are nearly allied,\nand they are frequently united. It is the former that is chiefly\nmeant here, seeing the subject is _knowledge_ rather than\n_duty.--Wardlaw._\n\nA page of Hebrew, what is it to a child? It is absolutely nothing.\nBut the whole was easy to the Hebrew eye. _\"A scorner has sought\nwisdom.\"_ Notice the past sense. Every scorner _has done_ it. Take\nany impenitent man. We may be sure some day or other he has sought\nspiritual intelligence. But he has done it selfishly. Moreover, he\nhas done it fitfully and feebly. He has groped. He has made a sort of\nblind man's pass for knowledge, and has come back with the averment\nthat there is no such thing. Light is _simple, \"easy;\"_ literally,\n_light_ as opposed to _heavy;_ light is obvious; nothing can be more\nso; but then, as the inspired man advises us, it is only _\"easy\"_ to\nthe _\"discerning,\"_ or _\"understanding,\"_ man.--_Miller._\n\nIt is not by a one-sided action of the thinking power, but only by\nundivided consecration of the whole nature to God, which therefore\ninvolves, above all other things, a right relation of the spiritual\nnature to Him, that true knowledge in Divine things can be attained.\nThe wise man, however, who has found the true beginning of wisdom, in\nbowing his inmost will before the Divine, not as something to be\nmastered by the understanding, but as something to be simply sought\nas a grace by the renunciation of the very self; he can easily on\nthis ground, which God's own power makes productive, attain a rich\ndevelopment of the understanding.--_Elster._\n\nWisdom estrangeth herself from the scorner, as a gentlewoman hideth\nherself from a suitor whom she fancieth not. . . . As a loving\nspouse, when he cometh to the door, whom she affecteth, will show\nherself to him, and run to meet him, so the grace of God's spirit\noffereth itself, and draweth near unto the humble and\nmodest.--_Muffet._\n\nBy knowledge we may understand, not the knowledge of the letter\nfloating in the brain, and flowing even at the tongue's end (which,\nindeed, is not worth the name of knowledge); but the true\nunderstanding of the word taught by the Spirit, which entereth into\nthe heart, and worketh on the affections, frameth to obedience, and\nassureth of everlasting life. This, indeed, is healthful knowledge,\nwhich the scorners, though they seek, shall never obtain. And\nhereunto doth our Saviour give witness, when He saith: _\"Many shall\nseek to enter in, and cannot.\"--Greenham._\n\nThe finding of wisdom is that which needeth help from others. More\neyes than the eyes of one are requisite unto it. And, therefore, a\n_scorner,_ who seeketh it with scorning of another's help; yea, who\nscorneth not only the help of man, but of God also, how can he ever\nfind it? If it be offered to him by another, he will not accept it,\nand if he seek it never so much in his own ways he shall not obtain\nit. It is, says Clemens Alexandrinus, to draw out threads and to spin\nnothing; and, therefore, whensoever he shall stand in need of it, he\nshall not find it, for wisdom and a scorner shall never meet. But _to\nhim that understandeth_ his own defects and infirmities, to him that\nunderstandeth how to make use of other men's abilities, and that in\nthe seeking of wisdom, the assistance of God is chiefly to be sought,\nto him it is a short course to come to it; to him it is an easy\nmatter to obtain it.--_Jermin._\n\nIt is the constant profession of those who read the Bible that they\nare seeking truth. Their likeness is taken here from life. They seek\nwisdom, but do not find it. They want the first qualification of a\nphilosopher, a humble and teachable spirit. There is a race of men\namong us at the present day who scorn bitterly against faith's meek\nsubmission to God's revealed will. The divinity, they say, is in\nevery man; which means that every man is a god unto himself. It is,\nin its essence, a reproduction of the oldest rebellion. A creature\ndiscontented with the place which his Maker has given him strives to\nmake himself a god. If men really were independent beings, it would\nbe right to assert and proclaim their independence; but as matters\nreally stand, this desperate kicking against authority becomes the\nexposure of weakness, and the punishment of pride. We are not our own\ncause and our own end; we are not our own lords. We are in the hands\nof our Maker, and under the law of our Judge. Our only safety lies in\nthe submission to the rightful authority and obedience to the true\nlaw. The problem for man is, not to reject all masters, but accept\nthe rightful one. . . . In these days, when the pendulum is often\nseen swinging from scepticism over to superstition, and from\nsuperstition back to scepticism again, we would do well to remember\nthat there is truth between these extremes, and that in truth alone\nlies safety for all the interests of men. . . . I see two men near\neach other prostrate on the ground and bleeding, while one man stands\nbetween them, with serenest aspect looking to the skies. Who and what\nare these? The two prostrate forms are superstition and unbelief.\nSuperstition bowed down to worship his idol, and cut his flesh with\nstones to atone for his soul's sin. Unbelief scorned to be confined,\nlike an inferior creature, to the earth, and was ever leaping up in\nthe hope of standing on the stars. Exhausted by his efforts he fell,\nand the fall bruised him, so that he lay as low as the neighbour whom\nhe despised. He who stands between them neither bowed himself to the\nground, nor attempted to scale the heavens. He neither degraded\nhimself beneath a man's place, nor attempted to raise himself above\nit. He abode on earth, but he stood erect there. He did not proudly\nprofess to be, but meekly sought to find God. This man understands\nhis place, and feels his need; to him, therefore, knowledge is easy.\nTo him that hath shall be given. He has the beginning of wisdom, and\nhe will reach in good time its glad consummation. \"Blessed are the\npoor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom.\"--_Arnot._\n\nThere are _four_ things that particularly unfit a man for such a task\n(the finding of wisdom), viz., a very _proud,_ or a very _suspicious_\ntemper, _false wit_ or _sensuality._ The two last generally belong to\nthe man whom we call a scorner, the first are essential to him and\ninseparable from him. . . . _Pride_ makes a man see sufficient in his\nown eyes for all manner of speculations and inquiries, and hence it\ncomes that he, not being duly qualified for every search, is fain to\ntake up with light and superficial accounts of things, and then, what\nhe wants in true knowledge, to make up in downright assurance. By\nconsequence it gives him just enough understanding to raise an\nobjection, but not enough to lay it; which, as it is the most\ndespicable, so it is also the most dangerous state of mind a man can\nbe in. He that is but half a philosopher is in danger of being an\natheist; a half physician is apt to turn empiric. In all matters of\nspeculation or practice, he that knows but little of them, and is\nvery confident of his own strength, is more out of the way of true\nknowledge than if he knows nothing at all. And in this character\nthere is always a strange and unreasonable _suspicion,_ by which he\ndoubts everything he hears, and distrusts every man he converses\nwith. He is so afraid of having his understanding imposed upon in\nmatters of faith that he stands aloof from all propositions of that\nkind, whether true or false. Which is, as if a man should refuse to\nreceive any money because there is a great deal of counterfeit; or\nresolve not to make friendship with any man, because many are not to\nbe trusted. A third part of a scorner's character is a _false wit,_ a\nway of ridiculing arguments instead of confuting them, and a _fourth_\nis _sensuality._ That this, too, does for the most part accompany a\ncontempt of religion, I appeal to the observation and experience of\nevery man.--_Bp. Atterbury._\n\nHe seeks it as a coward seeks his adversary, with a hope that he\nshall not find him; or as a man seeks his false coin, which he hath\nno joy to look upon. \"What is truth?\" said Pilate in a jeer to\nChrist, but stayed not the answer. \"How can this man give us his\nflesh to eat?\" said the carnal Capernaites (John vi. 52), and away\nthen went--who, if they had stayed out the sermon, might have been\nsatisfied on the point. . . . He that comes to the fountain to fill\nhis pitcher must first wash it, and then put the mouth of it\ndownwards to take up water. So he that would have heavenly knowledge\nmust first quit his heart of corrupt affections and high conceits,\nand then humble himself at God's feet, \"everyone to receive His\nwords\" (Deut. xxxiii. 3).--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 7-9.\n\nTHE FOOL AND THE PRUDENT MAN.\n\n+I. How to know a fool.+ The dead carcase that is above ground is its\nown evidence. No one needs to inquire what it is, or where it is. The\npestilential atmosphere which surrounds it tells its own tale. So a\nfool is a self-evidencing person. His words proclaim his character.\nHe says nothing that is worth saying. Nothing that can enlighten a\nman's mind or better his nature is to be found in his conversation.\n\"The lips of knowledge\" are not with him. But there is not simply the\nabsence of wisdom. He is not a negative character. No man's soul can\nremain like an empty house; if wisdom is absent sin comes in and\ntakes up the abode. The _fool_ is also a _knave._ \"The folly of fools\nis deceit,\" and in this also he will sooner or later be his own\nevidence. Like particles of poisonous matter, his _deceit,_ as well\nas his ignorance, will make its presence known. His words will sooner\nor later betray his untruthful character. He will also be known by\nhis _profanity._ \"Fools make a mock at sin.\" The most perfect beings\nin God's universe regard sin as a serious matter, knowing, as they\ndo, the bitter fruits which spring from one sinful action. God\nHimself treats sin as a terrible and awful reality. Yet men are to be\nfound who make light of it, and others so depraved as to laugh at\nthat which God regards with abhorrence, and visits with retribution.\n\n+II. How to treat a fool.+ \"Go from the presence of a foolish man.\"\nThere are three reasons why we go from the neighbourhood of a\npolluted and polluting carcase. First, its odour is offensive to us.\nSecondly, to linger near may generate disease in our bodies. Thirdly,\nbeing diseased ourselves, we may become an occasion of injury to\nothers. So a man void of moral wisdom ought to be an offensive\npresence to every man. Our moral instincts ought to be strong enough\nwithout any outside voice to say, \"Go from him.\" The \"folly of a\nfool,\" being deceit, he is an incarnation of the devil; our own\nself-love should prompt us to quit his society. The man that mocks at\nsin is a generator of moral disease, we cannot be in his company\nwithout moral injury, and if we catch the pestilence ourselves we\nshall in turn infect others with the disease.\n\n+III. What constitutes a prudent or morally wise man.+ He\n\"understands his way.\" A fool cannot be said to have a _way_ or\nmethod of life any more than the leaf which is driven before the\nwind, or the timber that is floating down the rapid. Like them, he is\nthe victim of circumstances; he is driven hither and thither by the\ncurrents of inclination or passion. He has no \"way\" to understand. He\nis as a cloud driven before the hurricane. He floats like a\nrudderless vessel upon the sea of life. But a prudent man has a\n_\"way,\"_ or method of life (see Homiletics on chap. xiii. 14), and\nthe great business of his life is to \"understand\" it--to find the\nbest means of bringing his life into conformity with that rule of\nrighteousness which is his standard of life; to gather from the voice\nof God in revelation, in conscience, and in Providence what course he\nis to pursue, what at all times is the right thing to do, and what is\nthe right way of doing it. This is the life-study of the man who is\nmorally prudent, and the highest aim that a man can propose to\nhimself is to attain to a right understanding of his way. (On the\nlatter clause of verse 9 see Homiletics on chap. xiii. 14.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 7. The path of sin is much more easily avoided than\nrelinquished. We can far more easily keep out of the course of the\nstream than stem the torrent.--_Bridges._\n\nThou mayest tarry with a foolish man while he holdeth his peace, and\nwhile he is willing and patient to hear thee. For he may get\nknowledge by hearing, and thou mayest have comfort by speaking. But\nit is time to be gone when by his lips thou perceivest knowledge to\nbe gone from them.--_Jermin._\n\nIn nature, some creatures are strong and bold, having both instincts\nand instruments for combat: other creatures are feeble but fleet. It\nis the intention of their Maker that they should seek safety, not in\nfighting, but in fleeing. It would be a fatal mistake if the hare, in\na fit of bravery, should turn and face her pursuers. In the moral\nconflict of human life it is of great importance to judge rightly\nwhen we should fight and when we should flee. The weak might escape\nif they knew their own weakness, and kept out of harm's way. That\ncourage is not a virtue which carries the feeble into the lion's\njaws. I have known of some who ventured too far with the benevolent\npurpose of bringing a victim out, and were themselves sucked in and\nswallowed up. To go in among the foolish for the rescue of the\nsinking may be necessary, but it is dangerous work, and demands\nrobust workmen. . . . The specific instruction recorded in Scripture\nfor such a case is, \"save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;\nhating even the garment spotted with the flesh\" (Jude 23). He who\nwould volunteer for this work must fear lest the victim perish ere he\nget him dragged out, and fear lest himself be scorched by the\nflame.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 8. We are not to infer, because _\"wisdom\"_ eludes the scorner,\nthat it is, therefore, something mystic. It fits earth so closely,\nthat it actually carves our _\"way.\"_ Nay, more closely still, it is\nactually path-finding itself. She takes a man from her very gate, and\ntells him all that he must do. She not only discerns paths, but that\nis all of her; she does nothing else. \"The wisdom of the subtle is\nthe making discernible of his way,\" while, on the other hand, \"the\nfolly of the stupid is _(its own)_ delusion.\" All of us having a way,\nand all of us following it with the great energy of our lives, \"The\nexcellency and knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that\nhave it.\" Wisdom grasps its end; folly never. Wisdom is the great\npathfinder; folly a \"delusion.\"--_Miller._\n\nEvery man has a _final destination_ before him. The way of all is the\nway to the grave, and to eternity. But in that eternity are _two_\nwidely different states. To the opposite states there are _two_\nways--\"the narrow,\" and \"the broad.\" Oh the infinite value of true\nwisdom here,--the wisdom that understands both ways, and rightly\nchooses between! _The folly of fools is deceit_ may mean that the\nfolly of fools proves to them deceit. Their confidence in it, and\ntheir expectations from it, are sheer delusion. Or the sense may be,\n\"deceit is the folly of fools.\" \"New stratagems,\" says Lord Bacon,\n\"must be devised, the old failing and growing useless; and as soon as\never a man hath got the name of a cunning crafty companion, he hath\ndeprived himself utterly of the principal instrument for the\nmanagement of his affairs,--which is _trust._\" Policy, therefore, on\nthis as on other accounts, is _\"the folly of fools.\"--Wardlaw._\n\nWhen men are acquainted with everything but what they ought to know,\nthey are only notable fools. If we had hearts large as the sands upon\nthe sea-shore, and filled with a world of things, whilst we remained\nignorant of the way of attaining true happiness, we should resemble\nthat philosopher who was busied gazing at the moon till he fell into\nthe ditch. . . . They are fools who know other people's business\nbetter than their own. Some people, if you will take their own word\nfor it, could reign better than the king and preach better than the\nminister. They know, in short, how to manage in every condition but\ntheir own.--_Lawson._\n\nReligion is an orderly thing, as wise as it is warm. Whatever be the\nexcitement of an irregular course, more good is done by steady\nconsistency. To break the ranks in disorder, to be eager to\n_understand_ our neighbour's way (John xxi. 21, 22), obscures the\nlight upon our own. The true _wisdom is to understand_ what belongs\nto us personally and relatively (1 Kings iii. 6-9; Eccles. viii. 5).\n\"As God hath distributed to every man, so let him walk, and abide\nwith God\" (1 Cor. viii. 17). Let the eye do the work of the eye, and\nthe hand of the hand. If Moses prayed in the mount, and Joshua fought\nin the valley (Exod. xvii. 10, 11), it was not because one was\ndeficient in courage, and the other in prayer; but because each had\nhis appointed work, and _understood his own way.--Bridges._\n\nEvery one that goeth on in the right way doth not _understand_ his\nway. Hence it is that many so often wander out of it, hence that so\neasily they are drawn from it. But he that is prudent looketh into\nhis way, considereth the dangers of it, provideth himself against the\nenemies that he shall or may meet with, and being well assured of the\nrighteousness of the way, he goeth on with confidence and safety. And\nthis is _the wisdom of the prudent,_ this proves him to be\nwise. . . . Again, the folly of fools, though it be folly in\nthemselves, it is deceit to the devil, who maketh them to think that\nto be the right way, wherein they are clean out of the way.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 9. The word here used signifieth both the fault and the guilt\nof it, whereby the offender is liable unto wrath and punishment. For\nthey being firmly joined together, the Hebrew joineth them in the\nsame word. Notwithstanding fools not finding the scourge of sin tied\nimmediately unto the act committed, as if they were mocked when they\nare told of punishment to come, they make a mock at it. The favour,\ntherefore, which the righteous show them is quickly to make them feel\nthe rod of justice. For while they punish the offence they show great\nlove to the offender, not only in stopping the course of his sinning,\nwhich is the stopping the increase of his misery, but it may be also\nworking his amendment, which is the salvation of his soul.--_Jermin._\n\nThe idea of sacrificial offering is that of expiation (see Critical\nNotes for the renderings of the word translated sin): it is a\npenitential work, it falls under the prevailing point of view of an\necclesiastical punishment, a _satisfaction_ in a church-disciplinary\nsense. The forgiveness of sin is conditioned by this, (1) that the\nsinner either abundantly makes good by restitution the injury\ninflicted on another, or in some other way bears temporal punishment\nfor it, and (2) that he willingly presents the sacrifice of rams or\nof sheep, the value of which the priest has to determine in its\nrelation to the offence. Fools fall from one offence to another,\nwhich they have to atone for by the presentation of sacrificial\nofferings; the sacrificial offering mocketh them, for it equally\nderides them on account of the self-inflicted loss, and on account of\nthe errors with which they must make good the effects of their\nfrivolity and madness; while on the contrary, among men of upright\ncharacter, a relation of mutual favour prevails, which does not\npermit that the one give to the other an indemnity, and apply the\ntrespass-offering.--_Delitzsch._\n\n_\"Sin makes a mock at fools; but between upright beings there is\nfavour.\"_ Not makes sport, as a fool might, of engaging in his sins.\nA fool may _make sport_ of sin, but hardly could be said to make a\nmock at it. \"Sin makes a mock at fools,\" but between \"upright\nbeings,\" or \"among the righteous,\" we cannot conceive of any mockery.\nThe upright God, and the upright saint; the upright saint and the\nupright Saviour; grace and judgment; faith, and the scenes of the\nlast day; between these there must be _goodwill, i.e.,_ mutual\ndelight and favour. So 1 John iv. 17, 18, \"Herein does the love gain\nits end between us (that is, between God and us; see ver. 16), that\nwe may have boldness in the day of judgment; _because as He is, so\nare we in this world,_\" etc.--_Miller._\n\nAmong the righteous is favour; that is to say, the practice of virtue\nand uttering of gracious speeches, joined with such goodwill and\nsweet joy as their meeting is like the precious ointment that was\npoured on the head of Aaron.--_Muffet._\n\nThe conduct of the man who makes a mock at sin\ninvolves--1. _Impiety._ To mock at sin is to despise God's holiness,\nset at nought God's authority, to abuse God's goodness, to disregard\nand slight God's glory. 2. _Cruelty._ The scoffer may pretend to\nhumanity, but there breathes not on earth a more iron-hearted\nmonster. He may profess to feel for the miseries of mankind; for the\nravages of disease and death over their bodies; of fire, and flood,\nand storm over their means of life and comfort; of melancholy, and\nidiocy, and madness over their minds. But he makes a mock at the\nprolific _cause_ of all. There is not an ill that man is called upon\nto suffer that does not owe its origin to sin. Like the \"star called\nwormwood\" in the Apocalyptic vision, it has fallen on very \"fountain\nand river\" of human joy, turning all their waters into bitterness. It\nis the sting of conscience. It is the venom and barb of the darts of\nthe King of Terrors. It is the very life of the \"worm that dieth\nnot.\" Oh! the miserably-mistaken flattery that can speak of the\nkind-heartedness of the man who laughs at that which is the\nembryo-germ of all the sufferings of time, and all the woes of\neternity. 3. _Infatuation._ Sin is the evil that is ruining the\nsinner himself--the disease that is preying upon his own vitals--the\nsecret consuming fire that is wasting his eternal all. Yet the\ndeluded victim of its power makes a jest of it!--_Wardlaw._\n\nSome men are so like their father, the devil, that they will tempt\nmen to sin that they may laugh at them.--_Lawson._\n\nTo complete the antithesis, the sense must be supplied, fools make a\nmock at sin (and so incur the wrath of God); but (the righteous\nregard sin as a serious offence), and therefore among the righteous\nthere is the favour of God.--_Fausset._\n\n_The fools' sport--sin._ 1. _Sin,_ which is so contrary to goodness\nthat it is abhorred of those sparks and cinders which the rust of sin\nhath not quite eaten out of our nature as the creation left it.\n2. _Sin,_ which sensibly brings on present judgments, or if not, is\nthe more fearful. The less it receives here, the more is behind.\n3. _Sin,_ that shall at last be laid heavy on the conscience: the\nlighter the burden was at first, it shall be at last the more\nponderous. The wicked conscience may for awhile lie asleep, but this\ncalm is the greatest storm. 4. _Sin,_ which provokes God to anger.\n5. _Sin,_ which was punished even in heaven. 6. _Sin,_ which God so\nloathed that he could not save men because of it, except by the death\nof His own Son. Oh, think if ever man felt sorrow like Him, or if He\nfelt any sorrow except for sin. Did the pressure of it lie so heavy\nupon the Son of God, and doth a son of man make light of it? Thou\nmocked at thy oppressions, oaths, frauds; for these He groaned. Thou\nscornest His gospel preached; He wept for thy scorn. Thou knowest\nnot, O fool, the price of sin; thou must do, if thy Saviour did not\nfor thee. If He suffered not this for thee, thou must suffer it for\nthyself.--_T. Adams._\n\nThey dance with the devil all day, and yet think to sup with Christ.\nTheir sweet meat must have sour sauce, but among the righteous,\nthough they sin of infirmity, yet forasmuch as they are sensible of\nand sorrowful for their failings, and see them to confession, God\nwill never see them to their confusion.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nSECRETS OF THE HEART.\n\n+I. Opposite dwellers in the same spirit.+ \"Bitterness\" and \"joy.\"\nThe world without us is a type of the world within us. In the world\nof matter the bitter cold, the desolations of winter, alternates with\nthe brightness and joyous fruitfulness of summer. On the same globe\nwe have at the same time the vine-clad regions of southern latitudes,\nand the dreary shores of arctic regions. Bitterness in the human\nspirit is a fact of human consciousness, and so is joy. There are few\nhearts that have not been at different times possessed by both. There\nare few in which there does not dwell at the same time a root of\ngladness and a root of sadness.\n\n+II. A possession which its possessor may keep a profound secret.+ It\nis within the power of a human soul to keep his sorrow or his joy to\nhimself if he so pleases, and under certain conditions this is a\ndesirable thing to do. A man or woman often finds himself or herself\nsurrounded by those who are entire strangers to the circumstances, or\nthe persons, or the experiences which have given birth to the sorrow\nor the joy. To speak of it to such would be worse than useless. It is\na comfort in such circumstances to be able to lock the secret within\none's own breast. There is a consolation in sorrow, and a sense of\nincrease of joy in not being compelled to lay open our feelings to\nthe inspection of the unsympathetic. There are also sorrows of such a\nnature as to be entirely beyond the power of the tenderest human love\nto alleviate. To conceal such from all human ken is a kindness to\nthose who love us. We should inflict sorrow upon them without\nlightening our own burden; and if we are unselfish, we are glad that\nit is possible in such a case to keep our bitterness within our own\nbreast.\n\n+III. There is One who possesses the secret even more truly than the\nhuman possessor, and who should always be invited to intermeddle with\nour sorrow or our joy.+ 1. _We should invite God to intermeddle,\nbecause we can do so in the strictest secrecy of the soul._ It may be\nimpossible sometimes to put into words our joy or our sorrow, and\ntherefore no human being, even the nearest and dearest, _can always_\n\"intermeddle\" with our deep emotions. But the _thought_ is _speech_\nto God. He \"knoweth what is in the mind of the spirit.\" 2. _Because\nGod's \"intermeddling\" will bring softening to our bitterness and\nrefinement to our joy._ He \"knew the sorrows\" of Israel in their\nbitter bondage (Exod. iii. 7). He sent His Son to \"bind up the\nbroken-hearted\" (Isa. lxi. 1). That Son Himself has known a\nbitterness that is unknowable by any creature. And as He can lighten\nsorrow so He can refine and increase joy.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWithin the range of human experience there is, perhaps, no expression\nof the ultimate solitude of each man's soul at all times, and not\nmerely (as in Pascal's _Je mourrai seul_) at the hour of death, so\nstriking in its truth and depth as this. Something there is in every\nsorrow, and in every joy, which no one else can share. Beyond that\nrange it is well to remember that there is a Divine sympathy, uniting\nperfect knowledge and perfect love.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe first half of this proverb treats of life experiences which are\ntoo complex a nature to be capable of being fully represented to\nothers, and, as we are wont to say, of so delicate a nature that we\nshrink from uncovering them and making them known to others, and\nwhich, on this account, must be kept shut up in our own hearts,\nbecause no man is so near to us, or has so fully gained our\nconfidence, that we have the desire and the courage to pour out our\nhearts to him from the very depths. If we were to interpret the\nsecond clause as _prohibitive_ (see Critical Notes), then this would\nstand in opposition, certainly not intended, to the exhortation (Rom.\nxii. 15), \"Rejoice with them that do rejoice,\" and to the saying,\n\"Distributed joy is doubled joy, distributed sorrow is half sorrow;\"\nand an admonition to leave man alone with his joy, instead of urging\nhim to distribute it, does not run parallel with the first clause.\nTherefore we interpret the future as _potentialis._--_Delitzsch._\n\nNot to let a man be private in his house is a great injury, but not\nto let a man be private in his heart is a wrong inexcusable. And yet\nthis is the strange presumption of some. They know the _heart_ of\nanother; they know what troubles it and what pains it. Perhaps by\nsome discoveries thou mayest have some conjectures; but let not a\nsmall conjecture make thee a great offender. Wrong not another with\nunjust surmising. Every key a man meets with is not the right key to\nthis lock; every likelihood thou apprehendest is not a sure sign to\nmake thee know the heart of another.--_Jermin._\n\n_\"A knowing heart is a bitterness to itself; but with its joy it does\nnot hold intercourse as an enemy.\"_ We venture upon this translation.\nWe find no spiritual sense in the one heretofore given. . . . A heart\nspiritually enlightened is a bitterness to itself on the principle\nwhich Christ meant when He said, He \"came not to send peace, but a\nsword\" (Matt. x. 34); but with its joy, weak as it may be, and small\nand easily clouded, \"it does not,\" as the impenitent do, \"hold\nintercourse as with an enemy.\" His _joy_ is like his _bitterness,_ a\nfriend; and all will work in opposite direction to the joy of the\nwicked.--_Miller._\n\nEli could not enter into the \"bitterness of soul\" of Hannah (1 Sam.\ni. 10, 13, 16): nor Gehazi into that of the Shunamite woman (2 Kings\niv. 27). Michal, though the wife of David, was \"a stranger to his\njoy\" at the bringing up of the ark to Zion (1 Sam. xviii. 13, 20,\nwith 2 Sam. vi. 12-16).--_Fausset._\n\nThe two extreme experiences of a human heart, which comprehend all\nothers between them, are \"bitterness\" and \"joy.\" The solitude of a\nhuman being in either extremity is a solemnising thought. Whether you\nare glad or grieved, you must be alone. The bitterness and the\njoyfulness are both your own. It is only in a modified sense, and in\na limited measure, that you can share them with another, so as to\nhave less of them yourself. . . . Sympathy between two human beings\nis, after all, little more than a figure of speech. A physical burden\ncan be divided equally between two. If you, unburdened, overtake a\nweary pilgrim on the way, toiling beneath a load of a hundred pounds\nweight, you may volunteer to bear fifty of them for the remaining\npart of the journey, and so lighten his load by half. But a light\nheart, however willing it may be, cannot so relieve a heavy one. The\ncares that press upon the spirit are as real as the load that lies on\nthe back, and as burdensome; but they are not so tangible and\ndivisible. . . . There are, indeed, some very intimate unions in\nhuman society, as organized by God. . . . The closest of them all,\nthe two \"no longer twain, but one flesh,\" is a union of unspeakable\nvalue for such sympathy as is compatible with distinct personality at\nall. . . . The wife of your bosom can, indeed, intermeddle with your\njoys and sorrows, as no stranger can do, and yet there are depths of\nboth in your breast which even she has no line to fathom. When you\nstep into the waters of life's last sorrow, even she must stand back\nand remain behind. Each must go forward alone. The Indian _suttee_\nseems nature's struggle against that fixed necessity of man's\ncondition. But is a vain oblation. Although the wife burn on the\nhusband's funeral pile, the frantic deed does not lighten the\nsolitude of the dark valley. One human being cannot be merged in\nanother. Man must accept the separate personality that belongs to his\nnature.--_Arnot._\n\nIt is true, observes a philosophic essayist, that we have all much in\ncommon; but what we have most in common is this, that we are all\nisolated. Man is more than a combination of passions common to his\nkind. Beyond them and behind them, an inner life, whose current we\nthink we know within us, flows on in solitary stillness. Friendship\nitself is declared to have nothing in common with this dark\nsensibility, so repellent and so forbidding, much less may a stranger\npenetrate to those untrodden shores. We may apply Wordsworth's\nlines,--\n\n To friendship let him turn\n For succour; but perhaps he sits alone\n On stormy waters, tossed in a little boat\n That holds but him, and can contain no more.\n\n--_Jacox._\n\nBy this thought the worth and the significance of each separate human\npersonality is made conspicuous, not one of which is the example of a\nspecies, but each has its own peculiarity, which no one of countless\nindividuals possesses.--_Elster._\n\nWho but a _parent_ can fully know the \"bitterness\" of his grief who\n\"mourneth for an only son\"--of him who is \"in bitterness for his\nfirst-born.\" Who but a parent can sympathise with the royal mourner's\nanguish over a son that has died in rebellion against his father and\nhis God! Who but a _widow_ can realise the exquisite bitterness of a\nwidow's agony when bereft of the loved partner of her joys and\nsorrows! Who but a _pastor_ can know, in all its intensity, the\nbitterness of soul experienced in seeing those on whom he counted as\ngenuine fruits of his ministry, and on whom he looked with delighted\ninterest, as his anticipated \"joy and crown\" in \"the day of the\nLord,\" falling away--going back and walking no more with\nJesus.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nThe principal thought of verse 11 has been treated before. See on\nchapter ii. 21, 22, etc.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe wicked build houses on the earth; the earth is their home, where\nthey desire to be, and they imagine to settle themselves in it. The\nupright do set up tabernacles only, seeking another country, and as\nknowing the uncertainty upon which the world standeth. For though the\nhabitation of the wicked be a _house,_ and rooted in the earth, yet\nit shall not only be _shaken,_ but _overthrown,_ and though the\nabiding of the upright be but a _tabernacle_ pinned to the earth, yet\nshall it stand so safely that it shall _flourish_ like a rooted tree.\nWherefore, when in the Revelation we read \"Woe to the inhabitants of\nthe earth\" (chap. viii. 13), St. Jerome understands it of the wicked\nonly. For a godly man is not an inhabiter of the earth, but a\nstranger and a sojourner. And his tabernacle doth so flourish, that\nit reacheth to heaven, for he hath his dwelling in heaven to whom the\nwhole world is an inn.--_Jermin._\n\nThe \"house of the wicked\" may be a most prosperous one, and may seem\nto be full of peace; but it is doomed. It must become \"desolate,\"\nliterally _astonished;_ which is the eastern way of describing great\ndownfalls. \"But the tent of the upright\" (another intensive clause)\nhis slenderest possessions; like a sprout; like some poor tender\nplant, shall _bloom forth._ Such is the meaning of\n_\"flourish.\"--Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nWHAT SEEMS TO BE, AND WHAT IS.\n\n+I. Human nature needs more light than is found in the human\nconscience.+ The way which \"seems right unto a man\" may be \"the way\nof death.\" A mariner who has insufficient light to observe correctly\nthe needle in the compass, may think he is steering for the haven\nwhen he is taking the vessel straight upon the rocks. He may be very\nsincere in his conviction that he is going right, but his thinking so\nwill not make it so. He needs more light than he has. So the light of\nconscience is not enough to guide a man with certainty in the true\nand right way. If conscientious sincerity was an infallible guide\nPaul would not have \"delivered to prison\" men and women for being\nfollowers of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts. xxii. 4). The way that in his\nignorance seemed right to him, was felt by him to be a \"way of death\"\nwhen his conscience was enlightened. Conscience may be deadened by\nsin, or warped by prejudice or self-interest; it is not a reliable\nand certain guide. If it were, it was needless for the Son of God to\nvisit the earth and make known the will of His Father--the revelation\nof God's will in the books of the Old and New Testaments is a\nsuperfluity. The existence of the Bible is explained by the fact\nwhich is found to be true by all God-taught men, that \"the way of man\nis not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps\"\n(Jer. x. 23). God, by speaking unto men in \"sundry times and in\ndivers manners,\" and especially \"in these last days by His Son\" (Heb.\ni. 1) declares plainly that man needs something outside of himself to\nguide him into that path of righteousness which alone is a way of\nlife. The history of the world confirms this truth. Observation of\nevery-day life tells the same tale.\n\n+II. The need of human nature has been fully met.+ All that the\nmariner needs in order to keep the vessel's head right is light to\nsee the compass. God in Christ is a sufficient light to man. Paul\nsays: _\"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath\nshined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory\nof God in the face of Jesus Christ\"_ (2 Cor. iv. 6). Christ Himself\ntells us that it is those only who \"follow Him\" who have the \"light\nof life\" (John viii. 12). That the way thus revealed is fully adapted\nto meet man's need is proved by the results which follow from walking\nin it. The progress which a sick man makes towards health is the most\nconvincing proof of the efficacy of his physician's treatment. The\nlight which is shed upon men by the revelation of God, and especially\nby the Gospel, has been proven by its result upon individuals and\nupon nations, to be all-powerful to turn men from \"darkness to light,\nand from the power of Satan unto God\" (Acts xxvi. 18). The way of sin\nis the way of death--death morally, socially, and physically. The way\nof holiness is the only way of spiritual life to the soul and to the\ncommunity, and ensures victory over the penalty of bodily death.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nTHE LAST WORDS OF HILDEBRAND.--One of the greatest of the sons of\nearth (if we measure greatness either by posthumous fame or\nposthumous influence) lay on his death bed. Prelates, princes,\npriests, devoted adherents and attendants stood around. Anxious to\ncatch the last accents of that once oracular voice, the mourners were\nbending over him, when, struggling in the very grasp of death, he\ncollected, for one last effort, his failing powers, and breathed out\nhis spirit with the indignant exclamation, \"I have loved\nrighteousness and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in\nexile.\" . . . That he went into the unseen world consciously and\ndeliberately with a lie in his right hand, is a supposition utterly\ninadmissible. Passionate earnestness and intense conviction were\nstamped upon all his words and works. . . . He had climbed the\nslippery steps of intrigue to the Papal throne, and to set that\nthrone above all thrones of the earth, and to cause everyone, \"both\nsmall and great, rich and poor, free and bond,\" to bow down in the\ndust before it, was thenceforward his sole aim and object. . . . It\nwas for this that he enforced that celibacy of the clergy which has\never since been the law of the Church. He found thousands of married\npriests ministering at her altars in innocence of heart, thinking no\nsin, and fearing no dishonour. . . . He commanded them to put away\ntheir wives on pain of excommunication, which meant deprivation of\nall rights, spiritual, social, and human. . . . One cry of\nindignation, one prolonged and bitter wail of agony, arose throughout\nEurope, from the Apennines to the Baltic Sea. . . . Wives were torn\nfrom their husbands, children from their fathers. Popular fanaticism\nallied itself with Papal tyranny. . . . There was no pity for worse\nthan widowed wives, and worse than orphaned children flung out upon\nthe cold world to starve. The Pontiff trod his stern, remorseless way\nover broken hearts. . . . But he had a dangerous antagonist to\nencounter. . . . The Holy Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Church were\ntogether to dominate the world. But which of them was to dominate the\nother? Hildebrand's long contest with Henry IV. may be said to have\ndecided the question. But with what weapons was it fought? We see the\ngallant Saxons tempted by bribes and promises to revolt, and then, in\ntheir hour of distress, treacherously abandoned by him who was at\nonce their ally and \"spiritual father,\" and to whom they addressed in\nvain those noble and pathetic remonstrances which, even to this day,\ncannot be read without emotion. Thus Hildebrand \"loved\nrighteousness.\". . . But the Pontiff, so stern to his antagonists,\ncould be mild to his allies. Keen swords in strong hands were\nnecessary to support his power, the heaviest swords in Europe were\nborne by Norman knights. Robert, the conqueror of Sicily, William,\nthe conqueror of England, were the representative men of this fierce\nand fiery race. . . . They were bloody, avaricious and unscrupulous.\nNo more cruel conquerors ever turned a fruitful land into a waste,\nhowling wilderness. No more remorseless oppressors ever trod down the\npoor with a heel of iron. . . . But their crimes were unrebuked by\nHildebrand. . . . William was \"addressed in the blandest accents of\nesteem and tenderness,\" while Robert, the tyrant of Sicily, \"was\nembraced and honoured as the faithful ally of Rome.\" Thus Hildebrand\n\"hated iniquity.\" That \"way\" in which he walked all his life long\nwith a consistency of purpose and intensity of energy that moves our\nadmiration, seemed \"right unto himself,\" nay, it seemed to be\npre-eminently the way of righteousness, but what shall we say of \"the\nend thereof.\"--_Etchings from History,_ by Miss Alcock. See _Sunday\nat Home,_ February 15th, 1879.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSouls perish always with surprise. . . . But yet the _seeing_ here\nnoted must be taken _cum grano._ Deep in the lost heart of the\nknowledge of its _\"end,\"_ rather its \"afterpart.\" The way lasts for\never, and its _afterward_ \"is the ways of death!\" Deep in the lost\nman's heart he knows all this, and this makes a dark ground for his\ngaieties. (See next verse.)--_Miller._\n\nThere are some ways which can hardly \"seem right\" to any man--the\nways, namely, of open and flagrant wickedness. But there are many\nways, which, under the biassing influence of pride and corruption,\n\"_seem_ right,\" and yet their _\"end\"_ is _\"death.\"_ +I. The way of\nthe sober, well-behaved worldling.+ He thinks of the law as if it had\nbeen only one table, the first being entirely overlooked. He passes\namong his circle for a man of good character, and flatters himself,\nin proportion as he is flattered by others, that all is right. . . .\nBut his way is not the way of life, for God is not in it. +II. The\nway of the formalist.+ He follows, strictly and punctually, the round\nof religious observance. . . . But his heart has not been given to\nGod. The world still has it. He compromises the retention of its\naffections for the things of sense by giving God the pitiful and\nworthless offering of outward homage. But it will not do. Those\nservices cannot _terminate in life,_ which _have no life in them._\n+III. The way of the speculative religionist.+ From education, or as\na matter of curiosity, he has made himself an adept in religious\ncontroversy. He holds by the creed of orthodoxy, and imagines that\nthis kind of knowledge is religion. But speculative opinion is not\nsaving knowledge--is not the faith which \"worketh by love\" and\n\"overcomes the world.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nGood intentions are not a justification for wrong doing (2 Sam.\nvi. 6). Judges xvii. 6 gives an awful illustration of the end of\n\"every man doing that which is right in his own eyes.\" (Cf. the\nprohibition of this, Deut. xii. 8.)--_Fausset._\n\nThis may be his _easily besetting sin,_ the _sin of his\nconstitution,_ the _sin of his trade._ Or it may be _his own false\nviews of religion:_ he may have an _imperfect repentance,_ a _false\nfaith,_ a _very false creed._ Many of the Papists, when they were\nburning the saints of God in the flames of Smithfield, thought they\nwere doing God service.--_A. Clarke._\n\nThe self-delusion of one ends in death by the sentence of the judge,\nthat of another in self-murder; of one in loathsome disease, of\nanother in slow decay under the agony of conscience, or in sorrow\nover a henceforth dishonoured and distracted life.--_Delitzsch._\n\nSin comes clothed with a show of reason (Exodus i. 10); and lust will\nso blear the understanding, that he shall think there is great sense\nin sinning. \"Adam was not deceived\" (1 Tim. ii. 14), that is, he was\nnot so much deceived by his judgment--though also by that too--as by\nhis affection to his wife, which at length blinded his judgment. The\nheart first deceives us with colours; and when we are once a-doting\nafter sin, then we join and deceive our hearts (James i. 26), using\nfallacious and specious sophism, to make ourselves think that lawful\nto-day which we held unlawful yesterday. . . . But it falls out with\nus as with him that, lying upon a steep rock, and dreaming of good\nmatters befallen him, starts suddenly for joy, and breaks his neck at\nthe bottom. As he that makes a bridge of his own shadow cannot but\nfall into the water, so neither can he escape the pit of hell who\nlays his own presumption in the place of God's promise.--_Trapp._\n\nSome say, surely God will not punish a man hereafter who\nconscientiously walks up to his convictions, although these\nconvictions be in point of fact mistaken. They err, knowing neither\nthe inspired Word of God nor natural laws. Do men imagine that God,\nwho has established this world in such exquisite order, and rules it\nby regular laws, will abdicate, and leave the better world in\nanarchy? This world is blessed by an undeviating connection between\ncause and effect; will the next be abandoned to random impulses, or\nleft to chaos? . . . It is not even conceivable that the direction of\na man's course could not determine his landing-place. . . . Perhaps\nthe secret reason why an expectation so contrary to all analogy is\nyet so fondly entertained, is a tacit disbelief in the reality of\nthings spiritual and eternal. We see clearly the laws by which\neffects follow causes in time; but the matters upon which these laws\noperate are substantial realities. If there were a firm conviction\nthat the world to come is a substance, and not merely a name, the\nexpectation would naturally be generated, that the same principles\nwhich regulate the Divine administration of the world now, will\nstretch into the unseen, and rule it all. . . . Truth shines like\nlight from heaven; but the mind and conscience within the man\nconstitute the reflector that receives it. Thence we must read off\nthe impression, as the astronomer reads the image from the reflector\nat the bottom of his tube. When that tablet is dimmed by the breath\nof evil spirits dwelling within, the truth is distorted and turned\ninto a lie.--_Arnot._\n\nThere is no way which doth not seem right in his eyes who liketh to\ngo in it. For man is led in all things by a seeming good; and such is\nthe foulness of doing amiss, that it must put on the painted colours\nof doing right, or else it cannot draw the eyes of man's mind unto\nit. But it is the not seeing the end which causeth the seeming\nrightness of the way, and it is _to man_ that it seems so, who is so\napt to be deceived. He that hath a long fight, and in the beginning\ncan see the end, he maketh the shortest journey and speedeth the best\nin it. If the beginning be a due consideration of the end, the end\nwill be a beginning of true joy and comfort. It is not so in the way\nwhich seemeth to be right. For being but _a way,_ it is passed and\nended, and then begin _the ways of death,_ which are said to be many,\nbecause there is an endless going on in them.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nTRUE AND FALSE MIRTH.\n\nThis proverb, as it stands in our English version, cannot be taken as\nuniversally true. The first clause is rendered by some\ntranslators--\"Even in laughter the heart _may be_ sorrowful\" (see\nCritical Notes), and experience and Bible teaching both necessitate\nour giving a limitation to the second clause also.\n\n+I. Whether mirth will end in heaviness depends upon its\ncharacter--therefore upon the character of the man who is mirthful.+\nThere is an innocent and right mirth, there is an ill-timed, guilty\nmirth. The end of lawful mirth is not heaviness. It is good for the\n_body._ A physician is glad to see his patient mirthful. He knows\nthat it will act most beneficially, and assist his recovery to\nhealth. A mirthful man will not suffer so much physical injury from\nthe wear and tear of life as one who is always sombre and melancholy.\nLawful mirth is good for the _mind._ It is the unbending of the bow\nwhich breaks if it is kept always at its extreme tension. A man who\nis naturally mirthful--who is ever disposed to see men and things in\ntheir brightest colours, must be a creature of hope, and hope has\npower to surround those who possess her with a paradise of their own\ncreation, which is very independent of outward circumstances.\nNatural, wholesome mirth will make a man much stronger to do and to\nbear all the duties and trials of life. But natural, lawful mirth is\nonly proper to godly men. Christians are the only people in the world\nwho have reason to be glad. All those who are worthy of the name\nought to be able, amidst all the saddening influences of life, to\nhold fast such a confidence in God as shall leave room for the play\neven of mirth. But the man who is in a state of alienation from God\nhas no reason to be mirthful, his mirth must be either feigned or the\nresult of a thoughtless disregard of his own relations to God and\neternity. The \"end\" of such mirth must be \"heaviness.\"\n\n+II. Laughter is not always an index of feeling.+ There is doubtless\nmuch that passes for mirth among the ungodly that is merely a blind\nto conceal intentions or feelings deeply hidden in the soul. The\nseducer laughs at the fears and misgivings of his victim, but his\nlaugh is not the laugh of the light-hearted, God-fearing man. Its\nvery ring tells any unprejudiced hearer that there is a flaw\nsomewhere, and it is only assumed to enable him to effect his\npurpose. In such laughter there may not be present actual sorrow, but\nthere is an entire absence of gladness of heart. But laughter often\nveils the deepest and most heartfelt misery. The poor drunkard will\nlaugh at the debauchery of the past night while he feels a bitter\nconsciousness of his degradation. Many a man laughs with his gay\ncompanions, and all the while sees a dread future rising up before\nhim which he trembles to meet. The _character_ of him who laughs will\nafford the best clue by which to determine whether or not the\nlaughter is the outcome of genuine mirth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAlready the wise king was beginning to experience what he more fully\nstates in Eccles. ii. 2; vii. 6. Men's very pleasures turn into their\nopposites.--_Fausset._\n\nNot of its own nature, of course; for a proverb has already said that\nthere is a _\"joy\"_ which is not our foe. Not this is always the case;\nbut there is such a case. Because the wicked get nothing really but\ntheir \"ways\" (verse 14).--_Miller._\n\nThe sun doth not ever shine: there is a time of setting. No day of\njollity is without its evening of conclusion, if no cloud of\ndisturbance prevent it with an overcasting. First God complains, men\nsing, dance, and are jovial and neglectful; at last man shall\ncomplain, and \"God shall laugh at their calamity.\" Who should God be\nconjured to receive that spirit dying which would not receive God's\nSpirit living?--_T. Adams._\n\nAs soon might true joy be found in hell as in the carnal heart. As\nsoon might the tempest-tossed ocean be at rest as the sinner's\nconscience (Isa. lvii. 20, 21). He may feast in his prison, or dance\nin his chains. . . . But if he has found a diversion from present\ntrouble, has he found a cover from everlasting misery? It is far\neasier to drown conviction than to escape damnation. . . . But the\nend of that mirth implies another with a different end. Contrast the\nprodigal's mirth in the far country with his return to his father's\nhouse when \"they began to be merry.\"--_Bridges._\n\nEvery human heart carries the feeling of disquiet and of separation\nfrom its true home, and of the nothingness, transitoriness of all\nthat is earthly; and in addition to this, there is many a secret\nsorrow in everyone which grows out of his own corporeal and spiritual\nlife, and from his relation to other men; and this sorrow, which from\ninfancy onward is the lot of the human heart, and which more and more\ndeepens and diversifies itself in the course of life, makes itself\nperceptible even in the midst of laughter, in spite of the mirth and\nmerriment, without being able to be suppressed or expelled for the\nsoul, returning always the more intensely, the more violently we may\nfor a time have kept it under, and sunk it in unconsciousness. From\nthe fact that sorrow is the fundamental condition of humanity, and\nforms the back-ground of laughter, it follows that it is not good for\nman to give himself up to joy, viz., sensual (worldly), for to it the\nissue is sorrow.--_Delitzsch._\n\nThere are two sorts of joys--the joy natural and the joy spiritual;\nthe joy of vanity and the joy of verity; a joy in the creature and a\njoy in the Creator; a joy in a mutable thing and a joy in a matter\nimmutable. The spiritual joys are the joys of the palace. The natural\njoys are the joys of prisoners. These are to worldlings that are\nwithout God seeming joys, because they know no better. They cannot\nget Penelope, they will be suitors to her maidens. . . . The godly\nare like the ant, they are first weary, then merry; but the ungodly\nare like the grasshopper, first they sing and then they\nsorrow.--_Bishop Abernethy,_ 1630.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nSATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION.\n\n+I. The position and character of the backslider.+ The word suggests\nthat there has been a time in the past when his moral standing was\nhigh. There must have once been a going forward, if there is now a\nsliding backward. Up to a certain time progress was made. Of many\nfollowers of our Lord it is written that from a certain period \"they\nwent back and walked no more with Him\" (John vi. 66). They had walked\nwith Him in outward discipleship at least, and it is probable that\ntheir hearts had been more or less influenced for good. Their\n\"walking no more\" was a going back probably in outward life,\ncertainly in right disposition towards the Christ of God. The man of\nour text is \"a backslider in heart.\" Then there must once have been a\ngoing forward of his soul towards God and goodness, and outward\nmovement towards righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.\nBut the forward movement has ceased--the retrograde movement has set\nin within the man, although it may not immediately be seen in his\noutward conduct. Solomon was himself a sad example of a backslider.\nIn his early days his heart was turned towards his God, his desires\nafter righteousness were strong, his moral progress a reality. No one\ncan read his dedication prayer without feeling that the man who\noffered it stood in right relations with his God--that his\naspirations were after righteousness of heart and life. He is himself\na proof of the certain fact that a man can terribly deteriorate in\ncharacter even after he has given evidence of a progression in the\ngood and the right way.\n\n+II. His portion.+ \"He shall be filled with his own ways.\"\nRetribution will flow from both his past and present character. The\nremembrance of what he once was will embitter the present. To think\nof what _might have been_ is in itself a hell when a man feels that\nby his own act he is now far lower in the moral scale than he once\nwas. How it must embitter the misery of the fallen angels to remember\nthat they once stood sinless before God's throne, and, but for their\nown act, would stand there still. In one of the writings of Lucian,\nhe represents the ghost of a man who has left the world coming up for\njudgment before the bar of Rhadamanthus. He had lived so depraved a\nlive that his judge exclaims that a new punishment is needed that\nwill be in some degree adequate to his unparalleled villany. A poor\ncobbler, standing by, suggests that it will be enough if the cup of\nLethe, which was supposed to obliterate all remembrance of the past,\nand which each shade was permitted to drink as he passed from the\ndread tribunal, should, in this instance, be withheld. And the\ncriminal was therefore condemned to remember for ever what he had\ndone in life, and this was held to be retribution sufficient for the\nworst of crimes. And if this is true of every wicked man, surely to\nbe filled with the remembrance of what he once was will be the\nbitterest cup that can be the portion of every backslider.\n\n+III. The portion of the godly man.+ He, too, shall be filled with\nhis own ways, but it will be the fulness of satisfaction. The\nfoundation of real happiness is in character alone. The blessedness\nof the Eternal God comes from nothing outside of Himself. It has its\nfoundation in His own perfect character. So nothing outside a man can\nyield him satisfaction. It must come from what he is--from his\npartaking of some degree of the character of the ever-blessed God. In\nproportion as he approaches that--in proportion as he brings forth\nthe fruits of righteousness--will he be conscious of a well-spring of\nsatisfaction which is quite independent of outward circumstances.\nThis well-spring has the advantage of being always at hand. A man may\noften find himself shut out from external sources of joy, death may\npart him from those who have largely ministered to his happiness, but\nwherever he is--whether in this world or another--a \"well of water\"\nwhich is \"within him\" (John iv. 14) is always at hand. It is needless\nto remark that this well-spring does not originate with man, but is\nthe outcome of relationship and communion with God.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Temporary_ backsliding may take place in the true children of God;\nbut the \"backslider\" _here_ is evidently he who, in the language of\nthe apostle, \"goes back into perdition.\" Solomon alludes to such\n_perpetual_ backsliding on the part of those who thus prove\nthemselves to have been no more than professors--\"having the form of\ngodliness, but denying the power thereof.\" Such characters, whatever\nappearances they present to the eye of men,--even of the people of\nGod, with whom they associate, never were vitally and savingly one\nwith Christ, and one with true believers in Him. This is as plainly\naffirmed as it is in the power of language to affirm it. _\"They went\nout from us but they were not of us; for if they had been of us they\nwould no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they\nmight be made manifest that they were not all of us\"_ (1 John\nii. 19).--_Wardlaw._\n\nEvery spot is not the leprosy. Every mark of sin does not prove a\nbackslider. \"A man may be overtaken in a fault\" (Gal. vi. 1); or it\nmay be the sin of ignorance (Lev. iv. 2; Heb. v. 2) or sin abhorred,\nresisted, yet still cleaving (Rom. vii. 15-24). _Backsliding_ implies\na _wilful_ step; not always open, but the more dangerous, because\nhidden. Here was no open apostasy, perhaps no tangible inconsistency.\nNay, the man may be looked up to as an eminent saint, but he is a\n_backslider in heart.--Bridges._\n\nThe upright is satisfied from his own conscience, which though it be\nnot the original spring, yet is the conduit at which he drinks peace,\njoy and encouragement.--_Flavel._\n\nThe wicked are travelling; and they seek an end; and they confidently\nexpect it, but they never get it. What they do get, therefore is\ntheir journey. The old man has got about enough of travelling, but\nenough, if he be an impenitent man, of nothing else, in either world,\nwhatever. The saint may have very little on the earth, but he has\nmade more than his own journey. _\"The backslider in heart.\"_ Not a\nChristian. A Christian never really backslides. Not, therefore, what\nour usage means, but a _heart sliding back,_ as every lost heart\ndoes. The writer has but written a fresh name for the impenitent.\nSuch a sliding heart will just have its journey at last, and nothing\nfor it.--_Miller._\n\nWhat a world of sound theology lies in the deliverance of this\nverse--telling us much how the rewards and punishments of the Divine\nadministration lie in the subjective state, apart from the objective\ncircumstances.--_Chalmers._\n\nGood men _know within themselves_ that they have in heaven a better\nand more enduring substance (Heb. x. 34); _within themselves,_ they\nknow it not in others, not in books, but in their own experience and\napprehension. They can feelingly say that \"in doing God's will\"--not\nonly _for_ doing it, or _after_ it was now done, but even _while_\nthey were doing it--\"there was great reward\" (Psa. xix. 11).\nRighteousness is never without a double joy to be its strength: \"Joy\nin hand and in hope, in present possession and in certain reversion\"\n(Bernard).--_Trapp._\n\nAll engineering proceeds upon the principle of reaching great heights\nor depths by almost imperceptible inclines. The adversary of men\nworks by this will. When you see a man who was once counted a\nChristian standing shameless on a mountain-top of impiety, or lying\nin the miry pit of vice, you may safely assume that he has long been\nworming his way in secret on the spiral slimy track by which the old\nserpent marks and smooths the way to death. . . . Whatever the\nenormity it may end in, backsliding begins in the heart. . . . There\nis a weighing beam exposed to public view, with one scale loaded and\nresting on the ground, while the other dangles high and empty in the\nair. Everybody is familiar with the object, and its aspect. One day\ncuriosity is arrested by observing the low and loaded beam is\nswinging aloft, while the side which hung empty and light has sunk to\nthe ground. Speculation is set on edge by the phenomenon, and at rest\nagain by the discovery of its cause. For many days certain diminutive\nbut busy insects had, for some object of their own, been transferring\nthe material from the full to the empty scale. Day by day the sides\napproached an equilibrium, but no change took place in their\nposition. At last a grain more removed from one side and laid in the\nother reversed the preponderance, and produced the change. There is a\nsimilar balancing of good and evil in the human heart. The sudden\noutward change proceeds from a gradual inward preparation.--_Arnot._\n\nEvery man, both good and bad, shall feel himself sufficiently\nrecompensed for his service.--_Dod._\n\n\"A good man shall be satisfied from himself.\" +I. He can bear his own\ncompany, his own thoughts.+ What is it that makes solitude so irksome\nto mankind? They cannot bear reflection. . . . Generally, we know,\nall is not right. Men do not like to look steadily at themselves,\nbecause, like the bankrupt tradesman who dreads striking a balance,\nthey have a secret suspicion that their lives will not bear a rigid\nscrutiny. . . . The good man does not fear to probe his wound to the\nbottom. +II. He is independent, as other men are not, of earthly\nvicissitudes.+ Men who have their portion here are never safe. The\nworld is a disappointing world, but the good man's eyes are opened to\nthe glories of a better. . . . It is a doomed world, but his treasure\nis safe. . . . Let other men be suddenly driven from the pleasures,\noccupations, and companions with which habit has made them familiar,\nand they are like shipwrecked voyagers whose wealth has all gone down\nin the vessel in which they sailed. He is like a man who has escaped\nto shore with a casket of jewels in which his whole fortune is\ninvested. +III. He stands for judgment, not at the world's bar, but\nat the tribunal of his own conscience.+ \"It is a small thing,\" said\nSt. Paul, \"that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment.\" Was\nhe, then, a morose man who cared nothing about his neighbours? No,\nbut his conscience was ruled by God's law, and in the very act of\nsubmitting himself to Christ as the Lord of his life and soul, he\nbecame comparatively independent of all besides.--_J. H. Gurney._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-18.\n\nREVELATIONS OF CHARACTER.\n\n+I. Four marks of a foolish man.+ When a piece of ground is left to\nitself--left in the hand of nature alone, without the intervention of\nthe hand of man--there will be a variety in its productions, but\nthere will be no wheat--no grain to give seed to the sower and bread\nto the eater. When human nature is left to itself there will of\nnecessity be a variety in its productions, but, however unlike they\nmay be in many respects, they are all alike in this, that they are\nequally unprofitable to God and injurious to man. We have\nhere--1. _The man who believes too much in others._ \"The simple\nbelieveth every word.\" It is possible to have too much faith. The\nblessedness of having it in abundance depends entirely upon the\nfoundation upon which it rests--upon the object _in_ which a man\ntrusts--in the person in whom he believes. Those who have faith in\nthe words of men and women of worthless character--like the young man\nof chap. vii. 7--will find their ruin will be in proportion to the\nconfidence. We stigmatise as a fool the man who shows his purse to\nany wayfarer whom he meets upon the high road; we know that his\nfellow-traveller may be only seeking a fitting time and place to rob\nhim. In this world of fallen men and women we must withhold our faith\nuntil we have some knowledge. There are many now in the world whose\nfoolish credulity has led to the other extreme of universal\nscepticism. From believing everybody and everything they have come to\nbelieve nothing, and to brand \"all men\" as \"liars.\" He who begins by\nbeing a \"simple one,\" and believeth every word, will most likely end\nin being a disbeliever and a scoffer. We are not required to believe\nin God without ground for our belief. He does not demand from us an\nunreasoning credulity, but an intelligent faith. 2. _The man who\nbelieves too much in himself._ He \"rages,\" or is presumptuous, and is\n\"confident.\" As the foolishness of the first man took the form of\nover-confidence in others, so this man shows his want of wisdom by\nundue confidence in himself. (On this character see Homiletics on\nchap. xii. 15, page 271.) 3. _The man who is easily offended._ Such a\nman reveals his folly by the insignificance of the matters which\ngenerally arouse his passion. The man who is \"soon angry\" is\ngenerally more angry about trifles than about things of importance. A\nparent who is easily vexed by his children's transgressions is\ngenerally more severe in punishing those that really least deserve\npunishment. Such a person does not take into account the amount of\nmoral wrong done, but the amount of immediate and personal\ninconvenience which he suffers. For if a man is \"soon angry\" he has\nno time to put things in their right light--to weigh the offence in\nthe balance of right and of reason. The man who is soon angry shows\nthat his mind is not filled with high and noble aspirations; if it\nwere, there would be no room for vexation at small offences. God is\n\"slow to anger,\" because only things worthy of His notice can arouse\nit--because He is filled with high and holy purposes of good towards\nthe human race. (See also on chap. xii. 16, page 272.) 4. _The man\nwho, by wicked plots against his fellow-men, incurs their hatred._\nThis man possesses more mental activity than the others. But he uses\nit against himself, because he uses it against his fellow-men. \"He is\nof wicked devices,\" and \"is hated.\" A man cannot devise plans of evil\nany more than of good without mental labour. Probably Satan is the\nmost active creature in the universe. He is ever \"going to and fro in\nthe earth, and walking up and down in it.\" And many of his human\nchildren imitate him in this respect. This man has not the simplicity\nof him who \"believeth every word,\" nor of him who haughtily rejects\nthe counsel of others, nor of him who allows his feelings to carry\nhim away. He sets about his plans with cool deliberateness, but he is\na fool for all that. He is a fool, because, as we have seen over and\nover again, his plans of wickedness will not only fail, but will\noverthrow himself (see chap. xii. 3, 5 and 7). But the special\nelement of foolishness in the man of wicked devices which is here\nnoted is that his way of life is sure to bring him the hatred of his\nfellow-creatures. No man can afford to set at nought the good-will of\nhis fellow-men. To be an object of universal execration is only the\nlot of a man who lives to injure others, and it is a very poor\ninvestment of life to put it to a use which will only bring such\ninterest.\n\n+II. The marks of a wise man.+ 1. _He walks through life with\ncaution._ To say that a man \"looketh well to his going\" is only\nsaying that he acts like a rational and responsible creature. Even\nthe animals, in obedience to the instinct of self-preservation, look\nto their goings, and avoid many dangers which beset them. The smaller\nbirds, though apparently flying about without any care, have a quick\neye for the hawk soaring above them, or for the cat crouching\nbeneath. All creatures, whether brutes or men, instinctively look to\ntheir goings so far as regards their bodily life. The traveller on a\ndangerous road instinctively picks his way--does not set down his\nfoot without looking to see where there is firm ground to tread upon.\nThe man whose lot is cast in a city where a pestilence is raging\nnaturally takes all possible precautions to avoid the infection. A\nmariner does his best to guide his vessel clear of rocks and\nquicksands. The prudent man extends this caution to every act of his\nlife. As a merchant, he weighs probabilities before he embarks in any\nenterprise. He does not enter into speculations as men engage in a\ngame of billiards. He considers the results of his actions in\nrelation to others as well as to himself. Above all, he looks to his\ngoings in relation to their morality; he frames his life, as we have\nbefore seen (chap. xiii. 14), according to the law of God within him\nin his conscience, and without him, in the revealed word. 2. _He\nwalks thus cautiously because he recognises moral danger._ He\n_\"fears.\"_ This makes all the difference in the lives of men. Some\nrecognise the fact that they are in a world full of moral pit-falls\nand rocks which will be their ruin unless they take heed to their\nways, and others do not. Some know the moral atmosphere is laden with\nmoral pestilence, but others do not discern its impurity. The wise\nman \"departs from evil\" as he would involuntarily turn aside if he\nsaw a deadly serpent lying in his path, or would parry a sword-thrust\nmade at him by an adversary. His main business is, not to take care\nof his _life,_ but of his _character._\n\n+III. The respective reward of the wise and foolish.+ The first are\n_crowned_ by an increase of knowledge, the second have an\n_inheritance;_ but it is only to be given over to their foolishness.\nThe wise man's moral sense becomes more developed \"by reason of use\"\nit is more and more able \"to discern good and evil\" (Heb. v. 14). He\nis more and more removed from that simplicity which \"believeth every\nword\"--he can \"try the spirits, whether they are of God\" (1 John\niv. 1), while the foolish man is more and more the dupe of his own\ncredulity, or of his own self-conceit, and becomes more and more the\nslave of uncontrolled passion.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nSocrates, meeting a gentleman of rank in the street, saluted him, but\nthe gentleman took no notice of it. His friends, observing what\npassed, told the philosopher that they were so exasperated at the\nman's incivility that they had a good mind to resent it. But he\ncalmly made answer, \"If you meet any person in the road in a worse\nhabit of body than yourself would you think you had reason to be\nenraged with him on that account. Pray, then, what greater reason can\nyou have for being incensed at a man for a worse habit of mind than\nany of yourselves?\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 15. He who applies himself to wisdom takes heed of his own\nways, foreseeing dangers, preparing remedies, employing the\nassistance of the good, guarding himself against the wicked, cautious\nin entering on a work, not unprepared for a retreat, watchful to\nseize opportunities, strenuous to remove impediments, and attending\nto many other things which concern the government of his own actions\nand proceedings. But the other kind of wisdom is entirely made up of\ndeceits and cunning tricks, laying up all its hope in the\ncircumventing of others, and moulding them to its pleasure, which\nkind verse 8 denounces as being not only dishonest, but also\nfoolish.--_Lord Bacon._\n\n\"The simple believeth every word,\" whether true or false, useful or\ninjurious. Charity, indeed, \"believeth all things\" (1 Cor. xiii. 7),\nbut not things that are palpably _untrue._ It is the _truth_ which it\nreadily believes. It believes all that it can with a good conscience\nto the credit of another, but not anything more. Epicharmus says,\n\"The sinews and limbs of faith are not rashly to believe\" (Acts\nxvii. 11). \"The prudent man looketh well to his going\"--whether it\ntends to grace and salvation, or to sin and perdition; he \"believeth\nnot every word\"--as, for instance, the flattering words of seducers,\nwho commend to him false doctrine or licentious practice (Eph.\nv. 15).--_Fausset._\n\nWe may apply the verse in all its emphasis of meaning to _eternal\nconcerns._ The simple hear different persons on the subject of\nreligion, and take for granted that all they hear is right. They are\neasily bewildered by sophistical arguments; led away by appeals to\nfeeling; swayed and mastered by false eloquence; seduced by flattery.\nThey are the sport of all that is novel--\"tossed to and fro, and\ncarried about with every wind of doctrine.\" On the contrary, when\ninterests so vast are at stake the prudent man will feel his way,\ntaking nothing upon trust. He first bends his earnest thought to the\nquestion of the Divine authority of the Bible--a question next in\nimportance to that of the being of God; and having ascertained its\nauthority, to learn its lessons. Having the map he will examine for\nhimself the way to heaven. Having a Divine directory, he will trust\nno human guide.--_Wardlaw._\n\nHistory is full of examples of men who have lost their lives by means\nof their credulity, amongst whom were those great men, Abner and\nAmasa. . . . Some have been betrayed into the worst of sins, by\nbelieving groundless reports of others, as Saul in the case of David,\nand we might also add, David himself in the case of Mephibosheth. The\nnation of the Jews was threatened with desolation by the easy temper\nof Ahasuerus, who believed without examination the malicious\nsuggestions of the wicked Haman. . . . The whole world was ruined by\nthe simplicity of Eve, and the easy credit she gave the\nserpent.--_Lawson._\n\nTo _believe every word_ of God is _faith._ To _believe every word_ of\nman is _credulity._ Admit only the one standard; like the noble\nBereans, who would not believe even an apostle's word, except it was\nconfirmed by the written testimony (Acts xvii. 11).--_Bridges._\n\nWe are not willing to be blindfolded at our meat, nor to eat our\nsupper without a light, especially in strange places, where we\nneither know well the fidelity of our host, nor what dishes are set\nbefore us, and shall we be more provident for the outward man, than\nfor the inward? Shall we keep out of our bodies such food as is not\nwholesome and savoury, and receive into our souls such food as will\npoison us? . . . No wrong is thus done to any man. We used to tell\nsilver and weigh gold, and yet we prejudge not them at whose hands we\nreceive them.--_Dod._\n\nTrust is a lovely thing, but it cannot stand unless it get truth to\nlean on. . . . It is a well-known characteristic of the little child\nto believe implicitly whatever you tell him. . . . It remains a\nfeature of the child until it is worn off by hard experience of the\nworld. . . . In this world a man is obliged to be suspicious. Man\nsuffers more from man than from the elements of nature or the beasts\nof the field. A time is coming when this species of prudence will be\nno longer needed. When the people shall be all righteous, there will\nbe no deception on one side, and no distrust on the other.--_Arnot._\n\nA prudent man looks forward to the consequences of things, and\nparticularly to the consequences of his own conduct. O, how much\nmisery and mischief might be avoided or prevented by attending only\nto this single principle, for what are most of the calamities we see\nin the world owing to but this--that men will not look before them?\nTo the want of this wise foresight Moses attributed all the\nrebellions and enormities of the Jewish people, and therefore\nbreathed forth this ardent prayer on their behalf, \"Oh, that they\nwere wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their\nlatter end\" (Deut. xxxii. 29).--_Mason._\n\n\nVerse 16. The \"evil\" from which the \"wise man departeth\" may mean\neither _suffering_ or _sin._ Both may with propriety be included, the\none being the cause of the other.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_Fear_ is sometimes thought to be an unmanly principle. But look at\nthe terrible extent of _the evil_ dreaded. Without it is vanity and\ndisappointment (Rom. vi. 21). Within it is the sting of guilt (1 Cor.\nxv. 56). Upward we see the frown of God (John iii. 36). Downward\neverlasting burnings (Mark ix. 44). . . . The _fool,_ however, never\n_fears_ till he falls. . . . Such a _fool_ was the _raging_ Assyrian,\nblindly _confident_ in his own might, till the God whom he despised\nturned him back to his destruction (2 Kings xix. 28-37).--_Bridges._\n\nHe (the good man) can never _trust in himself,_ though he is\nsatisfied _from himself_ (verse 14). He knows that his sufficiency is\nof God; and the _fear_ that causes him to _depart from evil_ is a\nguardian to the _love_ he feels. Love renders him cautious; the other\nmakes him feel confident. His _caution_ leads him _from sin,_ his\n_confidence_ leads him _to God._--_A. Clarke._\n\nThey which are in greatest safety are farthest from carnal security.\nThe godly have not so many sins as the wicked, and yet they feel them\nmore, and fear them more, and flee from them faster. And the wicked\nhave not more valour than the godly nor so much freedom from\npunishment, and yet go beyond them in audacity and fleshly\nconfidence. When David was dealt with by Nathan, he confessed his\nfault, he craved pardon, he set his heart to seek help from heaven\nagainst his sin; but when Ahab was spoken to by Macaiah, he\npersecuted the prophet, he proceeded in his purpose, he promised\nhimself a safe return. Josiah, hearing the law of the Lord read by\nShaphan, rent his clothes in grief and fear, but Jehoiakim hearing\nthe words of God read by Baruch, in regard of the curses therein\ndenounced, did tear the book and burn it in wrath and fury.--_Dod._\n\nA wise man knows that the enemy is strong, and that his own defences\nare feeble. His policy therefore is, not to brave danger, but to keep\nout of harm's way. He seeks safety in flight. The fool's character is\nmainly made up of two features; he thinks little of danger and much\nof himself. He stumbles on both sides alike. That which is strong he\ndespises, and that which is weak he trusts. The dangers that beset\nhim are great, but he counts them as nothing; the strength that is in\nhim is as nothing, but he counts it great. Thus he is on all hands\nout of his reckoning, and stumbles at every step.--_Arnot._\n\nAs a foolish fear is a betrayer of the strength of man, so a wise\nfear is the safety of him. Wherefore Cyprian saith, the Divine wisdom\nhath found out an excellent policy that by the help of fear we should\nbe delivered. Great is the benefit of God's providence, that\nsometimes fear is made both a virtue and a victory. A wise man\ndeparteth from evil before he cometh to it, for then the parting, as\nmost easily, so is most happily made.--_Jermin._\n\n_Fear a religious principle._ The beginning of religion in the heart\nis a subject of curious inquiry and of great practical importance.\nThere is no sufficient reason for supposing that it is in all men\nalike, we have no rule for saying that religion must either\nnecessarily, or that it does usually proceed from the same cause.\nDifferent men are affected by different motives; and what sinks deep\ninto the heart of one, makes little impression upon another. . . .\nThus it is, that religion sometimes, not seldom indeed, has a\n_violent_ origin in the soul, and begins in terror: \"A wise man\n_feareth_ and departeth from evil.\"--_Paley._\n\n\nVerse 17. Some pettish spirits are like fine glasses, broken as soon\nas touched, and all on fire upon every slight and trifling occasion;\nwhen meek and grave spirits are like flints that do not send out a\nspark but after violent and great collision; _feeble_ minds have a\n_habit_ of wrath, and, like broken bones, are apt to roar with the\nleast touch: it argues a very unsanctified spirit to be so soon\nmoved. Let it be like the fire of thorns, quickly extinct.--_Salter._\n\nAs small letters hurt the sight, so do small matters him that is too\nmuch intent upon them; they vex and stir up anger, which begets an\nevil habit in him in reference to greater affairs.--_Plutarch._\n\nA man who falls into a passion does indeed commit a folly, but yet is\nfar preferable to the coldly and selfishly calculating villain.--_Von\nGerlach._\n\n\"A man of wicked devices,\" one, who when offended, represses the\nindications of his anger, all the while meditating revenge, and\nwaiting for the opportunity when he can wreak it. As \"he that is soon\nangry dealeth foolishly\" as regards himself, so he that wickedly\ndeviseth revenge, while deferring the expression of his anger,\nbringeth on him the \"hatred\" of others. Thus there is danger on both\nsides, in hastiness, and in deferring anger through malice. The\nlatter is the worst offence.--_Fausset._\n\nThe more hot-pulsed sinner may be lost; but the _deep-set_ fool\nexcels him both in guilt and danger. Alas! for the well-complexioned,\ncoolly-settled, morally-esteemed, and long-established hypocritical\nprofessor. It is not all thinking that this book applauds, but that\nwhich is discriminate, the watching of our feet.--_Miller._\n\nThough religion alloweth to be angry, yet it forbiddeth to be _soon\nangry,_ because he that is soon angry is as soon dealing foolishly.\nThe haste of his choler maketh him to outrun his understanding, and\nthe smoke of his anger putteth out the light of his\njudgment.--_Jermin._\n\nTo be angry is to revenge the faults of others upon\nourselves.--_Pope._\n\nAs fine gold doth suffer itself to be tried in the fire six or seven\ntimes, and yet the heat of the fire doth never change its nature or\ncolour; or as good corn is first threshed with the flail, and then\nwinnowed with the wind, and yet is neither broken with the one nor\ncarried away with the other; even so we should suffer ourselves to be\ntried by injuries, and yet not by impatience, through anger, change\nour nature, nor yet our colour, nor be carried away with any\ninconvenience.--_Cawdray._\n\n\nVerse 18. This proverb is especially instructive with respect to the\ndeep inner connection that exists on the one hand between foolish\nnotions, and a poor, unattractive, powerless earthly position,\ndestitute of all influence,--and on the other hand between true\nwisdom and large ability in the department both of the material and\nthe spiritual. Von Gerlach pointedly says, \"There is a certain power\nof attraction, according as a man is wise or foolish; the possessions\nalso which the one or the other attains are in accordance with his\ndisposition.\"--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThe child of Adam is born to folly (Job xi. 12). That is his\n_inheritance._ He received it from his first father (Gen. v. 3; Psa.\nli. 5). So long as he remains _simple,_ he confirms the title. Unlike\nan earthly _inheritance,_ he cannot relinquish it. He holds it in\nlife, he still holds it firm in death, and reaps its bitter fruits\nthroughout eternity.--_Bridges._\n\nThe prudent has not inherited much at this present date. He has not\nmuch of the world. He has not much of another. How shall we express\nhis excellence? He has this poor thing that he calls piety. Where is\nits worth to him? Why, its worth to him is that it is a splendid\n_\"crown.\" He makes a crown of knowledge._ That is, he takes his\npiety, which is a mean, weak beginning, and makes it the badge of a\nglorious sovereignty. The Christian is a king. And by this is meant,\nthat, when he becomes pious, everything becomes subject to him\n(1 Cor. iii. 22).--_Miller._\n\nThe world says that none dies without an heir: Religion says that\nnone dies without an inheritance. Everyone dying in this world is\nheir to himself in the next world.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 19.\n\nA LEVELLING LAW.\n\n+I. This law is now manifest to the inner life of the wicked.+ If a\nwicked man has any sense of right and wrong, he is conscious of the\nsuperiority of the good man. There is an inward bowing down of the\nevil to the good which is as real, although invisible, as any outward\nbending of the person of one man before another. Indeed it is far\nmore real than much outward homage. There are many outward and\nvisible bendings and bowings which are mere matters of form, which\nare only made to keep up appearances. But the involuntary bowing of\nthe evil man's soul in the presence of the good man is a real act of\nhomage, although there is in it an element of unwillingness. There is\na compulsory consent, so to speak, of the man himself against\nhimself. But this genuflexion of soul is no mere pretence.\n\n+II. The good man is also conscious of it.+ He knows that it is so\nbecause in the constitution of the universe good is made to rule\nevil, because the head of the one kingdom--the kingdom of evil--is\ncompelled to acknowledge the authority of the head of the kingdom of\ngood. His own moral consciousness tells him that it must be so, and\nhe has the declaration of God to confirm it. _\"No weapon that is\nformed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise\nagainst thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of\nthe servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the\nLord\"_ (Isa. liv. 17).\n\n+III. What has been occasionally manifested in the outward life, and\nwhat is always the inner experience, will one day be universally\nvisible to all the universe.+ The revelation of God tells us that\nthere will be a universally visible manifestation of the submission\nof the evil to the good. And our sense of justice demands that it\nshould be so. A day will come when, at the name of Incarnate\nGoodness, \"every knee shall bow\" (Phil. ii. 10), and the servants\nwill have a portion of like reverence. \"The sons also of them that\nafflicted Thee shall come bending unto Thee; and all they that\ndespised Thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of Thy feet\"\n(Isa. lx. 14).--See also Rev. xx. 4. It is also revealed to us _when_\nthis visible manifestation shall take place. _\"In the end of this\nworld,\"_ at the close of the present dispensation, _\"the Son of Man\nshall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom\nall things that offend, and them which do iniquity. . . . Then shall\nthe righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father\"_\n(Matt. xiii. 40-43). \"For this manifestation of the sons of God\" they\nwait with \"earnest expectation;\" \"creation groans\" for it; Christ\nHimself awaits it at \"the right hand of God\" (Heb. x. 12, 13; Rom.\nviii. 19-22).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAt one time or another, in one respect or other, the ungodly serve\nand crouch to the godly. Sometimes they that fear the Lord are lifted\nup to honour, and then the evil men bow themselves before them.\nSometimes, again, the righteous wax rich through God's blessing on\ntheir labours, and then come the wicked to their gates for alms and\nrelief. Not only the poor ones, but the great ones, who yet are\nwicked ones, seek and sue now and then with all submission to the\ngodly for their counsel and help. And I cannot tell how, but such a\nmajesty there is in the godly oftentimes, that most desperately\nwicked men reverence their faces, and are silent or courteous in\ntheir presence.--_Muffet._\n\nThere is not the general rule in the present dispensation. Righteous\nLazarus _bowed at the rich man's gate_ (Luke xvi. 20). . . . But \"the\nupright shall have dominion over the wicked in the morning\" (Psa.\nxlix. 14; Mal. iv. 1-3). \"The saints shall judge the world\" (1 Cor.\nvi. 2).--_Bridges._\n\nThere have been instances in which this proverb was verified in a\nvery remarkable manner. The Egyptians bowed down before Joseph, and\nMoses, and the Israelites. The proud king of Babylon almost\nworshipped the captive Daniel, and Elisha's favour was solicited by\nthree kings, one or two of whom were bad men.--_Lawson._\n\nThe wicked serve the righteous; and whether they do it knowingly,\nthey do it wholly, and through eternal ages.--_Miller._\n\nIn times of worldly prosperity, and while the wicked flourish, there\nis none more lifted up in pride and bravery of outward shows than\nthey are; there is none, then, less esteemed, and more despised, than\nthe good and righteous are. They shall give long attendance before\nthe gates give way to them, and when they are entered a proud eye\nshall mightily overlook them, a scornful language shall throw them\ndown at their feet. Wherefore Augustine calleth riches wings, by\nwhich men in pride fly not only above others, but themselves also.\nBut if the time alter, and either some storm of common calamity beat\nupon them, or else the hand of God privately seize on them, then none\nare more dejected than the wicked, none then more esteemed than the\nrighteous are by them. Then their ways are to the gates of the\nrighteous, and much bowing there is to entreat their prayers unto\nGod, and to obtain help and comfort from them. Then Dives, but\nfearing hell only, already sees Lazarus in heaven, and fain would\ncome unto him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 20 _and_ 21.\n\nAN AGGRAVATED CRIME, A QUESTIONABLE VIRTUE, AND A PRESENT BLESSING.\n\n+I. A fourfold sin.+ A man who despises or hates his neighbour\nsins--1. _In the simple exercise of the feeling._ Hatred, or even the\nact of despising another, is in itself a sin. Here we must\ndistinguish between hatred of the _person_ and hatred of his\n_practices_--between despising _a man himself_ and despising his\n_actions._ God Himself hates and abhors evil character, but He makes\na distinction between a man's character and the man. To hate or to\ndespise any human creature is devilish. 2. _By hating or despising\nhim for his poverty._ Poverty is a calamity often--always a burden\nand a cross. It is that for which a man should be pitied, and on\naccount of which he should receive the sympathy of his fellow-men.\nPoverty is a burden heavy enough in itself, to add to it in any way\nis diabolical. 3. _Because he hates and despises his\nfellow-sufferer._ It is not a man beneath him, of whose trials he is\nignorant, but his _neighbour,_ one with whom he is on a level. The\nproverb speaks of one poor man hating another. Cases are not uncommon\nin which men who have risen from poverty to wealth hate and despise\nthe class from which they have risen even more than those do who were\nborn to rank and wealth. And sometimes men who have risen are hated\nby those whom they have left behind in the race. But for a poor man\nto dislike and to despise another poor man for his poverty, is a most\nunnatural and aggravated crime. A common calamity generally makes men\nfeel a kinship for each other. Those who partake of a common lot\ngenerally feel a common sympathy. The poor do not generally hate and\ndespise the poor. The poor man who does commit this sin against his\nneighbour commits a double sin against himself, for he knows himself\nthe trials of his poor brother, and, therefore, does not sin through\nignorance or inconsiderateness. 4. _Against God._ God \"putteth down\none, and setteth up another\" (Psalm lxxv. 7). It is His ordination\nthat \"the poor shall never cease out of the land\" (Deut. xv. 11).\nThey are His especial care (Psalm xii. 5, etc.), and He will count\nany addition to their burden as a wrong to Himself.\n\n+II. A questionable virtue.+ \"The rich hath many friends.\" Friendship\nwith a rich man may spring from _social equality._ There is a natural\ntendency in men who are equals in anything to form friendships with\neach other. Men of the same moral standing do so, men of the same\nintellectual attainments are attracted to each other, and men who are\nequals in social rank and in wealth are, by the force of\ncircumstances, often thrown into each other's society, and so a\nfriendship which is real _may_ be formed. But it is a more\nquestionable bond than that which unites men in the two\nfirst-mentioned cases. It may be only a counterfeit of the genuine\narticle, and it is nothing more if wealth is the only bond.\nFriendships formed upon similarity of intellectual and moral wealth\nhave a far firmer foundation, because they rest upon what is\ninseparable from the man himself, while friendship founded upon\nriches has for its foundation what may at any time take to itself\nwings and fly away. Or the friendship may be one of _social\ninequality._ A poor man may attach himself to a wealthy man. This,\ntoo, _may_ be genuine. The friendship _may_ be built upon something\nwhich both value more than wealth; but if the friendship of the rich\nwith the rich is regarded with doubt, and requires adversity to test\nit, much more does the friendship of the poor for the rich. The proof\nof the genuineness of the metal is the fire, the proof of the\nseaworthiness of the vessel is the storm, and it is an universally\nrecognised truth that the proof of friendship is power to come\nuninjured through the fire and storm of adverse circumstances.\n\n+III. A present blessedness.+ \"He that hath mercy on the poor, happy\nis he.\" 1. Happy because \"it is more blessed to give than to receive\"\n(Acts xx. 35), because gladness always comes to the heart when an\neffort has been made to lighten another's burden. 2. Happy in\npossessing the gratitude and confidence of his poor brother. 3. Happy\nbecause he wins the favour of God. (See on verse 31.)\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 20.\n\nThe bees were haunting the flowering trees in crowds, humming among\nthe branches, and gathering honey in the flowers. Said Gotthold,\n\"Here is an image of temporal prosperity. So long as there is blossom\non the trees, and honey in the blossom, the bees will frequent them\nin crowds, and fill the place with their music; but when the blossom\nis over, and the honey gone, they too will disappear.\" Temporal gain\nis the world's honey, and the allurement with which you may entice it\nwhithersoever you will; but where the gain terminates, there likewise\ndo the love and friendship of the world stop.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 20. Alas! it is a mystery of knowledge to discern friends:\n\"Wealth maketh many friends\" (chap. xix. 4); they are friends to the\nwealth, not to the wealthy. They regard not _qualis sis,_ but\n_quantas,_ not how good thou art, but how great. They admire thee to\nthy face, but inwardly consider thee only a necessary evil, yea, a\nnecessary devil. . . . Worldly friends are like hot water, that when\ncold weather comes, are soonest frozen. Like cuckoos all summer they\nwill sing to thee, but they are gone in July at furthest; sure enough\nbefore the fall. They flatter a rich man, as we feed beasts, and then\nfeed on him.--_T. Adams._\n\nHow former friendship between two persons may be transformed into its\nopposite on account of the impoverishment of one of them, is\nimpressively illustrated by our Lord's parable of the neighbour who a\nfriend asks for three loaves (Luke xi. 5-8).--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThe same word in the original which signifieth a friend signifieth a\nneighbour also, because a neighbour should be a friend. But though a\nrich man has friends far and near, a poor man is hated even of his\nneighbour. He that best knoweth his wants and should most of all pity\nthem, doth least regard him and use him worst. He that is nearest at\nhand to help him is farthest off from helping him. Wherefore the\nneighbourhood of men being so bad, God becometh his neighbour, and as\nit is in the Psalms (cix. 31). _\"He standeth at the right hand of the\npoor man to save him.\"--Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 21. The impenitent is the _poorest_ among men; and he who\nneglects him, and lets him go on in his iniquity, of course, is a\ncruel sinner. \"They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the\nfirmament, and they that lead many to righteousness, as the stars for\never and ever.\" He who despises his neighbour \"sins,\" literally\n\"misses,\" \"blunders.\" He wastes a splendid opportunity, not only for\nhis neighbour, but for himself. The appeal is to _self,_ and is made\nmore intense where, instead of _\"despising\"_ our neighbour, we\nactually \"devise evil\" against him (See next verse).--_Miller._\n\n1. _There is a sin against the arrangements of God's providence._\n2. _Against the frequent and express commands of His Word_ (Deut.\nxv. 7-11; Luke xii. 33; xiv. 12-14). 3. _Against the manifestations\nof His distinguishing love._ God has not only avowed Himself jealous\nfor the poor, but \"to the poor the gospel is preached,\" and of those\nwho become the subjects of God's grace, and heirs of glory, a large\nproportion belong to this class. 4. _In the contempt of God's\nthreatened vengeance against all who neglect them, and of His\npromised special favour to all who treat them with\nkindness.--Wardlaw._\n\nWe show our contempt of the poor, not only by trampling upon them,\nbut by overlooking them, or by withholding that help for which their\ndistress loudly calls. The Levite and the priest that declined giving\nassistance to the wounded traveller on the way to Jericho, were\nnotorious breakers of the law of love in the judgment of our Lord.\nThe Samaritan was the only one that performed the duty of a\nneighbour.--_Lawson._\n\nThrough the gate of beneficence doth the charitable man enter into\nthe city of peace. . . . God makes some rich, to help the poor; and\nsuffers some poor to try the rich. The loaden would be glad of ease:\nnow charity lighteneth the rich man of his superfluous and wieldy\ncarriage. When the poor find mercy they will be tractable; when the\nrich find quiet, they should be charitable. Would you have your goods\nkept in peace? First, lock them up by your prayers, then open them\nagain with your thankful use, and trust them in the hands of Christ\nby your charity.--_T. Adams._\n\nHe that hath mercy on the poor maketh the other's misery to be his\nown happiness, and as the other is comforted by it, so is he blessed\nby it. Blessed he is by the poor and his prayers for him, blessed he\nis by God and His favours upon him. Tabitha had reached out her hand\nto give unto the poor, and Peter reached out his hand in delivering\nher from death. She had bestowed clothing on the poor, and life is\nbestowed upon her. Wherefore the exhortation of Chrysostom is, \"those\nthings which God hath given us, let us give Him again, that so with\nadvantage they may be again made ours.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nA FATAL ERROR AND A CERTAIN GOOD.\n\n+I. The mistake of devisers of evil.+ 1. _They err in relation to the\nsuccess of their plans._ They think that their wicked devices will\nsucceed, so they would not go to the labour and trouble of devising\nthem. But they make a fatal mistake, because they ignore another\nplan, which embraces theirs. They forget that there may be a circle\nof action outside their circle, which may circumvent all their\nschemes. A man may look at the sea from the lower deck of a vessel\nand think he can see all that is to be seen. But his thinking so\nwould only prove him to be a fool. The man at the masthead can see\nmuch further. A traveller on a plain may have an extensive view, but\nhe who is on the mountaintop takes in all that he can see, and much\nbesides. So it is with the man who devises evil. He can see a little\nway before him and around him, he thinks, therefore, that he can take\nin the whole situation at a glance, and can see what is needful for\nhim to do and what can be accomplished to bring his plans to pass.\nBut there is more beyond; God takes a higher position and has a wider\noutlook. He takes in not only all that the wicked man has seen, but\nmuch that he does not see. _\"He taketh the wise in their own\ncraftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong\"_ (Job\nv. 13). The device of Haman was so well planned that it seemed to him\ncertain of success. But Mordecai's God had a plan which embraced and\nout-flanked that of the murderer. The device of Joseph's brethren\nseemed to embrace all that was necessary to accomplish his ruin, but\nit was utilised by the righteous Ruler of the Universe to bring to\npass his exaltation. The device of evil against the Divine Son of God\nis the most palpable instance that the universe has ever seen of the\nshort-sighted error of wicked men. 2. _He errs because he will meet\nwith retribution in his own person._ Human rulers are sometimes\ninvolved in much perplexity because, although they know that plots\nare being woven against their government, they are not only at a loss\nto find a plan by which to bring home the crime to the conspirators,\nbut feel they have no force strong enough to punish them if they are\nconvicted. But God is never at a loss either for means to defeat the\npurposes of those that devise evil, or to punish them for their\ndevices. He is never driven, by want of power, to yield to those who\noppose the good--who work iniquity. (See Homiletics on chap.\nxii. 12-14, page 268.)\n\n+II. The reward of devisers of good.+ \"Mercy and truth.\" 1. _Even a\ndeviser of good needs mercy._ The very act of devising good sometimes\nbrings a man to need mercy of his _fellow-man._ Daniel devised\nnothing but good to the king of Babylon, but his very uprightness\nmade him an object of envy and brought him into a condition to need\nmercy. Or a deviser of good may err in judgment. The best intentioned\nman is liable to make mistakes. No human being, however benevolent\nhis life, can claim to be exempt from moral infirmities which will\nsometimes mislead him. Every man therefore needs that his fellow\ncreatures should mingle charity with their judgment of him and with\ntheir conduct towards him. And he always needs mercy from _God._ No\nsaint of ancient or modern times has ever been beyond the need of\nGod's mercy, although their very name implies that they are devisers\nof good. 2. _He equally needs truth._ He needs to be able to depend\nupon the _word_ of another, he needs a certainty of being justly\ndealt with. A man's success in business largely depends upon his\nbeing able to rest upon the fair dealing of others. He wants truth in\nothers to meet his own truthfulness--as he strives to deal justly,\nand to love mercy, so he desires to be dealt with justly as well as\nmercifully. 3. _Both these needs shall be met. Sometimes_ by men,\n_always_ by God. Experience and history furnish us with many\nexceptions to the first. Those men of God who have been most eminent\ndevisers of good have often met with anything but mercy and truth\nfrom those whom they have desired to benefit. Ignorance or envy has\nrisen up against them, and so the missionary has been slain by the\nclub of the savage abroad, and the reformer has been made the mark of\nslanderous tongues at home. But everyone has found the testimony of\nthe inspired Word to be true in his own experience: _With the\nmerciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful. With an upright man Thou\nwilt show Thyself upright_ (Psa. xviii. 25).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIf wicked men employ their thoughts to contrive mischief, and show so\nmuch diligence in the service of sin, although they have such a\nmiserable reward, let God's people exercise the same diligence in the\nservice of righteousness, by seeking out and seizing opportunities of\ndoing good, and their labour shall not be in vain in the\nLord.--_Lawson._\n\nScripture traces actions to principles. Wicked as it is to _do evil,_\nit is far more hateful to _devise it_ (see verse 17). _Devising\nevil,_ therefore, if it comes not to the act, shows the purpose\n(chap. xxiv. 8).--_Bridges._\n\nTo him who lays himself out in planning and executing designs of\nbenefit to others, there shall be _\"mercy and truth.\"_ From his\nfellow-men he shall experience universal love and esteem. He shall\nfind sympathy in his distresses and reverses, faithfulness in dealing\n(for if anything will secure a man from being cheated and defrauded,\nit will be a character for disinterested kindness), and the general\nexercise of practical gratitude. And the Lord will make him to\nexperience His love, and will fulfil to him faithfully all His\n\"precious promises.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nSolomon here is no lawgiver, but an evangelist, leading us unto Jesus\nChrist. For we can obtain no mercy but in Him only. For \"the promises\nof God are yea and amen in Him.\"--_Cope._\n\nCan any one see any flaw in _\"Mercy\"_ and _\"Truth?\"_ _Mercy_ is pure\nbenevolence; and _truth_ is that other quality of the good, which is\ncommanded in the first table of the law, and answers to a love of\nholiness. Is there anything right, outside of _\"Mercy and Truth?\"_ Is\nthere anything wrong that the vilest rebel can detect in either one\nof them? Must \"they not err that devise evil,\" if for no other cause\nthan that _\"Mercy and Truth\"_ stand on the opposite side, and,\nthrough eternal ages, are busy in _devising good?--Miller._\n\nAristotle relateth of Socrates that he affirmed all virtues to be\nsciences, all sins to be ignorances. And Aquinas saith of it, that\ntherein he judged in some sort rightly because the will never would\nincline to evil, unless it were with some ignorance and error of\nreason. The question, therefore, is not here asked of him that\ndeviseth evil, for he thinketh himself to be right, he doth not think\nthat to be evil which he doth, nor himself to err in doing of it. He\nattaineth to the end at which he aimeth, and that persuadeth him that\nhe aimeth aright. But so to be in the right way, is quite to wander\nfrom the right way; and howsoever such an one may not err in his\nplans and plots, yet doubtless he erreth from the ways of\nlife.--_Jermin._\n\nMercy and truth were the best that David could wish for his fast\nfriend Ittai (2 Sam. xv. 20). These two attributes of God shall cause\nthat good devices shall not miscarry. His mercy moves Him to promise,\nHis truth binds Him to perform. \"For Thy word's sake, and according\nto Thine own heart Thou hast done all these things\" (2 Sam.\nvii. 18-21). \"According to Thine own heart,\" that is out of pure and\nunexcited love, Thou didst give Thy Word and promise, and \"for Thy\nWord's sake,\" Thou hast performed it.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nTHE PROFIT OF LABOUR.\n\n1. _The profit of social honour._ It is both natural and right that a\nman should desire the respect and good-will of those around him.\nNothing is more certain than that he who lives without working in\nsome form or another, either for himself or for others, will not\nreceive this reward. Those who are poor, and do nothing, sink into\nbeggary and consequent dishonour; those who are rich, and have\nnothing to do--or rather, who do nothing--are not held in honour,\neither in life or after death. \"Pray, sir, of what disease did your\nbrother die?\" said the Marquis Spinola one day to Sir Horace Vere.\n\"He died, sir,\" was the answer, \"of having nothing to do.\" \"Alas!\"\nsaid Spinola, \"that is enough to kill any general of us all.\" Honour\ncannot come from idleness, but labour brings not only honour while\nliving, but gives us a title to be regarded with respect after we\nhave left the world. Of no man who has lived to any purpose can it\never be said that _he died of having nothing to do._ 2. _The profit\nof bodily health._ A body which does not labour, either with brain or\nhand, is an easy prey to disease. The brain if used becomes\nstrengthened for further use. The whole bodily frame is kept in\nhealth by wholesome work. 3. _Profit to the moral nature._ Labour\ncalls for some form of self-sacrifice. It develops habits of\npainstaking and diligence which are helpful to a man's moral nature.\nIt helps the spiritual part of the man by helping the bodily,\ninasmuch as a strong and healthy body is the best instrument for a\nmorally healthy soul. 4. _The profit of material gain._ In all free\ncountries a man gets some wages for work. It may not be a fair\nremuneration, but there is some profit of this kind attached to it.\nThere are, of course, exceptions to this proverb, as for instance,\nthe labour of the man who devises evil in the former verse, or that\nof those whose poverty compels them to work, even to the injury of\nsoul and body, for a miserable pittance which is not worthy the name\nof wages. Such, alas, is the lot of many even in our own country. The\nantithesis of this proverb, simply states that talk will not do\ninstead of work. When men do nothing but talk, their talk is certain\nto be of that worthless kind condemned in chapter x. 19. (See\nHomiletics on page 168.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n Get leave to work\n In this world--'tis the best you get at all;\n For God, in cursing, gives us better gifts\n Than man in benediction. God says \"Sweat\n For foreheads,\" men say \"Crowns\" and so we are crowned,\n Ay, gashed by some tormenting circle of steel\n Which snaps with a secret spring. Get work, get work;\n Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.\n\n * * * * * *\n\n Be sure, no earnest work\n Of any honest creature, howbeit weak,\n Imperfect, ill-adapted, fails so much,\n It is not gathered as a grain of sand,\n To enlarge the sum of human action used\n For carrying out God's end.--_Mrs. Browning._\n\nThere is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness in work. Were he\nnever so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always\nhope in a man that actually and earnestly works: in idleness alone is\nthere perpetual despair. Work, never so mammonish, mean, _is_ in\ncommunication with nature: the real desire to get work done will\nitself lead one more and more to truth, to nature's appointments and\nregulations, which are truth. The latest gospel in this world is,\nKnow thy work and do it. \"Know thyself:\" long enough has that poor\nself of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to \"know\" it, I\nbelieve! Think it not thy business, this of knowing thyself; thou art\nan unknowable individual; know what thou can'st work at, and work at\nit, like a Hercules! That will be thy better plan. It has been\nwritten, \"an endless significance lies in work,\" a man perfects\nhimself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields\nrise instead, and stately cities; and withal the man himself first\nceases to be a jungle and foul unwholesome desert thereby. Consider\nhow, even in the meanest sorts of labour, the whole soul of a man is\ncomposed into a kind of real harmony, the instant he sets himself to\nwork! Doubt, Desire, Sorrow, Remorse, Indignation, Despair itself,\nall these like hell-dogs lie beleaguering the soul of the poor\nday-worker, as of every man: but he bends himself with free valour\nagainst his task, and all these are stilled, all these shrink\nmurmuring far off into their caves. The man is now a man. The blessed\nglow of labour in him, is it not as purifying fire, wherein all\npoison is burnt up, and sour smoke itself thereby is made bright\nblessed flame?--_Carlyle._\n\nIndustry need not wish; and he that lives upon hopes will die\nfasting. There are no gains without pains, then help hands, for I\nhave no lands, or, if I have, they are smartly taxed. He that hath a\ntrade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of\nprofit and honour; but then the trade must be worked at, and the\ncalling followed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable us\nto pay our taxes.--_Franklin._\n\nHe that labours is tempted by one devil; he that is idle by a\nthousand.--_Italian Proverb._\n\nAs in religion, it is not the man who speaks but the man who does\nthat gives proof of his sincerity; so in earthly business, it is not\nthe man who talks fluently, and lays down plausible schemes of\nbusiness, but the man who labours and does all his work that has\nreason to expect the blessing of Providence. Those that wear their\nworking instruments in their tongues are always the most useless, and\nsometimes the most hurtful members of society.--_Lawson._\n\nA busy tongue makes idle hands. If the mouth _will_ be heard, the\nnoisy loom must stop; and he who prefers the sound of his tongue to\nthat of his shuttle, had need at the same time be a man who prefers\ntalk to meat, hunger to fulness, starvation to plenty.--_Wardlaw._\n\nRich beyond conception is the profit of spiritual labour (chap.\nx. 16). \"The Son of Man gives to the _labourer_ enduring meat. The\nviolent take the kingdom of heaven by force. The _labour_ of love God\nis not unrighteous to forget\" (John vi. 27; Heb. vi. 10). But _the\ntalk of the lips_ gives husks, not bread. While there are only\nshallow conceptions of the Gospel, and no experimental enjoyment of\nChristian establishment, it is \"all running out in noise.\" Says\nHenry: \"There is no instruction because there is no 'good treasure\nwithin' (Matt. xii. 35).\" \"What manner of communications are these\nthat ye have one to another?\" is a searching question (Luke\nxxiv. 17). Ministers, doctrines, the externals, circumstantials,\ndisputations on religion--all may be the mere skirts and borders of\nthe great subject, utterly remote from the heart and vitals. . . . A\nreligious tongue without a godly heart tendeth _only to\npenury.--Bridges._\n\nThis is a difficult sentence. We have found it hard to vindicate its\nsense. The grammar is all obvious, and on the very account the\nreading is singularly fixed. But _\"all labour\"_ is anything else than\n_\"profitable;\"_ and the _\"talk of the lips\"_ (chap. xxxi. 26) is one\nof the grandest ways of doing good among men. We understand it in a\nreligious sense. All these proverbs might be worldly maxims, some of\nthem actually in use; all of them with a show of wisdom; some of them\nutterly unsound; but all of them, when adopted by the Holy Ghost, and\nturned in the direction of the Gospel, true, in their religious\naspect. So, now, in this particular instance, _\"all labour\"_ might\nseem to promise well among the thrifty, but sometimes ruins men, even\nin this world, and is sure to ruin them, if worldly, in the world to\ncome. But now, as a religious maxim, it is without exception. _\"All\nlabour,\"_ of a pious kind is marked, and will be gloriously rewarded\nout of the books of the Almighty. _\"All labour\"_ of the impenitent,\nfor their soul's salvation, has _\"profit;\"_ literally, _something\nover._ It brings them nearer. If continued long enough, it will bring\nthem in; that is, if it be honest (Heb. xi. 6); while _\"the talk of\nthe lips,\"_ or, possibly, _\"an affair of the lips,\"_ that is, _mere\nintention,_ does _\"only\"_ mischief. Mark the balance between _\"all\"_\nand _\"only.\"_ Seeking is _\"all\"_ of it an advance. Intending is\n\"only\" a retreat. One gains a step, the other loses one. Starting up\nactually to work, if honest, is an advance towards wealth; while\nintention, which is but _an affair of the lips, tends only_ to make\nus poor indeed.--_Miller._\n\nWhen God gave man this curse, in labour thou shalt eat, he gave\nlabour this blessing, to increase and multiply. It is a plant that\nprospereth in any soil, it is a seed that taketh well in any ground.\nFor the labourer's hire is never kept back by God. . . . Talking is\nnot truly labour, and labour is rather to hold one's peace. According\nas St. Ambrose speaketh \"It is a harder thing to know how to be\nsilent than how to speak. For I know many to speak, when they know\nnot to hold their peace.\" But it is a rare thing for any man to hold\nhis peace, when to speak no way doth profit him. But no labour is so\nwell spared as this, and sitting still is nowhere so commendable as\nin the lips.--_Jermin._\n\nThey that painfully and conscientiously employ themselves in any\nvocation, how base and contemptible soever it seems to be, are in the\nLord's work, and Him they serve, as the apostle speaketh even of\nbondmen, and is it possible that His workmen shall work without wages\nor sufficient allowance? He reproveth those men which neglect to give\nto the hireling his recompense for his travail, or fail in due time\nto discharge it, and shall we think then that He will be careless of\nHis own servants Himself? They have God's Word for their security\nthat they shall not be unprovided of so much as is expedient for\nthem. If He say once that in all labour there is profit, they shall\nnever have cause to contradict Him.--_Dod._\n\nIt is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by\nthought that labour can be made happy; and the two cannot be\nseparated with impunity.--_Ruskin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nWEALTH WITH AND WITHOUT WISDOM.\n\n+I. Both a wise man and a fool may attain to wealth.+ The\nintellectually wise, and the man who lacks mental ability, may both\npossess great riches. There are many who have vast estates and no\nmore wisdom to manage them than an infant, and there are those whose\nability is equal to their wealth and position. So with moral wisdom.\nAbraham, the friend of God, \"was very rich in cattle, in silver, and\nin gold\" (Gen. xiii. 2). Job, who had the Divine testimony to his\n\"perfectness\" and \"uprightness,\" was \"the greatest of all the men of\nthe east\" (Job. i. 3). But many godless men like these mentioned in\nour Lord's parables (Luke xii. 16, 20; xvi. 19-24) have \"much goods\nlaid up for many years,\" and \"are clothed in purple and fine linen,\nand fare sumptuously every day.\" God is no respecter of persons in\nthe distribution of temporal good in the shape of riches, but if\nthere is any leaning to one class of character more than to another,\nHe would seem rather to favour the ungodly. Because such \"have their\nportion in this life\" (Psa. xvii. 14) and in this life _only;_\nbecause they have only this heaven upon earth; because they have no\ndesire and conception of anything higher; it seems as if the Ruler of\nthe universe often gives them the only good they are capable of\nappreciating. Some of the most miserable specimens of humanity that\nthe world has ever seen have sat upon thrones, and a few of the\ngreatest of God's human children have likewise wielded sceptres. So\nwith the crown of wealth; it has been and is worn by men quite\nirrespective of moral character, but the preponderance seems to be in\nfavour of the moral fool. Looked at in the light of eternity there is\nno injustice or even mystery in this.\n\n+II. But wealth is an adornment to the wise man only.+ If you dress\nan Ethiopian in pure white linen you will not change the colour of\nhis skin. The man is what he was though his raiment is changed, and\nthe whiteness of his garments makes his skin look all the blacker. If\na tree is barren, the most costly and perfect artificial fruit placed\namong its leaves will not add to its beauty. It will only produce an\nincongruity which will be altogether distasteful to the spectator.\nIts barrenness is only made the more conspicuous. So no wealth can\ngive any dignity to a mental and moral fool. Wealth will not hide the\nintellectual barrenness, nor cover the black stains upon the man's\nmoral character. Nay, the wealth only brings them more prominently\ninto view. However rich a fool is \"the foolishness of fools is\nfolly,\" and nothing else. But a man who is wise enough to know how to\nuse wealth--especially if he is good enough to put it to the highest\nand best uses--even though he be neither intellectually great or\nhighly polished, will make his riches a crown--will so use them as to\nmerit and receive the respect and goodwill of his fellow-creatures.\nWealth looks best upon the head of one who possesses both\nintelligence and goodness, but whenever it is studded with the gems\nof a wise and sympathetic liberality it is a royal diadem--it makes\nits wearer a king.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe Christian is rich in this world. We read in the 18th verse of the\n\"prudent making a crown of knowledge.\" Aladdin was rich when he had\nnothing but his lamp. If a ray of faith put creation in bondage to a\nsaint, then not only is his \"knowledge a crown,\" but \"his crown is\nhis wealth.\" What needs Aladdin further than his lamp? The\nsovereignty of saints, even in a forlorn world, makes a perfect\nopulence; while _\"the folly of fools,\"_ seeing that it could give\nplace to this; seeing that he also could have the lamp; seeing that\nthe crowned princes, the very best of them, were fools like him; and\ntherefore, that it can only be _because he is a fool_ that he does\nnot throw off his folly;--all this explains the closing clause, which\nis terse in its very quaintness; for, for the very reason that \"the\ncrown of the wise is their wealth, the foolishness of fools is\nfolly.\"--_Miller._\n\nThough, as a fearful temptation (Matt. xiii. 22; xix. 23), no _wise_\nman would desire riches; yet as a gift of God (1 Kings iii. 13; Psa.\ncxii. 3)--the gift, indeed, of His left hand (chap. iii. 16)--they\nmay become His _crown._ What a _crown_ they were to David and his\nwise son, as the materials for building the temple (1 Chron.\nxxix. 1-5; 2 Chron. v. 1); and to Job, as employed for the good of\nhis fellow-creatures (Job xxix. 6-17). So that, though wisdom under\nall circumstances is a blessing, it is specially pronounced to be\n\"good _with an inheritance_\" (Eccles. vii. 11, 12). It is necessary\nto distinguish between the thing itself and the abuse of it. Wealth\nis in fact a blessing, when honestly acquired and conscientiously\nemployed. And when otherwise, the man is to be blamed, and not his\ntreasure.--_Bridges._\n\nWhat is the most gorgeous and dazzling earthly crown compared with a\ndiadem of which the component parts are the blessings of the\ndestitute relieved, the ignorant instructed, the vicious reclaimed,\nthe afflicted comforted, the dying cheered with the hope of life, the\nperishing rescued from perdition and brought to God!--_Wardlaw._\n\nIf good men are spoiled of their wealth, they need not lament, as if\nthey had lost their crown. For riches are an ornament of grace to the\nhead of wise men, even when they are lost. Job's patience in the loss\nof everything, did as much honour to him as his extraordinary\nbeneficence whilst he was the richest man in the East. We honour his\nmemory still more, when he sewed sackcloth upon his skin, and defiled\nhis horn in the dust, than at the time when judgment was his robe and\nhis diadem.--_Lawson._\n\nAs a horse is of no use without the bridle, so are riches without\nreason.--_Cawdray._\n\nNot riches but wisdom gives a crown of glory (chap. iv. 9). \"The\nprudent are crowned with _knowledge,_\" not with riches; therefore,\nthe sense is, \"_Wisdom_ (the opposite of folly), being the crown of\nthe wise constitutes their true riches,\" and results in the heavenly\nriches; but the foolishness of fools is not riches to them, as the\nwise man's crown of wisdom is to him, but is, and continues folly,\n_i.e.,_ emptiness--neither an ornamental crown nor enriching\nwisdom.--_Fausset._\n\nThe seeming tautology of the second clause is really its point. \"The\nfoolishness of fools is . . . .\" We expect something else, but the\nsubject is also the predicate. \"The foolishness of fools is\nfoolishness.\" That is the long and the short of it. Turn it as you\nwill, it comes to that.--_Plumptre._\n\nWisdom in a poor man is but a petty lord. He may rule himself well,\nbut he shall have little command or power over others. Riches make a\nwise man a king, and as they crown him with honour by being well used\nby him, so do they extend his dominion far and wide. Many are subject\nto the law of his discretion, and the force of his wise authority\nprevaileth many ways. Well, therefore, doth the crown of riches sit\nupon his head, whose wise head it is that makes them to be riches.\nBut riches in a fool are his bauble, whereby he maketh himself and\nothers sport. . . . The wise being crowned by them are kings over\ntheir riches. They command them to their pleasure and use them to\ntheir honour. Whereas it is the folly of fools that they are\ngalley-slaves to their own wealth.--_Jermin._\n\nGive riches to a fool and you put a sword into a madman's hand; the\nfolly of such fools will soon be foolishness. Why, was it not\nfoolishness before? Yes, but now, it is become egregious foolishness.\nTo what end is a treasure, if a man have lost the key that leads to\nit.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nDELIVERANCE BY TRUTH.\n\n+I. What is implied in a witness bearer.+ A witness is supposed to\ngive light. Those who have to decide upon a matter seek for the\nevidence of those who are personally acquainted with the facts. They\nare expected to testify as to what they have seen and heard, and by\nthus throwing light upon the subject to further the cause of truth\nand justice. A witness can only give light by speaking the truth. The\nwords of a truth-teller are like rays of sunlight falling upon an\nobject that was before indistinct, they make plain things which\nwithout their aid would be incomprehensible. On the other hand the\ntestimony of a lying witness surrounds everything about which he\nbears witness with a mist and a darkness, and so foils the efforts of\nthose who are desiring to get a right view of the subject.\n\n+II. Life and death are often in the power of those who bear\nwitness.+ The evidence of a truthful man delivers from death--or from\nworse than death--those who are innocent, whereas a false witness may\ndeliver them up to punishment. The one is like a lighthouse which\nenables the sailor to bring his vessel safely into port, the other is\nlike the false light of the wrecker, by means of which the ship is\ndashed to pieces on the rocks. The first witness for God in Eden who\ndid not belong to the heavenly family was a \"false witness who spoke\nlies.\" He testified to Eve that God was a hard master, that He had\nimposed upon her restrictions from a selfish motive, that the\npunishment which had been threatened would not follow disobedience to\nthe Divine commands. Since this first false witness led our first\nparents on to death, many a human witness has, in like manner, given\nto the world false views of the Divine Father which have ended in\nlike results. Both Satan and his servants murder character by bearing\nfalse witness. The Incarnate Son of God was pre-eminently \"The True\nWitness\" (Isa. lv. 4; Rev. i. 5). He came to deliver men by bearing\nwitness of the true character of God from His own personal knowledge\n(John xvii. 25, 26). _\"To this end was I born, and for this cause\ncame I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth,\"\n\"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free\"_\n(John xvii. 37; viii. 32). \"The truth which Christ taught was chiefly\non these three points--God, man, immortality. . . . He exhibited _God\nas love,_ and so the fearful bondage of the mind to the necessity of\nfate was broken. . . . He taught the truth about the _human soul,_\nthat it is not in its right place, that it never is in its right\nplace in the dark prison-house of sin, but that its home is freedom,\nand the breath of God's life. . . . He taught truth concerning\n_immortality,_ that this life is not all; that it is not only a\nmiserable state of human infancy.\"--_(Robertson.)_ By such testimony\nthis \"true witness delivered souls\"--_\"proclaimed liberty to the\ncaptives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound\"_\n(Isa. lxi. 1). On this subject see also on chap. xii. 17, pages\n274-276.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe noticed that what crowned the wise was _\"truth\"_ or _\"knowledge\"_\n(verse 18). _Truth_ to become _knowledge_ must get into the heart. To\ndo so it must be _\"witnessed.\"_ We noticed under the second verse\nthat a man staggered, that is, he did not _walk in levelness,_\nbecause he did not see clearly. But, _per contra,_ if a man sees\nclearly he walks in _level ways;_ and then, according to our present\nproverb, he _\"saves\"_ unconsciously the souls of others. This is most\nclear when the view is negative. Let there be no _witness of truth,_\nand where are the saved? No sinners are rescued in a dead nation.\nEvery Christian is a centre of light. The Church is but a body of\nChristians. Where there is no Church, where are the penitents? The\ntruth intended to be conveyed is, that he who sees the truth spreads\nit. While he who sees only _\"lies,\"_ which is an exact portrait of\nthe unredeemed, serves in spite of himself as a delusion to his\nfriends, and deceives them into unbelief just in proportion to his\ninfluence upon them. Woe be to the wife or child where the husband is\na _\"deceived witness\"_ (verse 5). _\"Witness\"_--not in this case one\nwho bears witness, but one who _witnesses,_ in the sense of\n_seeing.--Miller._\n\nWhile true testimony may condemn, false testimony may acquit; while\nthe former may destroy life, the latter may save it. It is probable,\ntherefore, that the intended antithesis relates not so much to the\n_actual fact_ of truth saving and falsehood condemning, as to the\n_dispositions and intentions_ of the faithful witness on the one hand\nand the lying witness on the other. The faithful witness delights in\ngiving testimony that may save life, that will be salutary and\nbeneficial to his fellow-creatures. The lying witness will, in\ngeneral, be found actuated by a malevolent and wicked purpose; having\npleasure in giving testimony that will go to condemn the object of\nhis malice. The sentiment will thus be--_that truth is most generally\nfound in union with kindness of heart, and falsehood with\nmalevolence._ And this is natural; the former being both good, the\nlatter being both evil, falsehood being naturally more akin to\nmalice, and truth to love.--_Wardlaw._\n\nHere again there is something like tautology in the second clause. We\nexpect \"destroyeth life\" as the antithesis to \"delivereth souls.\" But\nin this case also there is an emphasis in the seeming absence of it.\n\"A deceitful witness speaketh lies.\" What worse could be said of him?\nAll destruction is implied in falsehood.--_Plumptre._\n\nIt is the honour of God to be a deliverer of souls, and that is the\nhonour of a true witness. He delivers his own soul and another's: his\nown from the wrath of God, another's from the injustice of men: his\nown from wickedness, another's from injury. The deceitful man\nspeaketh not one lie, but many. The lie of perjury to God, the lie of\ninjustice to the judge, the lie of falsehood to the master. Not one\nbut many lies, because one lie usually bringeth many others with\nit.--_Jermin._\n\nThe special work for which Christians are left in the world is to be\nwitnesses (Acts i. 8). . . . Christ does not send his angels to\nproclaim His word or to wield His power. . . . The evidence by which\nthe Spirit will convert the world is His truth, uttered from the\nWord, and echoed, still and small, from the meek and quiet\nlife-course of converted men. . . . Two qualifications are required\nin a witness, _truth_ and _love_ (Ephes. iv. 15): these are needed,\nbut these will do. . . . A witness, in contested cases, after giving\nevidence in chief, is subjected to cross-examination. A Christian's\nprofession is, and is understood to be, his direct and positive\ntestimony that he is bought with a price, and that he is bound to\nserve the Lord who bought him: but as soon as this testimony is\nemitted, the examination begins. If he be not a true witness, he will\nstumble there. Either or both of two persons, with very different\nviews, may subject a witness to cross-examination--the judge or the\nadversary. It is chiefly done by the adversary, and in his interests.\nThe Supreme himself puts professing disciples to the test before the\ncourt of the world; but when He so tries His children, the truth\ncomes forth purer and brighter by the trial. He who goes about as a\nroaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, tempts to destroy. He puts\nthe witness to the question in order to break him down. . . . We\nspeak of the evidences of religion, but, after all, Christians are\nthe best evidence of Christianity. . . . Let no man who bears\nChrist's name lay the unction to his soul, that if he does no good he\ndoes no evil. One of the heaviest complaints made in the prophets\nagainst Jerusalem for her backsliding, is that she was a \"comfort\" to\nSamaria and Sodom (Ezek. xvi. 54); that those who had the name and\nplace of God's people, so lived as to make the wicked feel at\nease. . . . If Christians live as like the world as they can, the\nworld will think itself safe in its sin; and those who should have\nbeen the deliverers, will become the destroyers of their\nneighbours.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nA SURE REFUGE.\n\n+I. What is found in the fear of the Lord?+ \"Strong confidence.\" The\nconfidence is in the Divine character, and is based upon a knowledge\nof it, in contrast to a false security which has its foundation in\nignorance. There is a reverence of one being for another which is the\noutcome of ignorance, but this cannot generate that strong confidence\nwhich can be a sheet anchor to the human soul. The old Romans, in the\nearly days of their history, had a reverence for their divinities,\nbut it was a reverence of ignorance, it was a reverence for\nunrealities, and could never yield them that confidence which all men\nin all ages need to comfort them in trial and inspire them with hope\nin the mysteries of human life. There are men now who are quite\nignorant of the Divine character and yet seem to possess great\nconfidence that all will be well with them--that God, in fact, will\nnot do what He has said He will do in relation to them. But this\nconfidence is also false; it is based, not upon fear of the Lord,\narising out of acquaintance with Him, but upon want of knowledge, and\nconsequently upon disregard of His claims. But the strong confidence\nof our text is the fruit of a reverence which has its foundation in\nacquaintance with the holiness of the Divine Father, which is the\noutcome of a knowledge of His laws, of His threatenings, and of His\npromises. It is the confidence which a child reposes in a good\nparent, because it knows from experience--from an every-day\ncontemplation of that parent's life--what good grounds it has to\nreverence and to trust him. This confidence is strong enough to\ninspire the soul with courage to face the difficulties of human life\nand to vanquish them. Confidence in a fellow-creature is often\ninspiration. A soldier's confidence in his general, a seaman's\nconfidence in his captain, inspires to the performance of deeds of\nheroism. And confidence in the living God, in that King who can do no\nwrong, in that leader who can make no mistake, has been the\ninspiration of millions of men and women in all ages and under all\ncircumstances. It has been found strong enough to enable them to be\nheroes through a long life of poverty, of ignominy, of sickness, and\nit has sustained all in the hour of death, and many in the death of\nmartyrdom. By the strength born of this \"strong confidence,\" they\nhave _\"subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,\nstopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,\"_ etc.\n(Hebrews xi. 33-38).\n\n+II. This confidence gives men God for a refuge.+ 1. _He is a present\nrefuge from conscious guilt._ This is a need which every man feels as\nsoon as his conscience is awakened as surely as the man-slayer felt\nhis want of a stronghold of defence from the avenger of blood. The\nGod against whom man has sinned becomes, when His character is\nunderstood, the object of hope for pardon. The sinner can only \"flee\nfrom God, by fleeing to God.\" 2. _He is a present refuge from all\nfoes, whether spiritual or human._ \"Who is he that will harm you, if\nye be followers of that which is good?\" (1 Pet. iii. 13) is a\nquestion which can never be answered. It is impossible that the\nchildren of God can ever be without a resource in whatever peril of\nsoul, body, or estate they find themselves, for--\"If God be for us,\nwho can be against us?\" (Rom. viii. 31).\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nThe Rev. J. W. Fletcher had a profligate nephew, who was dismissed\nfrom his post as an officer in the Sardinian army. One day, by\npresenting a pistol to his uncle, General de Gons, he extorted from\nhim a draft for 500 crowns. With this he called on Mr. Fletcher, and,\nas he exhibited it with exultation, Mr. F. took it, folded it up and\nput it into his pocket, saying: \"It strikes me, young man, that you\nhave possessed yourself of this note by some indirect method; and in\nhonesty I cannot return it but with my brother's knowledge and\napprobation.\" Instantly the pistol was at his breast, and he was\ntold, as he valued his life, to return the draft. \"My life,\" replied\nMr. Fletcher, \"is secure in the protection of the Almighty power who\nguards it.\" This led the nephew to remark that his uncle De Gons was\nmore afraid of death. \"Afraid of death!\" rejoined Mr. Fletcher, \"do\nyou think I have been twenty-five years the minister of the Lord of\nlife to be afraid of death now? No, sir, thanks be to God who giveth\nme the victory! It is for you to fear death who have every reason to\nfear it. You are a gamester and a cheat, yet call yourself a\ngentleman. . . . Look, there, sir, look there! See the broad eye of\nHeaven is fixed upon us. Tremble in the presence of your Maker, who\ncan in a moment kill your body, and for ever punish your soul in\nhell.\" The youth was disarmed, and the interview ended in his uncle\npraying with him, and promising to give him a hundred crowns to\nrelieve his immediate necessities.--_From \"The Proverbs Illustrated.\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFear is anything but a refuge in itself. But as faith was imputed to\nthe patriarch for righteousness (Rom. iv. 22), so this need not cloud\nChrist's merit. Christ has so saved us that _fear_ becomes our hope.\nHe who has experienced _\"fear\"_ has gone into a retreat; nothing can\ndislodge him from it. If the lost tremble, let them learn to _fear;_\nfor by _fear_ they become children of God, and as _children of God_\nthey have an eternal _refuge.--Miller._\n\nFear hath torment (1 John iv. 18; Acts xxiv. 25). It is the trembling\nof the slave (Rom. viii. 15); the dread of wrath, not of sin. There\nis no _confidence_ here. It is pure selfishness. It ends in self.\nThere is no homage to God. But the true _fear of God_ is a holy,\nhappy, reverential principle (see Psa. cxii. 1; xxxiii. 18;\ncxlvii. 11); not that which love \"casts out\" (1 John iv. 18), but\nwhich love brings in. We fear, because we love. We fear, yet we are\nnot afraid (Psa. cxii. 1-7). The holiest and humblest is the most\nfixed and trusting heart. The fear of man produces faintness (Jonah\ni. 3; Gal. ii. 12). The _fear of the Lord_--such is the Christian\nparadox--emboldens. Its childlike spirit shuts out all terrors of\nconscience, all forebodings of eternity. Abraham sacrificed his son\nin the _fear of the Lord;_ yet fully _confident_ \"that God was able\nto raise him up from the dead\" (Gen. xxii. 12, with Heb.\nxi. 17-19).--_Bridges._\n\nWhat confidence shall be strong, if this is not strong? He confides\nin that which is all infinite:--the truth, the love, the wisdom, the\npower of his covenant God! Whatever the love of God has induced Him\ngraciously to promise, no power or combination of powers in existence\ncan stay from being done.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt does not mean that the fear of God is something on which one can\nrely, but that it has (xxii. 19; Jer. xvii. 7) an inheritance which\nis enduring, unwavering, and not disappointing in God, who is the\nobject of fear; for it is not faith, nor anything else subjective,\nwhich is the rock that bears us, but this rock is the object that\nfaith lays hold of (Cf. Isa. xxviii. 16).--_Delitzsch._\n\nGregory, writing upon those words in Job iv. 6, \"Is not this thy\nfear, thy confidence?\" etc., saith that although Eliphaz did\nwrongfully reprove Job, yet he doth rightly set down the order of the\nvirtues, when he joineth fortitude to fear. For in the way of God we\nmust begin with fear that we may come to fortitude. For as in the\ncourse of the world boldness breedeth courage, so in the way of God\nit breedeth weakness, and as in the course of the world fear\nbegetteth weakness, so in the way of God it bringeth forth\nconfidence.--_Jermin._\n\nThe fear which brings a sinner submissive and trustful to the\nsacrifice and righteousness of the Substitute is itself a\nconfidence. . . . Those who went early to the sepulchre and looked\ninto the empty grave where the Lord lay, departed from the place with\n\"fear and great joy.\" A human soul made at first in God's image has\ngreat capacities still. In that large place fear and great joy can\ndwell together. . . . The filial fear of the children may be known by\nthis, that it takes in beside itself a great joy, and the two\nbrethren dwell together in unity. . . . \"His children shall have a\nplace of refuge.\" They \"are kept by the power of God.\". . . There are\ntwo keepings very diverse from each other, and yet alike in this,\nthat both employ as their instruments strong walls and barred gates.\nGreat harm accrues for confounding them, and therefore the\ndistinction should be kept clear. Gates and bars may be closed around\nyou for the purpose of keeping you in, or of keeping your enemy out.\nThe one is a prison, the other a fortress. In construction and\nappearance the two edifices are in many respects similar. The walls\nare in both cases high and the bars strong. In both it is essential\nthat the guards should be watchful and trusty. But they differ in\nthis: the prison is constructed with a view to prevent escape from\nwithin, the fortress to defy assault from without. In their design\nand use they are exact contraries. The one makes sure the bondage,\nthe other the liberty of its inmates. In both cases it is a _keep,_\nand in both cases the _keep_ is strong--the one to keep the prisoner\nin, the other to keep the enemy out. The fear of the Lord to those\nwho are within, and have tasted of His grace, is the strong\nconfidence of a fortress to defend them from every foe; to those who\nlook at it from without, it often seems a frowning prison that will\nclose away the sunlight from all who go within its portals, and waste\nyoung life away in mouldy dungeons. Mistakes are common on this\npoint, and mistakes are disastrous. . . . Though the refuge is\nprovided, and the gate standing open, and the invitation free, poor\nwanderers stand shivering without because a suspicion clings to the\nguilty conscience, that the \"strong tower\" offered as a safe dwelling\nplace will turn out to be a place of confinement from genial society\nand human joys.--_Arnot._\n\n\nFOR HOMILETICS ON VERSE 27 SEE ON THE PRECEDING VERSE AND ON CHAPTER\nXIII. 14 PAGE 313.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 26 and 27. The whole system of religion is expressed in the\n_fear of God._ A religion which makes this fear the principle of\naction implicitly condemns all self-confidence and presumptuous\nsecurity, enjoins a constant state of vigilance and caution, a\nperpetual distrust of our own hearts, a full conviction of our\nnatural weakness, and an earnest solicitude for Divine assistance. It\nkeeps men always attentive to the motives and consequences of\nactions; always unsatisfied with present attainments; always wishing\nto advance and always afraid of falling away. The blessings it brings\nin its train are--1. _Security._ \"Strong confidence.\" \"Place of\nrefuge.\" \"Great is the confidence of a good conscience.\" \"Our God\nwhom we serve is able to deliver us, and He _will deliver_ us\" (Dan.\niii. 17). \"None of these things move me\" (Acts xx. 24). When they\ntold Numa that the enemy was at the gates, he simply answered, \"But I\nam sacrificing.\" When Antonius was threatened, he replied, \"We have\nnot so worshipped, neither have we so lived, that we should fear\ntheir conquering us\" (_Trapp_). If such was the confidence of\nheathens, what should be that of Christians? God's children \"know in\nwhom they have believed\" (2 Tim. i. 12). 2. _Consolation._ \"A\nfountain of life.\" So called from the constancy of its supply. A\nconfluence of the blessings, grace here and glory hereafter--present\nand future--upper and nether springs. David combines both when he\nsays, \"Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me\nto glory\" (Psa. lxxiii. 24). He refers to the future when he says,\n\"Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that\nfear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before\nthe sons of men!\" (Psa. xxxi. 19). Here he speaks not only of what\nGod has _laid up,_ but of what He has _laid out_--not only of what he\nhas in prospect, but of what he has in experience. 3. _Deliverance\nfrom dangerous temptations._ \"To depart from the snares of death.\"\n\"The way of this world is like the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 19),\ntreacherous and slippery and full of snares\" (_Trapp_). But he that\nfears the Lord has many safeguards. \"The integrity of the upright\nshall guide them\" (chap. xi. 3).--_S. Thodey._\n\n\nVerse 27. \"The law of the wise\" is \"the fear of the Lord,\" for of\nboth the same things are predicted (chap xiii. 14).--_Fausset._\n\nNot only does Christian confidence open a cover from the guilt, but\nit roots out the power of sin. For among the countless throngs of the\nredeemed, not one finds a cover from condemnation, who is not\nrenovated into spiritual life.--_Bridges._\n\nThe fear of the Lord teacheth wisdom, and wisdom teacheth that an\nevil feared is much the sooner avoided, and that it is a great safety\nof life to fear death. Wherefore St. Cyprian saith, \"Be ye fearful,\nthat ye may be without fear; fear the Lord, that ye may not fear\ndeath.\" For the same fountain doth not send forth bitter waters and\nsweet; life and death do not issue from the same spring.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nA KING'S TRUE GLORY.\n\n+I. Human rulers are dependent upon their people for honour.+ 1. _The\nsafety of the king's crown depends largely upon the number of his\nsubjects._ This was certainly the case in the days of Solomon, and is\nso now to a large extent. Small kingdoms are very likely even in\nthese days to be engulfed by more powerful states--by those who can\nbring into the field an overpowering number of warriors. Numbers hold\nthe diadems on the heads of the rulers of the great nations of\nEurope. That Palestine was to some extent an exception to this rule\nwas due to the especial providence of Jehovah--that it was ever\noverpowered by numbers was because its inhabitants forsook their\ncovenant God. But the general rule holds good. 2. _The prosperity of\ntheir land depends upon its being well populated._ Other things being\nequal, a populous kingdom will do more business with other\nnations--will plant colonies and mix more with the inhabitants of\nother lands; and all these things extend a nation's influence and so\nmake its ruler's position a more honourable one.\n\n+II. It is therefore a matter of self-interest that a ruler should\ngovern his people righteously.+ There is a lesson which the\npotentates of the earth have been slow to learn although the page of\nhistory abounds with so many examples of the peril of disregarding\nit. It would be the destruction of the head if it were to say to the\nother members of the body, by which it is maintained in life and\nhealth, \"I have no need of thee.\" The existence of the one depends\nupon that of the other. And it is not less so with the body politic.\nThe safety and honour of the king is bound up in the well-being of\nhis subjects. Where the one is dependent upon the many,\nself-interest, as well as duty, point to his so ruling that his\npeople may enjoy peace and prosperity and so multiply.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is a natural tendency in the population of a country to\nincrease. When, therefore, population diminishes, there must be some\ncause _counterworking nature._ The subjects of a country may be\nwasted in destructive and depopulating wars; they may be driven by\noppression to quit their native land, and to seek a refuge in more\ndistant regions; they may be starved and reduced by measures that are\ninjurious and ruinous to trade--measures that keep up the price of\nbread and depress the wages of labour. . . . The existence of a\nthriving vigorous population is a mark of freedom, of wise and\nimpartial legislation, of paternal care--and it is the palladium of\nall that is desirable in the results of human rule.--_Wardlaw._\n\nA sentiment arrayed against feeble princes who nevertheless array\nthemselves with disproportionate splendour; and this, as also verse\n34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not\nexternal and seeming advantages, but simply and solely the inward\ncompetence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the\nmembers of a commonwealth, that are the conditions of its temporal\nwelfare.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nHow great, then, is _the honour_ of our heavenly _King in the\ncountless multitudes of His people!_ How overwhelmingly glorious will\nit appear when the completed number shall stand before His throne\n(Rev. vii. 9, 10); each the medium of reflecting His glory (2 Thess.\ni. 10); each with a crown to cast at His feet (Rev. iv. 10, 11), and\na song of everlasting joy to time to His praise (Rev.\nv. 9).--_Bridges._\n\nAll grades depend upon their inferiors. The poor have us in their\npower. To be kind to them is a dictate of common selfishness. Carried\ninto a spiritual light, the truth becomes much wider. Half of heaven\nwill be what we did for the poor. Solomon was familiar with this as a\nking; but he marks the sentence as one for all humanity. If a man\nwishes to be comfortable on earth, let him make his inferiors great.\nAnd, if he wishes to be rich in heaven, let him cultivate with\nassiduous zest the graces of the perishing.--_Miller._\n\nThe occurrence of this political precept in the midst of the maxims\nof personal morality is striking. Still more so is its protest\nagainst the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings,\nfor the most part, have bowed down.--_Plumptre._\n\nThe people are the king's best treasury; in their scarcity he cannot\nbe rich. Worthy was the speech of that Goth, the king of Italy, who,\nspeaking of his subjects, saith, \"Our harvest is the rest of\nall.\"--_Jermin._\n\nNOTE.--The population of England and Wales in 1700 was about\n5,475,000. At the beginning of the present century it was between\neight and nine millions; it now exceeds twenty millions.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nGREAT UNDERSTANDING.\n\n+I. There are times and occasions when wrath is not only allowable,\nbut right.+ A man who is incapable of being angry lacks an element of\nperfection. Anger against wrong-doing is possible without any feeling\nof vindictiveness or malice towards the wrong-doer. There is much in\nthe Bible about the \"wrath of God\" (Rom. i. 18), although He is\n\"love\" (1 John iv. 8). A child does not honour a parent the less, but\nthe more, because he knows that parent can be angry when there is\njust occasion. Neither could we reverence God if He was a Being who\ncould not be displeased.\n\n+II. But a man who is slow to wrath shows--+1. _That he understands\nhimself._ Even the holy and all-perfect God is \"slow to anger\" (Neh.\nix. 17). Although He could not misjudge any creature, and although He\ncould never by any possibility allow His wrath to exceed the bounds\nof perfect justice and righteousness, He is not \"soon angry.\" The man\nwho understands his own frailty and short-sightedness will not allow\nanger to take possession of his spirit in a hurry, if he is to \"be\nangry and sin not\" (Ephes. iv. 26), he must only be angry after due\nreflection upon the cause of his anger. 2. _That he understands\nothers._ Hasty and passionate anger never convinces the offender of\nhis guilt, but awakens wrath in his breast also. But the displeasure\nwhich is the result of calm consideration may carry some weight with\nit. On this subject see also Homiletics on verse 17.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"He that is hasty of spirit _exalteth_ folly.\" He gives folly for the\ntime being the throne and sceptre of his mind, and fulfils her\npreposterous and mischievous dictates. And when reason, for the time\ndeposed, resumes her vacated seat, she finds no easy task before her\nto repair the evils which have been done in the brief but stormy\nreign of passion.--_Wardlaw._\n\n+I.+ The passion of anger is like wind to the ship: so it is to the\nsoul called to steer its course to Immanuel's land. 1. If there be a\ndead calm, and the winds blow not at all, or very weakly, the ship\ndoes not make way. And if men be so stupid, indolent, and\nunconcerned, that their spirits will not stir in them, whatever\ndishonour they see done to God, these are standing still in the way\nto heaven. And many there be, who are all fire in their own matters,\nbut in those of God their hearts are dead as a stone. Such was the\ncase of Eli: _\"His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them\nnot\"_ (1 Sam. iii. 13). It was not so with Paul: for _\"his spirit was\nstirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry\"_ (Acts\nxvii. 16). 2. If the wind is brisk enough, but yet is contrary, the\nship will at best have much ado with it, and may be driven into a\nshore which the crew desired not to see. So if men's anger be in\nitself sinful, if their anger burn against what is good and just:\nsuch anger cannot fail of an unhappy event. 3. Though the wind be not\ncontrary, yet if it be too impetuous and violent, it may dash the\nship on rocks and split it. So though men's anger may have a just\nground, yet if it prove excessive and boisterous, it may run men\nheadlong into great mischiefs. Oft-times reason lets anger into the\nbreast; but then anger turns out reason to the door, and carries on\nall precipitantly without reason or discretion: like one that brings\nin coal to his hearth, because of the cold, but unwarily lets it fall\non tow, which sets the house on fire. +II.+ He that is slow to wrath.\n1. _Is slow to take up anger in his own cause._ It is wisdom indeed\nto be very tender of God's honour, but more indifferent about our own\npersonal interests, as Moses was. 2. _Manages it warily when it is\ntaken up._ He finds himself on slippery ground, and is therefore slow\nin his motions. 3. _Is easy to lay it down_ (Ephes. iv. 26-27). He\nshuts it out when there is no more use for it. +III.+ The passionate\nman proclaims his folly--he proclaims himself--1. _A proud man,_ and\nthe proud man is a fool in God's account and in the account of all\nwho understand themselves. 2. _A weak man._ He is a slave to his\npassions. 3. _An unwatchful man,_ who has his enemies within him,\nwithout him, round about him, and yet cannot be brought to stand on\nhis guard (Prov. iv. 23, 24).--_Boston._\n\nWise anger is like fire from the flint, there is a great ado to bring\nit out; and when it does come, it is out again immediately.--_Henry._\n\nThe intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to\nothers, but hides us from ourselves.--_Southgate's \"Many Thoughts on\nMany Things.\"_\n\nThe heaviest body is slowest in going, but his treading is the\nsurest; in like manner, he that is slow to anger recompenses the\ndulness of his steps with the soundness of his proceeding; for he\ntaketh leisure (as it were) to look of his ways. Tertullian says,\n\"Where the injury is little, there is no need of patience; but where\nthe injury is great, there is the help of patience more needful\nagainst it. If they be small wrongs, contemn them for their\nsmallness; if great wrongs, by patience give way unto them in respect\nof their greatness.\" The original of _hasty,_ is _short-winded._ For\nas haste in going maketh the breath to be short, so the haste of the\nsoul to anger maketh that to puff and blow on every small occasion;\nso that the soul is as it were climbing up a great hill, there to\n_exalt her folly,_ for all to behold it.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.\n\nA SOUND HEART.\n\n_The blessed effects of a contented spirit._ The \"sound heart\" being\nhere placed in contrast to \"envy,\" shows that it means a spirit that\nis content with its lot in life--that is not ever reaching after the\nunattainable--that is not jealous of others who are in more\nfavourable circumstances. Such a quietness of spirit is--\n\n+I. Favourable to bodily health.+ The mind of a passionate man wears\nout the bodily frame, and no passion that can possess the soul is\nmore imperious and agitating, and consequently more injurious to\nhealth than envy. Jealousy is said to be as \"cruel as the grave\"\n(_Cant._ viii. 6), and it is cruel not only to the objects of it, but\nalso to him who allows it a dwelling-place in his spirit. Its\nwithering effects are felt even in the body, it is \"rottenness of the\nbones\" in this sense. But a contented spirit goes a long way to\npromote and to preserve bodily health. A quiet spirit is a stranger\nto all those restless feelings which give sleepless nights and\nanxious days to the envious man.\n\n+II. It is indispensable to the attainment of a noble character.+\nCalmness of spirit gives room for the development of all the graces\nand virtues which go to make up the \"perfect man\" (Ephes. iv. 13).\nGrowth in nature demands some degree of quietness and calmness to\ndevelop itself. The mighty forest oak of a hundred years has attained\nits present noble dimensions by processes which have gone on for the\nmost part in days and nights of stillness. So a character of moral\nstrength and beauty can be formed only in the atmosphere of a calm\nand well-governed spirit.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Envy,\"_ excitement of any kind; _perturbation;_ a wise saw,\nperhaps, of the old hygiene, but true spiritually. Religion rejoices\nin peace. Mad passion may be overruled; but so can our lusts be. As\nmuch as lieth in us, we should have peace. The soul is a temple\n(1 Cor. iii. 17), and \"holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, for ever\"\n(Psa. xciii. 5).--_Miller._\n\nThe word _sound_ signifies healthful, free from _moral\ndistempers_--the distempers of \"the inner man,\" such as discontent,\nmalice, and envy. Strictly speaking a _\"sound heart\"_--a heart\nentirely free from the evil passions that belong to fallen nature--is\nnot to be found. But in Scripture a _sound_ heart, and even a\n_perfect_ heart, are phrases used to signify the real sincerity and\npredominant rule of right principles and actions. Envy, perhaps the\nmost odious in itself, and the most corroding and torturing to the\nspirit, is here called \"rottenness of the bones\"--not a mere _surface\nsore,_ but a deep-seated disease; like _caries,_ or inflammation in\nthe substance of the bone itself.--_Wardlaw._\n\n+I. The nature of envy.+ It is a pain, or uneasiness, arising from an\napprehension of the prosperity and good fortune of others; not\nbecause we suffer from their welfare, nor that our condition may be\nbettered by our uneasiness, but merely because their condition is\nbettered. There is a strong jealousy of pre-eminence and superiority\nimplanted in our nature by Almighty God, for wise and noble purposes,\nto excite to the pursuit of laudable attainments, and the imitation\nof good and great actions. This principle is _emulation._ It is also\nan uneasiness occasioned by the good fortunes of others; but not\nbecause we repine at their prosperity; but because we ourselves have\nnot attained the same good success. Its effect is to excite us to\ngreat designs, but when it meets with a corrupt disposition it\ndegenerates into envy, the most malignant passion in human nature,\nthe worst weed of the worst soil. So far from stirring up to\nimitation, envy labours to taint and depreciate what it does not so\nmuch as attempt to equal. +II. The cure for envy.+ 1. _That we\nendeavour to take a right estimate of things._ The laws of God are\nthe eternal standards of good and evil; what they declare valuable,\nor enjoin as wise, are truly so, and what they disclaim as hurtful or\nworthless are, in fact, to be so regarded. 2. _That we try to make a\nright judgment of our own worth and abilities._ If we do this, we\nshall find that there are others in the world at least as wise and as\ngood as we are, and perhaps we shall also find, that if merit were\nthe standard of honour and affluence, we should not abound altogether\nas much as we do. 3. _Reflect seriously upon the vanity of all\nworldly advantage._ Shall we envy him _whose breath is in his\nnostrils?_ whose glory _fadeth as the flower of grass?--Delany._\n\nEnvy is called a passion, and passion means suffering. The patient\nwho is ill of envy is a sinner and a sufferer too. He is an object of\npity. It is a mysterious and terrible disease. The nerves of\nsensation within the man are attached by some unseen hand to his\nneighbours all around him, so that every step of advancement which\nthey make tears the fibres which lie next his heart. The wretch\nenjoys a moment's relief when the mystic cord is temporarily\nslackened by his neighbour's fall; but his agony immediately begins\nagain, for he anticipates another twitch as soon as the fallen is\nrestored to prosperity. . . . The cure of envy, as wrought by the\nlove of Christ, is not only a deliverance from pain, it is, even in\nthe present world, an unspeakable gain. That man will speedily grow\nrich who gets and puts into his bag not only all his own winnings,\nbut also all the winnings of his neighbours. . . . The Nile, contrary\nto the analogy of other great streams, flows more than a thousand\nmiles without receiving the waters of a single tributary; the\nconsequence is, that it grows no greater as it courses over that vast\nline. Other rivers are every now and then receiving converging\nstreams from the right and left, and thereby their volume continually\nincreases until it reaches the sea. The happiness of man is like the\nflow of water in a river. If you enjoy _nothing_ but what is your\nown, your tiny rivulet of contentment, so far from increasing, grows\nsmaller by degrees, until it sinks unseen into the sand, and leaves\nyou in a desert of despair; but when all the acquisitions of your\nneighbours go to swell its bulk, your enjoyment will flow like a\nriver enriched by many affluents, growing ever greater as life\napproaches its close. It is some such river that makes glad the city\nof God.--_Arnot._\n\nSocrates called envy the soul's saw; and wished that envious men had\nmore eyes and ears than others, that they might have the more torment\nby beholding and hearing other men's happiness.--_Trapp._\n\n Envy at last crawls forth from hell's dire throng,\n Of all the direfull'st! Her black locks hung long,\n Attired with curling serpents; her pale skin\n Was almost dropped from her sharp bones within;\n And at her breasts stuck vipers, which did prey\n Upon her panting heart both night and day,\n Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair,\n Both day and night they left fresh poisons there.\n Her garments were deep-stained in human gore,\n And torn by her own hands, in which she bore\n A knotted whip and bowl, which to the brim\n Did with green gall and juice of wormwood swim;\n With which, when she was drunk, she furious grew,\n And lashed herself; thus from the accursed crew\n Envy, the worst of fiends, herself presents,\n Envy, good only when she herself torments.--_Cowley._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 31.\n\nTHE OPPRESSED AND THEIR OPPRESSORS.\n\n+I. Those who are the objects of oppression--+\"The poor.\" They are\nmade up of three classes. 1. _Those who have never known their\nsupplies to be equal to their positive needs--who have not only\nalways lived from hand to mouth, but whose hands have never been able\nto obtain a sufficient supply for the mouth._ Such poor ones have\nthis advantage, they have never known better days--their life is like\na river whose shallow waters have never overflowed its banks--whose\nchannel has always been much deeper than the stream. There is no\nforce of contrast to add to the present bitterness. 2. _Those who\nhave been reduced from sufficiency to want._ To such poverty is a\ngreater hardship than to those just mentioned. The light and comfort\nof the past makes the darkness and misery of the present harder to\nbear. If their own wrong-doing or mistakes have been the cause of\ntheir fall, the trial is all the heavier. 3. _There are those whom we\ncall poor who, though not actually in want, have to toil hard and\nunceasingly for the necessaries of life, and who know nothing of the\nluxuries of wealth and ease._\n\n+II. The oppression of any or all of these is an insult to God.+ To oppress the\nfirst is to oppress men for what they cannot help--for that for which they are as\nirresponsible as for the colour of their skin, and therefore it is to reproach Him\nwho appointed them to their lot in life. To oppress the second is to insult God,\nby afflicting them beyond the affliction which He has permitted to fall upon\nthem. Whether their present condition is retribution or chastisement, its\nmeasure has been appointed by the hand of the All-wise Ruler of men, and it is\n\"reproaching\" Him to add to it by oppression. If a child is being corrected\nby its parent, or a criminal is paying the penalty which the judge has awarded\nto him for his crimes, it is an impeachment of their judgment to add in any way\nto the punishment that has been decreed. Those who oppress the third class\nare guilty of a sin against those who have always been special objects of His\nfavour, and who make up a large proportion of the members of His kingdom.\n(See Homiletics and Comments on verse 21.)\n\n+III. Mercifulness to the poor reveals reverence for God.+ 1. _It\nshows that the man regulates his conduct by Divine laws._ God, as we\nhave seen in considering the 21st verse, has been most explicit in\nthe revelation of His will in this matter. 2. _He sees in every man\nsome trace of his Divine Creator._\n\n \"Man is God's image; but a poor man is\n Christ's stamp to boot.\"--_Herbert._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Oppression\"_ means something more than the contempt and neglect\ndealt with in verse 21. He who acts such a part \"reproacheth His\nMaker.\" For, _first,_ he acts as if the poor were of another\nspecies--an inferior order of beings; whereas they have all the\nattributes of the same manhood with him by whom they are condemned.\n_Second,_ he acts as if the circumstances in which the poor are\nplaced were a warrant for him to imitate the Divine conduct and\ndepress them still further, which is a reproach of God, as if He\ndealt with the poor in spirit of unkindness or partiality. . . . A\nman may have mercy on the poor who does _not \"honour God.\"_ Humanity\nmay, and often does, exist without godliness; but godliness cannot\nexist without humanity.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWe treat God with no respect (1) when _\"the poor,\"_ who are His\nchildren are not treated as such; (2) when the poor, who are his\ndependents, are left unhelped, so as to seem to bring Him into\ndiscredit, but (as is most intended, judging from the whole drift of\nthis part of the chapter) (3) when the poor, who are His instruments,\nand are sent to exercise our virtues, are not treated as such, but\nour _\"Maker\"_ thwarted in the work of _making us better_ by these\nneedy visitants. Life moves by such sort of influences.--_Miller._\n\nGod takes it for an honour, how should this prevail with us. How\nexceedingly shall such be honoured in that great panegyris at the\nlast day, when the Judge shall say, \"Come, ye blessed of My Father, I\nwas an hungered, and ye gave me meat.\"--_Trapp._\n\nHe that reproacheth the poor reproacheth his own Maker, and showeth\nhimself unworthy to have been made by Him; reproacheth the Maker of\nthe poor, as if either He could not help him, or else as if He had\nmade him to be oppressed by making him poor. But God, who suffereth\nthee to oppress the poor, will not suffer thee to be unpunished for\nit, and seeing thou sparest not to reproach Himself, will not spare\nto scourge thee. Tully saith, \"Men in nothing come nearer God than in\ngiving,\" and Gregory Nazianzen goes further, and tells us, \"Thou\nmayest even by no labour be made God, do not, therefore neglect the\nopportunity of obtaining a Deity. Make thyself God to the miserable,\nby imitating the mercy of God.\"--_Jermin._\n\nThe ancient Church possessed in full the glorious truth, that of all\nthe real compassion which flows through human channels, the\nfountain-head is on high. He who gets mercy shows it.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.\n\nTHE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.\n\n+I. The wicked man dies unwillingly.+ He is \"driven away.\" Our first\nparents,--conscious of the severance of a moral bond between them and\nGod--knowing that they had fallen from their original position, in\nwhich they would have gone fearlessly and joyfully to any part of\nGod's universe--ignorant of the unknown and dark future that lay\nbefore them--left their first home unwillingly. They had to be\n\"driven out\" of Eden (Gen. iii. 24). A man who is conscious of a\nmoral distance between himself and God, seldom quits this world\nwillingly. An _undefined_ dread, perhaps, but still a dread, of the\nunknown state beyond death possesses him, and he is made subject to\nthe laws of death \"unwillingly.\" As Adam had to be driven out of\nEden, so he quits his present abode, not from choice, but from\nnecessity. His unwillingness to go arises from his condition of\nheart--from his moral standing. He \"is driven away _in his\nwickedness._\" Adam's consciousness of guilt made him unwilling to\nquit his abode in Eden. The same consciousness makes men fear to die.\n\"The sting of death is sin\" (1 Cor. xv. 56). The man whose sins are\nunpardoned is conscious that he has much to fear in the unknown\nfuture. His spirit witnesses to the truth of the Divine Word, \"After\ndeath, the judgment\" (Heb. ix. 27).\n\n+II. But to the righteous man the hour of death is a time of hope.+\nHe does not die in his sin. A separation has taken place between him\nand sin. He is conscious of having been delivered both from its guilt\nand its dominion. The severance that has already been accomplished\nhas wrought a greater change than that which death can work. The\nchange of _relationship to God_ and of _character_ which he has\nalready experienced, has made a mere change of _place_ a matter of\nsmall moment in itself, and the change from this world to the\nheavenly city an occasion of hope and rejoicing. The angel of death\nis no officer of justice to bring him before his judge, but a\nmessenger to guide him to his Father's house. The objects of this\nhope have been considered in Homiletics on chap. x. 24, 28; pages 176\nand 181.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe righteous dies by his own consent. It is a glad surrender, not a\nforcible separation (Psa. xxxi. 5). The tabernacle is not rent, or\ntorn away, but \"put off\" (2 Pet. i. 14).--_Bridges._\n\n\"The wicked is thrust lower by his evil\" (see Critical Notes).\n_\"Death,\"_ that is, the worst form of _evil._ Observe the _crescendo.\n\"Evil,\"_ which is supposed to be a discipline, _\"thrusts down the\nwicked;\" death,_ the very grimmest of the list, becomes to the\nrighteous a gracious refuge. _\"Thrust lower,\"_ this is an intensive\nexpression. If trouble thrusts a man lower, how much more must joy\nand intoxicating wealth. The idea is--all hurts him. Even discipline\nhurts the lost.--_Miller._\n\nOh, the different departures of the reprobate and the Christian! The\none knows he changeth for the better; the other mistrusts, for the\nworse; to the one death is a gulf of sorrow, to the other a port of\nliberty; he, because he is stripped for a scourging; this, because he\nlays aside his clothes, after his toil, to go to bed. . . . All our\nloathness to depart, and fears in departing, arise from our own\nunsettledness; we have not made sure to ourselves a dwelling in these\nglorious heavens; many mansions there be (John xiv. 2), we have not\nprovided ourselves one.--_T. Adams._\n\nA Christian should be a volunteer in death. Many of the martyrs were\nas willing to die as to dine; went to the fire as cheerful as to a\nfeast, and courted its pale and ghastly countenance as if it had been\na beautiful bride. . . . Cyprian said Amen to his own sentence of\ndeath. Bradford, being told by his keeper's wife that his chain was\na-buying, and he was to die the next day, pulled off his hat and\nthanked God for it. . . . Ann Askew subscribed her confession in\nNewgate thus, \"Written by me, Ann Askew, that neither wisheth for\ndeath nor feareth his might, and as merry as one that is bound\ntowards heaven.\" Indeed it is said of a wicked man that his soul _is\nrequired of him,_ and that God _takes away his soul_ (Luke xii. 20;\nJob xxvii. 8); but of a godly man that he _giveth up the ghost,_ and\nhe _cometh to his grave_ (Gen. xxv. 8; Job xiv. 10). . . . Socrates,\nand some of the wiser heathen, comforted themselves against the fear\nof death with this weak cordial, that it is common to men, the way of\nall the earth. Hence it was, when the Athenians condemned Socrates to\ndie, he received the sentence with an undaunted spirit, and told them\nthat they did nothing but what nature had before ordained for him.\nBut the Christian hath a greater ground for a holy resolution, and a\nstronger cordial against the fears of death, even the hope of eternal\nlife; and surely, if he that exceeds others in his cordials be\nexcelled by them in courage, he disgraceth his physician. . . . It is\nno marvel that they who lived wickedly should die unwillingly, being\n\"driven away in their wickedness,\" as a beast that is driven out of\nhis den to the slaughter, or as a debtor driven by the officers out\nof his house, where he lay warm and surrounded by all sorts of\ncomfort, to a nasty, loathsome prison.--_Swinnock._\n\nIt is storied of Godfrey, Duke of Bouillon, that when, in his\nexpedition to the Holy Land, he came within view of Jerusalem, his\narmy, seeing the high turrets, goodly buildings, and fair fronts,\nbeing even transported with the joyfulness of such a sight, gave a\nmighty shout that the earth was verily thought to ring with the noise\nthereof. Such is the rejoicing of a godly man in death, when he doth\nnot see the turrets and towers of an earthly, but the spiritual\nbuilding of a heavenly Jerusalem, and his soul ready to take\npossession of them. How doth he delight in his dissolution, when he\nsees grace changing into glory, hope into fruition, faith into\nvision, and love into perfect comprehension.--_Spencer's \"Things New\nand Old.\"_\n\nIf this be true, it is a demonstration on the side of religion, and\nthat upon three accounts. (1) Because the principles of religion, and\nthe practice of them in a virtuous life, when they come to the last\nand utmost trial, do hold out. The belief of a God, the persuasion of\nour own immortality, and of the eternal recompense of another\nworld--that _Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners_--is\ncommonly more strong and vigorous in the minds of good men when they\ncome to die; they have then a more clear apprehension and firm\npersuasion of the truth and reality of these things, than ever they\nhad at any time of their lives, and find more peace and joy in the\nbelief of them. . . . And the principles of infidelity and vice are\nmore apt to shrink and give back at such a time. (2) The principles\nof religion minister comfort to us in the most needful and desirable\ntime. If it be true of every day of our lives, _sufficient unto the\nday is the evil thereof,_ much more of the day of death. It is surely\nenough to have that one enemy to encounter, at which nature startles\neven when the sting is taken away. . . . If there were nothing beyond\nthis life, it were worth while to provide for a quiet death. There is\nno man that calculates things wisely that would, for all the\npleasures of sin, forfeit the peace and comfort of a righteous soul,\ngoing out of the world full of the hopes of a blessed immortality.\n(3) When men are commonly most serious and impartial, and their\ndeclarations are thought to be of the greatest weight, they give this\ntestimony to religion and virtue, and against impiety and vice. Even\nLucretius says, \"Men's words then come from the bottom of their\nheart, the mask is taken off, and things then appear to them as\nindeed they are.\" In these circumstances men generally declaim most\nvehemently against their sins and vices, and declare on the side of\npiety and virtue. Surely this is a great testimony on the side of\nreligion, because it is the testimony not only of its friends, but of\nthose who have been its greatest enemies.--_Tillotson._\n\nA clear testimony to a future state of rewards and\npunishments.--_Wordsworth._\n\nThough there was no revelation of immortality and resurrection then,\nstill the pious in death put their confidence in Jahve, the God of\nlife and of salvation--for in Jahve there was for ancient Israel the\nbeginning, middle, and end of the work of salvation--and believing\nthat they were going home to Him, committing their spirit into His\nhands (Psa. xxxi. 6), they fell asleep, though without any explicit\nknowledge, yet not without the hope of eternal life. Job also knew\nthat (xxvii. 8) between the death of those estranged from God and of\nthose who feared God there was not only an external, but a deep\nessential distinction; and now the wise man opens up a glimpse into\nthe eternity heavenwards (chap. xv. 24), and has formed (chap.\nxii. 28) (see Critical Notes) the expressive and distinctive word for\nimmortality, which breaks like a ray from the morning sun through the\nnight of the _Sheol.--Delitzsch._\n\nWe are not able to form a right conception of what it is to be and to\nabide in wickedness. Because it is so near us, we do not know it. If\nit were a body standing before us, we could examine its proportions\nand describe its appearance; but because it is a spirit transfused\nthrough us, we remain ignorant of its character and power. . . . A\nship is lying in a placid river when winter comes, and is gradually\nfrozen in. The process was gentle, and almost imperceptible. There\nwas no commotion and no crash. The ice crept round, and closed in\nupon the ship without any noisy note of warning. . . . Her own\nelement closed and held her. . . The ship is not shaken. No creaking\nis heard--no strain is felt. She feels firm and easy. Even when the\npines of the neighbouring forest are bending to the blast, she sits\nunmoved in her solid bed. That bed she has made for herself, and it\ntherefore fits her. This is very like the wicked in his iniquity, and\nbefore he is driven away. . . . He stands steady in his element, and\nno ripple disturbs its surface. When the ice of the river goes away,\nthe embedded ship goes with it. It is a dreadful departure. The water\nswells beneath; the ice holds by the crooked banks awhile; but, after\na period of suspense, the flood prevails and the trembling, rending\nmass gives way. Reeling icebergs and foaming yellow waves tumble\ndownwards in tumultuous heaps, and the ship is swept away like a\nfeather on a flood. If we had a sense for perceiving spiritual\nthings, the most heart-rending sight in the world would be a sinner\nset fast in his element, and the flood of wrath secretly swelling\nfrom beneath. . . . But he who has been begotten again to a living\nhope has it at the time when humanity needs it most. A friend in need\nis a friend indeed. Stars are a grateful mitigation of the darkness;\nbut we do not want them by day. Hope, always lovely, is then sweetest\nwhen it beams from heaven through the gloom that gathers round the\ngrave. . . . The ship has set sail, and kept on her course many days\nand nights, with no other incidents than those that are common to\nall. Suddenly land appears; but what the character of the coast may\nbe the voyagers cannot discern through the tumult. The first effect\nof a new approach of land is a very great commotion on the water. It\nis one of the coral islands of the South Pacific, encircled by a ring\nof fearful breakers at some little distance from the shore. Forward\nthe ship must go. The waves are higher and angrier than any they have\nseen in the open sea. Partly through them, partly over them, they are\nborne at a bound; strained, and giddy, and almost senseless, they\nfind themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that\nguard the shore, and the portion of sea that still lies before them\nis calm and clear like glass. It seems a lake of Paradise, and not an\nearthly thing at all. . . . Across the belt of sea the ship glides\ngently,--and gently soon touches that lovely shore. It is thus that I\nhave seen a true pilgrim thrown into a great tumult when the shore of\neternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed him for\nsome days; but when that barrier was passed, he experienced a peace,\ndeeper, stiller, sweeter than ever he knew before. A little space of\nlife's voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a calm,\nand before the immortal felt the solid of eternal rest. On life's sea\nas yet was the spirit lying, but the shaking had passed; and when at\nlast the spirit passed from a peaceful sea to a peaceful land, the\nchange seemed slight.--_Arnot._\n\nThe text looks like the cloud between the Israelites and Egyptians;\nhaving a dark side toward the latter, and a bright side toward the\nformer. It represents death, like Pharaoh's jailor, bringing the\nchief butler and the chief baker out of prison; the one to be\nrestored to his office, the other to be led to execution. The wicked\nare driven from this world to the other--from the society of saints\non earth into that of the lost in hell; out of time into eternity;\nout of their specious pretences to piety; away from all means of\ngrace. . . . The following circumstances make the godly in their\ndeath happy and hopeful. 1. _They have a trusty good Friend before\nthem in the other world._ Jesus Christ, their best friend, is Lord of\nthe land to which death carries them. When Joseph sent for his father\nto come down to Egypt, and Jacob \"saw the wagons Joseph had sent to\ncarry him, the spirit of Jacob revived\" (Gen. xlv. 27). He resolved\nto undertake the journey. I think when the Lord calls a godly man out\nof the world, He sends him such good tidings, and such a kind\ninvitation to the other world, that his spirit must revive when he\nsees the wagon of death sent to carry him thither. 2. _They shall\nhave a safe passage to another world._ They have the Lord of the\nland's safe conduct, His pass sealed with His own blood. . . . It is\nsafe riding in Christ's chariot. 3. _They shall have a joyful\nentrance into the other world._ . . . Is the bird in worse case, when\nat liberty, than when confined in a cage? Death comes to the godly\nman, as Haman came to Mordecai, with the royal apparel and the\nhorse.--_Boston._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 33.\n\nTHE HIDDEN MADE MANIFEST.\n\n+I. The God-ordained place for moral wisdom--+\"the heart.\" The\nDivinely ordained place for the sap of the vine is its _root._\n1. _It has its centre and spring there, that thence it may diffuse\nitself into every branch and leaf, and give life and health to the\nwhole tree._ So the Divinely-ordained place for moral wisdom is the\n_heart_--the _affections_ of a man. If it has its seat there it will\ncertainly influence all his thoughts, and words, and deeds. 2. _It is\nnot only the most influential part of a man, but it is the most\nsecure._ There, if anywhere, it is out of the reach of harm. If it is\nonly in the _head_--the intellectual part of a man--temptation may\nrob him of it--false reasoning or adversity may shake it from its\nseat, but if it has hold of the heart, it will hold its own against\nevery foe. 3. _It is the only place from which it can reach and bless\nother human hearts._ The sap of the tree must issue direct from its\nroot if there is to be fruit that will sustain and give satisfaction\nto the eater. So a life will bring forth no fruit to feed others\nunless its religion is a religion of the heart. There is no way to\nthe heart except from the heart, those who have only an intellectual\nhold upon moral wisdom cannot feed hungry souls. 4. _It is the only\nplace whence one can issue glory to God._ The whole man, spirit and\nsoul and body, must be under the guidance of moral wisdom if he is to\nrender acceptable service to God. Nothing less will satisfy Him who\n\"searches the heart of the children of men\" (Jer. xvii. 10). If the\nheart is right, the external service will not be wanting. (See\nHomiletics and Comments on chap. iv. 23.)\n\n+II. Where this wisdom of the heart is lacking, the life will betray\nit.+ In all natural life there is a law by which its hidden secrets\nare manifested in outward signs. The health of the root is seen in\nthe health of the tree, the disease of the internal bodily organs\nmanifests itself in the outward appearance. So it is with moral\nhealth and disease. However men may try to appear what they are not,\nthe natural tendency of human nature often proves too strong for the\nartificial restraint that is put upon it, and sooner or later men\nreveal what they really are. \"That which is in the midst of moral\nfools is made known,\" although time is needed for the folly fully to\ndevelop itself.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"Resteth\" implies the tranquil and modest spirit of the wise, and the\npermanence of their keeping of wisdom; and especially that it is the\nfruit of the spirit from above descending and abiding on them (Numb.\nxi. 25, 26; Isa. xi. 2; 2 Kings ii. 15). Contrast Eccles. vii. 9. The\nwise does not draw forth his wisdom from its resting place within the\nheart at random, but in proper place and time, as the occasion may\nrequire. But fools cannot long disguise their folly (see chap. x. 14,\nxii. 23, xiii. 16). The Hebrew adage says, \"A vessel full of coins\nwill make no noise; but if there be only one coin in it, it will make\na rattle.\" The more learned one is, the more modest he will be; the\nmore unlearned, the more presumptuous and ostentatious.--_Fausset._\n\nIn the heart of the understanding wisdom remains silent and still,\nfor the understanding feels himself personally happy in the\npossession, endeavours all the more to deepen it, and lets it operate\nwithin.--_Delitzsch._\n\nThere she keepeth residence and there she ruleth, and thither she\nbringeth her treasures and her comforts, and every good thing that is\nto be wished for. And therefore she calleth for it, as most meet for\nher to possess; and safest for every wise man to yield unto her. \"My\nson, give me thine heart.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 34.\n\nNATIONAL SALVATION.\n\n+I. Some standard of right and wrong is necessary to national\nexistence.+ There are men who have affirmed that there is no such\nthing as virtue and vice--that they are only inventions of those who\ndesire to rule their fellow-creatures, and that the world could do\nwithout them. But experience teaches the contrary. Every nation, if\nit is to have an existence, even if it rejects a Divine revelation,\nor is ignorant of it, must have some standard by which to judge human\nactions. Without the recognition of such a standard, even if it is\nonly based upon the light of reason, not only would national\nprosperity be impossible, but national existence. Rome and Greece had\nsuch standards as well as Israel, although the first-mentioned\nnations had no revelation from heaven except that of the natural\nconscience, and if all the existing codes were abolished to-morrow\nmen would find it necessary to form others in order to preserve their\nnational, if not their individual existence.\n\n+II. The prosperity and influence of a nation is in proportion to its\nnational righteousness.+ This is not the case of the individual man.\nHis present condition and circumstance, the measure of power that he\npossesses, or the amount of the influence he exerts, is no index of\nthe amount of righteousness which he possesses. He may be a noble of\nthe land, or he may have no social standing; he may fare sumptuously\nevery day, or he may subsist on the crumbs that fall from the rich\nman's table, and neither from the one lot or the other can any\nconclusion be drawn as to what his moral standing is. There is\nanother world in which the righteous _man_ will be exalted, and the\nunrighteous _man_ will reap the reward of unrighteousness; but\nnational righteousness and unrighteousness receive their reward in\nthis world. 1. _Righteous dealing in a nation promotes its commercial\nprosperity._ If the merchants of a nation are known to be honest in\ntheir transactions and truthful in their words, they will gain and\nhold a high place in the markets of the world. 2. _It secures it an\ninfluence among the governing powers of the world._ In proportion as\nits intercourse with other nations is marked, not by a lust for\nconquest or a desire to rule, no matter by what means--but by a\nrecognition of the rights of all--in that proportion will it acquire\na power far more real and far more lasting than that gained by its\nability to outdo other nations in the number of its soldiers or the\nsize of its navy.\n\n+III. National reproach for sin will be in proportion to its\npossession of a high or low moral standard.+ \"Sin is a reproach to\n_any_ people;\" but it is the greatest reproach to those who possess\nthe greatest light. The sin of Israel was a greater reproach to them\nthan the sin of the Philistines was to them, because the one\npossessed the light of a Divine revelation, and the other did not. So\nin the present day, the nations who sin against the light of the\nrevealed Word of God are far greater sinners than those upon whom the\nlight has never shone. The principle to which the Divine Son gave\nutterance concerning the Jewish nation is the one by which He judges\nnations in the present day. _\"If I had not come and spoken unto them,\nthey had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin\"_\n(John xv. 24).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAs there is nothing in religion to counteract the design of a wise\nsystem of civil polity, so there is nothing in a wise system of civil\ngovernment to counteract the design of the Christian religion. The\nexaltation of the nation is the end of civil polity. Righteousness is\nthe end of religion, or rather is religion itself.--_Saurin._\n\nIt is the nature of sin (1) to lessen and diminish a people; (2) to\nsink and depress the spirit of a people; (3) to destroy the wealth of\na people; (4) to deprive them of the blessings of freedom; (5) to\nprovoke the displeasure of God and to draw down His\njudgments.--_Emmons, in \"Lange's Commentary.\"_\n\nRighteousness is both \"the prop to make it subsist firm in itself and\na crown to make it glorious in the eyes of others\" _(Bp. Sanderson)._\nGreece in her proud science, Rome in the zenith of her glory, both\nwere sunk in the lowest depths of moral degradation (Rom. i. 23-32\nwas a picture of the heathen world in the best ages of refinement).\nTheir greatness consisted only in the visions of poesy or the dream\nof philosophy. Contrast the influence of _righteousness,_ bringing\nout of the most debased barbarism a community impregnated with all\nthe high principles that form a nation's well-being. Thus to\nChristianise is to regenerate, to elevate the community, the \"exalt\nthe nation,\" and that not with a sudden flash of shadowy splendour,\nbut with a solid glory, fraught with every practical blessing. \"Those\nprinces and commonwealths who would keep their governments entire and\nuncorrupt, are, above all things, to have a care of religion and its\nceremonies, and preserve them in due veneration. For in the whole\nworld there is not a greater sign of imminent ruin than where God and\nHis worship are despised.\" Such was the testimony of the profligate\npolitician Machiavelli. . . . What an enemy an ungodly man is to his\ncountry! Loudly though he may talk of his patriotism, and even though\nGod should make him an instrument to advance her temporal interest;\nyet he contributes, so far as in him lies, to her deepest\n_reproach.--Bridges._\n\nReligion and virtue do naturally tend to the good order and more easy\ngovernment of human society, because they have a good influence both\nupon magistrates and subjects. 1. _Upon magistrates._ Religion\nteaches them to rule over men in the fear of God, because though they\nbe gods on earth, yet they are subjects of heaven, and accountable to\nHim who is higher than the highest in this world. Religion in a\nmagistrate strengthens his authority because it procures veneration\nand gains a reputation to it. And in all affairs of the world so much\nreputation is so much power. 2. _Upon subjects._ First, it makes them\nobedient to government, and conformable to laws; and that not only\nout of fear of power, which is but a weak and loose principle of\nobedience, but out of conscience, which is a firm, and constant and\nlasting principle, and will hold a man fast when all other\nobligations will break. Secondly, it tends to make men peaceable with\none another. For it endeavours to plant all those qualities and\ndispositions in men which tend to peace and unity, and to fill men\nwith a spirit of universal love and goodwill. It endeavours likewise\nto secure every man's interest, by commanding the observation of that\ngreat rule of equity, \"Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto\nyou, do ye even so to them.\"--_Tillotson._\n\nWe find the great general principle of Divine Providence, in regard\nto nations, thus laid down by Jehovah Himself to the prophet\nJeremiah--\"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and\nconcerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down, and to destroy\nit; if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their\nevil, I will repent of the evil which I thought to do unto them. And\nat what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a\nkingdom, to build and plant it; if it do evil in My sight, that it\nobey not My voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I\nwould benefit them\" (Jer. xviii. 7-10). This was a principle, not\napplicable to _Israel_ exclusively--for we find it expressly applied\nto the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the inhabitants of Sodom and of\nNineveh. And the Old Testament bringing before us specimens of the\nDivine administration, the Spirit of God letting us so far into the\nsecrets of its principles and laws, we have every reason to believe\nthat in the government of God over the world, the same principle is\nstill in operation, that _we_ may not be able to trace it--that, had\nwe only an inspired record of what takes place now, we should see it\nclearly in all cases; and even without such a record there are cases\nin which it would be equal impiety and blindness not to discern and\nown it.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_\"Righteousness\"_ means _saving righteousness,_ and _\"Sin-offering\"_\nis literally _sin._ (See Critical Notes.) _\"Righteousness\"_ lifts to\nthe very skies. _\"The mercy of nations,\"_ as the words literally are,\nis not wealth, or peace, or a good king, or broad lands of plenty,\nbut an interest in Christ, \"the sin-offering,\" and a home amongst the\nhappy.--_Miller._\n\n_\"Peoples\"_ is plural, whereas _\"a nation\"_ is singular, implying the\npaucity of the nations observing _righteousness._ The Hebrew word for\nreproach meaning also mercy, Gejer translates, \"Mercy is an\nexpiratory sacrifice for sin.\" Not that mercy puts away sin before\nGod, but before men, who are by _mercy_ reconciled to those who had\nbefore been unmerciful to them.--_Fausset._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 35.\n\nA WISE SERVANT.\n\nIn this verse we adopt Miller's translation as being the more\nprobable meaning. See Critical Notes and also his Comment.\n\n+I. The law of kindness is a law of power.+ Whether a man be the\nruler of a nation or the ruler of a family, if he would acquire real\npower over those whom he rules, he must obey this law himself. Human\nnature is in a fallen condition, and it cannot be lifted into a state\nof obedience even to wise and good laws except they are enforced in a\nspirit of kindness. Kindness will bind men to loyal devotion with a\nfar firmer chain than any force. There is, indeed, no principle in\nobedience to the latter; it rules only the bodily actions, and is\npowerless over the heart. Those who desire more than the service of\nhalf the man must issue their commands--must exercise their\nauthority--in the spirit of mercy. The king, the master or the\nfather, who is a despot, is only obeyed because he has power to\npunish. Consequently the obedience will only last as long as the\npower. This is a thought which parents especially should lay to heart.\n\n+II. The law of kindness is a law of policy.+ He who rules to-day may\none day be at the mercy of him whom he rules. Kings have often needed\nfavour of their subject--the master has often been at the mercy of\nhis servant; and what has happened before will happen again in the\nchanges and chances of life, and those who have shown mercy will be\nthe most likely at such times to receive it. \"With what measure ye\nmete, it shall be measured to you again\" (Matt. vii. 2) holds good in\nthis case. Therefore, the \"kindness of a king is a wise servant; but\nhis wrath becomes one that bringeth shame.\" For remarks on the text\nas rendered in the Authorised Version, see below.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSolomon gets back to his king-craft. These maxims were familiar to\nhim. It is rarely wise for \"a king\" to get in a passion with his\npeople (see verses 29, 30). \"If thou wilt be a servant unto this\npeople\" was said to the successor of this very man (1 Kings xii. 7);\nif thou wilt \"answer them, and speak good words to them, then they\nwill be thy servants for ever.\" But, more than king-craft, it is a\nrule for saints. The law of \"kindness\" should be on our lips. The\npower of gentleness is irresistible. If _\"the mercy for nations is\nthe sin-offering\"_ (see last verse), then we are all sinners\ntogether, and modesty forbids that we should go among the lost with\nanything but tenderness. The English version is due to the presence\nof a preposition. \"The king's favour is towards a wise servant.\" But\nthat proposition becomes idiomatic in certain cases. I say, \"I want\nsuch a thing _for_ a shelter.\" \"The kingdom of a king is _for_ a wise\nservant,\" _i.e.,_ serves as one. There is no preposition before the\nwords \"brings shame;\" but, on the contrary, the word _is_ is written\nout, and, as usual in that case, means _\"becomes;\"_ all of which\nstate of facts is in favour of our new version.--_Miller._\n\nThese words state what _ought to be._ No one ought to be the king or\nthe queen's servant who is not wise; and toward every such wise\nservant the royal favour should be specially extended. And who _is_ a\n_wise_ servant? Not a servant who flatters royal vanity; accommodates\nitself to royal foibles; indulges royal prejudices; chimes in with\nroyal caprices; tolerates and connives at royal vices, whether\npersonal or official. No; a wise servant must be a servant of\nconscientious principle, and of bland but unflinching fidelity. He is\none who gives prudent and faithful counsel; who \"speaks truth as he\nthinks it in his heart;\" whose counsels are dictated by a right\nunderstanding of the times, and knowledge of what such times require,\nnot by a wish to ingratiate the minister with the prince, and so to\npromote his own personal advantage, but by the principles of genuine\npatriotism as well as loyalty. . . . That servant \"causeth shame\" by\nwhom that is encouraged from which reproach arises--who gives counsel\nto his prince which must prove either prejudicial or abortive; such\nas can hardly fail to render him unpopular with his subjects, and\nexpose him, by their failure, to the derision of foreign states--a\nderision in which the kingdom as well as the throne, the people as\nwell as the monarch, are involved.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThus it is with the great King. All of us are His _servants,_ bound\nto Him by the highest obligations; animated by the most glowing\nencouragements (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; Matt. xxiv. 44-46, xxv. 21-23).\nAll of us have our responsibilities, our talents, our work, our\naccount. Towards the \"faithful and _wise_ servant,\" who has traded\nwith his talents, who has been diligent in his work, and who is ready\nfor his account--_His favour_ will be infinitely condescending and\nhonourable (John xii. 26). But _against him that causeth\nshame_--reflecting upon his Master, neglectful in his work,\nunprepared for his account--His _wrath_ will be tremendous and\neternal.--_Bridges._\n\nSurely well is favour bestowed, where it reflecteth unto the giver's\nhonour: worthily is favour received, where wisdom's hands are the\nreceivers of it.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Grievous,+ \"bitter,\" \"trying,\" +stir up;+\nlit., \"make to ascend,\" like a flame fanned by bellows (Fausset).\n+2. Useth knowledge aright,+ rather, \"makes knowledge attractive,\"\n_i.e.,_ speaks so as to win the attention of the listeners; +poureth\nout,+ or \"bubbleth up.\" +3. Beholding,+ rather, \"watching,\"\n\"observing\" (so Stuart, Miller, and Delitzsch). +4. Wholesome,+\n\"gentle,\" \"soft,\" +perverseness+ or \"transgression,\" +a breach,+ \"a\ncrushing,\" \"a wounding.\" +6.+ Miller translates the first clause,\n\"The house of the righteous is great treasure\" (see his Comment);\n+revenue,+ rather \"gain.\" +7. Disperse;+ some translators read\n\"winnow,\" or \"sift.\" Stuart translates the last clause of this verse\n\"The heart of the fool is not stable;\" Delitzsch reads, \"Direction is\nwanting to the heart of fools,\" _i.e.,_ it has not the _right_\ndirection. +10. Correction is grievous,+ or \"there is grievous\ncorrection.\" Miller reads, \"Discipline is an evil to him.\" +11. Hell\nand destruction,+ \"She\u014dl,\" and \"Abadd\u014dn,\" two different names for the\nworld of the departed. \"She\u014dl\" is the unseen world in general,\n\"Abadd\u014dn\" the place of _destruction, i.e.,_ the place where their\nbodies are destroyed (so Stuart, Z\u00f6ckler, etc.). +How much more.+\nMiller translates these particles by \"because also\" (see his\nComment). +14. Mouth,+ or, \"the countenance.\" +15. Afflicted,+ or\n\"toiling.\" +17. Dinner of herbs,+ literally, \"a traveller's meal.\"\n+18. Stirreth up,+ lit. \"mixes,\" implying the reciprocal idea of\ngiving and taking offence (Fausset). +19. Made plain,+ \"is paved,\" or\n\"is a highway.\" +21. Walketh uprightly,+ rather \"goes\nstraightforward.\" +24. The way of life is above,+ etc., rather \"An\nupward path of life,\" etc. +Hell,+ She\u014dl, as in verse 11.\n+25. Establish the border,+ or \"Keep fixed the landmark.\" +26. The\nwords of the pure are pleasant,+ or \"pure in His sight are pleasant\nwords.\" +27. Gifts,+ _i.e.,_ \"bribes.\" +28. Studieth,+ _i.e.,\n\"considers.\"_ +33. Instruction of wisdom,+ rather \"a discipline of\nwisdom,\" or \"a training to wisdom.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 1 _and_ 2.\n\nTHE USE OF KNOWLEDGE.\n\n+I. Knowledge is for use.+ The various gifts and acquirements of men\nin every grade of social life, of whatever kind they are, are\nintended by God to be used for the benefit of all. One man has what\nanother lacks, that he may use what he possesses for their mutual\ngood. Those who have wealth are bound to use it--they are not\nexpected to keep it locked up in their coffers, but to lay it out for\ntheir own and their poorer neighbours' good. So with knowledge. He\nwho has a knowledge which can profit the body, the mind, or the heart\nof another sins if he holds it back. He will find that such a\npossession unused will be a witness against him in the day of\nreckoning. He will be accused of wasting his Master's goods by not\nusing them (Matt. xxv. 27).\n\n+II. Wisdom is needed to put knowledge to a right use.+ There are\nmany people who know a great deal, but they do not know how to use\nit, either for themselves or others. They cannot make it of any\npractical use--they cannot enlighten and help others with it. Or they\nmay put it to a wrong use. This is often the case with those who\npossess intellectual knowledge, but who lack moral wisdom. They put a\ngood thing to a bad use.\n\n+III. One mark of knowledge combined with wisdom is the right use of\nthe tongue in the presence of anger.+ A \"soft answer\" in the presence\nof anger indicates a knowledge of human nature, and also wisdom and\nself-possession to apply the knowledge. A man who can hold the helm\nof the vessel in the presence of a storm, and keep her well in hand,\nshows that he not only possesses knowledge but wisdom, and he to a\ngreat extent disarms the fury of the tempest by his calm discretion.\n\n+IV. A soft answer may turn away merited wrath.+ There are occasions\nwhen the most holy beings--the Most Holy One Himself--display a wrath\nwhich is only a proof of their perfect holiness. The \"soft answer,\"\nthe pleading words of an intercessor, may turn away this wrath. The\nwrath of Jehovah was often kindled against Israel during their\nwilderness journey, but the \"answer\" of Moses \"turned it away.\" (See\nExod. xxxii. 11-14; Numb. xiv. 11-20, etc.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 1--\n\n Calmness is great advantage: he that lets\n Another chafe may warm him at his fire,\n Mark all his wanderings and enjoy his frets,\n As cunning fencers suffer heat to tire.--_Herbert._\n\n_\"A trying word;\"_ literally a word of labour or pain. In dealing\nwith sinners we ought to make the Gospel plain at first and not start\nunnecessary difficulties. Paul did this (1 Cor. iii. 2). Words that\nare not wrathful are often _\"trying,\"_ as presenting to an angry\ninferior our reply in an easily misunderstood shape. We are to feed\nmen with milk, and not with strong meat, all the more for being in a\ncondition of fault.--_Miller._\n\nLook at the effect of the quiet and dignified reply of Gideon to the\nexasperated men of Ephraim, and at the case of Abigail and David. And\nas an exemplification of the opposite style of answer, you may be\nreminded of the contention between the men of Israel and Judah at the\ntime of David's restoration after the death of Absalom, where the\n_fierce words_ of the latter drove off the former under the\nrebellious standard of Shebna, and of the case of Rehoboam, who by\nrefusing to give _\"a soft answer\"_ to the people deprived the house\nof David of the subjection of the ten tribes.--_Wardlaw._\n\nNothing doth better stop the fury of a bullet than a mud wall:\nnothing doth sooner _turn away_ the fury of _wrath_ than a _soft\nanswer._ But where the pot is boiling, grievous words make it to boil\nover. Wherefore Chrysostom tells thee that thine enemy reconciled is\nmore in thine own power than in his.--_Jermin._\n\nIf gentle words prevail so mightily with most men to appease their\nanger, of what force shall the submissive supplications of penitent\npersons be with the Lord?--_Dod._\n\nWe greatly need an instrument capable of turning away wrath, for\nthere is much wrath in the world to turn away. . . . That patent\nshield is a soft answer. Christianity makes it of the solid metal,\nand education supplies at a cheaper rate a plated article, useful as\nlong as it lasts, and as far as it goes. . . . The Roman\nbattering-ram, when it had nearly effected a breach in the walls of\nsolid stone, was often baffled by bags of chaff and beds of down\nskilfully spread out to receive its stubborn blow. By that stratagem\nthe besieged obtained a double benefit, and the besiegers suffered a\ndouble disappointment. The strokes that were given proved harmless,\nand the engine was soon withdrawn. In our department a similar law\nexists, and a similar experience will come out of it. . . . After\npraying to \"Our Father\" for your offending brother and yourself, you\nmay speak to him with safety. . . . Pass your resentment through a\nperiod of communion with Him who bought you with His blood, and it\nwill come out like Christ's, a simple grief for a brother's sin, and\na holy jealousy for truth.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 2. Eloquence, widely ordered, is very commendable, and availeth\nmuch. \"The tongues of the wise useth knowledge aright\"--deals kindly\nwith her, offers her no abuse by venting her unseasonably, and making\nher over cheap and little set by. But eloquence abused may well be\ntermed the attorney general, that makes a good cause seem bad, and a\nbad far better than in truth it is.--_Spencer's \"Things New and Old.\"_\n\nPaul, instead of exasperating his heathen congregation by an open\nprotest, supplied their acknowledged defect, by bringing before them\nthe true God \"whom they were ignorantly worshipping\" (Acts xvii. 23).\nHe pointed an arrow to Agrippa's conscience, by the kindly admission\nof his candour and intelligence (Acts xxvi. 27, 29). This _right use\nof knowledge_ distinguishes \"the workman approved of God, and that\nneedeth not to be ashamed\" (2 Tim. ii. 15).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nDIVINE INTELLIGENCE.\n\n+I. The Eternal has a perfect knowledge of all places.+ The sun, in\nits meridian height, can only penetrate half the globe at the same\ntime, and even then there are deep valleys and caves of the earth,\nand ocean beds where its rays never come; but God's eye rests at once\nnot only on all places of His dominion in this planet, which is but\nas a grain of sand amongst the worlds, but upon every spot in His\nboundless universe.\n\n+II. He has a perfect knowledge of the spirits of His creatures.+ The\nhuman soul has power to hide its secrets from the gaze of every\nfellow creature. \"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the\nspirit of a man which is in him?\" (1 Cor. ii. 11). But God's\nomniscient eye pierces into the hidden mazes of the soul and reads\nthe silent thoughts and intents of the heart. In this most secret\nregion He walks at large. _\"O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known\nme, Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest\nmy thought afar off\"_ (Psa. cxxxix. 1, 2). God is the one potentate\nand judge who can claim a perfect knowledge of all His subjects from\na personal acquaintance with each individual. Not one is lost in the\ncrowd; each one stands before Him as distinctly as if he were the\nonly creature in the universe.\n\n+III. God's perfect knowledge of His creatures leads Him to\ncontemplate both what is congenial and what is repugnant.+ He\n\"beholds the evil and the good.\" Men, when by Divine grace they\nbecome partakers of the Divine Nature, are much moved to gladness by\nthe sight of that which is morally good, and turn with loathing from\nthe evil which they must also contemplate. Yet their happiness\nsprings from that which is within them and not from that which is\naround, or the preponderance of evil would make life unbearable. So\nthe ever-blessed God, conscious of His perfect rectitude, has within\nHim a source of eternal satisfaction notwithstanding the \"evil\" that\nHe beholds with Divine indignation and sorrow.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHe mentions the \"evil\" first because they avowedly, or else\npractically, deny God's providence (Jer. xvi. 17).--_Fausset._\n\nWhen we perceive that a vast number of objects enter in at our eye by\na very small passage, and yet are so little jumbled in the crowd that\nthey open themselves regularly, though there is no great space for\nthat either, and that they give us a distinct apprehension of many\nobjects that lie before us, both of their nature, colour, and size,\nand by a secret geometry, from the angles that they make in our eye,\nwe judge of the distance of all objects, both from us and from one\nanother--if to this we add the vast number of figures that we receive\nand retain long, and with great order, in our brains, which we easily\nfetch up either in our thoughts or in our discourse, we shall find it\nless difficult to apprehend how an Infinite Mind should have the\nuniversal view of all things ever present before it.--_Burnet._\n\nThe darkness of the air may hide thee from men, and the darkness of\nthine understanding may hide thee from thyself, but there is no\ndarkness can hide from God. . . . It was a pretty fancy of one that\nwould have his chamber painted full of eyes, that which way soever he\nlooked he might still have some eye upon him. And it was a wise\nanswer of Livius Drusus, when an artist offered so to contrive his\nhouse that he might do what he would and none would see him. \"No,\"\nsaith Drusus, \"contrive it so, rather, that all may see me, for I am\nnot ashamed to be seen.\" If the eyes of men make even the vilest\nforbear their beloved lusts for awhile, and they that are drunk are\ndrunken in the night, how powerful will the eye and presence of God\nbe with those that fear His anger and know the sweetness of His\nfavour. The thoughts of this omnipresence of God will quicken thee to\nholiness. The soldiers of Israel and Judah were prodigal of their\nblood in the presence of their two generals (2 Sam. ii. 14). Servants\nwill generally work hard while their master looks on. The eye of God,\nas of the sun, will call the Christian to his work. Those countries\nthat are governed by viceroys seldom flourish or thrive so well as\nthose kingdoms where the prince is present in person. Conscience,\nGod's viceroy, may much quicken a Christian to holiness, but God, the\nPrince, much more. \"I have kept Thy precepts,\" saith David, \"for all\nmy ways are before Thee.\"--_Swinnock._\n\nHe is all-eye, and His providence like a well-drawn picture, that\nvieweth all that come into the room. I know Thy works and Thy labour\n(Rev. ii); not Thy works only, but Thy labour in doing them. And as\nfor the offender, though he think to hide himself from God by hiding\nGod from himself, yet God is nearer to him than the bark is to the\ntree, \"for in Him all things subsist\" (Col. i. 17) and move (Acts\nxvii. 28); understand it of the mind's motions also. And this the\nvery heathen saw by nature's rush candle. For Thales Milesius being\nasked whether the gods know not when a man doth aught amiss, \"Yea,\"\nsaith he, \"if he do but think amiss.\" \"God is nearer to us than we\nare to ourselves,\" saith another. Repletively He is everywhere,\nthough inclusively nowhere. As for the world, it is to Him as \"a sea\nof glass,\" a clear, transparent body; He sees through it. No man\nneeds a window in his breast (as the heathen Monus wished) for God to\nlook in at: every man before God is all window (Job\nxxxiv. 22).--_Trapp._\n\nSuch is the extent of wickedness that in every place He beholdeth the\nevil and the good. Yea, if there be but one in a place, that one is\nboth evil and good, and God beholdeth both his evil and his good. The\n_evil_ God beholdeth first, but they are the _good_ on whom He\nresteth, as approving of them, and as delighting in them. For their\neyes are upon God in every place, as God's eyes are upon them. The\nother looketh not after God, and so God looketh after them, as that\nHe looketh from them in anger at their wickedness. He contemplates\nand considers, which is more than simply to behold, for contemplation\naddeth to a simple apprehension a deeper degree of\nknowledge.--_Jermin._\n\nThe doctrine of Divine omniscience, although owned and argued for by\nmen's lips, is neglected or resisted in their lives. The unholy do\nnot like to have a holy eye ever open upon them, whatever their\nprofession may be. If fallen man, apart from the one Mediator, say or\nthink that the presence of God is pleasant to them, it is because\nthey have radically mistaken either their own character or His. They\nhave either falsely lifted up their own attainments or falsely\ndragged down the character of the judge. . . . In every place our\nhearts and lives are open in the sight of Him with whom we have to\ndo. The proposition is absolutely universal. We must beware, however,\nlest that feature of the Word which should make it powerful only\nrenders it indefinite and meaningless. Man's fickle mind treats\nuniversal truths that come from heaven as the eye treats the visible\nheaven itself. At a distance from the observer all around the blue\ncanopy seems to descend and lean upon the earth, but where he stands\nit as far above, out of his sight. It touches not him at all; and\nwhen he goes forward to the line where now it seems to touch other\nmen, he finds it still far above, and the point which applies to this\nlower world is distant as ever. Heavenly truth, like heaven, seems to\ntouch all the world around, but not his own immediate sphere, or\nhimself its centre. The grandest truths are practically lost in this\nway when they are left whole. We must rightly divide the Word, and\nlet the bits come into every crook of our own character. Besides the\nassent to general truth, there must be specific personal application.\nA man may own omniscience and yet live without God in the\nworld.--_Arnot._\n\n\nThe subjects of verses 4 and 5 have been considered before. (See\nHomiletics on chap. xii. 17, 18, page 274, and on chap. xiii. 1, page\n293.)\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 4. Rueetschi carries the idea of _gentleness_ (see Critical\nNotes) through the two clauses as the central idea: \"It is precisely\nwith this gentle speech, which otherwise does so much good, that the\nwicked is wont to deceive, and then one is by this more sorely and\ndeeply stricken and distressed than before.\"--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThat tongue which is \"a witness of truth,\" and therefore \"saves\nsouls\" (chap. xiv. 25), _\"is a tree of life.\"_ Go into any garden of\nthe lost, and where no such tree is, all are pagans. One sees,\ntherefore, how the figure is kept up. I am here born into a land\nwhere there are gospel _tongues;_ that is, if, when I grow up, I am\nnot in China, and not in India, but in a Christian village, where\npeople have and spread the gospel, that _\"tongue, as a healing\nthing,_ is (my) _tree of life.\"_ Where I get \"life\" is from its\nbranches.--_Miller._\n\nThis verse may be compared with the second. The tongue which \"useth\nknowledge aright\" has a morally and spiritually healing influence. It\nimparts instruction to the ignorant. It speaks peace to the troubled\nconscience. It soothes the anguish of the afflicted. It subdues the\nswelling of passion. It allays the self-inflicted tortures of envy.\nIt heals divisions and animosities. These and other blessed fruits\nentitle it to the designation, \"a tree of life;\" productive, as it\nis, of genuine, varied, and valuable joys to all within the reach of\nits influence. And when the tongue makes known God's \"saving\nhealth,\"--the salvation revealed by Him in the Gospel,--it then gives\nlife in the highest and most important sense.--_Wardlaw._\n\nA high image of what the tongue ought to be; not negative, not\nharmless, but _wholesome,_ or _healing,_ as the salt cast into the\nspring cleansed the bitter waters (2 Kings ii. 21). . . . But the\nmeekest of men felt _perverseness a breach in the spirit_ (Numb.\nxvi. 8-15). The tongue of Job's friends broke \"the bruised reed\" (Job\nxiii. 1-5). Even our beloved Lord, who never shrunk from external\nevil, keenly felt the piercing edge of this sword (Psa. lxix. 19,\n20).--_Bridges._\n\nOne stripe of the tongue woundeth three--the backbiter, him that\ngiveth ear to the backbiting, and the backbitten.--_Cawdray._\n\nSaith the old philosopher, \"Than a good tongue there is nothing\nbetter, than an evil nothing worse. It hath no mean; it is either\nexceedingly good or exceedingly evil. It knows nothing but extremes,\nand is either best of all, or worst of all (Jas. iii. 8). The tongue\nis every man's best or worst moveable. . . . A good tongue is the\nbest part of a man, and most worthy of the honour of sacrifice. This\nonly when it is well seasoned. Seasoned, I say, with salt, as the\napostle admonisheth; not with fire\" (Col. iv. 6).--_T. Adams._\n\nEverlasting benediction be upon that tongue, which spake, as no other\never did, or could speak, pardon, peace, and comfort to lost mankind.\nThis was the _tree of life,_ whose leaves were for the healing of the\nnations.--_Bishop Horne._\n\nThe root of this tree goeth down to the heart, whence it sucketh the\njuice of wisdom; its body lieth in the head, where things are\nruminated and concocted by it; the branches of it are the several\nspeeches of the mouth; the fruit of it is spread abroad as wide as\ngood occasion is offered.--_Jermin._\n\nNot a _silent_ tongue; mere abstinence from evil is not good. . . .\nIdleness is evil under the administration of God. . . . Not a\n_smooth_ tongue; it may be soft on the surface, while the poison of\nasps lies cherished underneath. The serpent licks his victim all over\nbefore he swallows it. Smoothness is not an equivalent for\ntruth. . . . Not a _voluble_ tongue; that active member may labour\nmuch to little purpose. . . . Not a _sharp_ tongue: some instruments\nare made keen-edges for the purpose of wounding. . . . Not even a\n_true_ tongue. Truth is necessary, but it is not enough. The true\ntongue must also be _wholesome._ Before anything can be wholesome in\nits effects on others it must be whole in itself. . . . \"Winged\nwords\" have fluttered about in poetry and prose through all the\nlanguages of the civilised world from old Homer's day till now. The\npermanence and prevalency of the expression proves that it embodies a\nrecognised truth. Words have wings indeed, but they are the wings of\nseeds rather than of birds or butterflies. We are all accustomed in\nautumn to observe multitudes of diminutive seeds, each balanced on\nits own tiny wing, floating past on the breeze. . . . Words are like\nthese seeds, in their winged character, their measureless multitude,\nand their winged speed. They drop off in inconceivable numbers: they\nfly far: they are widely spread. It is of deep importance that they\nshould be for good, and not for evil. The tongue is a prolific tree,\nit concerns the whole community that it should be a tree of life, and\nnot of death.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 5. He that regardeth reproof is prudent. Wise he is, and wiser\nhe will be. This made David prize and pray for a reprover (Psa.\ncxli. 5).--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.\n\nLIKE IN CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT UNLIKE IN CHARACTER.\n\n+I. The wicked and the righteous are often on a level as regards\nmaterial wealth.+ One may have \"much treasure\" and the other great\n\"revenues,\" or _gain._ The laws of nature have no respect to\ncharacter. God makes His sun to \"shine upon the evil and the good,\nand sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust\" (Matt. v. 43), so\nthat the wicked man reaps a harvest as abundant as that of the\nrighteous man. And all the laws of Providence move with the same even\nstep, certainly showing no favour to the good man over the bad.\n\n+II. But though their possessions may be equal, there is great\ninequality in the enjoyment of them.+ Character makes all the\ndifference here. Even \"a little that a righteous man hath is better\nthan the riches of many wicked\" (Ps. xxxvii. 16). The wicked man is\ntroubled by a sense of being out of harmony with all that is holy,\nand just, and true in the universe of God, and with a foreboding of\nfuture retribution. The wealth of the spirit is so much more than\nmaterial wealth as the spirit is so much more than the body. It is\nwealth to have _\"a conscience purged from dead works to serve the\nliving God\"_ (Heb. ix. 14), and to \"lay up treasure\" without being\nthus \"rich toward God\" (Luke xii. 21) is only to _\"spend money for\nthat which is not bread, and labour for that which satisfieth not.\"_\n(See on chap. iii. 14, 15, viii. 11-19, etc.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"The _treasure_ in the house of the righteous\" may be understood not\nof mere wealth, but of whatever is possessed with contentment and\ncheerfulness, with gratitude to God, with an assurance of His\nfatherly regard, with the peace that passeth all understanding, with\nresignation of spirit to the Divine Will, with the present enjoyment\nof spiritual blessing, and the well-founded \"hope of glory, honour,\nand immortality.\" . . . We may suppose the revenues of the wicked to\nbe _acquired_ and _enjoyed_ wickedly. But if not--yet if possessed\nand expended without the fear of God, and if the means themselves of\nbanishing that fear, and preventing the choice of a better\nportion,--it may truly be affirmed that in them there is\n_\"trouble.\"--Wardlaw._\n\n_\"The house,\"_ as we have repeatedly seen (see on chap. ix. 1,\nxiv. 1), means a man's _whole interest._ The mere _interest_ of the\n_\"righteous,\"_ whether it seem high or low; his lot, whether it be on\nhigh or on a dunghill, his hap, just as it is, whether it be easy or\nunder pain, is, under the covenant of the Almighty, an enormous\nriches; while not _\"the house of the wicked\"_ (for the wise man\nintends another of his climaxes); but stating his condition in the\nmost favourable way, _\"the revenue of the wicked,\"_ imagining that to\nbe of the most favourable kind; and not _\"the revenue of the\nwicked,\"_ but _in_ the revenue, as though the trouble were in the\nrevenue itself, is, literally, _the being troubled_ (Niphal). The\nsplendours of the lost will involve but _trouble_ in the whole\neternity.--_Miller._\n\nThe treasures of the wicked are too much for their good and too\nlittle for their lusts. . . . But is it not the crown of the\nChristian's crown, and the glory of his glory that he cannot desire\nmore?--_Bridges._\n\nThe riches of the wicked, in which they pride themselves, often\nconsist of paper, and if bonds and charters make a man rich, the\nrighteous cannot be poor, when they have bonds upon God Himself for\neverything they need, and the charter which shows their sure title to\nan everlasting inheritance. The devil robbed Job, but he could not\nmake him poor, for his chief treasure lay quite out of reach of the\nenemy.--_Lawson._\n\nEvery righteous man is a rich man, whether he hath more or less of\nthe things of this life. For, _first,_ he hath plenty of that which\nis precious. Secondly, _Propriety;_ what he hath is his own; he holds\nall in _capite-tenure_ in Christ; he shall not be called to account\nas a usurper. \"All is yours\" (1 Cor. iii. 22), \"because you are\nChrist's, and Christ is God's.\" And although he had little, many\ntimes, in present possession, he is rich in reversion.--_Trapp._\n\nHis house is God's treasury, himself is God's treasure; wherefore God\nwatcheth over his house to defend and preserve it; and himself God\nkeepeth, as the apple of His eye.--_Jermin._\n\nEven the trifling sum which the righteous keeps in his house is a\ngreat treasure, because it has God's blessing; but all the revenues,\nthe large annual rents of the wicked from all his vast estate, are\nmere troubles.--_Burgon._\n\n\nThe thought of verse 7 has been treated before. (See verse 2, etc.)\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nUtterance is a gift, and dumb Christians are blameworthy as well as\ndumb ministers. \"Speak, that I may see thee,\" said Socrates. When the\nheart is full, it overfloweth in speech. We know metals by their\ntinkling, and men by their talking.--_Brooks._\n\nIn their houses, they catechise their children; in the company of\ntheir neighbours, they entreat of God's Word and works; in the\nchurch, if they be teachers, they publish wholesome\ndoctrine.--_Muffet._\n\nMost commentators say _scatter_ or _disperse. \"Winnow,\"_ which has\nusage (Ruth iii. 2), bears better upon the second clause. (See\nrenderings in Critical Notes.) _Winnowing knowledge, i.e.,_ letting\nthe lips, under the guidance of wisdom, be an instrument for holding\nfolly back and giving utterance to knowledge, must be the finest\npractice for getting strength to piety; while the second clause shows\nthe incompetence of folly to _\"winnow\"_ anything, by saying that\n_\"the heart of the foolish is not fixed\"_ (and therefore lacks the\nfirst principles of choice, in separating one thing from the\nother).--_Miller._\n\nThe foolish sow cockle as fast as wiser men do corn, and are as busy\nin digging descents to hell as others are in building staircases for\nheaven.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 8 _and_ 9.\n\nPRAYING AND LIVING.\n\n+I. God loves righteous men with a special love.+ God has a love for\nall His human creatures--a love which springs out of His relationship\nto them as their Creator. He loves the \"world\" (John iii. 16), but\nthis love cannot be said to spring from likeness of character between\nHim and the objects of His love. There is a spontaneous love welling\nup in the mother's heart towards her child long before that child has\ndeveloped any qualities to win love. The love springs from the\nrelationship that exists between the child and the parent, and it\nexists before there has been time and opportunity to develop a\nloveable character. And there is still love in the mother's heart\nfrom the relationship, if, after there has been time to form a\nloveable character, no such character is manifested--if there is no\nresponse to the parent's love. There is this spontaneous love in God\nfor all His human children--a love that, even when it meets with no\nresponse, does not cease to pity those who reject it. _\"God\ncommendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,\nChrist died for us\"_ (Rom. v. 8). _\"But after the kindness and love\nof God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness\nwhich we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us\"_ (Titus\niii. 4, 5). But the spiritual love which God has to righteous men--to\nmen of integrity--to men who are sincere in their love of\nrighteousness, and who make conformity to it the end and aim of their\nlife (see on chap. xi. 3, page 196), is a love which springs from\nlikeness of character. It is the personal love of a perfectly\nRighteous Being for persons whose characters, in some degree,\nresemble His own. The good human father loves to see his own\ncharacter in miniature in that of his child. He delights to see his\nson _\"following after\"_ him in his holy habits and feelings--he loves\nhim with a deeper and more joyful love as he sees in him the germs of\nholy desires and aims which he knows will be more fully developed as\nhe grows into manhood. And so the \"Heavenly Father\" loves with the\nlove of delight (chap. xii. 22) those of His human sons and daughters\nwho have begun to reflect His image in their hearts and lives, and\nwaits with patience until the blade changes to the ear, and the ear\ninto the full corn--until they are not only _just men,_ but _\"just\nmen made perfect\"_ (Heb. xii. 23).\n\n+II. One act of a righteous man which God regards with special\npleasure.+ \"The _prayer of _ the upright.\" 1. _Because it is an\nexpression of conscious need._ A sense of spiritual need and weakness\nis indispensable, even to the continuance of a righteous character,\nmuch more to its growth. While a man feels his need, he will not only\nkeep what he already has, but will be in the way of getting more.\nWhile he feels that he has not _\"already attained\"_ neither is\n_\"already perfect\"_ he will _\"follow after\"_ perfection, he will\n_\"reach forth unto those things which are before, and press toward\nthe mark for the prize of the high calling of God\"_--(Phil.\niii. 12-14), even to entire and absolute holiness of character. When\nhe prays, he expresses his sense of need, and thus gives proof of\nthat lowliness and contrition of heart without which no man can\nreceive supplies of Divine grace. Therefore God delights in his\nprayer. 2. _It is an expression of filial confidence._ He not only\nknows what he wants, but he knows who is able and willing to supply\nhis need. Prayer is in itself an act of faith--it is an expression of\nbelief that _\"God is and that He is a rewarder of them that\ndiligently seek Him\"_ (Heb. xi. 6). A human benefactor, especially a\nhuman parent, feels that application to him for help is a tribute to\nhis goodness and to his power--it is a manifestation that those who\nseek his aid are assured of his willingness and ability to meet their\nneed. So with the Divine Friend and Father. He loves to have His\ncompassion and His power confided in by His creatures. 3. _It is an\nact of obedience._ God has commanded \"men always to pray\" (Luke\nxviii. 1). It was a condition to be observed under the Old Testament\ndispensation, as well as under that of the new. _\"Thus saith the\nLord, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do\nit for them\"_ (Ezek. xxxvi. 37). _ Ask and it shall be given you\"_\n(Luke xi. 9). The conditions are easy, but they are indispensable. No\nwise parent gives his children what they desire, except certain\nconditions are fulfilled. They may be very easy, but in no\nwell-governed family are they dispensed with. So in God's family.\nTrue He knows what His children need before they ask Him, even better\nthan the wisest and most tender human parent, but the command is\nabsolute, the condition without exception. Prayer is therefore\nacceptable to Him because it is an act of obedience to His command.\n\n+III. God abhors the way of the wicked.+ 1. _Because they are at war\nwith their better nature._ There are instincts in every man which are\nopposed to wrong-doing. There is a light which lightens every man\nthat cometh into the world. When men sin they war against their own\nbetter nature. Cain possessed instincts which he must have stifled\nand trampled down before he could shed his brother's blood, and so it\nis with every son of Adam. God must hate that which debases the\ncreature whom He created in His own image. 2. _Because their ways are\nat war with His purpose to bless them._ A wise statesman may conceive\na plan which he sees by his superior intelligence is calculated to\nbring great blessings to his nation. He labours to make the nation\nsee it also--he uses all his reasoning power and all the force of his\neloquence to bring it into operation, to make it the law of the land.\nBut the very people whom it is intended to benefit may, from\nignorance and prejudice, oppose his wise and beneficent efforts. He\nlooks upon their opposition with the deepest displeasure, because it\nis opposed to their own welfare. If a son rebel against the plans\nwhich a wise and good father has formed for his benefit, the father\nmust be deeply displeased at the obstinacy which thus frustrates his\npurpose of love and wisdom. God's complaint against Israel was, _\"I\nhave nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled\nagainst Me\"_ (Isa. i. 2)--rebelled against all His gracious plans and\npurposes concerning them, and that is His quarrel with the ways of\nwicked men in general that crosses all His purposes of mercy towards\nthem.\n\n+IV. Their acts of worship are especially displeasing to Him.+ They\nare offered with no sense of spiritual need--with no desire to\nforsake sin. When such men engage in outward acts of worship it is as\nif a thief were to offer to his judge some of his unlawful gain as a\nbribe to be allowed to go free of punishment. God so regarded the\nsacrifices of Israel when they came into His courts with _\"hands full\nof blood.\" \"Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth\"_\n(Isa. i. 14, 15). They were an abomination to Jehovah because the\nhearts of the men who offered them were in love with sin and desired\nonly, if possible, to escape the penalty due to it. Men in all ages\nwould have been well pleased to \"be pardoned and to retain the\noffence,\" but the very suggestion of such a thing is a gross insult\nto the righteousness of God, and as this is the only construction\nthat can be put upon a drawing near to Him in outward service while\nthe heart is far from Him (Isa. xxix. 13), the _sacrifice_ of the\nwicked must be the act most abhorrent to God of a way which is\naltogether an \"abomination unto Him.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 8. When an ungodly man prays, it is not the _act of prayer_\nthat constitutes the sin, it is the want of a _praying heart._ The\nsin is _in him,_ not in his prayer.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe formal devotion of a faithless man is not worth the crust of\nbread which he asks.--_T. Adams._\n\nMan judges by acts, God by principles. _The sacrifice of the wicked,_\nthough it be part of God's own service, yet \"will be found in His\nregister in the catalogue of sins to be accounted for\" (_Bp.\nHopkins_). Is he then finally rejected? Far from it. His desire to\nseek the Lord would be the beginning of the prayer that ensures\nacceptance. That which brings acceptance is--not the perfection, but\nthe simplicity of uprightness.--_Bridges._\n\n\"Sacrifice and prayer\" are not here contrasted as the higher and the\nlower, but \"sacrifice\" is a gift to God, \"prayer\" is desiring from\nHim (Comp. Isa. i. 11, 15, etc.). Yet this is by no means an\nessential difference; for both sacrifice and prayer, which indeed\nfall likewise under the category of offering in the broadest sense\n(Ps. cxix. 108; Heb. xiii. 15) come under consideration here only as\ngeneral tokens of reverence for God; and the value of both is clearly\ndefined by this test, whether the state of heart is or is not well\npleasing to God.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nIt is not works that make the man good, but when a man is justified\nhis works are also good. God in His grace makes well pleasing to\nHimself the works that come of faith, even though great imperfections\nstill mingle with them.--_Starke._\n\n_\"The sacrifice of the wicked,\"_ though it may be very costly--the\ncolumn of Stylites, the hook-swinging of the east, the millions of\nanxious charity--without grace must be purely sin. _\"The prayer of\nthe upright,\"_ though it _asks_ instead of _gives,_ yet it is a\n_delight,_ where the other is an _abomination._ A man may serve God\nout of sheer selfish wickedness. Moreover, _all_ are abominable.\nThere is no just man upon earth. But the righteous has the\nrighteousness of Christ; while these others are left, without a\ncover, to their own abominable guiltiness.--_Miller._\n\nWorks _materially_ good many never prove so _formally_ and\n_eventually,_ viz.: (1) When they proceed not from a right principle;\n(2) When they tend not to a right end. The glory of God must consume\nall other ends, as the sun puts out the light of the fire. But the\nprayer that proceeds from an upright heart, though but faint and\nfeeble, doth come before God, even \"into His ears\" (Psa. xviii. 6),\nand so strangely charms Him (Isa. xxvi. 16) that He breaks forth into\nthese words: \"Ask me of things concerning my sons, and concerning the\nworks of my hands command ye me\" (Isa. xlv. 11). Oh that we\nunderstood the latitude of this royal charter!--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 9. \"The way of the wicked is abomination.\" Not his sacrifices\nonly, but his civilities: all his actions--natural, moral,\nrecreative, religious--are offensive to God. The very \"ploughing of\nthe wicked is sin\" (Prov. xxi. 4). . . . But He loveth him that\nfolloweth after righteousness, although he fulfil not all\nrighteousness, yet if he make after it with might and main, if he\npursue it and have it in chase, \"if by any means he may attain to the\nresurrection of the dead\" (Phil. iii. 11); that is, the height of\nholiness that accompanies the resurrection: this is the man whom God\nloves. Now God's love is not an empty love; it is not like the winter\nsun, that casteth a goodly countenance when it shines, but gives\nlittle warmth and comfort. \"Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and\nworketh righteousness; those that remember Thee in Thy ways\" (Isa.\nlxiv. 5), \"that think upon Thy commandments to do them\" (Psa.\nciii. 20), that are weak but willing (Heb. xiii. 8), that are lifting\nat the latch, though they cannot do up the door: \"Surely, shall every\nsuch one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength\" (Isa.\nxlv. 24). \"Righteousness,\" that is, mercy to those that come over to\nHim, and \"strength\" to enable them to come, as the sea sends out\nwaters to fetch us to it.--_Trapp._\n\nThe way of the wicked and the abomination of the Lord go on with\nequal paces. It is his way, because he leadeth himself in it,\nrefusing to follow the guide of instruction: and God's way it is,\nwherein His abomination pursueth after him. . . . St. Bernard saith,\n\"God loveth, neither doth this arise from anything in others, but\nHimself it is from whence He loveth; and therefore the more\nvehemently, because He doth not so much love, as rather Himself is\nlove.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nOUT OF THE WAY.\n\n+I. There is a pre-ordained way for man to walk in.+ 1. _Nature\nsuggests this._ Everything there speaks of law and order.\n2. _Conscience suggests it._ 3. _Revelation declares it._ (On this\nsubject see Homiletics on chap. xii. 28; xiii. 13, 14; pages 291 and\n313.)\n\n+II. A man may break loose from this God-ordained path.+ That he\n_can_ do this is his glory; that he _does_ do it is his shame. A\nconvict is compelled to keep to a certain path, he is obliged to\nconform to a routine laid down for him by another. His outward life\nis governed by no will of his own, all his acts are prescribed by an\nauthority which he cannot resist. But God will not keep men in the\nway in which He desires them to walk by such means. He did not so\nfence about the angels in heaven. They were \"free to fall,\" and so\nare we. God treats His creatures as free men, not as prisoners. They\nhave power to choose when they will serve; they are free to choose\nthe way in which they will walk. All the force that is exerted over\nthem is the force of moral suasion.\n\n+III. The correction that follows this forsaking of the way is\nintended to punish and to reclaim.+ In all well-ordered human\ngovernments, and in all well-governed families, the main intention of\npunishment (except in the case of capital punishment) is improvement\nof character. This ought to be the chief aim of all human correction.\nIt is the main intention in all the chastisements of God in this\nworld. There is no retribution which comes to man in this world which\nwill not, if accepted in a right spirit, become a means of restoring\nhim to the forsaken path; therefore\n\n+IV. To hate reproof is to shut out all possibility of moral\nrestoration.+ A man who will not be reproved denies the imperfection\nof his nature. Every imperfect being must need correction, and for\nman to rebel against the chastisement of God is to pass sentence of\ndeath upon himself. (On this subject see Homiletics on chapters\niii. 11, 12; xii. 1; xiii. 18; pages 247, 323, etc.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe should always look hopefully at a sinner under _correction._ For,\nsurely, so long as the physician administers the medicine, there is\nno ground for despondency. . . . This costly teaching brings us on\nwonderfully. Lord! let me know the smart of Thy rod rather than the\neclipse of Thy love.--_Bridges._\n\nThere are three sorts of passengers that go out of the way. He that\nmistaketh the way, he that forsaketh his way, and he that loveth to\nbe out of the way. Many miss the way who never were in it, or, being\nin the way, were missed from it, and these, oftentimes, are glad to\nbe corrected and brought into the way. He forsaketh the way who at\nfirst is set in it, and seeing how to go on aright, yet willingly\ndeparteth from it: to such an one correction is grievous, and he\nsuffereth it with trouble, but yet many times he is reduced by it. He\nloveth to be out of the way who hateth reproof, and of his amendment\nthere is little hope. . . . The force of the verse is, that the\nsuffering of correction is grievous, but that the hating of reproof\nis most pernicious.--_Jermin._\n\nOf all sinners, reproofs are worse resented by apostates.--_Henry._\n\n_\"Discipline is an evil to him who forsakes the path.\"_ (See\nrendering in Critical Notes.) In our common version this idea is not\nbrought out. It is a very grave one. Men not converted, but steadily\n_\"forsaking the path of holiness,\"_ are injured by _\"discipline.\"_ In\n_\"hating reproof\"_ they go through the very soul-action which we mean\nwhen we say, _\"they die.\"_ Each _\"hating\"_ emotion kills them. And\nthis is the very philosophy of the _letter-killing_ (2 Cor. iii. 6);\nnot that it is poison in itself, but that the Gospel awakens\nopposition, which, on its part, corrupts the mind.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.\n\nTWO WORLDS.\n\n+I. Two worlds out of reach of the human senses--the world of\ndeparted men and the human soul.+ Both these mysterious worlds are\nshut out or shut in from the eye of man by the bolts and bars of his\nbodily senses. How exceedingly small a portion of the vast universe\nof God is revealed to the eye of sense! The small globe upon which\nman finds himself is nearly all that he can possibly know with his\nbodily vision. Reason may tell him that there is much more, faith may\nafford him clearer evidence of things not seen (Heb. xi. 1), but over\nall there is a veil drawn. The vast world, where dwells the great\nmajority of the human race--that unseen home, peopled with the\nspirits of just men made perfect, and the dwelling-place of the\nspirits of the unjust--are regions entirely beyond the reach of human\nsight. And there is another world equally out of the reach of his\nvision. He has never seen the soul of any one of the thousands of\nfellow-men with whom he has come in contact. He has never read the\nheart of his most intimate friend. His own \"living soul,\" even that\nwhich is _himself,_ has never been apprehended by his bodily senses.\nHe has never touched or looked upon _that._\n\n+II. But both these invisible worlds are entirely open to the eye of\nGod.+ The world of spirits and the individual soul of each man are\nseen by Him as plainly as we see the material world around us, or as\nwe see the bodies of our fellow-creatures. And they are far more\nfully comprehended by Him than the visible things upon which our eyes\nrest every day are comprehended by us. For what do we really know of\nthe essential properties of that by which we are surrounded? Is not\nour very bodily organism a mystery to us? But each soul of each\nindividual man in the body, and each \"unclothed\" (2 Cor. v. 4) spirit\nin the worlds of the departed is \"naked and open\" in the eyes of Him\nwith whom each one \"has to do\" (Heb. iv. 13) as really and as\nintimately as if in all the universe there was only one creature of\nwhom the omniscient Creator had to take cognizance.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is the gross persuasion of some, as if hell and destruction were\nonly things that God did set before us, and that they were not before\nHim; as if they were things wherewith God did only terrify us, and\nwhich should never be. But the wise man telleth us, that they are\nbefore the Lord, and that though we know not where hell is and what\nis done there, yet it is before God's eyes. And, therefore, though\nthe heart of the children of men be made as deep as hell by hellish\ndevices, yet much more is that manifest to God. The heart of man is\nmore manifest to Him than it is to himself. Wherefore St. Augustine,\nspeaking unto God, saith, \"Thou wert within, and I was without.\" For,\nindeed, God is often within and knoweth what our hearts are, when we\nourselves are without and do not know them.--_Jermin._\n\nThis terrible truth these hearts secretly know, and their desperate\nwrithings to shake it off show how much they dislike it. The Romish\nconfessional is one of the most pregnant facts in the history of man.\nIt is a monument and measure of the guilty creature's enmity against\nGod. . . . We have wondered at the blindness and stupidity of our\ncommon nature in permitting a man, not more holy than his neighbours,\nto stand in the place of God to a brother's soul. There is cause for\ngrief, but not ground for surprise. The phenomenon proceeds in the\nway of natural law. It is the common, well understood process of\ncompounding for the security of the whole, by the voluntary surrender\nof a part. The confessional is a kind of insurance office where\nperiodical exposure of the heart to a man is the premium paid for\nfancied impunity in hiding that heart altogether from the deeper\nscrutiny of the all-seeing God. . . . It is God's love from the face\nof Jesus Christ shining into my dark heart that makes my heart open\nand delight to be His dwelling-place. The eye of the just Avenger I\ncannot endure to be in the place of sin; but the eye of the\ncompassionate Physician I shall gladly admit into this place of\ndisease.--_Arnot._\n\n_\"Because also the hearts of the children of men.\"_ (See Miller's\nrendering in Critical Notes.) The intimation is _God knows hell\nbecause He knows man._ He knows that \"hating reproof,\" we die (verse\n10), and just how fast we die or sink by each act of hating. In other\nwords, he knows how fast sin grows under an administration of\njustice; and, therefore, how far a given sinner will have gone down,\nat any date, through his eternal age.--_Miller._\n\nThis verse may denote that the deepest machinations of the prince of\nhell, and of all his legions of fallen angels, are open to the Lord's\ninspection, and must end in their disappointment and deeper torment;\nhow, then can man, who is so inferior in sagacity and subtlety,\nexpect to hide his counsels from God, or to prosper in rebellion\nagainst Him? \"There is nothing so deep or secret that can be hid from\nthe eyes of God, much less man's thoughts.\"--_Scott._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nSELF-DESTROYED.\n\n+I. That a scorner is in hopeless ignorance.+ \"Neither will he go\nunto the wise.\" If a thirsty man will not go to the river to which he\nhas free and easy access, there is no hope of his thirst being\nquenched. If he will not apply to the only source whence his need can\nbe supplied, he must remain in his needy condition. If a man who is\nsick will not apply to him who is able to cure his malady, the\nprobability is that he will remain under the influence of disease,\nand die of his malady. If a man who is ignorant of the revelation of\nGod, and of the healing power of Divine truth, refuses to go where\nwisdom is to be found--viz., among those who have been enlightened by\nDivine wisdom, there is no hope of his ever emerging from his state\nof ignorance. God uses one divinely enlightened man to turn another\nfrom darkness to light. This is the method of His procedure in His\nkingdom, and if the scorner rejects this means, he must remain in\ndarkness. He may \"go unto the wise\" by listening to the voice of the\nliving man, by observing the life of the morally wise, or by reading\ntheir thoughts, especially those of the divinely-inspired writers of\nthe Scriptures. Men have begun to learn wisdom by each one of these\nmethods; generally there is the combined influence of the three.\n\n+II. The true source of the scorner's dislike to the company of the\nwise.+ He \"hates reproof.\" As reproof is knowledge (see ch. xiii. 18,\npage 323) so an increase of knowledge, if it is not used, is reproof.\nThe words of the wise and the lives of the wise reprove the scorner\nby increasing his light, and thus adding to his guilt. He therefore\n\"cometh not to the light lest his deeds should be reproved\" (John\niii. 20). He is like a man who is conscious that he is suffering from\na dangerous disease, but who will not submit to the examination of\nthe physician because he knows he would prescribe treatment which,\nthough it would cure, would be painful. No men love reproof any more\nthan they love the surgeon's knife; but wise men submit to the one\nand the other for the sake of the health to soul and to body which\nwill follow. But the scorner hates the keen-edged weapon of reproof\nbecause he does not value the good that would result from patiently\nbearing the incision.\n\n+III. Every scorner, therefore, is a self-destroyer.+ A man commits\nsuicide if, when he is sick, he refuses to use the means by which he\nmight be healed. If he die, he takes away his life as truly as if he\nthrust a sword through his body. He is not accountable for his\ndisease, but he is responsible and blameworthy for neglecting means\nof cure within his reach. So with men in relation to spiritual\nknowledge. Ignorance is a crime only when the means of enlightenment\nare within reach. He who scorns to avail himself of those means, he\nwho will not submit to reproof, he who rejects the invitation and\ndespises the threatenings of Divine Wisdom (see chap. i. 20-33) is a\nmoral suicide. (See also on chap. xiv. 6, page 346.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nMen should \"run to and fro to increase knowledge\" (Dan. xii. 4). The\nShunamite rode ordinarily to the prophet on the Sabbaths and other\nholy days (2 Kings iv. 23). Those good souls in Psalm lxxxiv. 7\npassed on \"from strength to strength,\" setting the best foot forwards\nfor like purpose; yea, those that were weak and unfit for travel\nwould be brought to the ordinances upon \"horses, in chariots, and in\nlitters\" (Isa. lxvi. 20). But now the scorner holds it not worth\nwhile to put himself to these pains, and is ready to say with\nJeroboam, \"It is too much for men to go up to Jerusalem,\" to go up\n\"to the mountain of the Lord, to learn His ways\" (Isa. ii. 3). Yea,\nhe set watches to observe who would go from him to Judah to worship,\nthat he might shame them at least, if not slay them (Hos. v. 1). He\nwould never have gone to the prophet to be reproved, and when the\nprophet came to him, he stretched out his hand to apprehend him. So\nHerod had a desire to see Christ, but could never find a heart to go\nto hear him; and yet our Saviour looked that men should have come as\nfar to Him as the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon.--_Trapp._\n\nHere is instruction for all men, to observe the state of their own\nsouls, and the better, when occasion is offered, to inform themselves\nof others by the company which they most delight to frequent. He that\ndelighteth to associate himself with good men, is never to be deemed\na friend to evil ways, and he that embraceth the fellowship of sinful\npersons, must needs be judged an enemy to godly behaviour. When David\nwould clear himself to be none of the wicked, he made it fully\nmanifest by this, _that he went not with vain persons, neither kept\ncompany with dissemblers: that he hated the assembly of the evil and\ncompanioned not with the wicked._ When he would prove himself to be\none of the righteous, he evidently confirmed it by this, that _he was\na companion of all them that feared the Lord and kept His\nprecepts.--Dod._\n\nThere is none that loveth more truly, that loveth more profitably,\nthan he that lovingly reproveth what he seeth amiss. And yet there is\nnone that a scorner loveth less. But what marvel if he loveth not\nanother, that loveth not himself! Where scorning is, there can be no\nlove, that was never love's disposition. Let no one that reproveth a\nscorner look for love from him. . . . But let the wise reprove him\nnotwithstanding, and as St. Cyprian speaketh, if they cannot persuade\nhim, to make him to please Christ, let themselves perform to Christ\nthat which is their part, and let them please Christ by keeping his\ncommandments.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nA CHEERFUL FACE AND A BROKEN SPIRIT.\n\n+I. The outer man is to a large extent an index of the inner life.+\nThe joy of the heart is made visible upon the countenance. This is\none of the infinitely kind and wise arrangements of God which\nminister so much to human happiness. We have but to consider the\ninfluence of a cheerful face to know how great a blessing it is that\na merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. \"How blank would be the\naspect of the world,\" says Dr. Arnot, \"if no image of a man's thought\ncould ever be seen glancing through his countenance! Our walk through\nlife would be like a solitary walk through a gallery of statues--as\ncold as marble, and not nearly so beautiful.\"\n\n+II. The effect of sorrow upon the human spirit.+ It _\"breaks\"_ it.\nWhen a vessel's timbers are shivered by the fury of the storm she may\nnot go to pieces altogether. But she is no longer able to hold her\nown against the elements, which she could once use as forces to\nconvey her from land to land. If she were now to put to sea, instead\nof riding over the waves and making them her servants, she would be a\npassive thing in their hands, a mere helpless bundle of timbers to be\ntossed whithersoever they pleased, instead of \"walking the waters\nlike a thing of life.\" So it is with the human spirit when the cross\nseas and angry winds of adverse circumstances have quenched the hope\nand paralysed the energy that once governed and inspired the man. He\nis no longer able to face the storms of life, and outride them, or\neven make them advance his interests. He is passive amid the changes\nand chances of mortal life, and they drift him on wheresoever they\nwill. But this can never be the case unless a man has lost faith in\nthe character of God and his own high and immortal destiny. Then,\nindeed, the elements which he was built to rule will rule him, and he\nwill fail to fulfil the end for which God launched him on the sea of\nlife.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nI have always preferred cheerfulness to mirth. The latter I consider\nas an act, the former as a habit, of the mind.--_Addison._\n\nThe _\"sorrow of heart\"_ here spoken of, we may consider as that which\narises from an evil conscience, from envy, discontent, and other\nsimilar sources.--_Wardlaw._\n\nA \"merry\" or \"glad\" heart is one of the attributes of piety. It\n(literally) _\"does good to the countenance,\" improves it,_ as we say\nin our idiom, \"Come with us, and we will do thee good\" (Numb.\nx. 29).--_Miller._\n\nThis word _merriment_ is of frequent use among our old writers. It is\nFoxe's favourite description of the holy joy of the\nmartyrs.--_Bridges._\n\nIt sits smiling in the face, and looks merrily out of the windows of\nthe eyes. But this is not till faith has healed the conscience, and\ntill grace has hushed the affections, and composed all within.\nStephen looked like an angel when he stood before the council (Acts\nvi. 15); and the apostles went away rejoicing (Acts v. 41). There are\nthat rejoice in the face only, and not in the heart (2 Cor. v. 12);\nthis is but hypocrisy of mirth, and we may be sure that many a man's\nheart bleeds within him when his face counterfeits a smile. It is for\nan Abraham only to laugh for joy of the promise, and for a David to\n\"rejoice at the word as one that findeth great spoil\" (Psalms\ncxix. 162), wherein the pleasure is usually as much as the profit.\nChrist's chariot, wherein he carries people up and down in the world,\nand brings them at length to Himself, is \"paved with love\" (Cant.\niii. 9, 10); He brings them also into His wine cellar (Cant. ii. 4),\nwhere He cheers up their hearts, and clears up their countenances,\nand this is Heaven beforehand. These are some few clusters of the\ngrapes of the celestial Canaan. But as the looks are marred, so the\nspirits are dulled and disabled by sorrow, as a limb out of joint can\ndo nothing without deformity or pain. Dejection takes off the wheels\nof the soul, hinders comfortable intercourse with God, and that\nhabitual cheerfulness, that Sabbath of the spirit, that every man\nshould strive to enjoy. Afflictions, saith one, are the wind of the\nsoul, passions the storm. The soul is well carried when neither so\nbecalmed that it moves not when it should, nor yet tosses with\ntempests of wrath, grief, fear, etc., to move disorderly. Of these we\nmust be careful to crush the very first insurrections; storms rise\nout of little gusts, but the top of those mountains above the middle\nregion are so quiet that ashes, lightest things, are not moved out of\nplace.--_Trapp._\n\nMirth and cheerfulness make a man not only fitter for the occasions\nof this world, but even for spiritual affairs also. Wherefore Elisha\ncalleth for a minstrel that, being angry with the king of Israel, by\nthe melody of the music a more soft and sweet disposition might\npossess him. . . . \"Joy,\" saith Aquinas, \"is, as it were, a juice\nspreading itself over the whole man, dispersing the comfort of itself\nto all the faculties of the soul, and all parts of the body.\" But,\nnow, what is it that maketh a merry heart? Surely not the things of\nthis world. They only do beset the heart with a dream of mirth, they\ndo only make the heart drunken with some flushings of joy. A merry\nheart indeed is that which the assurance of God's favour rejoiceth,\nand that will make the countenance cheerful in any trouble, even in\ndeath itself. It is true also that by sorrow of heart the spirit is\nbroken, the heart and the spirit being but one string of life. But\nwhat is it by which the heart should be made sorrowful? Surely not\nthe things of this life, seeing the life of the heart is so far above\nthem. For it is a shameful folly to hurt a better thing for that\nwhich is far worse. No; nothing should make the heart sorrowful but\nrepentance for sin, and as that casteth down the spirit, so will it\nraise it up again. Wherefore Augustine saith, \"Let the penitent\nalways be grieved, and let him rejoice for his grief.\" Nothing should\nmake the heart sad but the fear of God's displeasure, and if that\nbreak the spirit, it will heal it again with endless\nconsolation.--_Jermin._\n\n\nThe principal thought of verse 14 is a repetition in a slightly\nvaried form of a truth that has been considered before. (See on chap.\nxii. 1, xiii. 18, etc.)\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThey are the wisest men that are most sensible of the imperfection of\ntheir wisdom.--_Lawson._\n\n_\"The mouth of fools feed,\"_ etc., literally, _pastures,_ like a\nbrute. A thing fed takes the texture of its nourishment. The\n_\"mouth\"_ or _\"face\"_ (see Critical Notes) of the fool grows more and\nmore inane and brutal.--_Miller._\n\nAs a hungry man seeks meat, or a covetous man gold, the more he hath\nthe more he desires. Moses was no sooner off the mount where he had\nseen God face to face, but he cries, \"Lord, show me Thy glory!\"\nDavid, that knew more than his teachers, cries ever and anon, \"Teach\nme Thy statutes.\" Job prefers knowledge before his necessary food\n(chap. xxiii. 12). The wise man finds no such sweetness in the most\ndelicate and dainty dishes, as in the search after Divine knowledge\n(Psa. cxix. 103). Even Aristotle saith that a little knowledge,\nthough conjectural, about heavenly things is to be preferred above\nknowledge, though certain, about earthly things. And Agur saith it is\nto ascend into heaven (Prov. xxx. 4).--_Trapp._\n\n_First,_ because the one sort is after the spirit, and therefore they\nfavour the things of the spirit; and the other sort is after the\nflesh, and therefore they favour the things of the flesh. _Secondly,_\nbecause the one sort is guided by judgment, and choose that which\nwill comfort their consciences; and the other is altogether led by\nlust, and seek only that which will satisfy their senses. _Thirdly,_\nfaith makes the one sort to cast an eye to that which will follow\nhereafter; and sensuality causeth the other (like brute beasts, made\nto be destroyed) only to look to that which is present.--_Dod._\n\nKnowledge is necessary for us, not only to manage the affairs of this\nlife, but also to perform the service of our Maker. Conscience may\ndictate to us that things are right or wrong, but conscience may be\nmistaken in her decisions, unless she call in reason to her\nassistance, for a clear knowledge of the revealed will of God cannot\nbe understood without application of mind. . . . The desire of\nknowledge is in some sense natural to us all and is manifested very\nsoon. We see how early curiosity exerts itself in lively children.\nBut this natural desire may be misused. 1. _It may be too little._\nSome persons do not desire knowledge so much as they ought,\nespecially they are negligent in acquiring religious knowledge. This\nnegligence may proceed from too warm a pursuit of other things. But\nwhat will this world avail us, if we are excluded from an inheritance\nin the next? It may proceed from mere sloth. But the unprofitable\nservant, who suffers his talents to lie useless, is to be cast into\nouter darkness. 2. _It may be too much._ Some things there are which\nwe ought not to know, and a vain curiosity after them is an abuse of\nour natural desire of knowledge. This curiosity brought on the fall\nof our first parents, and still reigns among their posterity. Sin\nshould only be known, as the rocks at sea, that they may be avoided.\nIt becomes us also to be contented with such a knowledge of the\nDivine nature, and the Divine administration, as we are capable of\nacquiring, and of future events so far as God hath seen fit to reveal\nthem.--_Jortin._\n\nThe mouth of fools--the mouth of their souls and\nunderstandings--feedeth upon anything; even foolishness itself is\ngood food unto them. Their distempered palate judgeth not the worth\nof things. They have a mouth to receive knowledge, but they have not\na heart to consider and discern what they do receive. None is so ill\na feeder as fools. Such fools are they in the prophet Isaiah who say,\n\"Prophesy not unto us, right things speak unto us,\" as the original\nword is, _bland_ things, pleasing things; but the word signifieth in\nthe first place _scattered_ things, such as coming from a scattered\nbrain have no order and aim at no material point. Or else scattered\nthings which may strike at none, which may hurt none, do no good to\nany. And, indeed, too many such there are. The world is full of\nspeakers and talkers, that speak things they know not, and teach\nthings they have not learned.--_Jermin._\n\nThe Queen of Sheba, \"coming from the utmost parts of the earth;\"\nNicodemus and Mary, \"sitting at the feet of Jesus;\" the Eunuch,\njourneying to Jerusalem; Cornelius and his company drinking in the\nprecious message of salvation; the Bereans, carefully \"searching the\nScriptures,\" all these show _\"the understanding heart seeking_ a\nlarger interest in the blessing.\"--_Bridges._\n\nThat in \"_seeking_ knowledge\" the idea of feasting on it is included,\nis evident from the terms of the antithesis. It is a feast of\n\"knowledge\" above all, of _divine knowledge_. He who has\n\"understanding,\"--who is enlightened of God, and discerns the\nexcellency and glory of divine truth--_\"seeketh\"_ such knowledge.\nFrom experience of the joy already imparted by it, he seeks more and\nstill more--the appetite growing by gratification, delighted with\nevery new discovery, yet never tiring of the old (1 Pet. ii. 1-3).\n\"But the mouth of fools _feedeth on_ foolishness.\" That is what they\nlike; that is therefore what they seek, and from which they have\ntheir own poor and pitiful enjoyment. In regard to _religion itself_\nthey are taken with everything that serves the present purpose of\nkeeping all quiet within; that lets conscience alone; that dispenses\nwith serious thought, and preventing inward disturbance, allows them\nto go on easily and comfortably. They have a relish for all doctrines\nof this unannoying description--that \"prick not\" their hearts; that\nembitter not present sweets by any forebodings of the future; that\n\"prophesy smooth things, and cause the Holy One of Israel to cease\nfrom before them\"--the _scarer_ of their thoughtless mirth and sinful\ngratification. They have an appetite for everything of that\nkind.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nTHE CONTINUAL FEAST.\n\n+I. All men have days of affliction.+ They may be traced to one of\nfour sources--1. _Men are afflicted by reason of their relation to\nthe first head of the human race._ Every man inherits bodily\nweaknesses of some kind--is, in apostolic phrase, made subject to\nvanity (Rom. viii. 20) of some kind or another for which he is not\npersonally responsible--which is not the fruit of his own character\nor conduct, nor of that of his immediate ancestors. Mental sorrows\nare also born of this remote relationship. The human mind is not now\nwhat it was when it came first from the hand of its Creator. God at\nthe beginning made man perfect--his spirit was a reflection of the\nperfect law of God, and all within was consequently harmony and\npeace. But it is not so now, even with the best of the human race.\nThere has been a subjection to vanity through sin, and this is the\nfruitful source of much mental pain and sorrow to all men, although\nthey are often unconscious of the origin of the darkness that\nenvelops their spirit. 2. _Men are afflicted by reason of their\nimmediate relationships._ A child who has a bad father suffers much\nand grievously, the father who owns a wicked child often has many\ndays of deep affliction. A nation may be deeply afflicted by reason\nof the viciousness or unwisdom of its rulers. Many and various are\nthe afflictions which come to men through those to whom they are\nrelated, whether by family or national ties. 3. _Afflictions arise\nfrom personal transgression of God's laws._ These transgressions may\nbe either of a negative or positive character--they may consist in\ndoing what we ought not to do, or in leaving undone that which it is\nour duty to do. Much affliction comes to men because they have\nneglected to do for mind, body, or estate that which they are\ncommanded by God to do. Men who neglect to work, or who neglect to\nconform to the laws by which their mind or their body is governed,\nmust pay the penalty, and often suffer much affliction from the mere\nneglect of duty. And much more will those know days of affliction who\nare positive transgressors of any Divine law, whether physical or\nmoral. 4. _Affliction comes to men sometimes by Divine permission,\neither to chasten men for sin or to increase the goodness of their\ncharacters._ Affliction came to Job, and he had many evil days, not\nbecause he was a sinner, but because he was a saint. Good man as he\nwas, he had many days of affliction--days which were to him very\nevil--but they arose neither from his remote or immediate\nrelationships, nor from personal or relative transgression, but were\nthe outcome of Satanic agency, acting by Divine permission.\n\n+II. Days of affliction are evil days.+ While the patient is under\nthe knife of the surgeon he is undergoing an experience which is in\nitself an evil, which is an experience to be dreaded and avoided if\npossible, however good may be the days of health which are the result\nof it. No one can feel that affliction in itself is anything but an\nevil--much good may come out of it, but that does not make the actual\nsuffering of body or mind good in itself. If the sufferings of the\npresent life were unconnected with the blessings which will spring\nout of them, if they were not regarded in the light of Divine\nrevelation they would be unmitigated evils.\n\n+III. Evil days work good to him who can rise above them.+ If a\nseaman can be cheerful and hopeful in the midst of a storm, he is all\nthe better for having passed through it. His courage is strengthened\nand his experience is enlarged, he is more of a man than before he\nentered into conflict with the winds and waves. While others have\nbeen overwhelmed with terror, he has been full of a calm\nself-possession, and that which has shown how weak many men are, has\nshown how strong he is. But in order thus to rise above outward\ncircumstances, there must be internal resources. Only those can come\nthrough the storms of life stronger and the better for having passed\nthrough them who have an unfailing well of hope and comfort within.\nThe martyrs of old revealed that they had a continual feast within,\nalthough they had many days of affliction without. Their \"merry\nhearts,\" filled with true and unfailing gladness, lifted them above\nthe bitterness and evil of their circumstances. Thus to glory in\ntribulation is to take \"meat out of the eater and sweetness out of\nthe strong.\" But only those can practise this art who, like their\nMaster, \"have meat to eat\" of which men in general \"know not of\"\n(John iv. 32).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe feast of him who is of \"a merry heart,\" who has within himself\nthe sources of true joy, is not terminated--is not even suspended--in\nthe season of affliction. _His_ feast is independent of changing\ncondition. He often relishes it most when other sweets are\nembittered. Often is his inward spiritual festivity the richest, when\nthe supply of his outward and earthly comforts is\nscantiest.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAffliction, as the fruit and chastening of sin, is an evil. . . .\nThough the abounding consolation of Christian affliction does not\nblot out its penal character, yet the child of God is not so\nmiserable as he seems to be (2 Cor. vi. 10). The darkest of these\n_evil days_ can never make the consolations of God small with him\n(Job xv. 11). He can sing in the prison (Acts xvi. 25), can \"take\njoyfully the spoiling of his goods\" (Heb. x. 34), can praise his God\nwhen He has stripped him naked (Job i. 21). What real _evil_ then can\naffliction bring? Or rather what does it bring but many feast days? A\nfew days' feasting would soon weary the epicure. But here the _merry\nheart hath a continual feast.--Bridges._\n\n_\"All the days of the toiling are evil, but a good heart is a\ncontinual feast.\"_ A glorious comparison! A sour heart is fed by a\nhard life; and yet, though the hard life is common to all, a\nbrightened spirit masters it, and not only masters it but sweetens\nit. _Toiling._ the word is very peculiar. _\"Afflicted\"_ our version\nhas it. _\"Humble\"_ is the translation in many cases. Toiling strikes\nus best, (1) because such is the root--the verb, first of all, means\nto _toil_--and (2) because such is the sense; the toiling character\nof life makes all groan together. We are not paid. Such is the toil\nof our spirits that life is a battle. As a worldly maxim, _\"a good\nheart\"_ carries the day; but, as an adopted text, the wise saw\nstrengthens itself. Under the toils of life, _\"a good heart,\"_\nregenerate by grace, greets the same toil the lost man does, and\nfinds the _\"heart\"_ itself _\"a continual feast.\"--Miller._\n\nThis is diligently to be observed, that none can have a cheerful mind\nindeed but only such as, through faith in Christ having peace with\nGod, pollute not their consciences with detestable iniquities. For\nindeed evils enter into such to trouble their minds, to profane their\njoys, and to pull them from the continual feast of security here\nspoken of, who either walk in the committing of gross offences, or\nare close hypocrites and dissemblers.--_Muffet._\n\nHe that hath a heart merry in a good contentment can always invite\nhimself to a full feast. When he hath not wherewith to feast\nothers--yea, even when he wanteth perhaps what to eat, he wanteth not\nwherewith to feast himself. It is not a feast that must have time to\nprovide it, and to make it ready, and which, being ready, is soon\npassed over; but it is a continual feast, ever ready, and never\nended.--_Jermin._\n\nThe sincere heart, the quiet conscience, will not only stand under\ngreatest pressure, as did St. Paul (2 Cor. i. 9-12), but goes as\nmerrily to die in a good cause as ever he did to dine, as did divers\nmartyrs. Be the air clear or cloudy, he enjoys a continual serenity,\nand sits continually at that blessed feast, whereat the blessed\nangels are cooks and butlers, as Luther hath it, and the three\nPersons in the Trinity gladsome guests. Mr. Latimer saith the\nassurance of heaven is the sweetmeats of this feast. There are other\ndainty dishes, but this is the banquet. Saith St. Bernard, \"Wilt\nthou, O man, never be sad? wilt thou turn thy whole life into a merry\nfestival? get and keep a good conscience.\" A good man keeps a holiday\nall the year about.--_Trapp._\n\nSo far as we would live a comfortable life, we should seek to build\nup our inward man more than our outward estates; that our hearts be\nbetter furnished than our houses, and our consciences than our\ncoffers, that our stock of faith and everlasting goodness may exceed\nour store of coin and temporal goods: and so shall we be fenced\nagainst all perils, and provided for against all wants, and secured\nagainst all accidents whatsoever.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nA TREASURE WITHOUT TROUBLE.\n\n+The fear of the Lord is better than worldly treasures--+I. _Because\nthe fear of the Lord tends to peace of mind._ In any piece of\ncomplicated machinery the condition of the internal works is a much\nmore important matter than the ornamenting of the exterior. It is of\nmuch more consequence that all within a timepiece should move in\nharmony than that it should have a golden face or be set with jewels.\nIt is of more importance to a man that all his internal bodily organs\nshould be in perfect health than that he should be possessed of much\nexternal beauty. A strong frame, and pure blood, and health of body\nwill minister much more effectually to his comfort than the most\ncomely countenance. And the state of a man's inner life has\ninfinitely more to do with his real happiness than his external\ncircumstances. He who has the fear of the Lord has the\nfoundation-stone of peace within, and he who has that does not need\nan abundance of that which can only minister to the outer man. A\nlittle material wealth will content him who has the rich inheritance\nof a peaceful and contented spirit. Peace with God and love to man\nare included in the fear of the Lord, and neither the one nor the\nother of these good and perfect gifts can be bought with the treasure\nof this world. The first is the very salt of life without which all\nelse is insipid and insufficient to satisfy the cravings of the human\nsoul, and where the first is there will the second, which is also a\ngreat sweetener of poverty--(see ver. 17), be found also.\nII. _Because of the trouble that is inseparable from worldly wealth._\nThe treasure of this world has a certain value--it can do much for a\nman, both intellectually and materially. It can be so used by him as\nto bring blessings upon himself and others; but it is never\nunaccompanied by drawbacks. 1. There is trouble in _getting_ it. The\nbare sufficiency to sustain life may be got without much strain or\nanxiety; but if a man sets out to make a fortune, he must be content\nto have many cares and anxieties--many weary days and sleepless\nnights--before he obtains his object. Those that _will_ be rich\ncannot avoid much real trouble in carrying out their determination.\n2. There is trouble _after it is gotten._ When men have accumulated\ngreat treasure they are not freed from trouble in connection with it.\nThere is the care of retaining it, the desire, and almost the\nnecessity, of increasing it. The more a man has the more he generally\ndesires, and the more he seems to need. New demands are the outcome\nof a new position, and he who has amassed great treasure rarely\ncontents himself with what he has, but strains every nerve to make\nthe much, _more._ 3. There is great trouble attendant on its _loss._\nEven if a rich man possesses the higher wealth--the fear of the\nLord--he is more to be pitied if he loses his worldly wealth than a\npoor man is. The fall is so much greater, as the height from which he\nhas fallen so far exceeds that from which a poor man can fall the\nhope of climbing it again is so much fainter, and he is in a more\nhelpless and hopeless condition than his brother, who had but little\nto lose. But if he is destitute of the real treasure of human\nexistence, then he has trouble without any compensation. He can say\nwith Micah, \"Ye have taken away my gods and what have I left?\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe preposition gives choice of meanings. It may be, _by \"the fear of\nJehovah,\"_ in which case it would mean the \"little\" earned by piety;\nor it may be \"_in_ the fear of Jehovah;\" in which case it would mean\nthe little held and got possession of in a devout state; or it may be\n_\"along with,\"_ as the word often means. All the ideas are correct.\nWe choose as our English version, and, of course, for both parts of\nthe sentence; for the expression \"therewith,\" has the same familiar\npreposition, and the same chance of either of the alternative\nmeanings. _\"Better\"_ is a Christian's shieling, than an impenitent\nman's palace (chap. xiv. 11). And that, not on account of heaven\nalone, but for the intrinsic joys of piety (see next\nverse).--_Miller._\n\nJudas is bursar, and he shuts himself into his pouch; the more he\nhath, the more he covets. The apostles, that wanted money, are not so\nhaving: Judas hath the bag, and yet he must have more, or he will\nfilch it. So impossible is it that these outward things should\nsatisfy the heart of man. _Soli habitent omnia qui habent habentem\nomnia_--They alone possess all things that possess the possessor of\nall things. The nature of true content is to fill all the chinks of\nour desires, as the wax doth the seal. None can do this but God, for\n(as it is well observed) the world is round, man's heart\nthree-cornered: a globe can never fill a triangle, but one part will\nstill be empty; only the blessed Trinity can fill these three corners\nof a man's heart. . . . The bag never comes alone, but brings with it\ncares, saith Christ (Matt. xiii. 22); snares, saith Paul (1 Tim.\nvi. 9). . . . It is none of God's least favours, that wealth comes\nnot trolling in upon us; for many of us, if our estate were better to\nthe world, would be worse to God. The poor labourer hath not time to\nluxuriate: he trusts in God to bless his endeavours, and so rests\ncontent; but the bag commonly makes a man a prodigal man, or a\nprodigious man; for a covetous man is a monster. . . . It is no\nargument of God's favour to be His purse-bearer; no more than it was\na sign that Christ loved Judas above the other apostles because he\nmade him His steward: He gave the rest grace, and him the bag; which\nsped best? The outward things are the scatterings of His mercies,\nlike the gleaning after the vintage: the full crop goes to His\nchildren.--_T. Adams._\n\nHere also we trace the harmony of wisdom, _i.e.,_ of the Divine Word,\nspeaking through many different channels, and in different tones. The\nproverb has its completion in the teaching which bids us \"seek first\nthe Kingdom of God and His righteousness\" (Matt. vi. 33), and finds\nechoes in the maxims of the wise among other nations who have uttered\nlike thoughts.--_Plumptre._\n\nIt is not the great cage that makes the bird sing. It is not the\ngreat estate that brings always the inward joy--the cordial\ncontentment. The little lark with a wing sees farther than the ox\nwith a bigger eye, but without a wing. Birds use not to sing when\nthey are on the ground, but when got into the air, or on tops of\ntrees. If saints be sad, it is because they are too busy here\nbelow. . . . If the bramble bear rule, fire will arise out of it that\nwill consume the cedars; the lean kine will soon eat up the fat, and\nit shall not be seen by them. It is hard to handle these thorns hard\nand not to prick one's fingers. Riches, though well got, are but as\nmanna; those that gathered less had no want, and those that gathered\nmore, it was but a trouble and annoyance to them.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nTWO FEASTS.\n\n+I. The equality here existing between the poor man and the rich\nman--they both have a dinner.+ This is as it ought to be. God gave\nthe earth to the children of men, and when He enriched them with this\nlarge donation He intended that every living creature upon the earth\nshould have enough to eat every day. When men lack sufficient food it\nis not because there is any lack in God's gifts, either of herbs or\noxen. When both the rich man and the poor man are fed out of the\nabundance of God's gifts His Divine purpose in giving them is\naccomplished.\n\n+II. The inequality between the dinner of the poor man and that of\nthe rich.+ The poor man is sustained upon the same kind of food as\nthe rich man's ox is fattened upon. In common with the beast he lives\nupon the produce of the earth. The rich man eats the ox which has\nbeen fed upon that which is the only food of the poor man. This is\nnot as it should be. God never intended that one part of His human\nfamily would enjoy a monopoly of any of the food which He has\nprovided. When He gave the earth into the hands of the first man He\nintended that all His children should be partakers of all the kinds\nof food which the earth afforded, and which were suited to the part\nof the world in which they lived. When it is otherwise it arises from\nsin, either personal or relative. Poverty does not always spring from\nindolence, or from inability to subdue the earth, and to obtain from\nit a full share of all that it affords, and when it does not, the man\nwho is compelled to eat a dish of herbs while his neighbour feasts\nfrom the stalled ox, is either sinned against in the present, or has\nbeen sinned against in the past.\n\n+III. Opposite states of mind which more than compensate the poor man\nfor his humbler meal.+ Hatred takes away all enjoyment from any of\nGod's gifts. If a rich man bears malice against the guest whom he is\nentertaining at his table--if while he feeds him upon the best, he\ndesires for him the worst--he knows nothing of the pleasures of\nhospitality. Hatred is murder in the germ, and he who harbours such a\ndevil within his breast cannot possess that peace of soul without\nwhich the choicest viands cannot be enjoyed. But _love_ is a large\ncompensation for a dinner of herbs. Love to husband or wife, to\nparent or to child, makes sweet every family meal, however homely the\nfare--that charity which _\"seeketh not her own, thinketh no evil,\nbeareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things,\"_ is a\nsauce to the humblest dish which one man can set before another, and\nmore than lifts it above the rich man's feast given for the sake of\ncustom or expediency to guests to whom he has not a particle of\ngoodwill.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA feast of salads, or Daniel's pulse, is more cherishing with mercy,\nthan Belshazzar's banquet without it.--_T. Adams._\n\nRuth and Naomi were happy when they lived on the gleanings of the\nfield of Boaz, and in the fulness of their satisfaction poured their\nblessings on the head of him that allowed them the scanty\npittance. . . . The conversation of friends is far pleasanter than\nany dish at the table. Where hatred is, there is silence or\nsullenness, or at least hollow mirth and tasteless ceremony; but\nwhere love and the fear of God are, the table conversation is\ndelightful and useful. We find even a heathen poet reflecting on the\npleasures of such an entertainment. (_O noctes c\u0153n\u0153que de\u00fbm!_--Hor.)\nHow blessed were the disciples of our Lord, when they sat at meat\nwith Him! Barley loaves and fishes were probably ordinary fare with\nthem, but they were entertained with Divine discourse. Such pleasure\nas they enjoyed we cannot now expect; but His religion is admirably\nfitted to promote our present happiness, for love is His great\ncommandment.--_Lawson._\n\nThe sentiment is applicable, with a special force of emphasis, to\n_domestic life._ In proportion to the delightful sweetness of the\nconcord in which the fond affections of nature and grace bind the\nmembers of a family in one happy social circle--all being of one\nheart and of one soul--dividing the cares and more than doubling the\nenjoyments of life by mutual participation and sympathy, all bosoms\nthrobbing with a common pulsation, all lips wearing a common smile,\nand all eyes filled from a common fountain of tears, in proportion to\nthe delightful sweetness of such a scene is the wretchedness of its\nreverse; and there is no one who has experienced either the sweetness\nor the wretchedness--especially the former--that will not subscribe\nto the sentiment so simply yet so strongly expressed.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_\"An allowance of vegetables.\"_ Not only _\"vegetables,\"_ but the\nlighter sorts of them; more nearly _\"herbs;\"_ not only light fare,\nlike that, but a _limited amount;_ not only _flesh_ on the other\nscale, but _\"stalled\"_ beef; not only _\"stalled\" beef,_ but no limit;\n\"_a stalled_ ox.\" Not only might this well be a worldly proverb to\nrepresent the married state, and all the arena of human affection,\nbut signal when brought into religion. _\"A dinner of herbs;\"_ with\nthe blessed _\"love\"_ of the Redeemer, is better than a pampered feast\nand the gloom of the impenitent.--_Miller._\n\nIf love be the entertainer, it matters not much what the provision\nbe: if true friendship be set upon the table of his heart that\ninviteth thee, let that make thee to esteem well of whatsoever is set\non the table before thee. Thou comest with a gluttonous appetite--not\nthe affection of a friend--if thy cheer be that which thou lookest\nafter. Wherefore, then, though it be a dinner of herbs, yet if they\ncome from love's garden it is worthy of thine acceptance: thou mayest\nbe sure that no serpent lies hid in those herbs. If it be but so\nsmaller a dinner as a _traveller_ taketh with him (see Critical\nNotes), yet if it bring affection with it, thou mayest be sure that\nno hurt is coming to thee. But if thy dinner be a fatted ox, and\nhatred be the hand that carveth it unto thee, perhaps it is but to\nfat thee for the like slaughter.--_Jermin._\n\nMark well, it is neither said in the Bible, nor found in experience,\nthat they are all happy families who dine on herbs, and all unhappy\nwho can afford to feast on a stalled ox. Some rich families live in\nlove, and doubly enjoy their abundance; some poor families quarrel\nover their herbs. Riches cannot secure happiness, and poverty cannot\ndestroy it. But such is the power of love, that with it you will be\nhappy in the meanest estate; without it, miserable in the highest.\nWould you know the beginning, and the middle, and the end of this\nmatter, the spring on high, the stream flowing through the channel of\nthe covenant, and the fruitful outspread in a disciple's life\nbelow--they are all here, and all one--Charity:--+\"God is Love,\"+\n_\"Love is of God,\"_ \"Walk in love.\"--_Arnot._\n\nThere were many great feasts in the times of the apostles, and yet\nnone of them are so much commended in the Scriptures as the meetings\nof believers, who did eat together _with gladness and singleness of\nheart,_ notwithstanding they had neither so much meat, nor so costly\ndishes, as divers others had. It is noted of Abraham that he\nentertained God and His angels to dinner. The Lord Himself would be\nhis guest, since he would be so good a housekeeper; and yet the\nvictuals which are mentioned are only butter and milk, the veal that\nhad not time to cool between the killing and the dressing;\nnotwithstanding his hospitality is preferred before the Persian\nking's royal banquet, for the one purposed to show his greatness in\npomp, and the other his goodness in love. The one dealt exceeding\nunkindly with his own wife and the other very courteously with them\nthat seemed to him to be mere strangers. They that dress most meat\nare not always the kindest men, for our Saviour was full of\nliberality when He gave but barley-bread and fish to His disciples,\nand Nabal was but a churl, though he killed both sheep and oxen for\nhis sheep-shearers.--_Dod._\n\n\nThe subject of verse 18 has been treated in verse 1. (See Homiletics\non page 400, also on chap. xiv. 29, page 386.)\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn the pit, the blasphemy will rise and swell, as it is stirred up\none man by his neighbour. _Upbraidings_ are contagious, even in this\nworld. Ordinary quarrels are wonderfully quieted, if a man waits. But\n_Divine quarrels,_ if we stay to look at God, and observe His\nreasonings, are wonderfully held back, and by His grace signally\nprevented.--_Miller._\n\nObserve the principles of _hatred and love,_ contrasted in active\nexercise. Some persons make it their occupation to sit by the fire,\nto feed and fan the flame, lest it be extinguished. A useful and\nfriendly employment, were it a fire to warm. But when it is an\ninjurious, consuming, and destructive element, it would seem\ndifficult to discover the motive of these incendiaries, did we not\nread, that \"out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,\nwickedness, an evil eye, pride, foolishness\" (Mark vii. 21,\n22).--_Bridges._\n\nSurely it is a _wrathful man_ that is the lawyer's best client. He is\naltogether for _scire faciam,_ I will make thee to know what thou\nhast done, what thou has said; which the lawyer does but turn into a\n_scire facias,_ although at last himself pay dearest for the\nknowledge which is gotten. But he that is slow to anger, hath a\n_Quietus est_ for any suit before it is begun. His care is rather to\nbuy his peace with loss, than to sell his rest for gain. He\nconsidereth it to be true which St. Ambrose teacheth him, that to be\nfreed from the loss of strife is not a little gain.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 19.\n\nTHE WAY OF THE SLOTHFUL AND THE RIGHTEOUS.\n\n+I. The one thing common to these opposite characters--a \"way.\"+ The\neagle and the snail both have a way of motion, although the one\nswiftly cleaves the air, and the other drags itself slowly along the\nground. Unlike as they are in form and in habit, they are both\nimpelled to some kind of motion. So with the sluggard and the man who\ncomplies willingly with God's ordinance of labour--they are both\ncompelled to some exercise of their bodily and mental organs, but\nthere is a great contrast in the way in which they exercise them as\nthere is between the way of the snail and the eagle.\n\n+II. The contrast between the ways of these opposite characters.+\n1. _That of the sluggard is a way of self-prevention._ He lessens his\npower by neglecting to use it. The man who has power to pull against\na rapid at a certain point of the stream and will not use it, but\nallows his boat to drift on until he comes into a current against\nwhich he can make no headway, has thrown away his power, and is his\nown destroyer. The effort which he neglected to put forth at a time\nwhen it would have been effectual, is of no avail now that the time\nhas passed. Every man in health of body and mind has physical, and\nmental, and moral powers which at a certain period in his life are\nequal to the overcoming of all ordinary obstacles to his moral and\nphysical well-being. But if he neglects to use them the tide against\nhim will grow stronger, because his power will decrease, and his\nneglect and inertness, whether in material or in spiritual things,\nwill raise around him a hedge of thorns, which will require much\nextraordinary and painful effort to break through. A thorn-hedge in\nits beginnings may be easily stepped over, or it may be almost as\neasily uprooted; but if it is allowed to grow and strengthen itself\nfor several years it makes an almost impassable barrier--at least, a\nbarrier which cannot be overcome without a great and painful effort.\nSo with the sluggard, temptations to indolence--to neglect of powers\nwhich God has given him to be used--might once have been easily\novercome, and have been so completely conquered as to cease to be\ntemptations. But yielded to until they have become habits, they form\naround him as impassable a barrier, or one which can be broken\nthrough only by as great and as painful exertion as a hedge of\nthorns. Often we hear him complaining of the difficulties in the way,\nand truly they are there, but they are mainly of his own creation,\nthe hedge is about him, but it is of his own planting--the lion is\nthere (chap. xxvi. 13), but the lion was placed there by the man who\nis afraid to face him. 2. _The way of righteousness--of him who is\nwilling to strive after his moral and physical well-being--is a way\nin which it is easier to walk the longer it is pursued._ It is \"made\nplain,\" or it is a \"paved way.\" _(a) God helps to smooth his way,\nbecause it is a Divinely ordained way._ He who rules the world has\nordained that many material gifts and all the most precious mental\nand moral gifts shall be the reward of those only who earnestly\nstrive after them. The way of diligent continuance in well-doing is\nas old as God Himself, and it is the way in which He requires His\ncreatures to walk. This being so, those who tread it may rely upon\nHis help to exalt the valleys, to level the mountains, and to make\nthe rough places plain which lie in their road. _(b) The way is made\nplain by the man himself._ The continued repetition of acts makes\nhabit, and he who pushes boldly and fearlessly forward in the way of\nrighteous exertion finds the hard becomes easier and the stony places\nsmoother by the very constitution of his nature. He makes his way\nplain by his resolution to walk in it, he leaps the hedge while his\nslothful neighbour is counting the number of feet it is from the\nground. It is well to look before we leap, but some look so long that\nthey never take the leap, and the slothful man looks so long at the\ndifficulties in his way that he never finds courage enough to grapple\nwith them. But the very resolve to try brings strength for action,\nand the power grows by use until what is a hedge of thorns to an\nindolent man is a level road to his righteous neighbour. The word\nrighteous here being placed in antithesis to slothful shows how great\na sin it is to neglect to use the opportunities which God has given\nfor men to ensure their real and highest interests (See also on chap.\nxiii. 4, page 296.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nGod's Word recognises the universal law of work. By frequent precept\nand cheering promises, it consecrates our daily labour. Mindful of\nthe old Latin maxim, _\"Laborare est orare,\"_ \"toil is prayer,\" the\nChristian learns from the record of God's Will that honest,\nfaithful, diligent, God-fearing, and God-honouring work is itself a\nworship acceptable to the great All-worker. Toil, hard toil, is duty.\nEven the heathen world confessed that the gods gave nothing to men\nwithout it had been earned by severe exertion. . . . God enjoins\ndiligence upon us by precept and by example. About us, all things\nperform their allotment of work, and do it promptly and without a\nthought of delay. The winds sweep over the face of the earth, attent\nalone on the fulfilment of their appointed mission. Here they come on\nsilent pinions, to bear away the rising exhalation of death from the\nlowlands or the pest-house; there they carpet the earth with the sere\nand yellow leaves of autumn, covering the earth with russet and gold.\nNow their task is the flushing of some sick one's pale cheek, as they\nrustle through the spring blossoms, laden with sweet health. There\nthey hinder and destroy the else invincible Armada, creeping forth on\nits purpose of spreading far and wide destruction and death. Thus,\ntoo, the never-resting sea. Lashing its worn and rugged shore, the\nincoming tides bear on their bosom the wealth of trade; or else,\nlifting the waves in its fury, it engulfs those who go down into the\nsea to do business in the deep waters. Thus, too, the hidden fires of\nearth, ever smouldering within, ever restless in their workings--now\ntossing the foam and spray of the geysers in their play, or now\nopening in wide fissures of molten death, to scorch the surface of\nthe earth with the poisonous sulphur smoke, or bury for centuries in\ndust and ashes, and under the lava tide, the homes and haunts of the\nmen of the past. Thus God teaches men by His own ceaseless workings\nthrough ten thousand ever busy forces. And revelation utters the same\nbidding to unremitting toil. . . . Diligent hands are speedily\nrendered expert. Long use gives practice and perfection, until that\nwhich was at first the toilsome labour of home becomes the easily\nattained result of a few moments' application. And the diligent hand\nteaches and trains the wary and observant eye.--_Life Lessons from\nthe Book of Proverbs, by Dr. Perry, Bishop of Iowa._\n\nThe wise man mentions righteousness in this place rather than\ndiligence, because the latter is included in the former, and is not\nsufficient without it to make a man's way plain.--_Lawson._\n\nObserve God's estimate of the slothful man. He contrasts with him not\nthe diligent, but the righteous, marking him as a \"wicked, because a\n_slothful,_ servant\" (Matt. xxv. 26). The difficulties are far more\nin the mind than in the path. For while the slothful man sits down by\nthe hedge-side in despair, _the way of the righteous_ (in itself not\nmore easy) _is made plain._ He does not expect God to work for him in\nan indolent habit. But he finds that God helps those that help\nthemselves. . . . Following His commands, feeding upon His promises,\ncontinuing in prayer, in waiting and watching for an answer to\nprayer, _his way is raised up_ before him. He believes what is\nwritten, and acts upon it without delay. As soon as ever the light\ncomes into his mind, at the very first dawn, this determines the\ndirection of his steps, and the order of his proceedings. Thus his\nstumbling-blocks are removed (Numb. xiii. 30, xiv. 6-9; Isa.\nlvii. 14).--_Bridges._\n\nGrace has not only a _brighter_ (ver. 15) but an _easier_ time. We\nsee the like in worldly matters. Nothing is more striking than the\nease with which a prompt man works. His tackle is all right, so is\nhis ground, it has been made smooth by his last year's toil. His\nhands are not blistered. His lazy neighbour admires, and longs after\nhis chance. Laziness begets labour. In the round year, the sluggard\nfevers himself more than the diligent; while, in the spiritual world,\nthe proverb is more signal still. Just where the _upright_ stands\nthere is a smooth path--and let it be observed the upright means the\n_smooth,_ the _level._ Just where the sinner stands is a _thorn\nhedge._ He _cannot_ enter into life; so he imagines. And yet he is a\n_sluggard,_ for he will not do the plainest duties. The proverb is\nright, therefore, that it is the principle of sluggardism to create\n\"a hedge of thorns;\" and that it is far smoother to take hold of the\nfaith by the right handle, and at once, than to be eternally kicking\nagainst the pricks of the Gospel.--_Miller._\n\nBecause the latter part of the verse speaketh of the righteous, we\nmay by the slothful understand the wicked; for it is slothfulness in\nnot using the graces of God offered that maketh to be wicked. . . .\nGod giveth the righteous pleasure, even in the troubles of serving\nHim. . . . In their conversation, by the lightsomeness and leap, as\nit were, of eternal hope and internal contemplation, they do pass\nover the impediments of temporal adversity.--_Jermin._\n\nThe way of a slothful man is perplexed and letsome, so that he gets\nno ground, makes no riddance; he goes as if he were shackled when he\nis to go upon any good course, so many perils he casts and so many\nexcuses he makes--this he wants, and that he wants, when in truth it\nis a heart only that he wants, being wofully hampered and enthralled\nin the invisible chains of the kingdom of darkness, and driven about\nby the devil at his pleasure. . . . Never any came to hell, saith\none, but had some pretence for their coming hither.--_Trapp._\n\nEvery good service is hard or easy, according as men's wills are\ninclined unto it. He that hath his mind pressed and ready to the\npractice of any duty, either of piety, justice, or mercy, will\nobserve all the inducements that may lead him to the same; and he\nthat is averse and backward, will look to all the impediments that\nmay discourage him from it. That Israel should root out the\nCanaanites, the unfaithful spies thought it no less impossible, than\nfor grasshoppers to overcome giants; but Caleb and Joshua knew it to\nbe no more unlikely than for armed soldiers to vanquish naked people,\nor for hungry persons to eat up meat. _First,_ the one is fortified\nby the force of _love,_ which is irresistible and _strong as death,_\nthat nothing can withstand it: and the other being destitute of all\nlove to any goodness, is likewise void of all power to proceed in,\nand go through with any work that is good. _Secondly, faith_ showeth\nto the one what help God will minister, and what reward He will\nrender to all them that apply themselves to His service. And\ninfidelity persuadeth the other that well-doing is needless and\nfruitless, or chargeable and troublesome.--_Dod._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 20, see on Chapter x. 1, page 137.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nOne particular in which children show themselves _wise_ or else\n_foolish_ and so can gladden or else _sadden_ their parents is by\ngiving or withholding due honour. \"A foolish _man._\" No age or state\nexempts children from honouring their parents. Grown young men are\nsometimes apt to look with some contempt on their mothers, because of\nthe weakness of the feminine mind.--_Fausset._\n\nAs for him that despiseth his mother--and who doth not so that\ndespiseth her careful admonition?--he is not a son, the spirit of God\ndoth not here style him to be so: he is a _foolish man._ For how can\nhe be otherwise, who knoweth his own mother so little as that he doth\ndespise her?--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nOPPOSITE TASTES.\n\n+I. Joy is a revealer of human character.+ A stone cast into a lake\nwill reveal the nature of its bed. If there is mud at the bottom this\nsimple test will reveal its existence by bringing it to the surface.\nSo objects presented to the mind show what is hidden in the heart.\nThe emotions produced by certain scenes or events are tests of\ncharacter. What a man rejoices in reveals what he is. Some objects\nbrought before the human mind excite the most opposite feelings in\ndifferent men. That which gives pleasure to the one gives pain to the\nother, and when a man rejoices in that which is the outcome of human\ndepravity it is a certain sign that he is himself deeply depraved.\nLike a stone cast into the water, it brings the hidden mud to the\nsurface. The same evil thought lodged in the minds of two men, one of\nwhom is a moral fool, and the other a \"man of understanding,\" will\nbring joy to the countenance of the first, and indignation to that of\nthe latter, and thus it becomes a revealer of the state of each man's\nheart, and he to whom \"folly is joy\" is thus declared to be\n\"destitute of wisdom\" in the real and highest signification of the\nword.\n\n+II. The joy of the moral fool turns him out of the way, and keeps\nhim out of the way.+ This is implied in the antithesis, which should\nbe \"a man of understanding goes straight forward.\" He has found a\nsource of joy in _\"whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure,\nlovely, and of good report\"_ (Phil. iv. 8), and this joy holds him in\nthe path which leads to them. We are largely governed by that which\nholds our affections, and love to that which is morally right, draws\nus into the path of righteousness--leads us to pursue a steady and\nundeviating line of conduct in obedience to the law of holiness, as\nrevealed by God. But the joy which the ungodly man feels in sinful\npursuits and habits draws him out of this good and true way, and\nallures him into a path where he meets with objects that call forth\nthis unholy pleasure. Being governed by passion instead of by\nprinciple, his walk in life is unsteady and uncertain--destitute of\nfixed purpose. (On this subject see Homiletics on chap. xiii. 14,\npage 313.) A vessel is held on her course by reason at the wheel, and\nwind in the sails. The wind impels her to go forward, but if the\nunderstanding at the compass did not hold the wind in subjection,\nthere would be no safety for the vessel; nobody could say where she\nmight be carried. Yet without the wind she could not be carried\nforward at all--the compass and the helm would be useless. So,\nalthough the \"man of understanding\" is a man of emotion--a man whose\nlife is under the influence of that which gives him joy, he brings\nhis emotions into subjection to the dictates of moral wisdom, and\nbefore he follows their leadings he makes sure that they are in\nharmony with that which is pure and holy. Then he may safely yield\nhimself to their guidance, and be sure that they will impel him\n_straightforward._ Such a man is _constrained_ by the delights which\ngodliness yields to him to press on to higher attainments (2 Cor.\nv. 14; Phil. iii. 12, 13), while the man to whom \"folly is joy\"\nallows the pleasures of the world and the flesh to hold him from the\nright path, even against his conscience and his better judgment. Such\na man can give no more convincing proof that he is destitute of\nwisdom.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis book of instruction proves our profession. What think we of\n_folly?_ Not only does the ungodly practise it, but _it is joy_ to\nhim. . . . That which has turned this fair world into a sepulchre;\nnay, that which hath kindled _\"everlasting burnings,\"_ is _his\njoy.--Bridges._\n\nTastes differ wildly, and so, therefore, do enjoyments. Water is the\nelement of one creature, and air the element of another. The same\nmaterial is to this poison and to that food. Each species differs in\nnature from all others, and nature will have her own way. Among men,\nviewed in their spiritual relations, there is a similar variety of\ntastes and pleasures. There is first the grand generic difference\nbetween the old man and the new. . . . Besides the first and chief\ndistinction between the dead and the living, many subordinate\nvarieties appear, shading imperceptibly away into each other,\naccording as good or evil preponderates in the character. Two persons\nof opposite spiritual tastes may be detected for once in the same act\nof evil; but they do not walk abreast in the same life-course. . . .\nTwo young men, of nearly equal age, are both the sons of God-fearing\nparents, were seen to enter a theatre at a late hour in a large city.\nThey sat together, and looked and listened with equal attention. The\none was enjoying the spectacle and the mirth; the other was silently\nenduring an unspeakable wretchedness. The name of God and the hopes\nof the godly were employed there to season the otherwise vapid mirth\nof the hollow-hearted crowd. One youth, through the Saviour's\nsovereign grace, had, in a distant solitude, acquired other tastes.\nThe profanity of the play rasped rudely against them. He felt as if\nthe words of the actor and the answering laugh of the spectators were\ntearing his flesh. He breathed freely when, with the retiring crowd,\nhe reached the street again. It was his first experience of a\ntheatre, and his last. It is a precious thing to get from the Lord,\nas Paul got a new relish and a new estimate of things. This appetite\nfor other joy, if exercised and kept keen, goes far to save you from\ndefilement, even when suddenly and occasionally brought into contact\nwith evil; as certain kinds of leaves refuse to be wet, and though\nplunged into water come out of it dry.--_Arnot._\n\n_A man of understanding walketh uprightly,_ and he doth it with\ndelight, as the opposition implies. Christ's \"burden\" is no more\n\"grievous\" to him than the wing is to the bird. His sincerity\nsupplies him with serenity; the joy of the Lord, as an oil of\ngladness, makes him lithe and nimble in ways of holiness.--_Trapp._\n\nThe folly here meant is the folly of wickedness, and he that joys in\nthat, may well be proclaimed a notorious fool. St. Ambrose saith, all\nvile dispositions are delighted with the follies of others: but how\nvile, then, is his disposition who is delighted with his own folly.\nAnd yet, how many are there so drunken with this folly that they reel\nand stagger, and hardly go a right step in all their lives. Now, what\nis this joy, but a sign of the habit of wickedness generated within\nthem? But a man of understanding considereth his joy, and what it is\nthat causeth it: in joying he considereth, what it is he doth, and\nhow far he goeth, that so he may both walk _uprightly_ to joy, and\n_walk uprightly_ in joy. This being his chiefest joy to walk\nuprightly in all his ways.--_Jermin._\n\nNot so much, _\"folly is joyful;\"_ for that is only partially the\ncase. We have already seen (ver. 13) how sin crimps the countenance.\nBut _\"folly is joy;\"_ that is, the life of a sinner is like a grazed\nox, who strikes for the sweetest pasture. The text marks a vital\ndifference:--_\"A man of discernment, or understanding, makes a direct\ntrack.\"_ That is, as a thrifty housekeeper tumbles up her rooms, and\nmakes things right, whether it be pleasant or not, so the Christian,\nfor love of the Almighty, makes things straight, whether a joy or\nnot. Note, then, the vital difference. _Folly is joy._ It does not\narrive at it; but its quintessence is, that it thought it would.\nWhile the good, not stupidly either, but as \"a man of discernment,\"\nputs duty first, and takes joy as it comes; so answering the words of\nChrist:--_\"For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but\nwhosoever shall lose his life, for my sake and the gospel's, the same\nshall save it\"_ (Mark viii. 35).--_Miller._\n\n\nFOR HOMILETICS ON VERSE 22, SEE ON CHAP. XI. 14 AND CHAP. XX. 18.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is a note of Beda: There are three which in the law are read to be\nunhappy. He that knoweth and doth not teach, he that teacheth and\ndoth not live accordingly, he that is ignorant and doth not ask\ncounsel. Wherefore in matters of moment it is good not to purpose\nwithout counsel: for a purpose ill-settled is never likely to take\ngood effect, and if counsel direct the purpose itself, it will much\nthe better be able to accomplish it. For purposes without counsel are\nlike an earthen vessel broken in the hands of the potter. Turned they\nare about with the wheel of imagination, but quickly broken in the\nhand of execution. Be not therefore without counsel, that thou go not\nwithout thy purpose; and if thou canst, get many counsellors, whereby\nthou art likely the sooner to get thine end. For many counsellors are\nlike many hands joined together, and can reach far in attaining thy\ndesire.--_Jermin._\n\nI. No mortal man can attain unto such depth of judgment and\nunderstanding, to be able sufficiently, of his own knowledge, to\nmanage all his affairs: God will have every man stand in need of his\nbrother's direction: that is revealed to some which is hid from\nothers; and many eyes may clearly apprehend that which no one could\npossibly have pierced into. II. Every man by nature is somewhat\npartial to his affection, and may easily be induced to add weight by\ncolour of reason, to that end of the scale whereunto his desire more\ninclineth; whereas he that leaneth on neither side, may discern the\nstronger motives to be on the other side.--_Dod._\n\nMany eyes see more than one, and many souls think more than one:\ntherefore never esteem thyself so wise that thou shouldest not seek\nothers' counsel.--_Hasius._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nJOY FROM A SEASONABLE WORD.\n\n+I. A good word yields the speaker a present joy.+ There is a present\nreaction of joy following every right deed which is its present and\nimmediate reward. If a man gives his money to a right object from the\nhighest motive he is silently repaid, even while he is in the act of\ngiving, by the joy which he feels. So the man who having neither\nsilver or gold gives help by words of advice or sympathy. Good words\nare sometimes more precious than gold to the sinning or the\nsuffering, and for such gifts there is the reward which follows every\neffort to help and bless others. How much of the joy of Christ's life\non earth must have arisen from the enlightening and life-giving\nanswers of His mouth, to those who sought to learn of Him.\n\n+II. It yields the speaker joy on reflection.+ There is nothing equal\nto the joy of performing a good deed, except the joy of reflecting\nupon it. This is a more lasting joy, and can be repeated again and\nagain. Happy is he who, in looking back upon the \"answers of his\nmouth,\" can derive joy from the consciousness that he spoke the right\nword at the right time.\n\n+III. Such a word is an unending source of joy, because it is an\nunending influence for good.+ None can tell _\"how good it is\"_--none\ncan say that its influence will ever cease. A stone thrown into the\nocean is but the act of a moment; but wise men tell us that the\ninfluence of that act is felt long after the stone has found the bed\nof the ocean. The word spoken by the Highest Wisdom to Saul on his\nway to Damascus, how good was it for the man to whom it was\naddressed, and how good it has been, and will be for millions\nthroughout the ages of eternity. None but God can estimate the power\nof the evil that was then averted from the Church of God, the depth\nof personal guilt from which the man addressed was delivered, or the\namount of blessed influence that was then set in motion. And many a\nword of the disciple has been good in the same manner, although not\nin the same degree, as that word of the Master.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt must be _a word spoken in season_ (chap. xxv. 11), though it be\nfrom feeble lips. For though \"there are some happy seasons, when the\nmost rugged natures are accessible\" _(Bishop Hopkins),_ yet many a\ngood word is lost by being _spoken_ out of season. Obviously a moment\nof irritation is out of season. We must wait for the return of\ncalmness and reason. Sometimes, indeed, the matter forces itself out\nafter lengthened and apparently ineffectual waiting. It has been long\nbrooded over within and must have its vent. But this explosion sweeps\naway every prospect of good, and leaves a revolting impression.\nInstead of a fertilising shower, it has gathered into a violent and\ndestructive tempest. It is most important, that our whole deportment\nshould bring conviction, that we yearn over the souls of those whom\nwe are constrained to reprove. . . . Never commence with an attack;\nwhich, as an enemy's position, naturally provokes resistance. Study a\npointed application. A word spoken for every one, like a coat made\nfor everyone, has no individual fitness.--_Bridges._\n\nThe verb usually translated to _\"answer\"_ means primarily to sing, or\nrather, _to break out with the voice;_ rather, _\"to speak after a\nsilence;\"_ which, of course, would usually be in making \"answer.\"\nHence the idiom, \"_answered_ and _said,_\" literally, _broke silence,_\nand _said._ Such an utterance would become very oracular in the more\nsolemn decisions of life. A _\"decree,\"_ as we have translated it, is\na noun out of the above described verb. It means an _uttered\ndecision;_ such as an answer may be to a business speech; such as is\nalluded to on God's part (chap. xvi. 4); and such as may be\novermasteringly momentous in the business and results of life.\nSolomon sees in it a rare truth in respect to decision for\nimmortality. _\"A word!\"_ Why, it may win eternity! An offer presses!\n_A word_ refuses! _A word_ snatches possession for ever! Lo! the\namazing difference! Body and soul hang upon _\"a word.\" \"Great\ncounsel\"_ (ver. 22) indeed, that is, that prompts a man to say, Yes!\nand \"_a word (spoken)_ in season\" truly! if it be a confession of\nChrist! and if it take the offer of an eternal blessedness! Because\nthere is no drawing back after that beginning (ver. 24).--_Miller._\n\nThe words have probably a special reference to the debates in council\nimplied in ver. 22. True as they are at all times, they also bring\nbefore us the special characteristic of the East, the delight in\nready, improvised answers, solving difficulties, turning aside anger.\nSuch an answer, to a people imaginative rather than logical, has much\nmore weight than any elaborate argument. Compare the effect produced\non the mind of the scribe who heard our Lord's dispute with the\nSadducees, when he saw that He had \"answered well\" (Mark\nxii. 28).--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nTHE UPWARD AND THE DOWNWARD PATH.\n\n+I. The existence of a place of retribution stated as a fact.+ The\nword _She\u014dl,_ here and elsewhere translated _hell,_ signifies first\nthe place of all departed spirits, whether they be saints or sinners.\nThose who dwell in _She\u014dl_ are those who have quitted the relations\nand conditions of time and sense, and who dwell in a world invisible\nto human eye. But the connection of the word here makes it necessary\nto understand it as having reference to a place of retribution. That\nthere is such a place beyond death is suggested by analogy, and\naffirmed by the Word of God. In every city and centre of human life\nwe find a place of retribution inhabited by those whose characters\nare supposed to merit such a dwelling. All nations upon the earth\nfind it necessary to have their prisons--to have places in which to\nconfine those whose crimes call for their separation from their more\nvirtuous fellow-creatures. The existence of such places is as much a\nfact as the existence of men upon the earth. Hence we might have\ninferred that there was such a place for like characters in the world\nwhich is beyond our vision, but which men, both good and bad, are\ncontinually quitting this world to inhabit. The existence of such an\nabode seems to be imperatively demanded, when we consider that some\nof the worst of the human race never find their way to a prison in\nthis world, and it seems a merciful proceeding towards the offenders\nthemselves that their course should be arrested in another life. The\nBook of God tells us that there is such a place--that the dwelling of\nthe \"devil and his angels\" is the destination of those who quit this\nworld in a state of unforsaken and unforgiven sin (Matt. xxv. 41).\n\n+II. There is a hell of character as well as a hell of place.+ That\nwhich renders a serpent an object of abhorrence is the poison in its\nsting. That which makes hell, either in devils or men, is enmity\nagainst God. This is the fuel that feeds the undying flame that\ncannot be quenched--this it is that constitutes the misery of the\nplace of retribution. This mental hell has an existence in time as\nwell as beyond it. Christ taught us that He considered such a\ndisposition a mental Gehenna when He said, _\"Ye serpents, ye\ngeneration of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation_ (condemnation)\n_of hell?\"_ (Matt. xxiii. 33).\n\n+III. There is the hell of confederation against God and goodness\nwhich is made up of individuals belonging both to the visible and the\ninvisible worlds.+ Every kingdom has its place of central government,\nbut its dominion may extend over many countries. The divisions made\nby mountains and seas do not make it any the less one kingdom. The\ncentre of the kingdom which exists in the universe in opposition to\nthe kingdom of God, has its seat of government in the unseen world,\nbut it numbers among its subjects all who are at enmity with God, and\nHis children, whether in time or beyond it. Although the place of\ncentral government _\"the gates of hell\"_ (Matt. xvi. 18) is in\n_She\u014dl,_ its influence is mighty upon the earth.\n\n+IV. That to escape from all these is the aim of the truly wise man.+\nHe desires to escape from retribution hereafter, and to be freed from\nthe misery of being in opposition to God in the present life. He does\nthis by obtaining a right relation to God and to His law. Our\nphysical relationships have much to do with our physical\nwell-being--to be in relation to those who are vicious or diseased is\nto be in a wrong relation so far as bodily health is concerned. Our\nsocial and political relations are most important to our comfort and\nwell-being, and are more subject to our own will than are our\nphysical relationships. We may be unwillingly related to an evil\nsocial or national law, but we may also stand in an antagonistic\nrelation to a good law, and then the change of relationship is in our\nown hands. Every sinful man stands in a wrong relation to God's holy\nand good law, and the aim of the wise man is to fall in with the\nconditions offered to him, by which he may come into right\nrelationship to this law. These conditions are revealed to him in the\nDivine revelation--by accepting the atonement of Christ, he is\ndelivered from the guilt of his transgressions and so escapes the\nhell of retribution; by the same act, followed by a life of communion\nwith the ascended Saviour, he is freed from all that makes hell\nwithin him, and escapes all the snares laid by the _tempter_ for his\nspiritual ruin. This relationship with Him, who is the fountain of\nall moral and material life, places him in a new position in the\nuniverse--lifts him from the dominion of sin, which is death, into\nthe kingdom of holiness which is _a way of life,_ because it leads to\nand prepares for a state beyond death, which is everlasting life of\nbody, soul, and spirit.\n\n+V. Such a change of relationship is the beginning of moral\nclimbing.+ _\"The way of life is above,\"_ rather, \"leads upward.\" The\nchange of relationship is but the first step in a new life. The place\nof halting to-day becomes the place of departure on the morrow, and\neach day's journey places him upon a higher level and in a purer\natmosphere. The wise man's first step is to depart from hell beneath,\nbut his mere escape from retribution is not the whole of his aim--he\nis always in quest of an increase of love and joy and peace, of a\ndeepening of all holy emotions and a strengthening of all holy\nhabits. He _\"goes from strength to strength\"_ (Psa. lxxxiv. 7); his\nwatchword is _\"not as though I had already attained, either were\nalready perfect\"_ (Phil. iii. 7).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAll men are travellers, either to heaven above, or hell beneath. The\nwriters of Scripture know nothing of a middle place. . . . Our\neverlasting abode must be either in heaven or hell. Salvation from\nhell is the half of heaven. The threatenings of hell are a fence\nabout the way to heaven, and whilst we are travelling in it they are\nof great use to make us serious and earnest in pursuing our course;\nfor how is it possible that we can flee with too much speed from\neverlasting burnings, when our flight is directed, not like that of\nthe manslayer, to a place of banishment, but to a world of\nhappiness.--_Lawson._\n\nThe _way of life is above_--of heavenly origin--the fruit of eternal\ncounsels--the display of the manifold wisdom of God. Fools rise not\nhigh enough to discern it, much less to devise and walk in it. Their\nhighest elevation is grovelling. God does not allow them even the\nname of life (1 Tim. v. 6). Cleaving to the dust of the earth they\nsink into the hell beneath. But the wise are born from _above;_\ntaught from _above;_ therefore walking _above,_ while they are living\nupon earth. A soaring life indeed! The soul mounts up, looks aloft,\nenters into the holiest, rises above herself, and finds her\nresting-place in the bosom of her God. A most transcendent life! to\nbe \"partaker of the Divine nature!\" (2 Pet. i. 4). The life of God\nHimself (Ephes. iv. 18) in humble sublimity, ascending above things\nunder the sun, above the sun himself.--_Bridges._\n\nLet \"the words spoken in season\" (see comments on verse 23) be \"Lord,\nI believe, help Thou mine unbelief;\" and let the word be genuine,\n_i.e.,_ a turning from _She\u014dl_ (the figure of the pit--Psa. ix. 17),\nand the man's joy is won. His path after that shall be _upward_\nperpetually.--_Miller._\n\nA reference to heaven as the final limit of this upward movement of\nthe life of the righteous is so far indirectly included as the\nantithesis to the \"upward,\" the \"hell beneath\" (hell downwards, hell\nto which one tends downward), suggests a hopeless abode in the dark\nkingdom of the dead as the final destination of the sinner's course\nof life. Therefore, we have here again the idea of future existence\nand retribution (comp. xi. 7; xiv. 32).--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nOn the summit of one of those distant mountains--upon whose snowy\ntops, as they throw back the sunlight, we can look from our Eastern\ncoast--there trickles forth a silvery spring. Near the source there\nis a slight obstruction in the way of the flow of the streamlet, and\nthe waters are divided right and left. Part trickles down the\nmountain side towards a river, and thence are borne on to the\nlimitless sea. Part goes the other side, and is lost, ere long, midst\nthe thirsty sands, that are never satiated. Thus divergent are man's\ntwo paths--the shining and the dark one; thus dissimilar their course\nin life--their close at death. And these two paths are the only ones\nleading out into eternity. . . . And when we seek in spiritual union\nand communion with our Maker the noblest exercise of the soul's\nfaculties and powers, and there comes to the heart _peace,_ sure and\ncertain, because depending upon the inviolable Word of God, and\n_love_ springing from the outwellings of the Divine love, and _hope_\nreaching into the eternal world, and grasping there at blissful\nimmortality and joy ineffable, and prepared of God--oh! then even the\nforegleamings of these things, reserved for us, or else already the\nheritage of the soul--light up a path so shining that earth's glare\nand glitter fade, in comparison, wholly out of sight. For into\neternity itself do these divergent paths lead. The soul, in choosing\nthe one or the other here, is choosing for the life to come, as well\nas for the life that now is.--_Bishop Perry._\n\nThe wise man goes a higher way than his neighbour, even in his common\nbusinesses, because they are done in faith and obedience. He hath his\nfeet where other men's heads are; and, like a heavenly eagle,\ndelights himself in high-flying. Busied he may be in mean, low\nthings, but not satisfied in them as adequate objects. A wise man may\nsport with children, but that is not his business. Wretched\nworldlings make it their work to gather wealth, as children do tumble\na snow-ball; they are scattered abroad throughout all the land--as\nthose poor Israelites were (Exod. v. 12)--to gather stubble, not\nwithout an utter neglect of their poor souls. But what, I wonder,\nwill these men do when death shall come with a writ of _habeas\ncorpus,_ and the devil with a writ of _habeas animam?_ . . . Oh, that\nthey that have their hands elbow-deep in the earth, that are rooting\nand digging in it, as if they would that way dig themselves a new and\nnearer way to hell!--oh, that these greedy moles would be warned to\nflee from the wrath to come, to take heed of the hell beneath, and\nnot sell their souls to the devil for a little pelf.--_Trapp._\n\nThe difference between an earthly man and a heavenly man is\nthis--that the way of an earthly man is under his feet, and the way\nof a heavenly man is over his head. A fool doth not conceive what\nthis upper way can be, but to the wise man it is the plain way of\nlife. He knoweth that it is by the fall of man that he walketh so\nlow, and he considereth that unless he change his way, and, though\nagainst his nature, do make his way above, by having his conversation\nin heaven, even while his habitation is on the earth, his sin will be\nsure to thrust him lower still even to the pit of death. Take heed,\ntherefore, of the ways of the earth, they are the way to _hell._ From\nwhence to keep thee, be sure to keep aloft by fixing thine heart on\nChrist, who is the way of life, and now is set down in the highest\nplaces.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nDESTRUCTION AND ESTABLISHMENT.\n\n+I. The character of those doomed to destruction.+ In looking at the\ntrees of a vast forest, the eye of the beholder is drawn to some\nwhich, towering far above their fellows, form the most prominent\nfeatures in the landscape. Yet these trees, although they look as if\nthey would stand for ages, may be doomed to a much shorter standing\nthan others which look more frail and are less attractive to the eye.\nThe tree which is admired so much for its girth and breadth of\nfoliage may contain within itself elements of destruction, and it may\nonly need to be left to itself for a little while to come to the\nground by its own weight. Every increase in its spreading foliage\nonly renders its overthrow more certain, because the rottenness of\nthe trunk is less able to bear the mass of branch and leaf. Or the\nwoodman may not wait for the inevitable result--he may deem it\nnecessary for the health of the surrounding trees that the axe should\ninterpose and so prevent the fall. He may see that such a tree is\nabsorbing nourishment to minister to its own decay, that trees around\nwould utilise to sustain their healthy life. And so to prevent the\nsoil from being impoverished by a mere cumberer of the ground, the\nsound of the axe and the crash of falling timber may resound through\nthe forest. Such a tree is an emblem of the man described in our\ntext. To him may be addressed the words spoken to the proud King of\nBabylon: _\"The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong,\nwhose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all\nthe earth, whose leaves were fair and the fruit thereof much, and in\nit was meat for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt and\nthe fowls of the heaven had their habitation: it is thou that art\ngrown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and become\nstrong, and reacheth unto heaven,\"_ etc. (Dan. iv. 20-22). He has\nattained to a position of power and influence in the world, but, like\nNebuchadnezzar, his greatness has only revealed a radical moral\ndefect in his character. Like him he refuses to acknowledge that\n_\"the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men,\"_ and that it is by His\nfavour alone that he has attained to such a height of prosperity. He\nholds within him the elements of his own destruction, and time will\nbring about his fall without any special interposition of the Divine\nhand. Pride grows upon what it feeds, and such a man will presume\nmore and more upon his fancied security, until he falls by the\nworking out of the ordinary laws which govern the moral universe. But\nGod does not always wait for this issue. To prevent his continuing to\nrob humanity of their rights, the Almighty Governor of men may\nanticipate the natural result by applying the axe of special\njudgment, and a _\"watcher and a holy one\"_ from heaven may be heard\nsaying, _\"Hew the tree down and destroy it\"_ (Dan. iv. 23), _\"Cut it\ndown, why cumbereth it the ground?\"_ (Luke xiii. 7). All despots and\ntyrants must sooner or later succumb to the operation of natural\nsocial law; those whom they have wronged, goaded to desperation by\ntheir injustice, will rise up against them and overturn them. The\nKing of all the earth often takes the work into His own hands, as he\ndid in the case of Nebuchadnezzar.\n\n+II. Those who are special objects of Divine care.+ \"He will\nestablish the border (or landmark) of the widow.\" The widow is a type\nof all the needy and the sorrowful of the human race. Deprived of her\nnatural provider and protector, and her dearest earthly relative,\nshe, more than any other, is at the mercy of the proud and selfish,\nand stands in need of a helper and consoler. God by the very goodness\nof His nature is drawn to take sides with such a one. He makes\nHimself known, again and again, as the \"judge of widows\" (Psalm\nlxviii. 5). The Bible contains many laws for their protection and\nreproaches against those who wrong them (Deut. xxiv. 17, 19, 20, 21;\nIsa. i. 23; Matt. xxiii. 14). One of the main features of the moral\nbeauty in the Divine character is that He _\"delivereth the needy when\nhe crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper\"_ (Psa.\nlxxii. 12), and the widow is here a type of all such. The sorrow of\nher who is \"a widow indeed\" is very deep and overwhelming, and sorrow\ntakes away physical and mental strength. The strong and mighty God\ncharges Himself with the care of all such spirits weakened by sorrow,\nand warns all the world who would take advantage of their weakness\nthat in so doing they enter the lists against Him.\n\n+III. Because of such dealing God's kingdom will increase and\nstrengthen.+ The champions of the weak, and the opposers of the\ntyrants, always gain the most influence in the end. Love is the\nstrongest influence in the world, and those who can gain men's hearts\nare the real and mighty kings. While they live they wield a mighty\npower, and their influence is felt sometimes even more powerfully\nafter they have left the world. Those who never saw them in the\nflesh, but who are enjoying the liberties which they gained for them,\nyield them a silent homage. And in the song which foretells the\nuniversal dominion of the All-Righteous King this is given as a\nreason why His kingdom shall grow and be established _\"He shall have\ndominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the\nearth. . . . The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring\npresents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all\nkings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him._ FOR\n_He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him\nthat hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall\nsave the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their souls from deceit\nand violence: and precious shall their blood be in His sight\"_ (Psa.\nlxxii. 8-14).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFrom this style of the antithesis we are naturally led to conceive a\nspecial allusion to the haughty oppressor of the desolate and\nunprotected--to the overbearing worldling, who insolently abuses his\npower in lording it over his poor dependents. . . . We may well\ntremble to think of promoting our own advantage in any way, or in any\ndegree, at the expense of the widow or the fatherless. Woe to the man\nwho does so! God will see it. What is so acquired cannot be enjoyed\nwith either a quiet conscience or the smile of heaven. It is an\naccursed thing. It is the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment,\nby which the blessing of righteousness and mercy is turned\naway.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_\"The house,\" i.e.,_ every interest (chap. xiv. 1). _\"Destroy,\"_ or\n_pull down;_ because even worldly men have noticed the precariousness\nof pride. _\"The widow:\"_ even worldly eyes have noticed that these\nare wards of the Almighty. But Solomon adopts each proverb\nspiritually. \"The proud\" is the man too well satisfied in his own\nmind (chap. xxi. 24) to _utter the good word, and have joy_ (ver.\n23); and the \"widow\" is the poor in heart, who is ready with the\navailing _answer,_ \"Lord, I believe.\"--_Miller._\n\nGod abhors pride even in them whom He dearly loves, and shows His\nresentment of it by humbling providences, that remove man from his\npurpose, and hide pride from man. David was proud of the vast numbers\nof his subjects, but God soon showed him that great hosts save not a\nking, and that three days may greatly lessen the numbers of a people.\nHezekiah's heart was lifted up, but he was soon obliged to humble\nhimself, being assured that the treasures which he had so\nostentatiously showed to the Babylonish ambassadors should be carried\nwith his posterity to their own land.--_Lawson._\n\nDid He not provide for sorrowing Naomi a staff in her faithful\ndaughter, and ultimately establish her boarders in Israel? Did He not\nsupply the pressing need of the minister's widow (2 Kings iv. 1-7),\nand take up the Shunamite's oppression, and again establish her\nborder? (2 Kings viii. 1-6). And shall we forget how He teaches the\nreturning penitent to plead the gracious manifestation, \"In Thee the\nfatherless findest mercy?\" (Psa. xiv. 2, 3).--_Bridges._\n\n_The Lord will destroy the house of the proud._ He will surely uproot\nhim, unnest him, yea, though he hath set his nest among the stars, as\nhe did proud Lucifer, who \"kept not his first estate but left his\nhabitation\" (Jude 6), which, indeed, he could hold no longer. . . .\n_But He will establish the border of the widow._ Not the rest of her\ngoods only, but the very utmost border of her small possession. She\nhath commonly no great matters to be proud of, nor any patrons to\nstick to her. She hath her name in Hebrew of _dumbness,_ because\neither she cannot speak for herself, or, if she do speak, her tale\ncannot be heard (Luke xviii. 4).--_Trapp._\n\nA young body is too often the _house of the proud,_ where strength\nbeing the pillars of it, beauty the trimming, vanity the roof, fond\nconceit imagineth itself to be married to a long life, never minding\nthe mud walls whereof it consisteth. But God, who was the builder of\nit, seeing so ill an inmate as pride received into it, pulleth down\nHis own work to destroy the devil's work, and cutting the thread of\nlife dissolveth the marriage knot, when expectation thought it to be\nstrongest tied. On the other hand, where affliction hath humbled the\nheart of the widow, and may seem to have brought her to the border of\nher days, then doth God establish length of days, lifting up the\nlight of His countenance upon her when lowliness of spirit hath\nvirtuously cast her down.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nWICKED THOUGHTS AND HOLY WORDS.\n\n+I. A present power of the wicked man--he thinks.+ The ideas and\npurposes which fill his mind concerning himself, his fellow-men, and\nGod, are the result of a mental process just as the potter's vessel\nis the result of a certain manipulating process. His thoughts are the\nresult of the exercise of a God-given power, just as the potter's\nvessel is the result of a power which has been given to him by God.\nFrom the same source comes the power to think and the power to turn\nthe wheel. But although the power to think comes from God, it rests\nwith the man as to what kind of thoughts shall be the outcome of that\npower. God holds him responsible for the use which he makes of the\npower given him. It would be useless for the potter to say that the\nvessel which leaves his hand took its form by chance--we hold him\nresponsible for the shape which the clay assumes under his hands. And\nit is equally vain for a man to say that he has no power over his\nthoughts. God holds him guilty if he thinks thoughts of sin.\n\n+II. The thoughts of the wicked are abhorred by God.+ 1. _Because of\nthe harm they do to his own soul._ If the body is held bound under\nthe sway of a deadly malady it becomes weak and unable to fulfil the\nend of its creation, and if it continues long under its influence it\ndies. So soul-disease and moral death are the result of the rule of\nevil thoughts to the man who thinks them. He becomes incapable of\nfulfilling the high spiritual destiny for which God called him into\nbeing. 2. _Because of the misery they inflict upon others._ All the\nevil words and deeds that have ever been done in the world were once\nthoughts. While they were only thoughts the harm they inflicted was\nconfined to the thinker of them, but as soon as they became words or\ndeeds the moral poison spread, and others become sufferers from them.\nGod hates whatever will increase the misery of his creatures, and\ntherefore the thoughts of the wicked--those fruitful germs of sin and\nsuffering must be an abomination to Him. 3. _Because they are utterly\nat variance with God's thoughts and purposes._ The thoughts of God\ntoward the wicked themselves are opposed to the thoughts and purposes\nwhich they have concerning themselves. God's thoughts towards them\nare _\"thoughts of peace and not of evil\"_ (Jer. xxix. 11). He desires\nthat _\"the wicked forsake his way\"_ and _\"return unto Him.\"_ He\ndeclares that His thoughts even concerning sinners are as much higher\nthan their thoughts concerning themselves as _\"the heavens are higher\nthan the earth\"_ (Isa. lv. 7, 8). This is one ground of God's quarrel\nwith the thoughts of the wicked, that they cross His gracious plans\nfor redeeming them. But--\n\n+III. The words of the pure are pleasing to God.+ Likeness of\ncharacter draws men together--the pure delight in those who are pure,\nand the words of a pure man are pleasant to the ear of another man of\npurity. Pure men are like God in character, and He must find pleasure\nin those who reflect His own image, and who are one with Him in\nsympathy. Delighting in them, their words are pleasant unto Him. He\ndelights in them when they take the form of _prayer_ (See Homiletics\non verse 8, page 407). The \"prayers of saints\" are as sweet incense\nto Him (Rev. v. 8; viii. 3). They are well-pleasing when they take\nthe form of _praise._ He has commanded men to render honour where\nhonour is due (Rom. xiii. 7), and when it is rendered to Himself the\nmost worthy to \"receive honour and glory and blessing,\" it is a most\nacceptable sacrifice (Lev. vii. 12, Heb. xiii. 15). The words of the\npure are pleasant to God when they are spoken _to console and bless\ntheir fellow-creatures._ (On this subject see Homiletics on chap.\nxii. 18, page 275.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Pleasant words are pure._ (See Critical Notes.) This is the\nScripture ethics. If we desire to know whether _\"words are pure\"_\n(and, _words_ here, for Eastern reasons, mean actions as well as\nwords; nay, really mean the whole round of conduct; see Job xx. 12;\nIsa. x. 7), if we wish to know whether a man's whole life is pure,\nall we have to ask is--Is it _kind?_ It is the _plans of mischief_\nthat are the abomination of Jehovah.--_Miller._\n\nHow lightly do most men think of the responsibility of their\nthoughts! as if they were their own, and they might indulge them\nwithout restraint or evil. One substantial sin appals men, who\nquietly sleep under the mighty mass of _thinking_ without God for\nmonths and years, without any apprehension of guilt. But thoughts are\nthe seminal principles of sin.--_Bridges._\n\n_\"Words of pleasantness are pure\"_--the gracious words that seek to\nplease, not wound, are to Him as a pure acceptable offering, the\nsimilitude being taken from the Jewish ritual, and the word \"pure\"\nused in a half ceremonial sense, as in Mal. i. 11.--_Plumptre._\n\n_The words of the pure are pleasant words._ Such as God books up, and\nmakes hard shift to hear, as I may so say; for He \"hearkens and\nhears\" (Mal. iii. 16).--_Trapp._\n\nGod seeth that Himself is not in all the thoughts of the wicked, and\nwhat can it be but abomination to God where God is not? It is God in\nall things that is pleasing to Himself, and it is the absence of God\nin anything that makes it to be abominable. But as for the thoughts\nof the pure, they are words of pleasantness, wherein they sing and\nmake melody in their hearts to the Lord. In them they sweetly\nconverse to themselves, by them they heavenly converse with God.\nPleasant they are to themselves by the joy they have in them,\npleasant they are to God by the delight He taketh in them. The\nwicked, though alone, and though doing nothing, yet are doing\nwickedly; for even then their thoughts are working, and working so\nnaughtily as to be an abomination to the Lord. There is no need of\ncompany to draw them into villainy, they have always a rout of\nmischievous thoughts on hand to give them entertainment. And as great\nis the pleasure which themselves take in them, so great is the\nabomination which God hath of them.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nTHE CURSE OF COVETOUSNESS.\n\n+I. The definition of a covetous man.+ \"He that is _greedy_ of gain.\"\nHe desires more than enough, and he desires it to the exclusion of\nthe rights of others. It is lawful and right to desire to possess\nsome amount of substance in the world; he who was without such a\ndesire would be hardly a man. It is good to ask for neither poverty\nnor riches, but for such an amount of the world's wealth as will\nprevent us from being harassed with care, and at the same time keep\nus free from the temptations and anxieties which accompany great\nriches. But when a man is consumed with a desire for more than\nsufficient for his necessities, he is \"greedy of gain,\" and is in\nmoral danger. If a vessel finds enough water in the river to carry\nher on her voyage, all bids fair to be safe and prosperous; but if\nthe water is so high that it pours over her deck and gets into the\nhold, she is in great danger of sinking. So a moderate desire after\nworldly gain is an impetus to a man's activity, and is a blessing\nboth to himself and to the community; but an inordinate desire after\nriches is a dead weight upon his spiritual progress, and is often the\ncause of his going down in the moral scale. Desiring more than enough\noften leads to using unlawful means of satisfying the desire. The\nsecond clause of the verse seems to refer to the temptation of a\njudge to accept bribes. Men holding such an office, and possessed by\nthis greed of gain, have been known, under its influence, to commit\nthe enormous crime of knowingly acquitting the guilty and condemning\nthe innocent; and in all positions and stations of life the sin of\ncovetousness is a fruitful source of other crimes. _\"But they that\nwill be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish\nand hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For\nthe love of money is the root of all evil\"_ (1 Tim. vi. 9, 10).\n\n+II. The evil effect of covetousness is not confined to the covetous\nman himself.+ \"He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house.\"\nMany men try to excuse their covetousness by the plea that they only\ndesire to make ample provision for their family, but it is upon the\nfamily that the curse of greediness falls most heavily. If the head\nis diseased the members must suffer. A covetous man is a selfish man,\nand those who are most nearly related to a man who is eaten up with a\ndesire to grow rich feel most keenly the blighting influence of the\npassion upon all the joys of family life. And a man who is thus\ngreedy of gain brings trouble upon his house by involving them in the\ncurse of his sin. Those whom he has wronged by this injustice hate\nhis children for the father's sin, and as we have before seen--\"the\nwealth of the sinner\"--of him who has grown rich by unfair\ndealing--is \"laid up for the just\" and his own children inherit only\nthe misery of having had such a father. (See Homiletics on chap.\nxiii. 11-22, pages 307-332.)\n\n+III. The man of opposite character, \"the hater of gifts,\" shall\nlive.+ 1. _He does live now._ Life and death are in a man's\ncharacter. A leaf that has lost all its beauty and greenness is\n_dead_ although it still exists. The leaf is there--the shape and\noutline exist--but all that made it lovely is gone, because all\nvitality is gone. A flower may still have all its petals upon the\nstalk, but if all fragrance and colour are gone we know that life is\ngone. The life or the death of the leaf or flower are states or\nconditions of its existence, and not the simple adherence or\nseparation of its particles. So it is with a man. His life or his\ndeath is not existence or non-existence, but the condition of his\nspiritual nature. If he is destitute of righteousness he is\n_dead_--if he is a man of true integrity--such a man as is described\nin chap. xi. 3 (see on that verse) he is _alive._ God is the \"living\nGod\" not simply because He has an eternal existence, but because He\npossesses moral life--in other words, because He is perfectly holy,\njust, and true. Now the man who \"hates gifts\"--who abhors every kind\nof unfair dealing--gives proof by his hatred that he is morally\nalive. 2. _He shall live in the esteem of posterity._ Nothing lasts\nlike a good character. The memory of the just man is embalmed in the\nhearts of men long after his body is gone to dust. (See chap. x. 7.)\n3. _He shall live in the esteem of God._ We are naturally disposed to\nregard with favour those who show us honour and endeavour to further\nour purposes and desires. The \"just God\" is a lover of those who\nstrive to \"do justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with Him\" (Micah\nvi. 8), and such men shall live in the sunshine of His eternal favour\n(Psalm xxx. 5).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA man may be said to be covetous when he takes more pains for the\ngetting of earth than for the getting of heaven. He will turn every\nstone, break his sleep, take any a weary step for the world; but will\ntake no pains for Christ or heaven. The Gauls, after they had tasted\nthe sweet wine of the Italian grape, inquired after the country, and\nnever rested till they had arrived at it; so a covetous man, having\nhad a relish of the world, pursues after it, and never leaves it till\nhe hath got it; but he neglects the things of eternity. He could be\ncontent if salvation would drop into his mouth, as a ripe fig drops\ninto the mouth of the eater (Nahum iii. 12). But he is loth to put\nhimself to too much sweat or trouble to obtain Christ or salvation.\nHe _hunts_ for the world, he _wisheth_ only for heaven. . . .\nCovetousness is (1) a _subtle_ sin, a sin that men do not so well\ndiscern in themselves. This sin can dress itself in the attire of\nvirtue. It is called the \"cloke of covetousness\" (1 Thess. ii. 5). It\nis a sin that wears a cloke; it clokes itself under the name of\nfrugality and good husbandry. It hath more pleas and excuses for\nitself than any other sin. (2) It is a _dangerous_ sin. It damps good\naffections, as the earth puts out the fire. The hedgehog in the fable\ncame to the coney-burrows in stormy weather, and desired harbour, but\nwhen once he had gotten entertainment he set up his prickles, and did\nnever cease till he had thrust the poor coneys out of their burrows;\nso covetousness, by fair pretences, wins itself into the heart; but\nas soon as you have let it in it will never leave till it hath thrust\nall religion out of your hearts. . . . Covetousness chains men to the\nearth, and makes them like the woman which Satan had bound together\nthat she could not lift herself (Luke xiii. 11). You may as well bid\nan elephant fly in the air as a covetous man live by faith. We preach\nto men to give freely to Christ's poor; but covetousness makes them\nto be like him in the Gospel who had a withered hand (Mark\niii. 1). . . . Covetousness shuts men out of heaven (Ephes. v. 5).\nWhat should a covetous man do in heaven? . . . Like a bee that gets\ninto a barrel of honey, and there drowns himself, like a ferryman\nthat takes in so many passengers to increase his fare that he sinks\nhis boat, so a covetous man takes in more gold to the increasing of\nhis estate that he damns himself in perdition.--_Watson._\n\nIt is not enough to abstain from evil, we must also _hate_\nit.--_Fausset._\n\nWho is ignorant of the woeful success which Achan found in coveting\nunlawfully the gold and silver in Jericho? He hoped to get more than\nany man in Israel; but no man in Israel lost so much as he.--_Dod._\n\nHe that maketh gain to be the gain that he looked for in all things,\nhe may hope to fill his home with wealth, but he shall be sure to\nfill it with trouble. He that is given to gain, and hath made himself\nthe prey as it were and gain of gain, he may have his hand open to\ntake gifts, but with the same hand taketh in disquietness into his\nheart. . . . Now, because such are often crying--How shall I live?\ntherefore the wise man telleth them he that hateth such things shall\nlive.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nSTUDYING TO ANSWER.\n\n+I. Every righteous man is a student.+ The aim of study in any\ndepartment of knowledge is, first to gain possession of certain\nfacts, and then to make the knowledge of practical service in life.\nIf a man intends to be a builder he must first be a student. He must\nfirst gain certain theoretical knowledge, and then make use of it.\nAnd so with every profession or calling--each requires thought before\nany work is entered upon. Every righteous man is a man with a\nprofession--he is a professor of righteousness--he gains a knowledge\nof righteous precepts with the view of reducing them to righteous\npractice. A knowledge of what is right and true in the abstract will\nbe of little use to himself or to any other man unless the knowledge\ninfluences his words and deeds. The proverb before us sets forth the\nrighteous man as a student of his speech. His aim is to speak the\n\"word in due season,\" spoken of in verse 23, and to do this he must\nbe a student of the human heart--1. _He must study the workings of\nhis own heart._ This is a study peculiar to the righteous man. Many\nmen study themselves and others as frameworks of bone and muscle, who\nnever bestow a thought upon the soul, of which the body is but the\nraiment. Other men watch the operations of the mental powers and\ntabulate all the movements of the mind as they are brought to light\nby internal consciousness. But the godly man goes deeper. He ponders\nhis thoughts and feelings in the light of moral truth and\nrighteousness--he weighs his words in the balance in which he knows\nthat God will weigh them. 2. _He must study other men's hearts._ He\ndesires that his words should not only be harmless but beneficial to\nothers; he desires to answer wisely questions relating to God, and\nman, and immortality; he sets his speech in order before he opens his\nmouth upon any of these weighty matters, and he considers the\ncircumstances and dispositions of those to whom he speaks that like\none of old, his _\"doctrine may drop as the rain, his speech distil as\nthe dew,\"_ when he _\"publishes the name of the Lord\"_ (Deut.\nxxxii. 2, 3). Before his thoughts become words he submits them to the\nrevision of his conscience and his judgment, and asks himself if they\nare such as he can hope God will bless to the edification of others.\n\n+II. All men who do not thus study their thoughts and words are the\nauthors of much mischief.+ They are those who have never made what\nthey think a matter of conscience and consequently their words are\nthe outcome of an unsanctified heart. As is the fountain, so must be\nthe stream. For the words of such a man to be other than evil is an\nimpossibility. _\"How can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out\nof the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man, out of\nthe good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things; and an\nevil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things\"_\n(Matt. xii. 34, 35).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe tongue is the heart's messenger. So often as it speaks before the\nheart dictates, the messenger runs without his errand. He that will\nnot speak idly, must think what he speaks; he that will not speak\nfalsely, must speak what he thinks.--_Arnot._\n\nWhat is before said (verse 2, and chap. xii. 23) of the _wise and the\nfoolish,_ is said here of the _righteous and the wicked:_ and what is\nbefore said of the utterance of _wisdom and folly,_ is here said of\nthe utterance of _good and evil._ We have repeatedly seen how Solomon\nidentifies these in his statements. Wickedness is folly; goodness is\nwisdom.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_\"Mouth,\"_ all agency. Religion is so much like politeness, that a\npolite man \"winnows\" (ver. 7) his acts till they look sometimes like\nreligion; but watch men where the guise of kindness fails them, viz.,\ntheir aim to be polite, and their _\"mouth pours out evils.\"_ There is\na recklessness of act that only a religious purity can essentially\nrestrain.--_Miller._\n\nThe wicked, speaking so _much,_ cannot but speak \"evil things\" (chap.\nx. 19). Not his _heart,_ as in the case of the righteous, but his\n_mouth_ takes the lead.--_Fausset._\n\nI. It is not easy at the first to apprehend the right, because error\nat the first ken standeth usually in men's light, and hindereth them\nfrom seeing the truth, whereof they may better inform themselves by\nserious deliberation. II. When the mind hath time and liberty to\nponder upon, and will to weight the point to be spoken unto, it\nfindeth out good arguments for good causes, and digesteth the same in\nso apt a manner as may best persuade the hearts of the hearers.\nIII. A meditating heart affecteth itself for that which it provideth\nfor others to hear, and such men speak not only truly and\npertinently, but faithfully also, and conscientiously: their souls\nhaving first feeling of that within, which after their mouths are to\ndeliver out.--_Dod._\n\nThe _answer,_ which I conceive the heart of the righteous to _study,_\nis the answer of obedience unto God's commandments--the answer of\nthankfulness for His favours and mercies received. For, as St.\nGregory speaketh, to answer to God is to render to His precedent\ngifts the duties of our service. Now, _this study_ is the study of\nthe whole life of a righteous man. Whatsoever he goes about, he knows\nthat he must answer to God for it, and therefore he considereth\nbefore he doth it, that it be answerable unto God's law.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nGOD NEAR AND FAR OFF.\n\n+I. God is not far from the wicked in a local sense.+ The most wicked\nman upon the face of the earth lives and moves and has his being by\nreason of his relation to that God who he practically ignores. The\npower of life that he possesses is not self-originated, and although\nwe do not know exactly how he lives in God, we know that in this\nsense he is near to Him, for _\"He is not far from every one of us\"_\n(Acts xvii. 27). But--\n\n+II. God is far from the wicked in a moral sense.+ There is often a\nwide moral distance between those who are locally near each other.\nThe father who lives and toils for his children, and eats with them\nat the same table may be as far from them morally as he is near to\nthem locally. Judas lived for three years with the Son of God--often\nshared the same hospitality and partook of the same meal. There was a\nlocal nearness to Christ but a wide moral gulf between the Master and\nthe professed disciple. The moral distance between God and the wicked\nis the subject of the first clause of this verse. Notice--1. _The\ncause of this distance._ The ungodly man cherishes purposes and\ndesires which are directly opposed to the will and purpose of God.\nGod has one view of life and the ungodly man has another. That which\nGod esteems of the highest moment is lightly esteemed by a wicked\nman. This being so, there can be no sympathy between the creature and\nhis Creator--a great gulf is fixed between them. 2. _The wicked man\nis to blame for remaining at this distance from God._ God invites him\nto bridge the chasm. _\"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the\nunrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and\nHe will have mercy upon him: and to our God, for He will abundantly\npardon\"_ (Isa. lv. 7). He rolls upon him the responsibility of the\nseparation. _\"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no\npleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from\nhis way and live\"_ (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). 3. _This distance, if not\nannihilated, will increase with time and continue through eternity._\nSinful habits and desires, if yielded to, grow harder to overcome--a\nman never stands still in the way of transgression. And no local\nchange from one world to another can have any effect upon the moral\ndistance. It is not to be bridged by change of place but by change of\ncharacter. Either the man must turn to God or be ever getting farther\nfrom Him. But--\n\n+III. There is a sympathy between God and the righteous man which\nkeeps the Divine ear open to his prayer.+ As we have before noticed,\nthe foundation of sympathy is likeness of character, and those who\nhave sympathy with each other have open ears for the reception of\neach other's thoughts and desires. The godly man has an open ear for\nthe commands and promises of God, and God, in return, \"heareth the\nprayer of the righteous.\" There is a like-mindedness between the\nrighteous God and a righteous man--a oneness of desire and\npurpose--that makes the words of each acceptable to the other.\n1. _God's ear is the first that is open to the prayer of the\nrighteous._ The sentinel watching on the height for the first streaks\nof dawning day has a view of the objects around him before those in\nthe valley are able to perceive them. They are unable to see what he\nsees, because they are still shut in by the darkness. But if this\nsentinel had power to pierce the darkness of night, he would not even\nhave to wait for day in order to discern all that lies around him.\nGod is such a sentinel over the children of men. Others are dependent\nupon the light that comes from words before they discern the desires\nof others, but God can see into the darkest corner of the human\nsoul--can discern the unuttered desire of the heart long before it\nshapes itself into words. God's ear is open to hear before the man's\nmouth is open to pray. He _\"understandeth his thought afar off,\"_\nknows it before it has even shaped itself into a petition, or even\ninto a desire in the man's own heart, and consequently long before it\nis known to any other creature. 2. _No power outside the righteous\nman can come between his prayer and God's ear._ When we present a\nprayer or express a desire to any human benefactor, it is possible\nthat some opposing influence may prevent our suit from being\nfavourably received. A third person may come between, and by\nmisrepresentation or by other means, may hinder our request from\nreceiving impartial consideration. But God's _first-hand_ knowledge\nof all His children makes it a blessed certainty that all their\nrequests will enter His ear and receive impartial treatment at His\nhands. (For other thoughts on this subject see Homiletics on verse 8,\npage 407.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe may perhaps trace a reference to this maxim, a proof how deeply it\nhas taken root in men's hearts, in the reasoning of the blind man in\nJohn ix. 31.--_Plumptre._\n\n_The Lord is far from the wicked._ He was so far from the proud\nPharisee who yet got as near God as he could, pressing up to the\nhighest part of the temple. The poor Publican, not daring to do so,\nstood aloof, yet was God far from the Pharisee, near to the Publican.\n\"Behold a great miracle,\" saith Augustine. \"God is on high, thou\nliftest up thyself and He flees from thee; thou bowest thyself\ndownward and He descends to thee. Low things He respects, that He may\nraise them; proud things He knoweth afar off, that He may depress\nthem.\" _But He heareth the prayer of the righteous._ Yea, He can feel\nbreath when no voice can be heard for faintness (Lam. iii. 56). When\nthe flesh makes such a din that it is hard to hear the Spirit's\nsighs, He knows the meaning of the Spirit (Rom. viii. 26, 27), and\ncan pick English out of our broken requests; yea, He hears our\n\"afflictions\" (Gen. xvi. 11), our \"tears\" (Psa. xxxix. 12), our\n\"chatterings\" (Isa. xxxviii. 14), though we cry to Him by implication\nonly, as \"the young ravens\" do (Psa. cxlvii. 9).--_Trapp._\n\nThe second clause of this verse becomes exegetical of the first. God\nis not far from anybody (Psa. cxxxix. 8). But He is far from many\npeople's _\"prayer.\"--Miller._\n\nFaith is the soul, and repentance is the life of prayer; and a prayer\nwithout them hath neither life nor soul. If we believe not, we are\nyet in our sins; if we repent not, our sins are yet in us. . . . But\nfirst \"will I wash my hands in innocency, and then will I compass\nthine altar\" (Psa. xxvi. 6). \"Then shall my prayer be set before thee\nas incense, and the lifting up of my hands like the evening\nsacrifice\" (Psa. cxli. 2). When, with the sword of severe and\nimpartial repentance, we have cut the throat of our sins and done\nexecution upon our lusts, then let us solicit heaven with our\nprayers; then pray, and speed; then come, and welcome. Then the\ncouriers about the King in heaven shall make room for prayers. Then\nthe Prince Himself shall take our prayer into His own hand, and with\na gracious mediation present it to the Father. Then is that court of\naudience ready to receive our ambassadors, which be our prayers and\nour tears. Then St. John sees twelve gates in heaven, all open, and\nall day open, to entertain such suitors.--_Adams._\n\nLearn to distinguish betwixt God's hearing and His answering the\nsaint's prayer. Every faithful prayer is heart and makes an\nacceptable report in God's ear as soon as it is shot; but God doth\nnot always thus speedily answer it. The father, at the reading of his\nson's letter (which comes haply upon some begging errand) likes the\nmotion, his heart closes with it, and a grant is there passed; but he\ntakes his own time to send his dispatch and let his son know this.\nPrinces have their books of remembrance, wherein they write the names\nof their favourites whom they intend to prefer, haply some years\nbefore their gracious purpose opens itself to them. Mordecai's name\nstood some while in Ahasuerus' book before his honour was conferred.\nThus God records the names of His saints and their prayers. \"The Lord\nhearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before\nHim, of them that feared the Lord and thought upon His name.\" But\nthey hear not of God in His providential answer, haply a long time\nafter. . . . There comes oft a long and sharp winter between the\nsowing time of prayer, and the reaping. He hears us indeed as soon as\nwe pray, but we oft do not hear of Him so soon. Prayers are not long\non their journey to heaven, but long a-coming thence in a full\nanswer. Christ hath not at this day a full answer to some of the\nprayers He put up on earth; therefore He is said to expect till His\nenemies be made His footstool.--_Gurnall._\n\nWhen the season has been cold and backward, when rains fell and\nprices rose, and farmers desponded and the poor despaired, I have\nheard old people, whose hopes, resting upon God's promise, did not\nrise and fall with the barometer, nor shifting winds, say, We shall\nhave harvest after all; and this you may safely say of the labours\nand fruits of prayer. The answer may be long in coming--years may\nelapse before the bread we have cast upon the waters comes back; but\nif the vision tarry, wait for it! Why not? We know that some seeds\nspring as soon almost as they are committed to the ground; but others\nlie buried for months, nor, in some cases, is it till years elapse\nthat they germinate and rise, to teach us that what is dormant is not\ndead. Such it may be with our prayers. Ere that immortal seed has\nsprung the hand that planted it may be mouldering in the dust--the\nseal of death on the lips that prayed. But though you are not spared\nto reap the harvest, our prayers are not lost. They bide their time,\nGod's \"set time.\" For in one form or another, in this world or in the\nnext, who sows in tears shall reap in joy. The God who puts his\npeople's tears into His bottle will certainly never forget their\nprayers.--_Guthrie._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.\n\nCHEERFULNESS AND GOOD TIDINGS.\n\nTwo views are taken of the meaning of the first clause of this verse.\nSome understand it to mean that the objective light that plays upon\nthe eyes of the body rejoices the heart of the man who is under its\ninfluence; and others understand by \"the light of the eyes\" that\n\"cheerfulness of countenance\" spoken of in verse 13, which has such\nan inspiring effect upon those who behold it. We suggest a line of\nthought upon both views.\n\n+The light of the material sun rejoices the heart.+ 1. _Because of\nits healthful influence upon the bodily frame._ It is well known that\nsunlight is favourable to bodily health--that a dwelling into which\nit does not freely enter has a most depressing influence upon its\ninhabitants, because it deprives them of natural bodily health and\nvigour. Other things being equal, health of body adds much to\ncheerfulness of spirit, to gladness of heart. Everyone can testify\nfrom personal experience how a low state of bodily health depresses\nthe spirit, and how returning health after sickness revives and\ngladdens it. Therefore, in this sense the \"light of the eyes rejoices\nthe heart.\" 2. _Because of its beautifying influence upon all that\nthe eyes behold._ If we go from the light and brightness of noonday\ninto a dark cave or dungeon where the sun's rays never penetrate, we\nfind none of that beauty of colour or contrasts of light and shade,\nwhich afford us such exquisite enjoyment in the landscape outside.\nWhen we come again into the light of day we realise that \"light is\nsweet, and that it is a pleasant thing to behold the sun\" (Eccles.\nxi. 7), for to its blessed influence we owe all the joy that fills\nour hearts when we look abroad upon the beauties of the natural\nworld. 3. _It ought to rejoice the heart of man on account of its\nsymbolic suggestions._ God intends the light of nature to be a symbol\nto the children of men of blessed realities which can be appreciated\nonly by the eye of the soul. Light is symbolic of the glory of the\nDivine nature (1 Tim. vi. 16), and of the perfect purity of the\nDivine character (1 John i. 5). The beneficent influence of sunlight\nis a symbol of the soul-warming and soul-gladdening influence of the\nDivine presence (Psalm lxxxiv. 11). And as the light of the sun\nrejoices the heart of the beholder, so does light and cheerfulness\nupon one man's face gladden the heart of him who looks upon it.\nCheerfulness upon one man's countenance brings cheer to the heart of\nthose with whom he comes in contact. Upon this subject we\nremark--1. _That there is a great difference between levity and\ncheerfulness._ Two men may be swimming in a river, and one may keep\nhimself afloat by artificial appliances, and the other by his natural\nstrength skilfully used. The beholders may not for a time observe any\ndifference in the two; but should the first man, by any mishap, lose\nhis floats, then the difference will be at once manifest. He will be\nin danger of going to the bottom while his companion will keep\nsteadily on his way. The natural strength and long practice of the\nlatter has made it second nature to keep on the surface of the water.\nThere is just such a difference between gaiety which depends for its\ncontinuance upon good fortune and external excitement, and the\ncheerfulness that springs from a never-failing and internal source.\nIn the first case, if the floating-tackle is cut away the poor man\nsinks into despondency and gloom, but in the second there is a\nbuoyancy of heart which, if overwhelmed for a moment by some sudden\nwave of adversity, brings him again to the surface and re-awakens\nhope within him. The first is of earth, but, although natural\ntemperament may do much towards the second, real and heartfelt\ncheerfulness can only be born of a consciousness of reconciliation\nwith God and goodwill to men. It is not, however, a universal\ncharacteristic of good men and women. But--2. _It is a man's duty to\ncultivate this cheerfulness of heart. It is good for the man\nhimself._ If sunlight gives strength to the body this sunlight of the\nsoul is strengthening to the whole man. Cheerfulness gives courage to\nface the difficulties of life--that gladness of heart which springs\nfrom \"doing justly, loving mercy, and walking with God\" is a power\nwhich no man for his own sake can afford to throw away. _But it is\nalso a duty which we owe to others._ In this sense \"the light of the\neyes rejoices the heart,\" the incoming of a cheerful man into a house\nwhere the inhabitants are depressed and sad is like the entrance of\nsunlight into a darkened room--it changes the entire aspect of\nthings. The influence of such a man is like a shower upon the parched\nearth--everything seems to spring into new life after it. If it has\nso reviving and cheering an effect in a world where there is so much\nto sadden and to weaken men's energies, every man is bound to\ncultivate a habit of cheerfulness as a matter of duty. _It is part of\nthe duty which men owe to God._ It is a manifestation of confidence\nin His righteous character and merciful purpose towards His\ncreatures. It reveals contentment with the lot in life which He has\nassigned to us--a spirit of submission to His will. Therefore it is\nan apostolic command, _\"Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say,\nrejoice\"_ (Phil. iv. 4). The second clause of the verse relates to\nanother very fruitful source of gladness, viz., the reception of a\n_\"good report,\"_ or good news. 1. _A good report gives joy, or\n\"maketh the bones fat\" in proportion as such news was desired._ If\nthe sick man, who has been awaiting the verdict of his physician,\nreceives from him the assurance that he will recover his health, his\nheart is filled with joy at the tidings. He can testify that his\n\"bones waxed old\" while he was filled with fear and doubt as to his\ncase, but the \"good report\" makes him renew his youth, and is the\nfirst step to renewal of health. The good news that the guilt of the\nsoul can be removed fills the soul with joy in proportion as the\nmisery of unforgiven sin has weighed upon the spirit. This was\nDavid's experience: _\"When I kept silence\"_ (while my sin was\nunconfessed) _\"my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day\nlong.\" . . . \"I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have\nI not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;\nand thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.\"_ And the consciousness of\nforgiveness enabled him to sing of the blessedness of him _\"whose\ntransgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered\"_ (Psa.\nxxxii. 1-5). 2. _The joy imparted by a \"good report\" of this nature\nis shadowed forth by the gladness which is imparted to men who have\nlong sat in darkness, when they greet again the light of day._ What\nmust be the joy of an arctic traveller, when, after months of night,\nhe sees the first streak of returning sunlight? Who can describe the\nfeelings of a prisoner who has been for years immured in a gloomy\ndungeon, when he again finds himself in the sunshine? Or who but\nthose who have passed through the experience can conceive what the\nblind man feels who has never seen the light of day, when first his\neyes are opened? So none but he who has been in darkness of soul on\naccount of unpardoned sin, and has felt the joy of a sense of\nreconciliation with his God, can know how the \"good report\" that\n\"Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners\" \"maketh the bones\nfat,\" in other words, gives him a sense of new life.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe may conceive this verse to show the comfort of life as it cometh\nfrom God, and from man. From God in the light of the eyes, and in\nseeing those good things which He bestowed upon us. From man in\nhearing the good report and testimony which he giveth of us. Or else\nwe may take the first part of the verse more literally, to speak only\nof the joy of the heart, which by the light of the eye from the\npleasant objects thereof, is conveyed to it, and so the good\ncontentment of a man from a good report to be compared to it. Now\nwell may these be compared together, for report is the eye whereby\nthe world judgeth of a man, and it is also a useful eye whereby a man\njudgeth of himself. . . . Certainly it must be the care of the godly,\nnot only to keep a good conscience, but to have a good\nreport.--_Jermin._\n\nIt is riches enough to be well reputed and well spoken of. It pleased\nDavid well that \"whatsoever he did pleased the people.\" It pleased\nJohn well that his friend \"Demetrius had a good report of the truth\"\n(3 John 12), and he \"had no greater joy than to hear that his\nchildren walked in the truth.\"--_Trapp._\n\n_The bones_ may be called the foundation of the corporeal structure,\non which its strength and stability depend. The cavities and cellular\nparts of the bones are filled with the marrow, of which the fine oil,\nby one of the beautiful processes of the animal physiology, pervades\ntheir substance, and, incorporating with the earthy and silicious\nmaterial, gives them their cohesive tenacity, a provision without\nwhich they would be brittle and easily fractured. \"Making the bones\nfat,\" means supplying them with plenty of marrow, and thus\nstrengthening the entire system. Hence \"marrow to the bones\" is a\nBible figure for anything eminently gratifying and beneficial. The\nimport, then, of the expression of the text is, that a good\nreputation contributes eminently to enjoyment, to comfort, health,\nactive vigour, spirit, life, and happiness. By some, however, _\"a\ngood report\"_ is understood of _good tidings,_ and they conceive \"the\nlight of the eyes\" to refer to the happy glancing looks of the\nmessenger of such good tidings.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\"The light of the eyes\" means the look of a pleased friend. When He\nis the Almighty, how it \"rejoices the heart.\" And when the rapture of\nanother sense is secured by _\"a good report\"_ (_a good hearing,_ as\nit is in the original), the _good news_ being also from on high, it\nreaches the very penetration of our comfort.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 31-33.\n\nHOW TO GIVE AND TAKE REPROOF.\n\n+I. Reproof is good when it is given with a good intention and when\nit is given wisely.+ Those who undertake to handle the amputating\nknife should be men who are intent upon the healing of the patient,\nand must also know where to cut and how much to cut, otherwise the\noperation may tend to death rather than to life. The reprover, if he\nwould administer a \"reproof of life,\" must be wise and kind. He must\ndesire to do good to the man whom he reproves, he must know how to\nadminister the reproof, and must leave off reproving as soon as the\nnecessary wound has been inflicted; if he does not, he may injure the\nsoul instead of destroying the sin.\n\n+II. He who takes such reproof displays the highest wisdom and the\ntruest humility.+ We admire the fortitude of a man who will bear\nwithout a murmur a painful operation for the sake of the good that\nwill come to him afterwards. We praise him for the pluck and courage\nwhich he shows in enduring bravely, that which we know gives him\nintense pain of body. And we ought to give as much praise to him who\nwill submit to reproof in a spirit of humility, for there is nothing\nwhich is more unpalatable or painful to a man's spirit. Nothing is a\nsurer sign of true wisdom than such submission.\n\n+III. He who will not submit to such reproof can never attain to true\nhonour.+ There can be no honour where there is ignorance, and there\ncan be no knowledge where there is an unwillingness to receive\nreproof. The greatest kings and statesmen, who are now enthroned by\nthe honour and submission of millions of their fellow-creatures, had\nonce to submit to the instruction of their nurses and tutors. There\nis no honour in holding a high position unless he who holds it knows\nhow to fill it worthily; and such knowledge can only be acquired by\nstooping not only to instruction but to reproof, which is always a\nnecessary element of instruction. (For fuller treatment on the\nsubject of these verses, see Homiletics on chapters iii. 11, 12;\nxii. 1; xiii. 18; xv. 10. Pages 247, 323, 410, etc.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 31. There is a reproof not of life, but of death, when hatred\nseeketh disgrace or ruin by it, and when it is used, as St. Bernard\nspeaketh, not to instruction in the spirit of meekness, but to\ndestruction in the spirit of fury. When it is reproach, and not\nreproof, it amendeth not, but hardeneth the offender in his\nwickedness. But with the wise there is the reproof, not of death, but\nof life; that is, direction unto a virtuous life, and teaching true\nwisdom, which is the life of the soul. The words of the wise, saith\nthe Preacher, are as nails fastened: for as nails are driven in, but\nit is not so much to make a hole as to fasten and strengthen; so the\nwords of the wise in reproof do pierce, but it is not so much to\nwound, as to fasten their reproof, and to give strength unto\nit.--_Jermin._\n\nOh, it is a blessed thing to have others tell us of our faults, and\nas it were to pull us out of the fire with violence, as Jude speaks;\nrather to pull us out with violence, with sharp rebukes, than we\nshould perish in our sins. If a man be to weed his ground, he sees\nneed of the benefit of others; if a man be to demolish his house, he\nwill be thankful to others for their help; so he that is to pull down\nhis corruption, that old house, he should be thankful to others that\nwill tell him, \"This is rotten, and this is to blame;\" who, if he be\nnot thankful for seasonable reproof, he knows not what self-judging\nmeans. If any man be so uncivil when a man shows him a spot on his\ngarment to grow choleric, will we not judge him to be an unreasonable\nman? And so when a man shall be told, \"This will hinder your comfort\nanother day;\" if men were not spiritually besotted, would they swell\nand be angry against such a man?--_Sibbes._\n\n\nVerse 32. Wilt thou destroy that for which Christ died? (1 Cor.\nviii. 11). What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? There is\nno great matter in the earth but man; nothing great in man but his\nsoul, saith Faverinus. \"Whose image and superscription is it\" but\nGod's? \"Give,\" therefore, \"to God the things that are God's,\" by\ndelivering it up to discipline. . . . \"Suffer,\" saith the great\napostle, \"the word of exhortation;\" suffer them in God's name, sharp\nthough they be, and set on with some more than ordinary earnestness.\nBetter it is that the vine should bleed, than die. Certes, \"When the\nLord shall have done to you all the good that He hath spoken\nconcerning you, and hath brought you to His kingdom, this shall be no\ngrief unto you, nor offence of heart,\" as He said in a like case\n(1 Sam. xxv. 30, 31), that you have hearkened to instruction, and\nbeen bettered by reproof.--_Trapp._\n\nThere are two things that cause men to rage against reproof.\n1. _Guilt of the sin objected._ Guilt makes men angry when they are\nsearched, and, like horses that are galled, to kick if they are but\ntouched. The mildest waters are troublesome to sore eyes. There is\nscarce a more probable sign that the crime objected is true than\nwrath and bitterness against the person that charges us with it.\n2. _Love to sin makes men impatient under reproof._ When a person's\nsin is to him as \"the apple of his eye,\" no wonder that he is\noffended at any that touch it.--_Swinnock._\n\n\nVerse 33. Abigail was not made David's wife till she thought it\nhonour enough to wash the feet of the meanest of David's servants\n(1 Sam. xxv. 40). Moses must be forty years a stranger in Midian\nbefore he becomes king in Jeshurun. . . . Luther observed that ever,\nfor most part, before God set him upon any special service for the\ngood of the Church he had some sore fit of sickness. Surely as the\nlower the ebb the hither the tide; so the lower any descend in\nhumiliation the higher they shall ascend in exaltation; the lower\nthis foundation of humility is laid the higher shall be the roof of\nhonour be overlaid.--_Trapp._\n\nNot only doth humility go before honour in the course of things, but\nis also before honour in the dignity and excellency of it. So that\nwhen humility hath brought a man to honour even then his greatest\nhonour is humility.--_Jermin._\n\n_\"Reproof,\"_ which has been twice used, and _\"instruction,\"_ or\nrather _discipline,_ which is now made to balance it in these last\nimportant texts, have a respect of painfulness: and Solomon, in this\nverse, tempers that pain, by showing what discipline really\nis:--_\"The fear of Jehovah.\"_ _\"Fear_ hath torment,\" says the apostle\nJohn (1 John iv. 18). That fear is not altogether the fear of our\ntext, but is a part of it. I do not remember the fear of the Almighty\nas a title applied in heaven. _\"The fear of Jehovah\"_ has some\nparticle of painfulness; and that painfulness makes it of the nature\nof _\"discipline.\"_ The best discipline of the saints is the abiding\nfear of the Almighty. The proverb seems to imply that it will not\nlast always; that it is painful; and that we shall not continue\npained; that it is necessary for us to be under just that gentle sort\nof discipline that _fear_ can give while we are in this world. And\nthat necessity he states, in that _\"before glory is affliction.\"_ Not\nhonour (as in the English version), so much as _weight,_ or\n_\"glory.\"_ Not _humility,_ but primarily, _toil; ergo,_ more\ngenerally _\"affliction.\"_ \"We must through much tribulation enter\ninto the kingdom of God\" (Acts xiv. 22).--_Miller._\n\n\"I am not worthy,\" is the voice of the saints. They know God, and God\nknows them. Moses was the meekest man upon earth, and therefore God\nis said to know him by name (Exod. xxxiii. 17). \"I am less than the\nleast of all thy mercies,\" saith Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 10). Lo, he was\nhonoured to be father of the twelve tribes, and heir of the blessing.\n\"Who am I, O Lord?\" says David. He was advanced from that lowly\nconceit to be king of Israel. \"I am not worthy to loose the latchet\nof Christ's shoe,\" saith John Baptist (Matt. iii. 11). Lo, he was\nesteemed worthy to lay his hand on Christ's head. \"I am not worthy\nthat thou shouldst come under my roof,\" says the centurion, therefore\nChrist commended him. \"I have not found so great faith; no, not in\nIsrael\" (Matt. viii. 8). \"I am the least of the apostles,\" saith\nPaul; \"not worthy to be called an apostle\" (1 Cor. xv. 9). Therefore\nhe is honoured with the title of _the_ apostle. \"Behold the handmaid\nof the Lord,\" saith the holy virgin; therefore she was honoured to be\nthe mother of the Lord, and to have all generations call her blessed.\nThis _non sum dignus,_ the humble annihilation of themselves, hath\ngotten them the honour of saints. In spiritual graces let us study to\nbe great, and not to know it, as the fixed stars are every one bigger\nthan the earth, yet appear to us less than torches. Not to be\nhigh-minded in high deserts is the way to blessed preferment.\nHumility is not only a virtue itself, but a vessel to contain other\nvirtues; like embers, which keep the fire alive that is hidden under\nit. It emptieth itself by a modest estimation of its own worth, that\nChrist may fill it. It wrestleth with God, like Jacob, and wins by\nyielding; the lower it stoops to the ground the more advantage it\ngets to obtain the blessing. All my pride, O Lord, is from the want\nof knowing Thee. The leper casts himself down, and Christ bids him\narise. Humility is the gentleman-usher to glory. God that sends away\nthe rich empty from His gates loves to \"fill the hungry with good\nthings\" (Luke i. 53). The air passeth by the full vessel, and only\nfilleth that is empty. This is the difference between the proud and\nbeggars; both agree in not having, differ in craving. The proud are\n_paupares spiritus,_ the humble are _paupares spiritu._ \"Blessed\nare,\" not the poor spirits, but \"the poor in spirit, for theirs is\nthe kingdom of heaven\" (Matt. v. 3). Such as felt their wants sought\nand besought God for supply. \"Every valley shall be filled, and every\nmountain be brought low\" (Luke iii. 5). The lowly mind shall be\nexalted, the high-towering ambitions shall be thrown down. How should\nGod say to the merchant that glories in his wealth, to the usurer\nthat admireth his moneys, to the gallant that wonders that his good\nclothes do not prefer him, \"Arise!\" Alas! they are up already; they\nwere never down. A dwarf in a great throng, seeming low on his knees,\nwas bidden by the prince to stand up; alas! he was before at his\nhighest. God cannot be so mistaken as to encourage their standing up\nwho never yet had the manners to cast themselves down. Says\nAugustine, \"Descend, that ye may rise up to God; for you have fallen\nby rising up against God.\" He that is a mountebank must level himself\neven with the ground; if humbleness hath once thrown him down and\nbrought him to his knees, he shall hear the patron and pattern of\nhumbleness comforting him with a _surge_--\"Arise. . . .\" The guest\nthat sets himself down at the lower end of the table shall hear the\nfeast-maker kindly remove him, \"Friend, sit up higher\" (Luke\nxiv. 10). If Esther fall at Ahasuerus' feet, he will take her by the\nhand, and bid her arise. When Peter fell down at Jesus' knees,\nsaying, \"Depart from me; I am a sinful man, O, Lord\" (Luke v. 8-10),\nhe presently was raised up with, \"Fear not, thou shalt catch\nmen.\". . . Who is heard to say with Paul, \"I am the chief of\nsinners?\" (1 Tim. i. 15) such a humble confession scarce heard of.\nBut Christ had given him a _surge_ on his former humbling: \"Arise and\nbear My name before Gentiles and kings,\" etc. Let us all thus cast\nourselves down in humility, that the Lord may say to us in mercy,\n\"Arise.\"--_Adams._\n\nThe more humble, the fitter to come to God, and He the more willing\nto come unto the soul and dwell in it. The highest heavens are the\nhabitation of God's glory; and the humble heart hath the next honour,\nto be the habitation of His grace.--_Leighton._\n\nThe truly humble spirit is, in society, to the proud and haughty,\nwhat the valley is to the mountain: if less observed, more sheltered\nand more blessed, valleys see the stars more brightly than the\nmountains that often veil their proud heads with clouds. The\nmountains filter the waters upon which the valleys live, and send\ndown in soft music to their ears the stormy thunders that beat with\nviolence on their lofty brow. The great sun stoops to the valleys and\ntouches them with a warmth which it denies to the high hills; and\nkind nature, which leaves the towering heights amidst the cold\ndesolations of death, endows the humble vales with richest life, and\nrobes them in the enchanting costume of sweetest flowers.--_Dr. David\nThomas._\n\nYou must go to honour before humility. This is the law--the law of\nGod. It cannot be changed. It has its analogies in the material\ncreation. Every height has its corresponding depth. As far as the\nAndes pierce into the sky, so far do the valleys of the Pacific, at\ntheir base, go down into the heart of the earth. If the branches of a\ntree rise high in the air, its roots must penetrate to a\ncorresponding depth in the ground; and the necessity is reciprocal.\nThe higher the branches are, the deeper go the roots; and the deeper\nthe roots are, the higher go the branches. This law pervades the\nmoral administration as well as the higher works of God. The child\nJesus is set for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel; but\nit is first the fall and then the rising; for \"before honour is\nhumility.\" Fall they must at the feet of the Crucified before they\ncan rise and reign as the children of the Great King. . . . There are\ntwo mountains in the land of Israel, equal in height, and standing\nnear each other, with a deep, narrow valley between. At an\ninteresting point in the people's history, one of these mountains\nbore the curse, and the other received the blessing (Deut.\nxi. 26-29). If you had stood then on Ebal, where the curse was lying,\nyou could not have escaped to Gerizim to enjoy the blessing without\ngoing down to the bottom of the intervening gorge. There was a way\nfor the pilgrim from the curse to the blessing, if he were willing to\npass through the valley of humiliation; but there was no flight\nthrough the air, so as to escape the going down. These things are an\nallegory. All men are at first in their own judgments on a lofty\nplace, but the curse hangs over the mountains of their pride. . . .\nAll the saved are also on a lofty height, but God dwells among them,\nand great is the peace of His children. All who have reached this\nmountain have been in the deep. They sowed in tears before they went\nforth rejoicing to bear home the sheaves.--_Arnot._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1.+ Nearly all commentators agree in reading this\nverse, _\"To man belong the preparations of the heart, but the answer\nof the tongue is from the Lord.\"_ +Preparations,+ lit.\n_\"arrangements,\" \"orderly disposings,\"_ as those of an army in array,\nor as the loaves of the shewbread set in order. +2.+ Miller\ntranslates this verse very differently. See comments on the verse.\n+3. Commit,+ rather _roll._ +Thoughts,+ or _\"plans.\"_ +4. For\nHimself.+ Many read \"for its own purpose, or end.\" There is much in\nfavour, however, of the reading of the Authorised text. +5. Though\nhand join in hand,+ literally _\"hand to hand,\"_ as in chap. xi. 21.\nThis phrase is variously understood. Stuart renders it _\"Should hand\nbe added to hand,\" i.e.,_ although a haughty man should enjoy all his\npowers of resistance, _\"he shall not go unpunished.\"_ Delitzsch and\nZ\u00f6ckler render it _\"assuredly,\"_ as in chap. xi. 21. See also the\ncomments on the verse. +6. Purged.+ Heb., _kaphar,_ \"expiated,\" or\n\"covered.\" +9. Deviseth.+ The form of the verb denotes anxious\nconsideration. +10. A Divine sentence,+ literally _\"divination,\"\ni.e., \"an oracle,\"_ or _\"a decision.\"_ +\"His mouth transgresseth\nnot.\"+ Stuart and Delitzsch read, _\"In judgment his mouth should not\nprevaricate, or err.\"_ +11. A just weight,+ literally, _\"the scale,\"_\n\"the upright iron in scales which the weigher holds in his hand\"\n(Fausset). +Weights,+ literally _\"stones,\"_ which were anciently used\nas weights. +13. \"They love him,\"+ etc., rather _\"he who speaketh\nright, or uprightly, is loved.\"_ +18.+ \"The Hebrews observe that this\nverse stands exactly in the centre of the whole book\" (Fausset).\n+19. Lowly,+ or the _\"afflicted.\"_ +20.+ Delitzsch and Z\u00f6ckler\ntranslate the first clause _\"He that giveth heed to the Word findeth\ngood.\"_ Stuart and others, _\"He that is prudent respecting any\nmatter.\"_ Miller says, _\"Literally, wise about a word.\"_\n+21. Sweetness,+ or _\"grace.\"_ +Learning,+ or _\"instruction.\"_\n+22. Instruction,+ rather _\"discipline,\" \"correction.\"_ +26. He that\nlaboureth, laboureth for himself,+ etc. Z\u00f6ckler translates _\"The\nspirit of the labourer laboureth for him, for his mouth urgeth him\non.\"_ Stuart--_\"The appetite of him who toils is toilsome to him_\n(_i.e._, makes him exert himself) _for his mouth urgeth him on.\"_\nDelitzsch--_\"The hunger of the labourer laboreth for him,\"_ etc.\nMiller--_\"The labouring soul labours for it, for its mouth imposeth\nit upon him.\"_ (See his comment.) +28. A whisperer,+ _i.e.,_ _\"a\nbackbiter.\"_ +30. Moving,+ or _compressing,_ indicating resolution,\nor _biting,_ indicative of scorn and malice.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nTHE HEART AND THE TONGUE.\n\n+I. The human heart needs preparation.+ 1. _It needs to be prepared\nfor the reception of moral truth._ When the earth was _\"without form\nand void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep,\"_ it was not in\na condition to receive seed into its bosom. There was a need of\npreparation before it was fit to receive seed which would produce\n\"herb after its kind.\" Light must play upon its surface, heat and\nmoisture must penetrate the soil. And man's heart, in his present\nfallen condition, is like the earth before the _\"Spirit of God moved\nupon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light: and\nthere was light.\"_ It needs some preparation before it can receive\nthe truth of God so as to be benefited by it--before it is that\n_\"good ground\"_ into which, when the _\"good seed\"_ falls, it _\"brings\nforth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some\nthirty-fold\"_ (Matt. xiii. 3-8). As the plough must break the clods\nbefore the seed can be sown with any hope of harvest, so the\n_\"fallow-ground\"_ of the heart must be broken up--must undergo some\npreparation before it can be a profitable receiver of moral truth\n(Hosea i. 12). Our Lord, in the parable of the sower, teaches most\ndistinctly the truth that the good which is derived from hearing\nDivine truth depends upon the state of heart of him who hears. 2. _It\nneeds to be prepared to yield moral truth._ All the preparation of\nthe earth is to the end--not that it should be a _receiver,_ but a\n_giver._ The seed is sown not that it should remain in the soil but\nthat _the earth should \"bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to\nthe sower, and bread to the eater\"_ (Isa. lv. 10). So it is with the\nhuman soul. It takes in the thoughts of God, that it may translate\nthem into holy words and deeds. The \"preparation of the heart\" is but\na means to \"the answer of the tongue.\" Out of the \"good treasure of\nthe heart\" good things are expected to issue (Matt. xii. 35). But\nunless there is preparation to _receive_ there can be no _giving_ out\nof anything that is worth the giving. The quality of the water that\ncomes to the lip of the drinker depends upon the quality of the water\nthat fills the well. As we have often before remarked, the \"tree\"\nmust be first \"good,\" and then the \"fruit will be good\" (Matt.\nxii. 33). He whose heart is prepared by Divine influence to receive\nthe Divine Word will not be at a loss for such an \"answer of the\ntongue\" as will bring glory to God, honour to himself, and blessings\nto others.\n\n+II. The preparation of the heart, and, therefore, the answer of the\ntongue, depends upon God.+ In nature laws are constantly at work to\nbring to pass certain facts and results, and man works with these\nlaws, and in obedience to them. But behind the laws there must be a\nlaw-giver--behind the working there must be a worker--and this worker\nand law-giver is God. The preparation of the earth is the work of\nman; yet both the preparation of the earth and the answer of the\nearth to that preparation is from God. There would be no harvest if\nthe husbandman did not toil; but there would be no harvest if behind\nhim and his toil there was not the Life-Giver. God is the spring of\nall activities, not only in the sower of the seed, but in the seed\nwhich is sown and in the earth in which it germinates. So in the\npreparation of the heart, and the right use of the tongue. Man's\nfreedom and responsibility in these matters are insisted upon in the\noracles of God. He and he alone is to be blamed if his heart is not\nprepared to receive the words of God. He is commanded as we saw just\nnow to \"break up his fallow ground\" (Jer. iv. 3)--to prepare his\nspirit for the reception of Divine truth. Yet if a man's heart is\nthus prepared, and if by preparation of heart his tongue is able to\nspeak good words, he is not the sole producer of the result. Behind\nthe springs of thinking--behind the means used by the man\nhimself--God is working \"both to will and to do of His good\npleasure.\" God claims to be the Author of all good, whether in the\nbud of thought or in the fruit of action. From Him \"all good counsels\nand all just works do proceed.\" This is the teaching of the verse as\nit stands in our English Bible, but many commentators translate the\nverse differently. (See Critical Notes.) The thought as thus\ntranslated is similar to that in verse 9, upon which see Homiletics.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe great doctrine of all Scripture is, that _heart_ religion is true\nreligion. In nothing is Christianity more distinguished from all\nother systems of religion than in the moral purity which it\ninculcates and which it provides the means of producing. Other\nreligions multiply articles of faith and ritual observances, and\npompous ceremonials: this alone fixes upon the internal character of\nthe worshipper and the actual state of the heart before God. God\nfirst gives grace, and then owns and honours the grace which He\ngives. \"The preparations of the heart are of the Lord;\" \"The prayer\nof the upright is His delight\" (chap. xv. 8). This was discovered\nlong before Solomon's time. It was from the very first the primary\ndesign of the religion of the Bible. \"_By faith_ Abel offered unto\nGod a more excellent sacrifice than Cain\" (Heb. xi. 4). . . . It is\nGod's prerogative to prepare the heart for Himself, and he does this\nespecially, by establishing the principles of grace and holiness in\nthe mind, and then actuating the habits of grace which His own Spirit\nhas implanted. We need preparation--1. _For spiritual worship._ The\nworship of God, as it necessarily includes all the devout affections,\nis the most spiritual act in which we are engaged. In prayer, in\nreading and hearing God's word, and in approaching the sacramental\ntable, we have especially to do with God, in the gracious relations\nin which He stands to us. And as these exercises raise us above the\nordinary level of the world, and are foreign to our ordinary habits\nof thought and emotion as the creatures of dust and time, we need\nespecial assistance to fix our attention, to purify our motives, and\nto realise the presence of the Master of assemblies. We need \"grace\nwhereby to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear\" (Heb.\nxii. 28). This preparation of the heart is God's gift, it is God's\npromise, it is the Church's hope, and it has been realised in the\nexperience of God's faithful people in the ordinances of His\nappointment. 2. _For active service._ Christians have much to do for\nGod in the world, in the family, in the Church, in the disposal of\ntheir ordinary business, etc. In all these things wisdom is needed to\ndirect, and wisdom should be sought from Him. 3. _For patient\nsuffering._ It is a great thing to have a heart prepared for\nsuffering. One important requisite is, _to anticipate its approach,_\nthat that day may not come upon us unawares, that trial may not\nentangle us in temptation, but may, like the overflowings of the\nNile, leave the means of fertility behind. Another requisite is that\nwe should _expect to meet with God in affliction._ When God announces\na long succession of national judgments, He says, \"And because I will\ndo this, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel\" (Amos iv. 12). This text\nis usually applied to death and judgment, but it really relates to\nworldly disasters, and teaches that God would have us _prepare to\nmeet Him_ in the distressing changes of human life. 4. _For\nenjoyment._ If there is much to be suffered there is also much to be\nenjoyed. But a time of prosperity needs _heart preparation,_ lest a\ntime of ease be a time of danger. \"It is the bright day brings out\nthe adder, and that craves wary walking.\" It was when Noah had\nescaped the deluge, and had gathered in his first vintage from the\ngrapes he had planted, that he drank of the wine and was drunken.\nDavid, safe in the wilderness, was entangled in fatal snares when\nwalking on the roof of his palace. (_Note._ Though heart preparation\nis from God, it is not given as a premium to sloth, but in proportion\nto the earnestness with which we seek the grace. The following\npassage from a letter of Colonel Gardiner tells how that man of God\nsought preparation from God for the Lord's Supper. \"I took a walk on\nthe hills and mountains over against Ireland. And could I give you a\ndescription of what passed there, you would agree that I had much\nbetter reason to remember my God from the hills of Port P------ than\nDavid from the Hermonites, the land of Jordan, and the hill Mizar. In\nshort, I wrestled with the Angel of the Covenant some hours, and made\nsupplication to Him with strong crying and tears until I had almost\nexpired, but He strengthened me till I had power with God. You will\nbe able to judge by what you have felt upon like occasions, after\nsuch a preparatory work, how blessed the Lord's Supper was to\nme.\")--_S. Thodey._\n\nMan may lay out his plans, but God alone can give them effect in\nanswer to the tongue of prayer (ver. 9; chap. xix. 21; 2 Cor.\niii. 5).--_Maurer._\n\nOften what you dispose in the aptest order in your heart you cannot\nalso express suitably with your tongue. What one aptly speaks is from\nGod.--_Mercer._\n\nMen often determine in heart to say something, but God overrules\ntheir tongue so as to say something utterly different, as in Balaam's\ncase (Num. xxiii).--_Menochius._\n\nGod takes the stone out of the heart that it may feel (Ezek.\nxxxvi. 26); draws it that it may follow; quickens it that it may\nlive. He opens the heart that He may imprint His own law, and mould\nit into His own image (Acts xvi. 14; Jer. xxxi. 33). He works, not\nmerely by moral suasion or by the bare proposal of means of uncertain\npower, but by the invisible Almighty agency. The work then begins\nwith God. It is not that we first come, and then are taught; but\nfirst we learn, then we come (John vi. 45). . . . Shall we then wait\nindolently till He works? Far from it. We must work, but in\ndependence upon Him. He works not without us, but with us, through\nus, in us, by us, and we work in Him (Phil. ii. 13; Job xi. 13). Ours\nis the duty, His is the strength; ours the agency, His the quickening\ngrace. \"The work, as it is a duty, is ours; but as a performance it\nis God's\" (Bishop Reynolds).--_Bridges._\n\nUndoubtedly we arrange and plan. That is a matter of consciousness.\nBut these are but the tools of the Designer. He uses our plannings to\nshape the last word to His mind. . . . The _\"arrangings of the\nheart\"_ are, indeed, as much God's as the final _\"decree,\"_ because,\nin brief, everything is. He destines everything; but not in the same\nsense in which they are consciously man's. They precede the end, and\nare present. They cannot determine the end, that is future. I cannot\ndetermine now what I will say the next moment. God can. I can and do\narrange. But at any convenient point, at any interval, even the very\nleast, God can swing me round. What I shall say is a part of His\nprovidence. I cannot ordain to say it in such a way as that it shall\nbe said. In the smallest interval that follows God may tempt Pharaoh,\nand he may have new views as to letting the children of Israel go.\nGod cannot tempt me to evil; but He can govern by the privation of\ngood. And, therefore, \"the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord,\nas the rivers of water. He turneth it whithersoever He will.\" This,\nof course, implicates God, to our weak seeming, in the sins of the\nwicked. The next verse discharges Him from any such accountability.\n(See Miller's rendering of verse 2, in his comments.)--_Miller._\n\nThough a man have never so exactly marshalled his matter in hand, as\nit were, in battle array, as the Hebrew imports, though he have set\ndown with himself both what and how to speak, yet he shall never be\nable to bring forth his conception without the help of God. . . .\nDigressions are not always unuseful. God's Spirit sometimes draws\naside the doctrine to satisfy some soul which the preacher knows not.\nBut though God may force it, yet man may not frame it.--_Trapp._\n\nThis is a matter of experience to which the preacher, the public\nspeaker, the author, and every man to whom his calling or\ncircumstances present a weighty difficult theme, can attest. As the\nthoughts pursue one another in the mind, attempts are made and again\nabandoned; the state of the heart is somewhat like that of chaos\nbefore the creation. But when, finally, the right thought and the\nright utterance for it are found, that which is found appears to us,\nnot as if self-discovered, but as a gift; we regard it with the\nfeeling that a higher power has influenced our thoughts and\nimaginings; the confession by us \"our sufficiency is of God\" (2 Cor.\niii. 5) in so far as we believe in a living God, is\ninevitable.--_Delitzsch._\n\nMan doth not carry himself one-half of the way, and then as one\nwearied is carried the rest by God. But it is God who supporteth him\nin the heart as well as in the tongue: it is He that supporteth man\nin the preparations of the heart, as well as in the subsequent\nproceedings of the man. He is a God of the valleys as well as of the\nhills; and it is He that worketh as well in the lowest degree of\ngoodness as in the highest. His praise reacheth from the roof of the\nheart to the tip of the tongue, and all man's goodness is from His\ngrace--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nTHE WEIGHER OF SPIRITS.\n\n+I. One man has many ways.+ The text speaks of \"all the ways of a\nman,\" implying they are numerous and varied. Man is a compound\ncreature--the animal and the spiritual--mind and matter--both go to\nmake up a man, and from this union of different elements come many\ndifferent wants and wishes, hopes and desires, and from these many\n_wants_ come many _ways_--many and diversified efforts to satisfy his\ncravings. He finds himself having many bodily wants, and he seeks\nmany different ways of supplying them. He is generally conscious of\nintellectual desires, and he seeks ways of satisfaction for them. If\nhe listens to the voice within him, he feels that he has moral needs,\nand he tries to satisfy them also.\n\n+II. As a rule men generally look with approbation upon their own\nways or methods of life.+ A man does this because they are _his_\nways. What is our own generally looks well to use because it is ours.\nThis is especially the case if it is ours by choice--if we have been\nthe main instrument in its becoming ours. The builder looks with\npartial eyes upon the house that he has planned, the poet upon the\npoem that he has composed, the painter upon the picture that he has\npainted, the statesman upon the law that he has introduced. Most men\nare disposed to judge partially of their own deeds; ungodly men\nalways regard their \"own ways\" as \"clean.\" The sinner has a way of\nlife which he has chosen for himself, and because it is _his_ way he\nthinks it is a good way to walk in.\n\n+III. There is therefore need of an impartial Judge to pass sentence\nupon men's ways.+ Those who look upon us and our ways are generally\nbetter judges of us and of them than we are ourselves. They are good\njudges in proportion as they are wise and disinterested, and have a\nsincere desire to do us good. From them, if we are not given over to\nour own conceit and self-will, we may gain much very important truth\nabout our ways. God is a judge who must be perfectly unbiased, and He\ncan have no object in view except our good, therefore when He passes\njudgment upon our ways, we must accept it as truth. He declares that\na man's ways, though clean in his own eyes, are not clean in His; we\nmust not question the decision of absolute goodness and wisdom, and\nby refusing to have our ways condemned and to accept \"His ways\" (Isa.\nlv. 6-8), shut out from ourselves all hope of bettering our lives.\n\n+IV. However one man's ways may deceive another, there is no danger\nof mistake on the part of God.+ \"The Lord weigheth the _spirits._\" A\nman may deceive _himself_ as to the goodness of his ways. Saul of\nTarsus certainly did. When he \"persecuted unto death, binding and\ndelivering into prisons both men and women\" (Acts xxii. 4), his ways\nwere \"clean in his own eyes.\" But God weighed his spirit and found\nhim wanting. And a man may deceive _others._ His outer garment may be\nso spotless that his fellows may not suspect what is hidden beneath.\nBut there is an eye that can go beneath the surface--_\"discerning the\nthoughts and intents of the heart;\"_ there is One whose glory it is\nthat _\"He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither\nreprove after the hearing of His ears,\"_ and whose judgment,\ntherefore is _\"righteousness\"_ and _\"equity\"_ (Isa. xi. 3, 4).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"As to all the ways of a man, pure in His own eyes, while yet he\nweighs out spirits, is Jehovah.\"_ This change is very bold, and yet,\nreally, not so bold as the old readings. It explains why _\"pure\"_ is\nfound to be in the singular. The common version, besides that\ndisagreement of number, is strained, in sense, materially. There are\ninstances of like thought (Psa. xxxvi. 2), and, in one case, great\nsimilarity of language (chap. xii. 15); but the emphasis, in the\npresent instance, seems stronger than in any of the rest, and would\nmake us pause. It is not altogether true, the \"all the ways of a man\nare clean in his own eyes.\" Moreover, the case most like it (chap.\nxxi. 2), and which might seem irrefragably to establish it in its\nsense, we shall find habited in the same way. . . . And while our\ncommon version would jump needlessly into another subject, the one I\ngive fits most perfectly. God moves man as He lists (ver. 1), and\nyet, as to the ways of a man, He is right in His own eyes while _\"He\nweighs out spirits.\" He weighs out_ to all that which determines\nthem, and that is, gifts according to the measure that He ordained in\nthe Redeemer. He \"weighs out\" in the sense of taking strict\naccount.--_Miller._\n\nWeighing them, as goldsmiths do their plate and coins, finding them\n_light_ and _counterfeit_ oftentimes.--_Muffet._\n\nHis \"weighing the _spirits_\" implies that _here_ the moral good or\nthe moral evil really lies. The mere action is in itself incapable of\neither, independently of what it indicates in the agent. When we\nspeak of a moral action, we mean the action of a moral agent. A dog\nand a man may do the same action--may carry off, for instance, for\ntheir own use respectively, what is the property of another. We never\nthink of calling it a _moral_ action in a dog, but we condemn the man\nfor the commission of a crime against his neighbour, and a sin\nagainst his God. An action may even in its effects be beneficial,\nwhich in regard to the doer of it is inexcusably _bad:_ it may be\ngood in its results, but bad in its principles.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThey that were born in hell know no other heaven; neither goes any\nman to hell but he has some excuse for it. As covetousness, so most\nother sins go cloaked and coloured. All is not gold that glitters. A\nthing that I see in the night may shine, and that shining proceed\nfrom nothing but rottenness. . . . But God turns up the bottom of the\nbag as Joseph's stewards did, and then come out all our thefts and\nmisdoings that had so long lain latent.--_Trapp._\n\nThe important doctrine deducible from this text is that conscience\n(simply as _conscience_) is no safe guide, but requires to be\ninformed and regulated by God's Will and Word, and that a _right\nintention_ is not sufficient to make a good action.--_Wordsworth._\n\nHow unclean are man's eyes, in whose eyes all his ways are clean.\nCertainly whatever a man's sentence may be of himself, there is\nsomething in him that gives another judgment. There is a spirit in\nman whose eyes, though dazzled much, cannot be put out. That seeth\nand condemneth much uncleanness, which man's wilful blindness and\nseeing darkness will needs have to be purity. There is a conscience\nin man which, though enslaved much, yet in many ways goeth contrary\nto man's perverseness, and condemneth those ways which man approveth.\nBut God is greater than man's heart, and by the exact weights of His\nconscience discerning the errors of the conscience He pronounceth all\na man's ways to be unclean.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nTHE ESTABLISHMENT OF THOUGHTS.\n\n+I. There is an intimate connection between a man's works and a man's\nthoughts.+ Where there is no thinking there can certainly be no\nprofitable work. The skilful workman has the plan of his work in his\nmind before he begins to use his fingers to execute it, and\nthroughout its progress his thought is as busy as his hand. A work\nundertaken and carried through without thought is generally a useless\nwork; indeed, it is impossible for working to be entirely independent\nof thinking.\n\n+II. For the establishment of work there must first be the\nestablishment of the thoughts.+ When a ship is under the guidance of\none master-mind, and this mind is self-possessed and thoughtful, all\nthe crew under his rule move with the regularity of clock-work. Order\nreigns in the leader, and therefore order rules the subordinates. He\nis the head and they are the hands, and because the one moves in\nobedience to a fixed purpose, the others do also. His thoughts are\nestablished, and therefore the work is done. Every man's thoughts\nought to be the guide of his work, and if his thoughts and his\nintentions are fixed, or established, by being in harmony with the\nrighteous law of God, his works will partake of the same character.\nThe orderliness of his outward life will be the effect of an order\nthat reigns within.\n\n+III. If the thoughts are to be established, our undertakings must be\ncommitted to God.+ The learner tells the master what work he intends\nto undertake--he unfolds to him the plan of the machine he is going\nto construct, or shows him the design of the house he hopes to build,\nor the picture which he intends to paint, that he may be strengthened\nand encouraged in his undertaking, and that he may find out whether\nhe has the approval of one who is much wiser than himself. If the\nmaster approves of his plan his mind is more fully made up, he is\nstrengthened in his determination, his thoughts are established.\nBefore he might have wavered, but now that he has submitted all his\nplans to one in whom he has full confidence and obtained his\napproval, he sets to work with a goodwill which is an earnest of\nsuccess. If in all our undertakings in life we lay our plans before\nthe Lord, and if we find, upon consulting His Word, that they are not\nin any way contrary to His Will, but appear to be in conformity with\nit, our minds have rest, our hopes of success grow stronger, and our\nenergy is quickened to go forward. The establishment of our thought\ntends to the establishment of our work.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nI consider that work as good as done, that trial as good as borne,\nwhich I have solemnly committed to God in prayer.--_Fausset._\n\nThis counsel implies--1. _That all our purposes and doings should be\nin accordance with God's Will._ How is it possible to commit them to\nGod otherwise? . . . We ought not to form or pursue any purpose\nunless we can, _with confidence,_ acknowledge God in it. The maxim by\nwhich, as Christians, we should be regulated, is to be found in the\nwords--\"Whatsoever is not of faith\"--whatsoever does not proceed from\na full conviction of right--\"is sin\" (Rom. xiv. 23). 2. _That none of\nour works can prosper without God._ This is a lesson of which the\nDivine Word is full (Psa. cxxvii. 1; Dan. v. 23; James iv. 13-16),\netc. 3. _That it is, therefore, the obvious and imperative duty of\nintelligent creatures to own their dependence. . . ._ This is a\ncounsel to which, despite all the theories and speculations of\ninfidelity, natural conscience gives its sanction. 4. _That what is\nour duty is at the same time our interest._ The act of committing all\nthings into the hands of God to be regulated as He may see fit,\npreserves the spirit from corroding anxiety. 5. _God will graciously\nsmile on the efforts, and accomplish the purpose and wishes of him\nwho seeks His blessing._ God will second and prosper, and fulfil the\npurposes he forms, and the desires he cherishes, crowning his\nendeavours with success.--_Wardlaw._\n\n_Roll thy doings in the direction of Jehovah; and they shall have\nsuccess according to thy plans. \"Roll,\"_ not exactly _commit. \"In the\ndirection_ of\" the preposition _towards. Trust,_ therefore, is less\nimplied than an attitude of _service. Roll forward thy work in the\ndirection of Jehovah;_ that is, with an eye to Him; in a harmony with\nHim, recognising His plans (ver. 4): and what will be the result?\nWhy, God means to have His way at any rate. Our works will _\"have\nsuccess,\"_ one or the other fashion, in His scheme of Providence. He\nworks in the work even of Beelzebub. But if we act _\"in the direction\nof\"_ His Will, they will have success _as we planned them._ That\nseems to be the meaning. We might read, \"thy plans shall have\nsuccess.\" . . . The whole would then mean, _\"thy doings\"_ shall\n_\"have success\"_ (literally, be made to stand) _as_ thy plans, or _in\nthe shape_ thy plans gave them. Or, in other words, God, having an\nexpress purpose for all you do (ver. 4), will give success to your\nwork at any rate. He has the exact niche for all you work at. But, if\nyou turn it _in His direction,_ and aim with it at His Will, He will\naim at yours; that is, He will give a success _after your plan;_ if\nnot in the actual letter, still, in what is far the best, in the way\nbest suited to your peculiar interest.--_Miller._\n\nNever is the heart at rest till it repose in God; till then it\nflickers up and down, as Noah's dove did upon the face of the flood,\nand found no footing till she returned to the ark. Perfect trust is\nblessed with a perfect peace. A famous instance of this we have in\nour Saviour, \"Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father,\nsave me from this hour, but for this cause came I to this hour.\nFather, glorify Thy name\" (John xii. 27). All the while the eye of\nHis humanity was fixed upon deliverance from the hour of His\ntemptation; there was no peace nor rest in His soul, because there He\nfound not only uncertainty, but impossibility. But when he could wait\non, acquiesce in, and resign to the will of His Father, we never hear\nof any more objection, fear, or trouble.--_Trapp._\n\nThe word \"commit\" most properly signifieth _cast,_ or _tumble_ thy\nworks unto the Lord. Now, in casting or tumbling, there are three\nthings. First, a regardlessness of any merit in them, for such things\nare usually tumbled as are little cared for. Secondly, a speediness,\nfor commonly things are tumbled to make the greater haste. Thirdly,\nthere is a weakness and lightness in the things tumbled, for things\nof weight and strength are not so easily removed. Now, plainly, such\nare the works of man: there is little solidity or stability in them;\ntumble them, therefore, upon the Lord--commit them into His hands.\nAnd do it speedily; do not defer it until thou seest no farther help\nin man, but at first betake thyself unto Him, for that will best show\nthe confidence thou hast in Him. And do not fret and vex thyself with\ncare, but tumble and cast thy care upon God. The less thou carest in\nthat manner the more He will care for thee. So that by Him thy works\nshall be established which of themselves are frail and uncertain; by\nHim no time shall be lost for the well ordering of them, if thou lose\nno time in the committing of them to Him. Or else we may take the\nmeaning of the words thus, Put over thy works unto the Lord, and\nwhatsoever thou doest well let Him have the praise of it--let Him\nhave thanks for it. . . . To this purpose Chrysostom borroweth a\nsimilitude from the play at ball, saying, \"We must cast back and\nreturn our works unto God, even as in the play of tennis, the one\ntosseth, the other tosseth back the ball, and so long the sport\nhandsomely continueth, as the ball tossed and tossed back again\nbetween the hands of both doth not fall down.\" The comfort of that\nwhich we have received from God is so long happily continued to us as\nwe return God thanks for it.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerses 2, 3. The first of these verses tells us how a man goes wrong,\nand the second how he may be set right again. He is led into error by\ndoing what pleases himself; the rule for recovery is to commit the\nworks to the Lord, and see that they are such as will please Him.\nWhen we weigh our thoughts and actions in the balances of our own\ndesires we shall inevitably go astray. When we lay them before God,\nand submit to His pleasure, we shall be guided into truth and\nrighteousness. . . . It is a common and sound advice to ask counsel\nof the Lord before undertaking any work. Here we have the counterpart\nequally precious--commit the work to the Lord after it is done. The\nHebrew idiom gives peculiar emphasis to the precept--roll it over on\nJehovah. Mark the beautiful reciprocity of the two, and how they\nconstitute a circle between them. While the act is yet in embryo as a\npurpose in your mind, ask counsel of the Lord, that it may be crushed\nin the birth, or embodied in righteousness. When it is embodied bring\nthe work back to the Lord, and give it over into His hand as the\nfruit of the thought you besought Him to inspire. . . . These two\nrules following each other in a circle, would make the outspread\nfield of a Christian's life sunny, and green, and fruitful, as the\ncircling of the solar system brightens and fertilises the\nearth. . . . Perhaps most professing Christians find it easier to go\nto God beforehand, asking what they should do, than to return to Him\nafterwards, to place their work in His hands. This may, in part,\naccount for the want of answer to prayer--at least the want of a\nknowledge that prayer has been answered. If you do not complete the\ncircle your message by telegraph will never reach its destination,\nand no answer will return. We send in earnest prayer for direction.\nThereafter we go into the world of action. But if we do not bring the\naction back to God the circle of supplication is not\ncompleted.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nALL THINGS FOR GOD.\n\n+I. There is one Person in the universe who knows the history of all\nthings.+ Jehovah knows all things because He made all things. Some\nmen know the history of their nation and the history of many nations.\nOthers know the history of the philosophies of the world, can tell\nwhen and by whom certain ideas were first promulgated and certain\nmethods adopted. There are other men who are acquainted with the\nhistory of natural objects, and whose knowledge is so extensive that\nit embraces the heavens above and the waters under the earth. But\nthere is only One Being who can claim a knowledge of all things and\nall persons, and that is the Maker of all things. The smith who has\nbeaten a ploughshare out of rough iron can give us the history of the\nshare because he made it. The sculptor who calls into shape and form\na beautiful statue knows the day and hour when the statue ceased to\nbe a thing of the imagination only by the first application of his\nchisel. And he can give the history of its progress from that day\nuntil now because he is the author of its existence. So God, having\ncalled all things into being at first, and having upheld them ever\nsince by the word of His power, has a perfect knowledge of their\nhistory. But He goes farther. No human worker knows anything of the\nessential nature of the material out of which he fashions his\nwork--he finds that ready to his hand and can tell us but little\nabout it. But God is the Creator of matter; He called it into being\nat first, and therefore knows not only the history of the formation\nof things as we see them but the essential qualities of the material\nout of which they are formed.\n\n+II. Creation is the work of One Being.+ Most things made by man need\nco-operation. Although they are but inanimate objects they cannot be\nmade by the unaided efforts of one creature. He must have the skill\nand strength of others to help him, either in the actual work itself,\nor in the preparation of the material, or the tools which he uses. A\npalace can be built only by the united effort of many hundreds of\nintelligent creatures, and when they have finished it they have only\nmade a lifeless thing. A ship when in full sail is as much \"like a\nthing of life\" as any work of man, yet the movement that makes it\nlook so life-like is not in itself but comes from an external power.\nYet inanimate though it is, how many a man gave his toil and his\nstrength to bring into existence this new thing. One thing made by\nman requires the strength and skill of many, and when made is without\nlife; but the One God is the maker of all things that we see around\nus, many of which are full of life.\n\n+III. The world is not co-equal with God.+ Matter is one of the \"all\nthings\" which He has made. This being the case it is not as old as\nGod. He was before the material was out of which _\"in the beginning\nHe created the heavens and the earth.\"_\n\n+IV. The One God is the absolute Lord of all His creatures.+ This is\nthe thought which must be expressed in the second clause of this\nverse. In considering it we must remember--1. _That the infinitely\ngood God can do no wrong._ In proportion as men are good, certain\nacts are impossible to them. There are human beings who we feel are\nincapable of certain immoral acts. In proportion as men approach in\ntheir characters to the character of God it becomes a moral\nimpossibility for them to do wrong to any creature. It is, therefore,\nconceivable that if we could find a man who was perfectly true and\ngood we should find a being who could do no wrong. We cannot find\nsuch an absolute being among fallen men, but we do have such a Being\nin God. He is absolute goodness and righteousness and truth--as to\nHis character, _\"He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.\"_ It\nis, therefore, impossible for Him in any way to be author of sin.\nBeing absolute goodness, He cannot make a wicked man. He hates sin,\nand cannot increase it by creating wickedness. It is an impossibility\nfor Him to be the author of wrong in any way. 2. _That all His plans\nand purposes are manifestly directed to making men good._ If any\nperson were to declare that God delighted or purposed that His\ncreatures should live in darkness, we should point to the sun in the\nheavens as a direct refutation of such a statement. To any who\ndeclare that God is indifferent as to whether men live in sin or not,\nwe point to the Bible and to the incarnation and death of His Son as\nthe most emphatic denial of such an assertion. And if, in the face of\nsuch facts, it is impossible to believe that God is indifferent as to\nhuman character, it is a thousand times more impossible to conceive\nthe possibility of His creating a \"wicked man.\" 3. _Therefore no man\ncan be brought to a \"day of evil\" except by his own consent._ No man\ncan be brought to perform an evil deed except by his own consent, and\nconsequently he cannot be brought to the consequences of evil without\nthe exercise of his own free will. The human tempter cannot destroy\nthe virtue of his victim unless he first gain his consent, and\nwhatever evil day comes as the consequences, the sinner feels that it\nis the fruit of his own act. The sting would be removed if he felt\nthat it had come upon him without any deed of his own. Satan\ncertainly believes that he can bring no man to a day of evil without\nthat man's consent. Consequently his great work is that of a\n_tempter_--a _persuader_--his great aim is to win the will of every\nman as he won that of our first parents. Nor can God bring a man to a\nday of evil unless that man consent. He has made man free, and His\nnature forbids Him to tempt His creatures to evil (Jas. i. 13), much\nmore it makes it impossible that He should coerce their will to the\ncommittal of sin, which is the sole cause of all the evil that is\nfound in the universe. The declaration of the text therefore is:\n1. That all men exist by the will of God, who desires them to use\ntheir present life, so as to be fitted for a higher one. 2. That if a\nman crosses God's desires and purposes in this matter, he will come\nto a day of evil. 3. God will use the actions of those who opposed\nHis will against themselves, and for the furtherance of His own\npurpose. God was the Author of Pharaoh's existence, and if he had\nyielded to the Divine Will he would by obedience have been raised to\na higher condition of life. But when he opposed the Will of God, and\nput away from him the opportunities of Divine enlightenment, _then_\nit might be said that \"God created him for the day of evil\"--then God\nover-ruled his opposition to His glory and to Pharaoh's destruction.\nAnd so He deals with all who exalt themselves against His will,\nrefusing to fall in with His purpose of mercy towards them.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Even the wicked for the day of evil,\" i.e.,_ to experience the day\nof evil, and then to receive His well-merited punishment. It is not\nspecifically the day of final judgment that is directly intended (as\nthough the doctrine here were that of a predestination of the ungodly\nto eternal damnation), but any day of calamity whatsoever which God\nhas fixed for the ungodly, whether it may overtake him in this or in\na future life. Comp. the \"day of destruction\" (Job xxi. 30), the \"day\nof visitation\" (Isa. x. 3).--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nThe day of evil is generally understood, and I have myself been\naccustomed so to explain it, of the day of _final visitation and\nsuffering to the wicked themselves._ But I am now inclined to doubt\nwhether \"the day of evil\" has here this meaning at all. There is\nanother, of which it is alike susceptible, and which, in Scripture,\nit frequently bears--namely, the day of primitive visitation, in the\ninflection of judicial vengeance, in the course of God's providential\nadministration. I question if the _suffering_ of the wicked be\nintended, and am disposed to refer the phrase to the _instrumental\nagency_ of the wicked. \"The Lord hath made all things for Himself\"\nwill thus mean that He employs all as instruments in effecting His\npurposes, and that thus He makes the wicked as a part of His agency:\nemploying them, without at all interfering with their freedom and\ntheir responsibility, as the executioners of wrath, \"when He cometh\nout of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their\niniquity,\" thus rendering their very passions the means of\naccomplishing His designs, making \"the wrath of man to praise Him,\nand restraining the remainder of wrath.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nIf by God's making all things for Himself he meant that He aimed at\nand intended the manifestation of His wisdom, and power, and goodness\nin the creation of the world, 'tis most true that in this sense He\nmade all things for Himself; but if we understand it so, as if the\ngoodness of His nature did not constrain Him thereto, but He had some\ndesign to serve ends and necessities of His own upon His creatures,\nthis is far from Him. But it is very probable that neither of these\nis the meaning of this text, which may be rendered with much better\nsense, and nearer to the Hebrew, thus, _\"God hath ordained everything\nto that which is fit for it, and the wicked hath He ordained for the\nday of evil;\"_ that is, the wisdom of God hath fitted one thing for\nanother, punishment for sin, the evil day to the\nevil-doer.--_Tillotson._\n\nGod made things without life and reason to serve Him passively and\nsubjectively, by administering occasion to man to admire and adore\nhis Maker; but man was made to worship Him actively and\naffectionately, as sensible of, and affected with, that Divine\nwisdom, power, and goodness which appear in them. As all things are\nof Him as the efficient cause, so all things must necessarily be for\nHim as the final cause. But man is in an especial manner\npredestinated and elected for this purpose. \"Thou art mine; I have\ncreated him for my glory; I have formed him; yea, I have made him\"\n(Isa. xliii. 1-7).--_Swinnock._\n\nGod, in His revelations, hath told us nothing of the second causes\nwhich He hath established under Himself for the production of\nordinary effects, that we not perplex ourselves about them, but\nalways look up to Him as the first cause, as working without them, or\nby them, as He sees good. But he hath told us plainly of the final\ncause, or end of all things, that we may keep our eyes always fixed\non that, and accordingly strive all we can to promote\nit.--_Beveridge._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.\n\nHEART-PRIDE.\n\n+I. That which may be hidden from all others is manifest to One\nBeing.+ There is coin in the world that is not money nor money's\nworth, although it often passes through the hands of many before its\nworthlessness is detected. But there are eyes which could tell at\nonce that it was not genuine, and hands which if it came into their\npossession would soon reduce it to its true level among the baser\nmetals. So there is in the world a feigned humility, which has so\nmuch the appearance of the genuine article that no earthly creature\nsuspects that it is the covering of a heart big with pride. But when\nGod judges whether a man is proud or humble He looks through the\nwords and actions at the _heart._ \"Everyone that is proud in\n_heart,_\" etc.\n\n+II. God abhors pride.+ 1. _It is entirely contrary to His own\nnature._ God is entirely without pride. His condescension is one of\nHis most remarkable attributes. God manifest in flesh abased Himself\nbeyond the possibility of any finite creature. _\"Being in the form of\nGod . . . [He] made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the\nform of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being\nfound in fashion as a man He humbled Himself, and became obedient\nunto death, even the death of the cross\"_ (Phil. ii. 6-8). We always\nfind that in proportion as men are holy and God-like they are\ndestitute of pride. The proudest men are always those who have least\nto be proud of. Therefore pride can have no place in the character of\nthe holy and ever-blessed God. 2. _It is opposed to the possessor's\nwell-being._ God not only abhors pride because He is Himself\nsupremely good, but He holds it in abomination because He desires\nmen's good. Whatever is opposed to God's nature must be opposed to\nman's interest. He who desires the salvation of all His creatures\nhates pride because it holds men tied and bound in fetters which\nhinder their approach to Him; because it makes men akin to the fallen\nangels. (On this subject see also on chapters xi. 1; xiii. 10, page\n305, etc.)\n\n+III. Union is no guarantee against punishment.+ \"Though hand join in\nhand, he shall not be unpunished.\" When that which is an abomination\nto God is the foundation of a confederation, it must be overthrown by\nthe power of the stronger arm. And it contains within itself an\nelement of overthrow. A house may have an appearance of compactness\nwhich may lead a casual onlooker to think it is destined to stand for\nmany a century. But its foundation is in the sand, and its fall is\nonly the work of time, even if storms and tempests never beat upon\nits walls. So there may be an appearance of strength where pride is\nthe basis of union, but it can be only an appearance. Pride is a\ndividing force and not a binding one, and all confederations against\nGod being based upon it, they rest only upon a foundation of sand.\n(See also on chap. xi. 21.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n(1.) If God has made everything for His purpose (ver. 4), how foolish\nthe man who arrogantly forgets Him! (2.) If God has besought us to\nwork under His plans (ver. 3), how wicked the man who proudly\nmutinies. If God works even in kings (chap. xxi. 1), how absurd the\nman who would work away from Him. How can it work well? \"Hand to\nhand,\" _i.e.,_ in close quarters (chap. xi. 21), as we shall come all\nof us at the last, how can the workers outside of the Almighty\npossibly _\"go unpunished?\"--Miller._\n\nHow many sins are in this sinful world, and yet, as Lemuel saith of\nthe good wife (Prov. xxxi. 29), \"Many daughters have done virtuously,\nbut thou surmountest them all.\" So I may say of pride, many sins have\ndone wickedly, but thou surmountest them all; for the wrathful man,\nthe prodigal man, the lascivious man, the surfeiting man, the\nslothful man, is rather an enemy to himself than to God; the envious\nman, the covetous man, the deceitful man, the ungrateful man, is\nrather an enemy to men than to God; but the proud man sets himself\nagainst God, because he doth against His laws, he maketh himself\nequal with God, because he doth all without God, and craves no help\nof Him; he exalteth himself above God, because he will have his own\nwill, though it be contrary to God's Will. As the humble man saith,\n\"Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give the glory\"\n(Psa. cxv. 1); so the proud man saith, \"Not unto Him, not unto Him,\nbut unto us give glory.\". . . Therefore God is specially said to\nresist the proud, because the proud resist Him. Here is heaven\nagainst earth, the Creator against the creature, the father against\nthe son, the Prince against the subject--who is like to win the\nfield? . . . It had been too heavy for them, if he had said the Lord\ndoth not care for them; for God's care preserveth us, and our own\ncare doth but trouble us; but to say that the Lord doth resist them,\nis as if Michael should denounce war with the dragon till he hath\ncast him into the pit.--_Henry Smith,_ 1590.\n\nSome make \"hand in hand\" to be no more than \"out of hand,\"\n_\"immediately,\"_ or \"with ease,\" for nothing is sooner or with more\nease done than to fold one hand in another. God \"shall spread forth\nHis hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth\nhis hands to swim, and He shall bring down their pride together with\nthe spoil of their hands\" (Isa. xxv. 11). The motion in swimming is\neasy, not strong; for strong strokes in the water would rather sink\nthan support. God, with greatest facility, can subdue His stoutest\nadversary when once it comes to handy-gripes--when once his hands\njoin to the proud man's hand--so some sense this text--so that they\ndo _manus conserere,_ then shall it appear that it is a fearful thing\nto fall into the hands of the Living God (Heb. x. 31).--_Trapp._\n\nFrom hand to hand expresses the consecutive connection of causes\nthrough which the Lord works; though the proud escape one occasion of\nHis punishment, yet he is reserved for another.--_Mercer._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.\n\nTHE PURGING OF INIQUITY.\n\n+I. There is in the human heart and in human life that which is not\nconducive to human happiness, viz., iniquity.+ Iniquity is\n_inequality,_ or _injustice,_ and a sinner is an _unjust_ man. 1. _He\nis unjust to himself._ He is bound to render to himself what is due\nto his own nature--to care for his own real and highest\ninterests--but this no ungodly man does. 2. _He practises iniquity\ntowards his neighbour._ This follows from the first as a necessary\nconsequence. Shakespeare thus admonishes us--\n\n \"To thine own self be true,\n And it must follow, as the night the day,\n Thou canst not then be false to any man.\"\n\nBut if a man is not true to himself, it follows as certainly that he\nwill not be true to any other man--will not in its real and broad\nsense be a just man in his relations to others. 3. _He practises\niniquity towards God._ He does not render to God that which is His\njust due, and this is indeed the foundation of his iniquity towards\nhimself and his fellow-men.\n\n+II. Human nature cannot find within itself a remedy for its own\niniquity.+ The man who is smitten with fever cannot find a remedy for\nhis disease in his own diseased body--he must look somewhere else for\na cure. There are remedies powerful in curing his disease, but they\nmust be administered from without, they are not resident within him.\nSo there is a cure for human iniquity, and that cure is to be found\nin contact with mercy and truth, but neither of these is to be found\nin fallen human nature, or, if some traces exist among men, the mercy\nis not abundant enough, and the truth is not unalloyed enough to\neffect the cure.\n\n+III. There is enough mercy and truth in God to do away with human\niniquity.+ He has devised a plan by which His abundant mercy and His\nunsullied truth shall be brought into contact with sinful men in such\na manner as to cure them of their sin. Mercy without truth could not\nmeet the need, neither could truth without mercy. Mercy is needed to\ndo away with the guilt of sin--to give remission for past\ntransgressions, but it is equally needful that some standard of truth\nand righteousness should also be given, lest men \"sin that grace may\nabound.\" Mercy frees the sinner from the penalty of sin, but truth is\nbrought into contact with his soul to free him from the power of sin.\nBeing _\"made free from sin\"_ men must _\"become servants of God,\"_ and\n_\"have fruit unto holiness\"_ (Rom. vi. 22). And to obtain this end\nthere must be a reception into the human soul of Divine truth to\ntransform it--to regenerate it. Hence when the _\"Word was made flesh,\nand dwelt among us,\"_ and men _\"beheld His glory,\"_ it was a glory\n_\"full of grace and truth\"_ (John i. 14). For Homiletics on the\nsecond clause of this verse, see on chap. xiv. 15 (page 364).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nLoving and faithful conduct towards one's neighbour is not in and of\nitself named as the ground of the expiation of sin, but only so far\nforth as it is a sign and necessary expression of a really penitent\nand believing disposition of heart, and so is a correlative to the\nfear of God, which is made prominent in the second clause; just as in\nthe expression of Jesus with reference to the sinning woman (Luke\nvii. 47), or as in Isa. lviii. 7; Dan. iv. 34, etc.--_Z\u00f6ckler._\n\nThe _purging of iniquity_ seems here to direct us to expiation, and\nconsidering that Divine mercy and truth are frequently exhibited in\nconnection with this invaluable blessing, the analogy of faith\nappears to link it here with these combined perfections which kiss in\nChrist the Mediator (Psa. lxxxv. 10), and with that covenant of grace\nin which they shine so brightly. Should this view be thought not to\ncohere with the general tenor of this book, which deals more with\npractical points and matters of common life than with the deeper\narticles of faith, it may be observed that, when some of its pages\nare so fully illuminated by evangelical sunshine (chap. viii. 9), we\nmight naturally expect--besides this connected splendour--occasional\nrays of doctrinal light to rest upon this system of Christian\nmorals. . . . God purges iniquity by sacrifice, not nullifying the\nsanctions of the law by a simple deed of _mercy,_ but combining the\nmanifestations of His _truth_ by fulfilling these sanctions upon the\nSurety which _mercy_ provided (Isa. liii. 6, 2 Cor. v. 21). . . . So\ngloriously do these two attributes harmonise. We inquire not to which\nwe owe the deepest obligation. _Mercy_ engages, _truth_ fulfils the\nengagements. _Mercy_ provides--_truth_ accepts--the ransom. Both sat\ntogether in the Eternal council. Both made their public entrance\ntogether into the world. Both, like the two pillars of the temple\n(1 Kings vii. 21), combine to support the Christian's\nconfidence. . . . The exercise of forgiveness is to implant a\nconservative principle. _\"By the fear of the Lord men depart from\nevil.\"_ The supposition of pardon for a sinner continuing impenitent\nwould be to unite the two contraries of reconciliation and\nenmity.--_Bridges._\n\nThe Gospel in (1) _Justification_ and (2) _Sanctification_ is here as\nbeautifully announced as by any of the apostles. Justification makes\nits appearance as a covering of iniquity by _mercy and truth. \"Mercy\nand truth\"_ is the sum of holiness. How does holiness, therefore,\nwhich is _\"mercy and truth,\"_ cover sin? Undoubtedly by the Gospel\nmethod. . . . But then there is to be a _turning from evil._ This is\nSanctification. How is it to be accomplished? By ourselves, as the\nindispensable instrument. Mercy and truth win for us the Spirit; and\nthen, under this outfit, we are to set out upon the journey. The man\nin the temple must lift forth his hand (Matt. xii. 10). But how are\nwe to begin? This book tells us again and again. _\"The fear of\nJehovah\"_ is the beginning of wisdom (chap. ix. 10). The _turning_ is\nby an access of fear. But how are we to continue? The _turning_ is to\nbe kept up. It is more like a _departing._ Sin, being slow to wear\nout, the turning has to go on; and it becomes a journey; and we\ntravel each day, just as we set out. . . . And the very last of the\njourney, like the very beginning, is by _\"the fear of Jehovah.\"_ The\nactual _fear_ of Jehovah, tempered by love, is a thing of\n\"discipline\" (see on chap. xv. 33), which drives the Christian away\nfrom his iniquity.--_Miller._\n\nTo fear the Lord and to depart from evil, are phrases which the\nScriptures use in very great latitude to express to us the sum of\nreligion and the whole of our duty. 1. _It is very usual in Scripture\nto express the whole of religion by some eminent principle or part of\nit._ The great principles of religion are knowledge, faith,\nremembrance, love, and fear. And religion is called the \"knowledge of\nthe holy\" (Prov. xxx. 3), and the \"remembrance of God\" (Eccles.\nxii. 1), and the love of God (Rom. viii. 28, etc.), and here and\nelsewhere the \"fear of the Lord\" (Mal. iii. 16, etc.). So likewise\nthe sum of all religion is often expressed by some eminent part of\nit, as it is here expressed by departing from evil. It is described\nby seeking God (Heb. xi. 6) and by calling on His name (Acts ii. 21),\netc., etc. 2. _The fitness of these two phrases to describe\nreligion._ The fitness of the first will appear if we consider how\ngreat an influence the fear of God hath upon men to make them\nreligious. Fear is a passion that is most deeply rooted in our\nnatures, and flows immediately from that principle of\nself-preservation which God hath planted in every man. Everyone\ndesires his own preservation and happiness, therefore everyone has a\nnatural dread of anything that can destroy them. And the greatest\ndanger is from the greatest power, and that is omnipotency. So that\nthe fear of God is an inward acknowledgement of a holy and just\nbeing, who is armed with an almighty and irresistible power; God\nhaving hid in every man's conscience a secret awe and dread of His\ninfinite power and eternal justice. Now fear, being so intimate to\nour nature, is the strongest bond of laws, and the great security of\nour duty. . . . For though we have lost in a great measure the gust\nand relish of true happiness, yet we still retain a quick sense of\npain and misery. So that fear relies upon a natural love of\nourselves, and is complicated with a necessary desire of our own\npreservation. And therefore religion usually makes its entrance into\nus by this passion; hence, perhaps, it is that Solomon more than once\ncalls it the _\"beginning of wisdom.\"_ As for the second phrase, the\nfitness of it will appear if we consider the necessary connection\nthat there is between the negative and positive part of our duty. He\nthat is careful to avoid all sin will sincerely endeavour to perform\nhis duty. For the soul of man is an active principle, and will be\nemployed one way or the other, it will be doing something; if a man\nabstain from evil he will do good. \"Virtue begins in the forsaking of\nvice; and the first part of wisdom is not to be a fool.\" . . . The\nlaw of God, contained in the Ten Commandments, consists mostly of\nprohibitions which yet include obedience likewise to the positive\nprecepts contained in those prohibitions.--_Tillotson._\n\nNo object can well be more dull and meaningless than the stained\nwindow of an ancient church, as long as you stand without and look\nupon a dark interior; but when you stand within the temple, and look\nthrough that window upon the light from heaven, the still, sweet,\nsolemn forms that lie in it start into life and loveliness. The\nbeauty was all conceived by the mind, and wrought by the hand of the\nancient artist whose bones now lie mouldering in the surrounding\nchurchyard; but the beauty lies hid until two requisites come\ntogether--a seeing eye within, and a shining light without. We often\nmeet with a verse upon the page of the Old Testament Scriptures very\nlike those ancient works of art. The beauty of holiness is in it--put\ninto it by the Spirit from the first, and yet its meaning was not\nfully known until the Sun of Righteousness arose, and the Israel of\nGod, no longer kept in the outer court, entered through the rent\nveil, and from the Holy of Holies, looked through the ancient record\non an illuminated heaven. Many hidden beauties burst into view upon\nthe pages of the Bible, when Faith's open eye looks through it on the\nface of Jesus. One of these texts is now before us. . . . The first\nclause tells how the guilt of sin is forgiven; the second, how the\npower of sin is subdued. Solomon unites the two constituent elements\nof the sinner's deliverance in the same order in which his father\nexperienced them: \"I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy\ncommandments\" (Ps. cxix. 166). It is when iniquity is purged by free\ngrace that men practically depart from evil. . . . Mercy and truth\nmeet in the Mediator. In Christ the fire meets the water without\ndrying it up: the water meets the fire without quenching it.--_Arnot._\n\nBy iniquity God and men are severed, and never can iniquity be\npardoned until God and man meet again. To procure this meeting there\nmust be a meeting of mercy and truth, of mercy in God and truth in\nman. And these do call the one for the other. The mercy of God being\nready to forgive iniquity, calleth for truth in man to confess\niniquity; the truth of man being ready to confess his iniquity\ncalleth for the mercy of God to pardon his iniquity. Now these two\nreadily concurring, God and man are rejoined, and by their reunion\niniquity is purged. But then there must follow a departing from\niniquity. . . . For iniquity, forgiven and not forsaken, doubleth the\niniquity both in man's guilt and God's wrath. Wherefore, let the\nmercy of the Lord breed a fear in thee, and let the truth of thy\nrepentance appear, as well in shunning iniquity as in forsaking of\nit.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.\n\nPLEASING GOD.\n\n+I. There are times when men's ways do not please the Lord.+ _The\nways of the ungodly do not at any time please the Lord._ Because they\nhave no sympathy with His laws, and are at variance with His\ncharacter. _\"God is not in all their thoughts\"_ (Psalm x. 4), and it\nis impossible for God to be pleased with the ways of them who do not\nthink Him worth thinking about. A man must forsake his own ways and\ncome into God's ways before his ways can please the Lord. _The ways\nof a good man do not at all times please the Lord._ They sometimes\nstray from the royal road--the highway of righteousness--and get into\nbye-paths, and thus bring down upon themselves the displeasure of\ntheir God. David, though in the main a \"man after God's own heart,\"\nmore than once walked in paths that were displeasing to the Lord, and\nseveral incidents in his life teach us plainly that some ways of a\ngodly man may be very contrary to the Divine mind.\n\n+II. But God can be pleased by a man's ways.+ Those who strive to\nconform to our desires--who are in sympathy with our minds--naturally\nyield us pleasure. And a good man's desire is to conform his ways to\nthe Will of God--he is in sympathy with the mind of God, and his life\nis the outcome of that sympathy. Therefore he can yield pleasure to\nthe Eternal. If the Creator, in looking upon the inanimate works of\nHis hands, pronounces them \"good\" (Gen. i. 31) when He sees them\nfulfilling the design of their creation, how much more good in His\nsight is it when a moral and responsible creature who has power to\nturn out of the path ordained for him seeks patiently to continue in\nwell-doing notwithstanding all the temptations he has to encounter.\n\n+III. The consequence upon men's minds of thus giving pleasure to the\nDivine mind.+ The way of pleasing the Lord promotes \"favour and a\ngood understanding in the sight of God and man\" (chap. iii. 4). He\nwhose aim is to please God will desire and strive to live at peace\nwith men. And in cases where his godliness provokes the enmity of the\nungodly, God, by His overruling Providence, often directly interferes\non his behalf. He did so in the case of Jacob and Laban, in that of\nJoseph and his brethren, etc.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe doctrine of this verse, stands in apparent contradiction to\n2 Tim. iii. 12. The truth seems to be that neither of the passages is\nto be taken _universally._ The peace possessed by those who please\nGod does not extend so far as to exempt them from having enemies, and\nthough all godly men must be persecuted, yet none are persecuted at\nall times. The passage from Timothy may, therefore, refer to the\nnative enmity which true godliness is certain to excite, and the\nproverb to the Divine control over it.--_A. Fuller._\n\nThere would be more sunlight in the believer's life if he could leave\nthe dull negative fear of judgment far behind as a motive of action,\nand bound forward into the glad positive, a hopeful effort to please\nGod. . . . This is one of the two principles that stand together in\nthe Word, and act together in the Divine administration. Its\ncounterpart and complement is, \"If any man would live godly in Christ\nJesus, he must suffer persecution.\". . . Both are best; neither could\nbe wanted. If the principle that goodness exposes to persecution\nprevailed everywhere and always, the spirit would fail before Him and\nthe souls that He has made. Again, if the principle that goodness\nconciliates the favour of the world prevailed everywhere and always,\nno discipline would be done, and the service of God would degenerate\ninto mercenary self-interest. . . . A beautiful balance of opposites\nis employed to produce one grand result. . . . A Christian in the\nworld is like a human body in the sea--there is a tendency to sink\nand a tendency to swim. A very small force in either direction will\nturn the scale. Our Father in heaven holds the elements of nature and\nthe passions of men at His own disposal. His children need not fear,\nfor He keeps the balance in His own hands.--_Arnot._\n\nIf it is manifest that God makes Himself known, bestowing blessings\non a man, there lies in this a power of conviction which disarms his\nmost bitter opponents, excepting only those who have in selfishness\nhardened themselves.--_Delitzsch._\n\nWhatsoever a man's ways are, it is part of every man's intention to\nplease howsoever; it is the object that maketh the difference. All\nmen strive to please, but some to please themselves, some to please\nother men, and some few to please the Lord. . . . The last is--1. _A\nduty whereunto we stand bound by many obligations._ He is our Master,\nour Captain, our Father, our King. He is no honest servant that will\nnot strive to please his master. And he is no generous soldier who\nwill not strive to please his general. And that son hath neither\ngrace nor good nature in him that will not strive to please his\nfather, and he is no loyal subject that will not strive to please his\nlawful sovereign. And yet there may be a time when all those\nobligations may cease, for if it be their pleasure that we should do\nsomething that lawfully we may not, we must disobey, though we\ndisplease. But we can have no colour of plea for refusing to do the\npleasure of our heavenly Lord and Master, in anything whatsoever;\ninasmuch as we are sure nothing will please Him but what is just and\nright. With what a forehead, then, can any of us challenge from Him\neither wages as servants, or stipends as soldiers, or provision as\nsons, or protection as subjects, if we be not careful in every\nrespect to frame ourselves so as to please Him? 2. _It is our wisdom,\ntoo: in respect of the great benefits we shall reap thereby._ There\nis one great benefit expressed in the text, and the scope of those\nwords is to instruct us, that the fairest and likeliest way to\nprocure peace with men is to order our ways so as to please the\nLord. . . . The favour of God and the favour of men are often joined\ntogether in the Scriptures as if the one were consequent of the\nother. See Luke ii. 52; Prov. iii. 3, 4; Rom. xiv. 18, etc. . . . But\nit may be objected that sundry times when a man's ways are right, and\ntherefore pleasing to God, his enemies are nothing less, if not\nperhaps much more, enraged against him than formerly. . . . Sundry\nconsiderations may be of use to us in the difficulty, as, first, if\nGod have not yet made our enemies to be at peace with us, yet it may\nbe He will do it hereafter. Neither is it unlikely that we do not\nwalk with an even foot, and by a straight line, but tread away in\nsomething or other which displeaseth God, and for which He suffereth\ntheir enmity to continue. . . . Or if He do not presently make our\nenemies to be at peace with us, yet if He teach us to profit by their\nenmity, in exercising our faith and patience, in quickening us unto\nprayer, etc., is it not in every way, and incomparably better? Will\nany wise man tax Him with a breach of promise, who, having promised a\npound of silver, giveth a talent of gold? Or who can truly say that\nthat man is not as good as his word who is apparently much better\nthan his word?--_Bp. Sanderson._\n\nIt is our peace with God that maketh Him to make our enemies to be at\npeace with us, and it is our enmity against God's enemies that maketh\nGod to be at peace with us. Now, the enemies of God are the sins of\nmen, and if we be in a continual war with those, then do our ways\nplease God. Then it is that He is ready to please us, when our ways\nplease Him. Neither is He hard to please--a willingness, a desire to\nplease, is accepted by Him. He looks not--He requireth not--that we\nshould do exactly all that is contained in His commandments, but if\nwe go about to please Him--if we put ourselves carefully in the\nway--then do our ways please Him. And then will He give us that\nglorious victory over our enemies which is above all others. For to\nsubdue our enemies is but to make ourselves happy in their misery;\nbut to make our enemies at peace with us is a victory for God's hand,\nand giveth man a double triumph, as well over the hatred as the power\nof our enemies.--_Jermin._\n\n\nThe subject of verse 8 is substantially the same as that of chap.\nxv. 6 and 17. See Homiletics on page 405, etc.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"Better,\" for the tranquility of conscience, for the present\nenjoyment of this life, and for the life to come. In chap. xv. 16, we\nare warned against gain without religion, in chap. xv. 17, against\ngain without _love to our neighbour:_ here, against gain without\n_right.--Fausset._\n\nAbraham would not take to himself of the spoils of Sodom so much as\nthe value of a shoe-latchet, that it might never be said in after\ntimes that the king of Sodom had made Abraham rich; so neither will\nany godly man that hath learned the art of contentation, suffer a\npenny of the gain of ungodliness to mingle with the rest of his\nestate, that the devil may not be able to upbraid him with it\nafterwards to his shame, as if he had contributed something towards\nthe increasing thereof.--_Bishop Sanderson._\n\nA _little_ that is in man's own is better than a _great deal_ that is\nanother body's. Now that which a man hath with _righteousness_ is his\nown, for there can be no better title than that which righteousness\nmaketh. But that which thou hast _without right_ cannot be thine,\nhowsoever thou mayest account it, or others may call it. Possession\nmay be a great point in human laws, but it is nothing in God's law;\nthe want of right overthroweth whatsoever else may be said. Tis true,\nthou mayest have quiet possession on earth, but there be adversaries\nthat do implead the unrighteousness at God's judgment bar, where they\nare sure last to be cast, and where themselves will give the verdict\nwhich the wise man here doth.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nMAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.\n\n+I. This is a fact of national and individual history.+ In both\ninspired and uninspired records we meet with abundant confirmations\nof this truth. There is no more striking illustration of it than in\nthe life of Joseph. He leaves his father's house, as he supposes, for\na few days, little dreaming that he is traversing a path by which he\nwill never return. He only purposes to find his brethren, and \"see if\nit is well with them, and bring his father word again.\" But God is\nthen directing his steps into a far-off land--into slavery, to a\nprison, and through both to a throne. So the shepherd boy of\nBethlehem sets out with the unambitious intention of carrying\nsupplies to his brethren, and of seeing how the battle is likely to\ngo, and becomes himself the central figure in the camp, and the hero\nof his nation. And David's predecessor goes in search of his father's\nasses, and finds a crown and a kingdom at the end of his journey.\nCromwell, despairing of enjoying liberty in England, planned to make\na home in America, and, it is said, actually went on board a vessel\nwhich was about to sail. But God, using as an instrument the man to\nwhose throne he was to succeed, directed his steps in another\ndirection, and being forbidden to quit the country, he becomes not\nonly England's deliverer, but a great and powerful ruler, whose\ninfluence was felt throughout Europe. Clive went out to India as a\nclerk, because he had no prospects of getting a living at home, and\nlays the foundation of our Indian empire. And there is hardly a man\nliving who, if he reflects upon his past life, cannot remember\npassages in his own history which confirm the truth of the text. He\nmakes certain plans, and purposes to accomplish certain designs, and\nthe result of his doings is quite different from his intentions, or\nleads him to a place, or a position, or into relationships which were\nentirely out of his calculation when he \"devised his way.\"\n\n+II. This is a law which must be in operation till the end of time.+\nUnexpected events must be the outcome of man's plans and purpose,\nbecause he is finite and very short-sighted, and there is an Infinite\nand Omniscient Ruler of the universe, who comprehends in His plan of\nthe universe all the plans of His creatures, and in His plan\nconcerning every man all that man's devices and deeds. \"God professes\nin His Word,\" says Dr. Bushnell, \"to have purposes pre-arranged for\nall events; to govern by a plan which is from eternity even, and\nwhich, in some proper sense, comprehends everything. And what is this\nbut another way of conceiving that God has a definite place and plan\nadjusted for every human being? And without such a plan, He could not\neven govern the world intelligently, or make a proper universe of the\ncreated system; for it becomes a universe only in the grant unity of\nreason which includes it, otherwise it were only a jumble of\nfortuities without counsel, end, or law.\" This being so, a man can\nrejoice in the truth that \"The Lord directs his steps\"--that the\nevents of his life are not the outcome of chance, but are all under\nthe control of a supremely wise and benevolent King and Father. Not\nthat God's foreknowledge is the cause of man's actions, but that\nseeing He must know what shall come to pass, nothing takes Him by\nsurprise, and therefore nothing finds Him unprepared to arrange all a\nman's affairs after the counsel of His Own Will. Nothing happens\nwithout His permission; no good thing comes to a man's life without\nHis instigation and co-operation, and, if a man is willing to yield\nhimself to His guidance, He will not only direct his steps, but\ndirect them so as to further that man's true well-being--will make\n\"all things work together for good\" to him (Rom. viii. 28). The fact\nhere declared will redound to a man's eternal gain or loss according\nto the attitude which he takes towards God. \"There is then, I\nconclude, a definite and proper end, or issue, for ever man's\nexistence; an end which to the heart of God is the good intended for\nhim, or for which he was intended; that which he is privileged to\nbecome; called to become, ought to become; that which God will assist\nhim to become, save by his own fault. Every human soul has a complete\nand perfect plan cherished for it in the heart of God--a Divine\nbiography marked out which it enters into life to live. This life,\nrightly unfolded, will be a complete and beautiful whole, an\nexperience led on by God and unfolded by His secret nurture, as the\ntree and the flowers, by the secret nurture of the world; a drama\ncast in the mould of a perfect art, with no part wanting; a Divine\nstudy for the man himself, and for others; a study that shall for\never unfold, in wondrous beauty, the love and faithfulness of God;\ngreat in its conception, great in the Divine skill by which it is\nshaped; above all, great in the momentous and glorious issues it\nprepares. What a thought is this for every human being to cherish!\nWhat dignity does it add to life! What support does it bring to the\ntrials of life! What instigations does it add to send us onward in\neverything that constitutes our excellence! We live in the Divine\nthought. We fill a place in the great everlasting plan of God's\nintelligence. We never sink below His care--never drop out of His\ncounsel. But there is, I must add, a single and very important\nqualification. Things all serve their uses, and never break out of\ntheir place. They have no power to do it. Not so with us. We are\nable, as free beings, to refuse the place and duties God appoints;\nwhich, if we do, then we sink into something lower and less worthy of\nus. That highest and best condition for which God designed us is no\nmore possible. . . . And yet, as that was the best thing possible for\nus in the reach of God's original counsel, so there is a place\ndesigned for us now, which is the next best possible. God calls us\nnow to the best thing left, and will do so till all good possibility\nis narrowed down and spent. And then, when He cannot use us any more\nfor our own good, He will use us for the good of others--an example\nof the misery and horrible desperation to which any soul must come\nwhen all the good ends, and all the holy callings of God's friendly\nand fatherly purpose are exhausted. Or it may be now, that, remitting\nall other plans and purposes in our behalf, He will henceforth use\nus--wholly against our will--to be the demonstration of His justice\nand avenging power before the eyes of mankind, saying over us, as He\ndid over Pharaoh in the day of His judgments, 'Even for this same\npurpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee,\nand that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.'\nDoubtless He had other and more general plans to serve in this bad\nman, if only he could have accepted such; but, knowing his certain\nrejection of these, God turned His mighty counsel in him wholly on\nthe use to be made of him as a reprobate. How many Pharaohs in common\nlife refuse every other use God will make of them, choosing only to\nfigure, in their small way, as reprobates, and descending, in that\nmanner, to a fate that painfully mimics his.\"--(_Bushnell._)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe thought of the first verse, coming to be repeated, this versatile\nsentence-maker calls it back with different scenery. _\"The answer\"_\nor _\"decree of a tongue\"_ (ver. 1) is one pregnant act, _the \"step\"\nof a foot_ is another. Both may make a man or ruin him, for this\nworld, or that which is to come. The critical thing, in either case,\nis controlled by the Almighty. . . . _\"Heart,\"_ more intellectual\nthan the English _heart. \"Devises\"_ too intellectual for our\nemotional nature. It means _studies,_ or _deeply meditates._ The\nsinner really reflects upon his future wisdoms. Alas! they are too\nfuture! And when the future come, he _\"plants,\" \"sets firm his\nstep,\"_ quite differently from what he had decreed.--_Miller._\n\nThe doctrine of Providence is not like the doctrine of the\nTrinity--to be received by faith. Experience gives a demonstrable\nstamp of evidence--even in all the minuti\u00e6 of circumstances, which\nform the parts and pieces of the Divine plan.--_Bridges._\n\nIt _must_ be so. If there is a God at all it cannot be otherwise. It\nwere the height of irrationality as well as impiety for a moment to\nquestion it--to imagine the contrary possible. How otherwise could\nGod govern the world? Were not all human schemes under supreme and\nirresistible control, what could become of the certainty of the\nDivine?--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen it is said that a man's heart deviseth his way but the Lord\ndirecteth his steps, we must not think that the purpose of the\ncreature is condemned as an impertinence. It is an essential element\nof the plan. Neither human purposes, the material on which God\nexercises His sovereign control, nor the control which He exercises\non that material could be wanted. If there were no room for the\ndevices of men's hearts, providence would disappear, and grim hate,\nthe leaden creed that crushes Eastern nations in the dust, would come\nin its stead. If, on the other hand, these devices are left to fight\nagainst each other for their objects without being subjected all to\nthe will of a Living One, faith flees from the earth and the reign of\nAtheism begins. The desires of human hearts, and the efforts of human\nhands, do go into the processes of providence, and constitute the\nmaterial upon which the Almighty works. When God made men in His own\nimage, a new era was inaugurated and a new work begun. Hitherto, in\nthe government of this world, the Creator had no other elements to\ndeal with than matter and the instincts of brutes; but the moment\nthat man took his place on creation, a new and higher element was\nintroduced into its government. The sphere was enlarged and the\nprinciple elevated. There was more room for the display of wisdom and\npower. The will of intelligent moral beings being left free, and yet\nas completely controlled as matter and laws, makes the Divine\ngovernment much more glorious than the mere management of a material\nuniverse. For God's glory man was created, and that purpose will\nstand; a glory to God man will be, willing or unwilling, fallen or\nrestored, throughout the course of time, and at its close. The\ndoctrine of Scripture regarding Providence neither degrades man, nor\ninflates him. It does not make him a mere thing on the one hand, nor\na god on the other. It neither takes from him the attributes of\nhumanity, nor ascribes to him the attributes of Deity. It permits him\nfreely to propose, but leaves the ultimate disposal in a mightier\nhand.--_Arnot._\n\nThe doctrine of the text--I. _Should correct immoderate care about\nthe future events of our life._ What means this mighty bustle and\nstir--this restless perturbation of thought and care--as if all the\nissues of futurity rested wholly on thy conduct? Something depends\nupon thyself, and there is reason, therefore, for acting thy part\nwith prudence and attention. But upon a hand unseen it depends,\neither to overturn thy projects, or to crown them with success,\ntherefore thine attention should never run into immoderate care.\nII. _Should enforce moderation of mind in every state._ How little\nground the real situation of the most prosperous man affords for the\nvain _elation_ of mind, for he is dependent every moment on the\npleasure of a superior. III. _Places the vanity and folly of sinful\nplans in a very strong light._ The sinner has against him, first, the\ngeneral uncertainty which belongs to all the designs of men. And he\nhath also engaged against himself one certain and formidable enemy.\nIV. _That an interest in God's favour is far more important than all\nthe wisdom and ability of man._ In a world so full of uncertainty,\nlet us take pains to secure to ourselves one resting place, one\nhabitation that cannot be moved.--_Blair._\n\nGod having made man lord of the earth, He hath made him lord also of\nthe ways of the earth. He is not tied to this way or that way, but as\nhis heart deviseth, so he may go. And herein is the dignity of a man\nabove a beast. For that way must a beast go which he is driven: but\nman, not driven by fate, or constellation, or any other necessity, as\nmaster of himself, chooseth his own courses wherein to walk.\nNotwithstanding, man is not without an overseer, a ruler, by whom his\nsteps are directed. The wicked chooseth an evil way, but God\ndirecteth it to a good end. The good chooseth a good way, but it is\nby God brought to a good issue.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-15.\n\nKINGS.\n\nIt is obvious that some of these proverbs as they stand in our\nAuthorised Version, do not admit of universal application in relation\nto human monarchs. History and experience both contradict the\nassertion that a \"Divine sentence\" is always, or has been generally,\nin the lips of a human king, but if we understand the verse, as\nMiller does (see his comment) as an application of the truth set\nforth in the preceding verse and in verse 1, that God is behind and\nabove all the decrees of earthly potentates, we can at once admit the\nfact and rejoice in it. Again, it cannot, alas! be said that as a\nrule, \"righteous lips are the delight of kings,\" or that \"in the\nlight of the king's countenance is life.\" Many kings have been\nthemselves incarnations of iniquity, and have bestowed all their\nfavour upon men like themselves, and persecuted often to the death\nthose who have dared to tell them the truth. If this proverb admitted\nof universal application, Ahab would not have sought to slay Elijah,\nJeremiah would not have been imprisoned by Zedekiah, and Herod would\nnot have put to death John the Baptist. And the favour of most of the\nmen who have sat upon the thrones of the world would have had no life\nin it for some of their subjects. There has been a faithful few in\nall the ages of the world to whom the favour of their wicked rulers\nwould have been very unlike \"a cloud of the latter rain.\" But the\ntruths taught here are:--\n\n+I. That a king ought to be God's prophet and viceregent upon the\nearth.+ All painters have an ideal in their minds to which they\ndesire to attain in their handiwork. They must place before them the\nhighest model, if they would rise to anything like excellence. And\nSolomon, as a great theoretic moralist, is here setting before\nhimself, and before all rulers, an ideal king. Kingship among men\nought to be a type and symbol of Divine kingship. The loyal obedience\nwhich the majority of men have always been ready to yield to those\nwho they have regarded as their appointed rulers, has its root deep\ndown in the constitution of human nature--it is a prophecy of a need\nwhich is only fully met in the rule of the true and perfect King of\nmen--that King whose right it is to reign, and who can do no wrong to\nany of His subjects. \"That was not an inconsiderable moment,\" says\nCarlyle, \"when wild armed men first raised their strongest aloft on\nthe buckler-throne, and, with clanging armour and hearts said\nsolemnly, Be thou our acknowledged strongest (well named King,\n_K\u00f6n-ning,_ Canning, or Man that was Able), what a symbol shone now\nfor them--significant with the destinies of the world! A symbol of\ntrue guidance in return for loving obedience; properly, if he knew\nit, the prime want of man. A symbol which might be called sacred, for\nis there not, in reverence for what is better than we, an\nindestructible sacredness?\" And when a king realises what idea he\nembodies, and strives to fulfil worthily the duties of his high\ncalling, and in proportion as he does so, he is a representative of\nGod to men. Then he will have a _Divine sentence_ in his mouth\nbecause he will be a truth-speaker. His lips will be a reflection of\nhis character. Being a man of truth, he cannot do other than speak\nthe truth. He will be able in a limited sense to use the words of His\nDivine Ideal, and say, _\"To this end was I born, and for this cause\ncame I into the world, that I should bear witness of the truth\"_\n(John xviii. 37). And as all truth and justice is from God (ver. 11),\nhe who is a truth-speaker--he from whose lips come only just\ndecisions, utters a \"Divine sentence\"--is a representative of Him\nwhose \"is a just weight and balance,\" whose \"work are all the weights\nof the bag.\" To such an one it will be \"an abomination to commit\nwickedness\"--any kind of iniquity will be detested by him. He will\nnot--he cannot--be a sinless man; the desires and intentions of every\ngood man are always beyond his deeds--he can always say, \"To will is\npresent with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not\"\n(Rom. vii. 18), but he will not commit sin because he loves it. Such\na king will be a real benefactor to his nation by exalting the true\nand the good, and so blessing all. It is a blessing for all\nmen--whether they be good or bad--when the best men in the nation are\nin the fore-front--when the righteous fill the highest positions in\nthe State. And a true king will gladly avail himself of the services\nof men of \"righteous lips,\" and so will be a source of blessing to\nall his people. The \"latter rain\" which refreshes the thirsty earth\nafter a long season of drought lets its life-giving drops fall upon\nthe parched leaves of the humblest weed as well as upon the stately\noak. And the influence of a wise and godly monarch is beneficial to\nall classes of his subjects from the highest to the lowest. All such\nare types--dim foreshadowings--of that _\"king who reigns in\nrighteousness and who is as an hiding place from the wind, and a\ncovert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as a\nshadow of a great rock in a weary land\"_ (Isa. xxxii. 1, 2).\n\n+II. That the stability of a throne is in proportion to the moral\nexcellence of him who sits upon it.+ The power that men have over\nother men is lasting in proportion as it has its origin in character.\nThe father's kingship over his children is immutable in proportion to\nhis goodness. If his rule has its foundation only in his position,\nhis children will not be slow to shake it off as they reach manhood;\nbut if it is founded upon his godliness, they will be compelled to\nacknowledge it to the day of his death and even beyond it. His throne\nin his family is \"established by righteousness,\" the consciences of\nhis children consent to his right to reign among them and over them.\nThe throne of the universe is established by righteousness. _\"Thy\nthrone, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a\nright sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness;\ntherefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness\nabove thy fellows\"_ (Psalm xlv. 6, 7). This King of Righteousness is\nnow enthroned in the affections and consciences of myriads of His\nsubjects, and He who rules men's _hearts_ has set his throne upon a\nfirm foundation. And there will come a day when every creature will\nbe compelled by his conscience to yield to _\"Him that sitteth upon\nthe throne,\"_ the right to reign over them for ever (Rev. v. 13),\nbecause they will feel that all his ways are and ever have been\n_\"just and true\"_ (Rev. xv. 3). If we read the history of the past or\nlook around us now, we find this truth abundantly illustrated.\nThrones which have been backed up by mighty armies, and whose\noccupants have for a few short years been the arbiters of the\ndestinies of millions, have been overturned in a few weeks. And we\nhave but to look at the steps by which such men came to power to find\na reason for their fall. None can doubt from the experience of past\nages, and from the very constitution of men, that the thrones of the\npresent are founded upon a rock or upon sand, in proportion as those\nwho sit upon them take as their model the king who _\"judges His\npeople with righteousness and the poor with judgment\"_ (Psalm\nlxxii. 2).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 10. \"A Divine sentence\" may be understood either as to its\n_character,_ or as to its _authoritative effect._ If taken in the\nformer sense, it means a sentence according to perfect _equity;_ if\nin the latter, the idea is, that as every judgment or \"sentence\" of\nGod is _decisive and effectual,_ so that the execution of it cannot\nbe evaded or resisted, such, in measure, is the case with the\nsentence of kings among men, and in the general idea of a Divine\nsentence may fairly be included both character and efficiency--both\nequity and power. When understood of _equity,_ the latter part of\nthe verse, according to the principle of Hebrew parallelisms will be\na kind of counterpart or echo to the former, and when understood of\n_power,_ the verse might be rendered--\"A Divine sentence is in the\nlips of the king; _let not_ his mouth transgress in judgment.\" In\nproportion to the authoritative and efficacious nature of his\nsentence, ought he to see to it that the sentence be right. He should\nweigh well his decision ere he pronounces it, seeing it involves\nconsequences so certain, immediate, and important. And the principle\nof this lesson applies to all in situations of authority and\ninfluence, whether more private or more public.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe glaring fact of what Solomon avows in verse 9 can be seen in the\ninstance of _\"a king.\"_ The word of a king can ruin France, and\nchange the whole system of the world. How, possibly, could God\ngovern, unless He could a king? Eternal ages will not get over the\nedict of a prince, and the banded universe will feel its differences.\nMust not God control that word? Our passage answers that He does. He\nmay be George III. of the low forehead; his speech is shaped\nomnisciently. He may be as treacherous as Charles; he does not betray\nby a hair the counsel of the Almighty. This is a grand thought. A\npoor princeling may be governed by a girl, and yet, though his\nutterance might move the globe, we need have no fear. There is _\"a\ndivination,\" i.e.,_ \"an oracle,\" behind _\"his lips.\"_ He says what\nGod pleases. And though _\"his mouth\"_ may have the very treachery of\nthe cup, it has no treachery--even to a grain--to the plans of the\nAll Wise.--_Miller._\n\nIt cannot be denied but that there is a nearer reference between God\nand His immediate deputies, the kings of the earth, than any other\npersons. He that maketh them kings maketh Himself to be their\ncounsel. But then they must make Him the president of their\ncouncil.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 11, considered by itself, see on chap. xi. 1,\npage 190.\n\nVerse 11. The proposition expresses an ownership in Jehovah as the\nfirst cause, for, like agriculture (Ecclus. vii. 15), God instituted\nweights and measures, as an indispensable ordinance and instrument in\njust business intercourse.--_Z\u00f6ckler._\n\nWeights and measures, as the invisible and spiritual means by which\nmaterial possessions are estimated and determined for man, according\nto their value, are holy unto the Lord, a copy of His law in the\nouter world, taken up by Himself into His sanctuary; and, therefore,\nas His work, to be regarded as holy also by men.--_Von Gerlach._\n\nThe heathen poet Hesiod says, \"God gave justice to men.\"--_Fausset._\n\nHe is not only just, but justice _belongs_ to Him. He is not only\npartly just, but _\"His work\"_ (and we see at a glance that God's\n_work_ is the total universe) is in its very self considered, \"all\nthe stones of the bag.\" _Stones,_ better weights than iron, because\nnot altering by rust. _Bag,_ in which the stone weights were carried,\nin the peripatetic barter of the old tradespeople. No difficulty\nshould be had in understand all of which the sentence is capable.\nGod's _work_ is justice and justice is His _work._ The very ideas of\nequity spring out of the Eternal Mind. If all this were not so how\ncould God govern the creation, for _\"It is an abomination to kings to\ncommit wickedness,\"_ etc. (ver. 12).--_Miller._\n\nThe Jews are said to have kept their standard weights and measures\n_in the sanctuary._ The fact might arise from the particularity of\nthe law, and might operate as a remembrancer of the righteousness of\nHim by whom the law was given, and the weights and measures\nfixed. . . . All adulteration of them was therefore a _sacrilege._ It\nwas not cheating men merely, but defrauding Jehovah, changing what He\nhad fixed. . . . And from the connection in which the words are here\nintroduced they lead us to observe that while kings are called up to\n\"do justly\" themselves in their whole administration and in every\ndepartment of it, it is, at the same time, a most important part of\ntheir official duty to promote among their subjects, to the utmost of\ntheir power, the principles and the practice of equity between man\nand man.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 12. This is true of earthly monarchies. _\"A throne,\"_ without\nsome equity in it, could not last an instant. If it were\nunmitigatedly bad, it would be swept out of existence. A king must be\njust to his people, or else to his soldiers, who support him against\nhis people. His strength is justice, somewhere. The strength of a bad\nthrone is precisely that part of it that is just. But if this be true\nof a world's throne, where it has been seen that God governs as well\nas the king, how not of a Divine throne, that rests solely on its\nMaker? It is impossible to conceive of a universe without justice, or\nof anything so complicated being externally possible without every\nsort of harmony, and especially that sort which is highest and best.\nHence many of the expressions in the eighth chapter (verses 22, 30,\netc.), the personage being personified Wisdom, which is holiness or\nmoral light, and which includes all the attributes of\njustice.--_Miller._\n\nThe greater men be, the more grievous their faults are when they fall\ninto sin. For--1. The more bountiful God hath been to them, the more\ngrateful they ought to be to Him, and as He hath increased their\nwages, so they ought to mend their work; large pay doth duly\nchallenge large pains, and therefore, contrariwise, their great\noffences must needs deserve the greater punishment. 2. Their sins are\nvery pernicious and pestilent, they bring evil into request, and men\nby their example will practise it for credit's sake. When Jeroboam is\nmentioned, he is usually described by this, that _he made Israel to\nsin._ 3. They draw down the plagues and judgments upon the places and\npeople that are under them, as David did. And the strokes which the\nfearful sins of Manasseh, Jehoiakim, and others brought upon the city\nand inhabitants of Jerusalem were very lamentable in those days, and\nvery memorable still in these times. . . . The goodness and justice\nof men in authority doth better uphold their estate than greatness\nand riches. \"The throne is established by righteousness,\"\nfor--(1) There, and nowhere else, is stability and assurance, where\nGod is a refuge and defence; they stand all firm whom He protecteth,\nand down they must whom He neglecteth. And whom doth He prefer but\nthe righteous? And what righteous man was ever forsaken? (2) Equal\nand upright administration of justice doth knit the hearts of a\npeople to their governors, and the love of the subjects is a strong\nfoot and a mighty munition for the safety of the ruler. (3) When the\nmagistrate doth right to all and wrong to none, every good and\nindifferent man will reverence him, and stand in the greater awe of\nhis laws, so that none but such are as desperately rebellious will\ndare to attempt anything against him.--_Dod._\n\n\nVerse 13. There never was a kingdom so corrupt that its courts of\njustice were not used, in the main, against wickedness. There never\nwas a Nero, or a Borgia, who, on the very account of his crimes, did\nnot find crime sore, and a trouble to him, in those about him. It is\none of the strangest miracles of Omnipotence that a universe can take\nin transgression and yet last. And, while God has made even the\nwicked \"for his decree\" (ver. 4), yet \"a pleasure to kings are lips\nof righteousness, and he who speaks right is loved.\"--_Miller._\n\nWe have here in this passage Solomon's king, and in these words the\ndelight of his king. For, whereas, many are, and well may be, the\ndelights of kings, this one it is, the delight of righteousness,\nwhich sweetens all the rest unto them. This is a royal delight\nindeed, which makes the king of righteousness to delight in them. And\nsurely needful it is that a king's lips should delight in\nrighteousness. For _fear_ may compel others, but _delight_ must carry\nhim unto it. Needful is it that righteous lips should be a king's\ndelight, because it is in kings' courts that there is too much lying.\nWe read of one who said that he would be a lying prophet in the\nmouths of all Ahab's prophets (1 Kings xxii. 22), to which the answer\nof God is, Thou shalt go and prevail. Upon which the note of Cajetan\nis, \"God manifested the efficacy of this means--namely, of lying in\nthe Court.\" It is needful, therefore, that the king should delight in\nlips of righteousness, for he that doth himself delight in them will\nalso love others that speak right; yea, will therefore love them that\nthey also may delight in it. For then is righteousness best spoken\nwhen delight openeth the door of the lips.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. The report of one may be a mistake, but the relation of\nmany carrieth more force with it. The wrath, therefore, of a king is\nas _messengers_ of death, enough to pull down the stoutest heart; and\nif his moved spirit send down this message to any, it is sufficient\nto tell them and to assure them, that they had need to look unto\nthemselves. But well it is that the wrath of a king is as the\n_messengers_ of death, and not the _executioners_ of it. For so it\nought to be, that himself may have time either to alter or recall his\nmessage, and they may have time to whom it is sent to answer for\nthemselves. St. Peter was hasty in wrath when he cut off the ear of\nMalchus, whereupon Tertullian saith, \"The patience of God was wounded\nin Malchus.\" And surely the mercy of God is often wounded in the\nhasty wrath of a king. Plutarch saith well, that as bodies through a\ncloud, so through anger things seem greater than they are. To put\ntherefore wrath to a journey, is a good way to moderate, if by\nnothing else, by wearying the hasty fierceness of it. And let a wise\nman have respite to meet with it, he will with gentle blasts of cool\nair easily mitigate the violent force of it. Let him be told of a\nking's wrath against him, he need not be told that he take care to\nprevent it. But, though great be the wrath of heaven against careless\nsinners, and though many be the messengers that He sendeth to them,\nyet they all cry, \"Who hath believed our report?\" Did they hear one\nword of an earthly king's anger against them, it would more move them\nthan the whole Word of God doth, wherein the message of His anger is\nso often repeated. The answer which they send back to the message of\nGod's wrath, is obstinate rebellion in their sinful\ncourses.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nExecutions in the East are often very prompt and arbitrary. In many\ncases the suspicion is no sooner entertained, or the cause of offence\ngiven, than the fatal order is issued. The messenger of death hurries\nto the unsuspecting victim, shows his warrant, and executes his\norders that instant, in silence and solitude. Instances of this kind\nare continually occurring in the Turkish and Persian histories. Such\nexecutions were not uncommon among the Jews under the government of\ntheir kings. Solomon sent Benaiah as his capidgi, or executioner, to\nput to death Joab, the commander-in-chief of the forces during the\nreign of his father. A capidgi likewise beheaded John the Baptist,\nand carried his head to the court of Herod. To such silent and hasty\nexecutioners the royal Preacher seems to refer in the proverb. From\nthe dreadful promptitude with which Benaiah executed the commands of\nSolomon on Adonijah and Joab, it may be concluded that the\nexecutioner of the court was as little ceremonious, and the ancient\nJews nearly as passive, as the Turks or Persians. The prophet Elisha\nis the only person on the inspired record who ventured to resist the\nbloody mandate of the sovereign (2 Kings vi. 32). But if such\nmandates had not been too common among the Jews, and in general\nsubmitted to without resistance, Jehoram had scarcely ventured to\ndespatch a single messenger to take away the life of so eminent a\nperson as Elisha.--_Paxton's Illustrations._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 15. As the wise man before teacheth subjects to fear the king's\nwrath, and to seek his favour, so here he teacheth kings to join the\nlight of mercy, the softness of clemency, unto the hardness and\nseverity of wrath. Or else we may thus meditate upon the words--the\ntrue favour of a king is not only to shine with a cheerful\ncountenance upon them whom he affecteth, but sometimes to look\nthrough a thick cloud upon them. For as the light of the sun giveth\nlife to the fruits of the earth, but the cloud of latter rain giveth\nbigness and fulness unto them, so the light of the king's countenance\ngiveth life to the fruits of earthly honour, but it is the dewy cloud\nof his wise displeasure, when things are amiss, that giveth fulness\nof worth unto them whom his favour honoureth. The latter rain many\ntimes does them more good and sheweth in the king greater favour to\nthem than his former sunshining countenance. But to apply the verse\nunto a fuller profit. The light of the countenance of the King of\nheaven is Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the brightness of His glory;\nand in this light there is life indeed. For as He is light and in Him\nis no darkness, so He is life, and in Him is no death. It was in the\n_latter time_ that He was _clouded_ with the veil of our flesh, and\nthat He became a heavenly _cloud of the latter rain_ unto us, pouring\nout the glorious dew of His precious blood for us, that so, we being\nwatered therewith might even swell in grace, and grow to a fulness of\nglory in heaven. . . . In Judea usually about harvest time there are\nevening clouds which, yielding a sweet rain, do much increase the\nlargeness of the fruits; and in the evening of the world, when the\nharvest was great, this heavenly cloud was sent upon us, whereby the\nfruit of God's Church, confined before to Judea, was enlarged\nthroughout the world.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 16, see chap. viii. 10, 11, page 107.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNot wisdom, but \"to get wisdom.\" Wisdom itself is glorious. Wisdom in\nGod is above all praise. It will be the gem of Paradise. It will be\nthe grand opulence of the family of the skies. But what the great\nPreacher would confine us to in the language of the text is, our\n_getting_ wisdom as the evangelical condition; our getting it,\nmoreover, in time, like \"the latter rain,\" so as to be in season for\nthe crop; for, as a former sentence urges (chap. iv. 7), \"As the\nchiefest thing in wisdom, get wisdom.\" Because, \"what shall it profit\na man, if he gain the whole world,\" if God is his \"King,\" and \"the\nwrath of the King\" makes all His providences but as messengers of\ngloom (ver. 14).--_Miller._\n\nLet us call to mind in word-outline the scene on a spring morning in\nthe city of David, when David's son was \"king in Jerusalem.\" Before\nthe portico of the fragrant cedar-house of Solomon, the royal guards,\nCherithites and Pelethites, executioners and messengers of the kings'\nbehests, waited their master's coming. Impatient steeds from Arabia,\nor the far-off banks of the Nile, pawed the highway, and shook with\npride their plumes and costly accoutrements. Soldiers, with silken\nstandards blazoned with the sacred Name, and throwing back the\nsunlight from their targets and shields of beaten gold, kept their\nranks firm and close, as if the foe were at hand, and the silver\ntrumpets waited but to sound the battle charge. Veterans, grown grey\nin David's service, and wearing the laurels of many a hard-fought\nfield, were driven all along the line in their chariots of State, and\nthe grim faces of these old warriors gleamed with satisfaction as\nthey looked about them on the evidences of their nation's military\nstrength. . . . But now the trumpets sound, and the echoing shout of\nwelcome rises on the morning air. Solomon, arrayed in all his glory,\nappears, and the cry, \"God save the king!\" is heard on every side.\nChildren chanting their sweet hosannahs to David's son and David's\nheir strew the path with the lilies of the field, or the roses of\nSharon, and the boughs of palms. Others throw their garments upon the\ndusty highway as the long procession moves to the soft music of\nEastern minstrelsy along the narrow streets, and out upon the broader\npathway leading to the royal gardens, or the cool retreats of Olivet,\neach beaming face by the wayside, or peering from latticed balcony,\neach welcome shout and song from the daughters of Jerusalem, or the\ntrained singers of the temple choirs, attest the affection of a\ngrateful people, and make of the monarch's morning progress a\ntriumphal ovation. Such was Solomon in all his glory; such the\npopular acclaim, and we might go on to tell until the tale were\ntiresome to tell how \"Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth,\"\nin riches, splendour, fame. But was this the principal thing? Had\nSolomon in getting all this glory, and in winning all this praise,\ngained that with which his soul was satisfied, and the cravings of\nhis nobler self appeased. Years before. . . . \"Give me wisdom and\nknowledge,\" was his prayer. . . . Even in the wishes of one so\nlately invested with royal power, wisdom in its relation to his\nMaker, knowledge so far as it concerned his fellow-men, seemed the\nprincipal thing. And that prayer was heard in heaven. . . . He to\nwhom God gave such gifts may well direct us to the possession of this\nprincipal thing. We need not ask for an earthly teacher with higher\nqualifications.--_Bishop Perry._\n\nGold is the crown of metals, wisdom is the crown of knowledge. Silver\nbeareth the image of an earthly king, understanding beareth the image\nof the King of heaven. Gold is the treasure of the purse, wisdom the\ntreasure of the soul. Silver is the price of outward commodities,\nunderstanding is the price of inward virtues; by that sought, by that\nbought. Wherefore by how much knowledge is better than metal, virtue\nthan worldly commodities, the image of God than the image of man; by\nso much wisdom and knowledge are better than silver and gold. But\nthey are not wisdom and understanding that are here compared with\nthem, there being no comparison between them. But the very _getting_\nof wisdom and understanding, the very pains taken in procuring of\nthem, the very honour of being a possessor of them, is better than\nall the gold and silver in the world.--_Jermin._\n\nThe question only is written in the book; the learner is expected to\nwork out the answer. We, of this mercantile community, are expert in\nthe arithmetic of time. Here is an example to test our skill in\ncasting up the accounts of eternity. Deeper interests are at stake;\ngreater care should be taken to avoid an error, more labour willingly\nexpended in making the balance true. . . . The question is strictly\none of degree. It is not, whether wisdom or gold is the more precious\nportion for a soul. That question was settled long ago by common\nconsent. All who in any sense make a profession of faith in God,\nconfess that wisdom is better than gold; and this teacher plies them\nwith another problem, _How much better?_ Two classes of persons have\nexperience in this matter--those who have chosen the meaner portion,\nand those who have chosen the nobler; but only the latter class is\ncapable of calculating the difference suggested by the text. Those\nwho give their heart to money understand only the value of their own\nportion; those who possess treasures in heaven have tasted both\nkings, and can appreciate the difference between them. . . . As the\nman born blind cannot tell how much better light is than his native\ndarkness--as the slave born under the yoke of his master cannot tell\nhow much better liberty is than his life-long bondage--so he who has\ndespised treasures at God's right hand cannot conceive how much more\nprecious they are to a man in his extremity than the riches that\nperish in the use. . . . But even these cannot compute the\ndifference. Eye hath not seen it, ear hath not heard it. Wisdom from\nabove, like the love of God, passeth knowledge. . . . How much better\nis wisdom than gold? Better by all the worth of a soul--by all the\nblessedness of heaven--by all the length of eternity. But all these\nexpressions are only tiny lines that children fling into the ocean to\nmeasure its depth withal. . . In a time of war between two great\nmaritime nations, a ship belonging to one of them is captured upon\nthe high seas by a ship belonging to the other. The captain, with a\nfew attendants, goes on board his prize, and directs the native crew\nto steer for the nearest point of his country's shore. The prize is\nvery rich. The victors occupy themselves wholly in collecting and\ncounting the treasure, and arranging their several shares, abandoning\nthe care of the ship to her original owners. These, content with\nbeing permitted to handle the helm, allow their rivals to handle the\ntreasure unmolested. After a long night, with a steady breeze, the\ncaptured mariners quietly, at dawn, run the ship into a harbour on\ntheir own shores. The conquerors are in turn made captives. They lose\nall the gold which they grasped too eagerly, and their liberty\nbesides. In that case it was much better to have hold of the helm\nwhich directed the ship, than of the money which the ship contained.\nThose who seized the money, and neglected the helm, lost even the\nmoney which was in their hands. Those who neglected the money and\nheld the helm, obtained the money which they neglected and liberty\ntoo. They arrived at home, and all their wealth with them. Thus they\nwho make money their aim suffer a double loss, and they who seek the\nwisdom from above secure a double gain. The gold with which men are\noccupied will profit little, if the voyage of life be not pointed\nhome. If themselves are lost, the possessions are worthless.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nSOUL-PRESERVATION.\n\n+I. The main object of an upright man's care--his soul.+ Every human\ncreature is possessed of an instinct to preserve his bodily life and\nwell-being. An upright man has also a spiritual instinct which leads\nhim to guard carefully his spiritual life--his soul. He is desirous\nof keeping a conscience purged from dead works--free from bruise or\nmoral taint. 1. _He seeks to preserve his soul because of the value\nhe places upon its powers._ We are wont to value material things\naccording to the power they possess to fulfil certain ends. A skilful\nworkman values a piece of mechanism in proportion to the complicated\nand various movements which it can execute. And in proportion to the\nvalue set upon it will be the care taken to preserve it. Human life\nis valued according to its abilities to do things which cannot be\ndone by many. The life of a great statesman, of a skilful physician,\nis of more value to the race than the lives of a hundred ordinary\nmen, because their power to minister to the welfare and health of\ntheir fellow-creatures so far surpasses the power of ordinary men.\nAnd the upright man values his soul because of its mighty and almost\ninfinite capabilities and powers. In its present undeveloped\ncondition it can suffer much and can enjoy much, it can become a\npartaker of the \"Divine nature\" (2 Pet. i. 4), and he knows that its\npowers will be mightily increased and multiplied after the death of\nthe body. 2. _He seeks to preserve it because of the value God sets\nupon it._ If we come into possession of a precious gem and desire to\nknow its value, we take it to one who we are certain is qualified to\njudge in such matters, and our estimate of it is increased or\nlessened in proportion to his opinion. He who wants to know the value\nof his soul must go to the only Being in the universe who is certain\nnot to err in the price he sets upon it. Jesus Christ Himself has\ngiven to men His estimate of the worth of the human soul, both in His\nword and in His deeds. He who is fully acquainted with all its powers\nand possibilities for good and evil--of suffering and of joy--has\nsaid, _\"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and\nlose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his\nsoul?\"_ (Matt. xvi. 26). And He has gone beyond words. To save men's\nsouls He, _\"being in the form of God . . . took upon Him the form of\na servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in\nfashion as a man, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death,\neven the death of the cross\"_ (Phil. ii. 6-8). The wise man values\nhis soul according to the estimate of Gethsemane and Calvary, and\ntherefore he counts it the chief business of his life to guard it.\n\n+II. There can be no preservation of the soul except by departure\nfrom evil.+ The human nature of even the best men in this world is\nduplex. The ruling power in a godly man is good, but there are also\nevil tendencies within him still. He subscribes to the apostolic\nconfession, \"Evil is present with me,\" (Rom. viii. 21). But there\nmust be a constant departure from evil by a constant effort to do\ngood. The strengthening of holy affections will most effectually\ncheck the power of sinful desires. The dominion of sin will be\nweakened by the formation of holy habits. In other words, keeping the\nhighway of the upright is in itself a departure from evil--\"following\nafter righteousness is fleeing from sin\" (1 Tim. vi. 11).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"The highway,\"_ a way _cast up._ Such ways were convenient in the\nEast;--first, for being found; second, for being travelled.\n_\"Departing from evil\"_ is a way that opens itself as we press on.\nOne evil cured, like the big coal lump in the digging, clears the way\nto another. So much (1) for its being found; then (2) as to its being\ntravelled. Conceive of how a man could get to heaven except on such a\n_\"highway.\"_ We cannot move nearer except on some sort of _way._\nThere is no sort of _\"way\"_ except the discipline of wisdom. There is\nno discipline of wisdom except _\"the departing from evil.\"_ The only\nthing a soul can do for itself under the grace of the Spirit is to\nexercise itself unto godliness (1 Tim. iv. 7). And therefore the last\nclause is important, which intimates the fact that we cannot _\"guard\nour souls\"_ directly,--that we _watch our souls_ by _watching our\nway_--and that the plan to fit a lost spirit for Paradise is, under\nthe grace of the Redeemer, to observe its steps--to see that one by\none they are taken so as to depart from evil.--_Miller._\n\n_The highway of the upright is to depart from evil._ That is his\nroad, his desire and endeavour, his general purpose, though sometimes\n(by mistake, or by the violence of temptation), he step out of the\nway, and turn aside to sin, yet there is no \"way of wickedness in\nhim\" (Psa. cxxxix. 24). _He that keepeth his way preserveth his\nsoul._ As if a man be out of God's precincts he is out of His\nprotection. \"He shall keep thee in all thy ways\" (Psa. xci. 11), not\nin all thine outstrays. He that leaves the highway, and takes to\nbyeways, travelling at unseasonable hours, etc., if he fall into foul\nhands, may go look his remedy, the law allows him none.--_Trapp._\n\nI should say that this last clause is a notable; and the lesson that\nI should read and give forth from it is: _\"the reflex influence of\nthe outward walk upon the inner man.\"--Chalmers._\n\nOur English word \"highway\" doth well express the force of the\noriginal. And as we call it the highway, either because it is the\nking's way, who is the highest, or else because it is made higher\nthan the rest, for the more clearness of it, _so the way of the\nupright is a highway,_ because it is the way of the King of Heaven;\nand because it is higher, and so cleaner from the dust of the\nworld. . . . There is hardly any so perpetual follower of wickedness\nas that he doth not sometimes _depart from evil._ And this it is\nwhich many other times doth embolden him in the embracing of it. For\nif a wicked man once do well he conceiveth it so great a matter as\nthat he imagineth that God ought to pardon his doing ill many times\nfor it. But _to depart from evil is the way of_ the upright. It is\ntheir common and ordinary course, wherein they go as frequently as\npassengers do go along the highway of the earth. All may see what\nthey do, they care not who looks on, for their way being to depart\nfrom evil they walk in the highway, where everyone may view them. And\nthere they walk the rather that others also may follow them, and\ndeparting from evil may be joined to them in the highway to\nheaven.--_Jermin._\n\nEvery man has a highway of his own. It is formed, as our forefathers\nformed their roads, simply by walking often on it and without a\npre-determined plan. Foresight and wisdom may improve the moral path,\nas much as they have in our day improved the material. The highway of\nthe covetous is to depart from poverty and make for riches with all\nhis might. In his eagerness to take the shortest cut he often falls\nover a precipice, or loses his way in a wood. The highway of the vain\nis to depart from seriousness, and follow mirth on the trail of\nfools. The highway of the ambitious is a toilsome scramble up a\nmountain's side towards its summit, which seems in the distance to be\na paradise basking in sunlight above the clouds; but when attained is\nfound to be colder and barer than the plain below. The upright has a\nhighway too, and it is to \"depart from evil.\" The upright is not an\nunfallen angel, but a restored man. He has been in the miry pit, and\nthe marks of the fall are upon him still. . . . The power of evil\nwithin him is not entirely subdued, the stain of evil is not entirely\nwiped away. He hates sin now in his heart, but he feels the yoke of\nit in his flesh still. His back is turned to the bondage that he\nloathes, his face to the liberty which he loves. . . . The preserving\nof your soul depends upon the keeping of your way. . . . It is in the\n_way,_ the _conduct,_ the _life,_ that the breach occurs whereby a\nsoul is lost that seemed to bid fair for a better land. It is\nprobable that with nine people out of ten in this favoured land the\nenemy finds it easier to inject actual impurity into the life than\nspeculative error into the creed. A shaken faith leads a life astray;\nbut also a life going astray makes shipwreck of faith. I do not teach\nthat any righteousness done by the fallen can either please God or\njustify a man; but I do teach on the authority of the Bible that a\nslipping from the way of righteousness and purity in actual life is\nthe mainstay of Satan's kingdom--the chief destroyer of souls. . . .\nThe miners in the gold-fields of Australia, when they have gathered a\nlarge quantity of dust, make for the city with the treasure. The mine\nis far in the interior. The country is wild: the bush is infested\nwith robbers. The miners keep the road and the daylight. They march\nin company, and close to the guard sent to protect them. They do not\nstray from the path among the woods, for they bear with them a\ntreasure which they value, and they are determined to run no risks.\nDo likewise, brother, for your treasure is of greater value--your\nenemies of greater power. Keep the way, lest you lose your\nsoul.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 18, 19.\n\nTHE END OF PRIDE.\n\n+I. Pride has a present place and power in the world.+ All human\nhistory bears witness to the existence of pride in the human heart,\nand to the mighty influence it has always exerted upon the destinies\nof men. And it is in the full exercise of its power to-day; in\nvarious forms, and under various modifications, it still holds its\nplace in the nation, in the social circle, and in the individual\nheart. Would that we could speak of it as an existence of the past,\nand had only to mourn over the mischief that it has wrought in bygone\nages. But we cannot speak of it as a mighty tyrant who once held sway\nover men to their destruction, but whose dominion has long ceased to\nexist. To-day, as in the days of old, we must use the present tense\nand say, \"Pride goeth.\" Pride is not like some monster who lived in\npre-historic times, of whose life and death we know nothing but what\nwe can infer from the skeleton dug up by the geologist, and which we\nnow gaze upon as a curiosity, but which is a _thing_ only, and not a\nliving power in the world. Pride is living and active. Like the\nmighty being to whom it owes its origin, it is ever \"going to and fro\nin the world, and walking up and down in it.\" Without doubt, while it\nrules some men, it only exists under protest in others, but the most\ngodly man upon earth is not altogether free from its blighting\ninfluence. It lived in ages past in the souls of prophets and\napostles, and to-day it has a place and power in the Church, as well\nas in the world.\n\n+II. Pride is always a forerunner of evil to its possessor.+ Wherever\nand whenever found, the mischief that it brings in its train is\nalways proportionate to the rule which it has been allowed to\nexercise. It is like the officer who comes to the condemned criminal\nto announce the hour of execution--after him comes destruction; or\nlike the advanced guard of a destroying army, the pledge and promise\nof the ruin that is on its way. When pride enters there destruction\nof some kind--humiliation and sorrow in some form or other--is sure\nto follow sooner or later. Pride was the forerunner of the deepest\nhumiliation--of the most entire destruction--of Belshazzar when he\ndrank wine out of the vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had\ntaken out of the temple at Jerusalem (Dan. v.), and a \"haughty\nspirit\" was the forerunner of a terrible fall to Peter when it led\nhim to utter the boast \"Though all shall be offended, yet will not I\"\n(Mark xiv. 29). It therefore follows--\n\n+III. That fellowship with poverty and humility is better than\nfellowship with wealth and pride.+ 1. _When a man is in the society\nof the proud he is in danger of becoming proud himself._ We are all\nmoulded unconsciously by those by whom we are surrounded; our own\nmoral health depends very much upon the moral atmosphere we breathe,\nand therefore fellowship with the proud is injurious to a man's\nspiritual well-being. But fellowship with those who are \"poor in\nspirit\" (Matt v. 3) may make us like-minded. Intercourse with the\nlowly in heart is likely to have a blessed influence upon our own\nhearts, and to help us also not to estimate ourselves too highly.\nThis holds good whether the proud man be rich or poor, and whether\nthe lowly man be high or low in station, for pride and wealth have no\nnecessary connection with each other any more than poverty and\nhumility have. But when pride and riches are found united in one\nperson, fellowship with them is more to be avoided, inasmuch as we\nmay not only be influenced to become as proud as they are, but may be\ntempted to over-value their external possessions, and, perhaps, to\nenvy the possessor. But in the society of the poor we are free from\nboth dangers, and intercourse with those who are poor in the world's\ngoods as well as poor in spirit, will be a good lesson in the science\nof true happiness. 2. _But such fellowship is not only better for a\nman's spirit, it may also be better for his material warfare._ Seeing\nthat every proud man must experience the destruction of that upon\nwhich his pride has fed, and that every haughty spirit will have a\nfall, association with such may involve a participation in their\nmisfortune. To divide spoil with the proud may make us partakers of\nthe penalty which follows the proud. (See also on chap. xi. 2.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 18. _Shame and contempt the end of pride._ 1. By natural\ntendency. 2. Because of God's detestation and resolution to punish\nit.--_Waterland._\n\nThe danger of pride is plain from every history of the great\ntransactions that have come to pass in heaven and earth. The prophets\ndescribe the destructive consequences of this sin with all the\nstrength of their Divine eloquence, and all the sublimity of the\nprophetic style (Isa. xiv.; Ezek. xxix. 31). The history of the\nevangelists shows us what amazing humiliation was necessary to\nexpiate the guilt contracted by the pride of man. And the tendency of\nthe preaching and writings of the apostles was to cast down every\nhigh imagination of men, that no flesh might glory but in the Lord\n(1 Cor. i. 29). Might not this loathsome disease become a cure for\nitself? Can anything afford us greater cause of humiliation, than to\nfind ourselves guilty of a sin so exceedingly unreasonable and\npresumptuous as pride? Shall a worm swell itself into an equality\nwith the huge leviathan? What is man that he should be great in his\nown eyes? or, what is the son of man, that he should magnify himself\nas if he were some being greater than an angel? Was the Son of God\nhumbled for us that we might not perish for ever, and shall pride be\nsuffered to reign in our souls?--_Lawson._\n\n_Before,_ in the presence of, in a confronting local sense. _\"Before\nruin is pride;\"_ that is, when its terror-fit has come, _\"pride\"_ is\nto appear as the wretched cause of it.--_Miller._\n\n\"God resisteth the proud;\" and good reason, for the proud resisteth\nGod. Other sins divert a man from God, only pride brings him against\nGod, and brings God against him. There is nothing in this world worth\nour pride, but that moss will grow to a stone.--_T. Adams._\n\nThe _haughty spirit_ carries the head high. The man looks upward,\ninstead of to his steps. What wonder, therefore, if, not seeing what\nis before him, he falls? He loves to climb. The enemy is always at\nhand to assist him (Matt. iv. 5, 6); and the greater the height, the\nmore dreadful the fall.--_Bridges._\n\nIt is the nature of pride that it seeketh to go before, and to take\nplace, and so God hath placed it. He hath appointed it to _go\nbefore,_ but it is _before destruction,_ and _before a fall._ It is\nthe quality of a haughty spirit to love to be waited on, and God hath\nappointed attendants for it, but they are the attendants of ruin and\nconfusion. No doubt as the pride of a haughty spirit disdaineth them\nthat follow him, so it disdaineth to hear of either falling or\ndestruction, notwithstanding they shall pursue and overtake him also.\nHe that sees pride go before may quickly tell what will follow after:\nhe that heareth the major proposition of an angry spirit may easily\ninfer the conclusion of a certain destruction. Indeed it is but one\nfalling that goeth before another; and, as St. Augustine speaketh,\nthe falling which is within, and whereby the heart falleth from Him\nthan whom there is nothing higher, this hidden falling, whilst it is\nnot thought to be a falling, goeth before the outward and manifest\nfalling of destruction.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 19. It is a pleasant thing to be enriched with other men's\ngoods; it is a gainful thing to have part of the prey; it is a\nglorious thing to divide the spoil. But what are all outward\npossessions to the inward virtues of the mind? What will goods\nill-gotten profit the possessors thereof? Finally, what is the end of\na proud person but to have a fall? Surely it is better to be injured\nthan to do injury; it is better to be patient than to be insolent; it\nis better with the afflicted people of God to be bruised in heart and\nlow of port than to enjoy the pleasures or treasures of sin or of\nthis world for a season.--_Muffet._\n\nSuch an one is happier in having the favour of God and man, immunity\nfrom perils, and tranquillity of conscience. Whereas the proud, who\nseek their own aggrandisement by oppressing their fellow-men, lose\nthe favour of these as well as of God, are in danger of destruction\nat any moment, and have a guilty conscience whenever they dare to\nreflect.--_Fausset._\n\nAlthough pride were not followed by destruction, and humility were\nattended with the most afflicting circumstances, yet humility is to\nbe infinitely preferred to pride. The word here rendered _humble_\nmight, by inconsiderable variation, be rendered _afflicted._ Humility\nand affliction are often in Scripture expressed by the same word, and\ndescribed as parts of the same character. Low and afflicted\ncircumstances are often useful, by promoting humiliation of spirit.\nThe reverse sometimes takes place, but it is an evidence of a very\nintractable spirit if we cry not when God bindeth us, and continue\nunhumbled under humbling providences. The cottager that has his\nlittle Babylon of straw is less excusable than the mighty\nNebuchadnezzar walking in his pride through the splendid chambers of\nhis stupendous palace.--_Lawson._\n\nThere are main gates to the city of peace; there is a little postern\nbesides, that is, humility: for of all vices, pride is a stranger to\npeace. The proud man is too guilty to come in by innocence, too surly\nto come in by patience; he hath no mind to come in by benefaction,\nand he scorns to come in by satisfaction. All these portcullises be\nshut against him; there is no way left but the postern for him; he\nmust stoop or never be admitted to peace. Heaven is a high city, yet\nhath but a low gate. . . . Men may behold glory in humility, they\nnever shall find peace in ambition. The safest way to keep fire is to\nrake it up in embers; the best means to preserve peace is in\nhumbleness. The tall cedars feel the fury of tempests which blow over\nthe humble shrubs in the low valleys.--_T. Adams._\n\nBetter is it to be conquered by God than to be conqueror of the whole\nworld. For if God conquer thee, the devil is conquered by thee; if\npride be driven from thee, meekness is triumphant in thee, and where\nthou art so spoiled thou hast gotten the spoil of thy spiritual\nenemies, the love of God, the comfort of His Spirit, the expectation\nof glory which they hadst gotten from thee, and which the earth\ncannot value, much less be an equal value unto them. But then thou\nmust be not only of a humble look, or of a humble speech, but of a\nhumble _spirit.--Jermin._\n\nI. The one is rich in his soul by the endowments and force of the\nspirit, and the other hath a beggarly mind and impotent heart.\nII. The one is acceptable to God and amiable to good men, whereas the\nLord doth abhor the other, and good men shun his society. III. The\none is rising and growing to a better state, and the other is coming\ndown and falling into misery.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 20 _and_ 21.\n\nTHE FRUITS OF TRUST IN THE LORD.\n\n+I. There can be no real blessedness in life unless there is trust in\nthe Lord.+ Men are so constituted that, if they are to have\nsoul-rest, they must confide in the power and wisdom and love of a\nBeing who is stronger and wiser and better than they are. Let a man\nbe ever so great intellectually or morally, there will be times in\nhis life when he will feel the absolute need he has of the guidance\nof One who is far wiser than he is, of the help of One who far\nexceeds him in ability and in goodness. If he has not such a helper\nand guide to whom he can turn, he will be a stranger to that calmness\nof soul which alone makes a man truly blessed. 1. _A trust of this\nkind must rest upon a knowledge of the Divine character._ If a man is\nfollowing a guide in some difficult and dangerous path, it is\nnecessary to his peace of mind that he should know enough about his\nguide to be assured that he will lead him aright. If he does not know\nenough about him to know this, he may be haunted by underlying doubts\nand fears which will banish all comfort from his mind. When a ship's\ncrew have so little knowledge of their captain's character and\nability as to be uncertain whether he is able or whether he intends\nto bring the ship safely to her destined port, they will be possessed\nby a spirit of uneasiness. But if they know that all his powers will\nbe directed to that end, and that his ability is equal to the task,\nthey will sail through the deep in comparative rest and peace. So no\nhuman soul can possess a confidence in God which will keep it calm\nand restful amid the waves of life's sea, unless he has made himself\nacquainted with the character of God--unless he knows so much about\nHim as to feel assured that His ways and works are perfectly wise and\ngood. 2. _God has given men means of acquiring this knowledge._ He\nhas no motive for holding back from His creatures a knowledge of what\nHe is and what His purposes are concerning them. Those who endeavour\nto conceal what they are and what their intentions are in relation to\ntheir fellow-men, do so from a consciousness that if they revealed\nthem they would not be trusted. But God has no such motive for\nconcealing His character and intentions, and He has therefore\nrevealed to men what He is and what He desires to do for them as\nfully as they are able to receive it, and with clearness and\ncertainty enough to be the basis of an unwavering trust. This is\nindeed the end of all revelation of Himself--to lead men to _\"know\nthe only true God and Jesus Christ\"_ (John xvii. 2), so that they may\nhave faith in both the Divine Father and Divine Son,--that a trust\nmay be begotten of the knowledge that will make them truly blessed.\n\n+II. An intelligent trust in the Lord is true wisdom.+ Wisdom has\nbeen often defined as the application of knowledge to practice, and a\nman whose knowledge of God has begotten within him a trust in the\nLord, is the only man who is capable of \"handling wisely\" either\nmatters connected with his own life or with the lives of others. When\nAdam lost his trust in God he gave evidence of his folly--when his\nconfidence in the Divine character became unsettled, he lost his\nability to do the best with his own existence as a whole, or with any\nparticular matter connected with it. It is a mark of the truest\nwisdom to handle all matters whether they are more immediately\nconnected with our spiritual or material welfare, in a spirit of\ntrust in the perfect wisdom and love of God, and it is a mark of the\nhighest folly to endeavour to do it without dependence upon Him. He\nwho, in all his ways, rests upon a Divine guide, is the only man who\ndeserves the name of a \"prudent\" man (ver. 21). If a child comes into\npossession of vast estates--of large revenues--he is quite unable by\nreason of his undeveloped capacities and his limited experience to\nuse what he possesses to the best advantage. Unless his inheritance\nis to suffer from misuse, there must be the help of a higher\nintelligence and a more extended experience than he possesses: and\nmany men possess a great inheritance of intellectual endowments, or\nof wealth and position, but because they fail to apply to the Highest\nWisdom for help to use it rightly, they are neither blessed\nthemselves in the possession, nor do they bless others by the\npossession.\n\n+III. Such a wise and prudent man finds good and does good.+ 1. _He\nwill get good to himself._ He will get a godly character, for trust\nin the Lord is not only the foundation of all true soul-rest, but of\ngodliness of heart and life. _\"He shall be as a tree planted by the\nwaters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not\nsee when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be\ncareful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding\nfruit\"_ (Jer. xvii. 8). Here the prophet teaches that he who\npossesses within him a constant well of spiritual happiness from\nconfidence in God will manifest it in godly deeds, and thus will\nbecome the possessor of the greatest good in God's universe--a holy\ncharacter. 2. _He will do good to others by his wise and holy\nconversation._ \"The sweetness of the lips increaseth learning,\" and\nthe speech of a man who trusts in the Lord will be so attractive and\nwinning a nature as to lead others to know God and to trust in Him.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 20. Combined view of the two chief requisites to a really\ndevout life; (1) Obedience to the Word of God. (2) Inspiring\nconfidence in God.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\nIn doubtful cases to hold fast to God's Word, and believingly hope in\nHis help, ensures always a good issue.--_Geier._\n\n_Wise about a word._ (See Critical Notes.) By usage, _\"wise about a\nthing,\"_ hence, _\"shrewd, though it be but in one transaction.\"_ How\noften in London might mansions be pointed out of men opulent at a\nstroke! Such a stroke is faith! See the same marvel in chap.\nxviii. 21. What a wonder is it that a man can win palaces of light by\n_\"one act\"_ of casting himself upon the sacrifice. _\"Act,\"_\nliterally, _word._ But men acted so by the _word_ in that country,\nthat it grew to mean _affair_ (Gen. xx. 8). The very name of Christ\n(John i. 1) seems to be coloured by this Eastern usage. \"By the word\nof the Lord were the heavens made\" (Psalm xxxiii. 6). \"Blessed\" in\nevery sense whatever. What other \"affair\" ever produced as much as\nthe _affair_ of faith? (Mark ix. 23).--_Miller._\n\nThe obvious sense is that thorough understanding of business and\nprudent management of it _tend_ to insure a prosperous issue. And if\nthe business is another's, the intelligent, cautious, successful\nconducting of it, will procure benefit by the favour it conciliates,\nand the character it establishes. One business well conducted brings\na man another. This is the way to get forward in the world. And in\nproportion as the entrusted transaction is difficult and delicate,\nwill the \"handling of it wisely\" prove advantageous. Still there is\nno amount of human understanding and discretion that can render\nsuccess in any transaction _certain._ The result rests with God.\nHence a very natural connection of the latter clause of the verse\nwith the former. Here is the true secret of happiness--_the union in\nall things of prudence and diligence, with trust in God._ . . . Let\nit be further observed that \"handling a matter wisely\" does not mean\nhandling it _cunningly_ with artifice and what the apostle calls\n\"fleshly wisdom\"--the policy of this world; but with a wisdom and\nprudence in harmony with the most rigid and straightforward\nintegrity. Double dealing may be misnamed wisdom, the arts of a\ntortuous cunning may be dignified with the designation of prudence;\nbut when _such_ wisdom, _such_ prudence has been employed, even the\ngreatest amount of success can impart little that deserves the name\nof happiness. And no man who is using the arts of a crooked policy\ncan exercise _trust in God._ The two things are incompatible. Who can\nunite obedience and confidence? How could David trust in God for the\nsuccess of his plan against Uriah the Hittite? There was art in it,\nbut there was not wisdom.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThis is in all cases true wisdom--to make man the excitement to\ndiligence, God the object of trust. . . . \"I have had many things,\"\nsaid Luther, \"in my hands, and have lost them all. But whatever I\nhave been able to trust in God's I still possess.\". . . \"I will\ntherefore,\" says Bishop Hall, \"trust Him on His bare word, with hope,\nbeside hope, above hope, against hope, for small matters of this\nlife. For how shall I hope to trust Him in impossibilities if I may\nnot in likelihoods.\" This simple habit of faith enables us fearlessly\nto look an extremity in the face. Thus holding on, it is His honour\nto put His own seal to His Word. (Psalm ii. 12; Jer. xvii. 7,\n8).--_Bridges._\n\nMany meddle with more matters than they do well quit themselves of;\nand many a time a good matter is made ill by the ill _handling_ of\nit. And he that handleth a matter wisely shall find good, although\nthe matter be ill; and well doth he acquit himself, although the\nmatter may not succeed well. . . . To put our trust in God, and not\nto use a wise care, is to deceive ourselves; to use a wise care, and\nnot to trust in God, is to dishonour God.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 21. Piety is sure to be discovered; but many a pious man has\nless influence for want of courtesy. The _suaviter_ may be really\nstronger than the _fortiter._ The last word is literally _a taking,_\nfrom the verb to _take._ This noun is often _learning._ A _taking_\nmay very legitimately be _\"a lesson.\"_ The idea is, that sweet lips\n_increase the taking, i.e.,_ make more wisdom to be taken by the men\naround. The duty, therefore, is evolved, of being kind in speech that\nour good may not be evil spoken of (Rom. xiv. 16).--_Miller._\n\nIf the \"wise in heart\" be understood of the truly, spiritually,\ndivinely wise, then the phrase \"_shall be called_ prudent\" must be\ninterpreted, according to a common Hebrew idiom, as meaning \"_is_\nprudent\"--_deserves_ to be so called. The sentiment will thus be the\noft-repeated one, that _true religion is the only genuine prudence._\nAnd is it not so? we ask anew. Take as a standard the ordinary maxims\nof prudence among men. Is it the part of prudence to be considerate?\nto look forward? to anticipate, as far as possible, the contingencies\nof the future? to provide against evil? to make sure of lasting good?\nThis is true religion the very perfection of prudence.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThat our wisdom may be useful, we should endeavour to produce it to\nadvantage by a graceful and engaging manner of expression. It is not\nuncommon with bad men to set off their corrupt sentiments by dressing\nthem in all the beauties of language, and by this means multitudes\nare seduced into error and folly. Is not wisdom far better entitled\nto this recommendation than folly?--_Lawson._\n\nThere is no sweetness that entereth into the lips to be compared to\nthe sweetness that cometh from the lips. The fig-tree must leave her\nsweetness, and tall the trees of delight their pleasantness, when the\nfruit of the lips is mentioned among them. And most fitly is\neloquence styled the sweetness of the lips. How daintily doth it\nsweeten all matters of knowledge! What a delicate relish doth it give\nunto them! With what pleasure doth it make them to slip into the ears\nof men! How doth it mollify the hardness and sharpness of reproof!\nHow doth it qualify the bitterness of sorrows! How doth it warm the\ndull coldness of apprehension and attention! And therefore, though\nwisdom in the heart is of the chiefest worth, yet eloquence of the\nlips is an addition to it. St. Augustine, speaking of himself, saith,\nthat when he heard St. Ambrose preaching, \"I stood by as one careless\nof the matter he spake, and a contemner of it, and I was delighted\nwith the sweetness of his words; but together with the words which I\nrespected, the matter came into my heart which I neglected, and while\nI opened my heart to receive how _eloquently_ he spake, it entered\nalso into my heart how _truly_ he spake.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 22-24.\n\nAN UNFAILING SPRING.\n\n+I. Moral intelligence is its own reward.+ A healthy state of body is\nits own reward. It is a well-spring whence men may draw much bodily\ncomfort--it adds much to the joy of existence. Moral intelligence--a\ngood understanding--is a condition of moral health, it is a state of\nsoul in which the moral capabilities of a man are well-developed, and\nit is a constant source of satisfaction to the possessor. _\"Whosoever\ndrinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but\nthe water that I shall give him shall be in him, a well of water\nspringing up into everlasting life\"_ (John iv. 14).\n\n+II. It is also a means of giving spiritual life and comfort to\nothers.+ A well is a place where weary men find refreshment and\nconsolation. And no morally wise man lives for himself alone; his\n\"heart maketh his mouth wise,\" and his \"pleasant words\" strengthen\nand comfort weary wayfarers on the journey of life. No man who is\nhimself acquainted with God can fail to speak words which will help\nand comfort others. He who drinks of the water which Christ gives\nwill be a fountain-head whence _\"shall flow rivers of living water\"_\n(John vii. 38).\n\n+III. A moral fool may be in the seat of instruction.+ \"The\ncorrection,\" rather \"_the instruction_ of fools is folly\" (ver. 22).\nA man is not necessarily a wise man, either intellectually or\nmorally, because he assumes the position which ought only to be held\nby a wise man. Many fools are found sitting as instructors of others.\nThe Scribes and Pharisees in the days of our Lord were destitute of\nmoral wisdom, and yet they were found _\"in Moses' seat\"_ (Matt.\nxxii. 2). And in all ages of the Church men have been found speaking\nin the name of God who have been entirely ignorant of Divine\ntruth--_\"watchmen\"_ who have been _\"blind,\" . . . \"shepherds that\ncould not understand\"_ (Isa. lvi. 10, 11). Men of such a character\nare like wells of poisoned water, their teachings are not simply\nunsatisfying and powerless to bless, but they are positively\ninjurious to those who imbibe their doctrines. All who come under\ntheir influence will by their own lack of moral strength show that\n\"the instruction of fools is folly.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 22. This spiritual understanding is not a work on the surface;\nnot a mere forced impulse; not the summer stream, but a deep-flowing\nfountain. If it be not always bubbling, there is always a supply at\nthe bottom-spring.--_Bridges._\n\nTwo things are necessary to the opening and flow of\nwell-springs--deep rendings beneath the earth's surface, and lofty\nrisings above it. There must be deep veins and high mountains. The\nmountains draw the drops from heaven; the rents receive, retain, and\ngive forth the supply. There must be corresponding heights and depths\nin the life of a man ere he be charged as a well-spring of life from\nabove. Upward to God and downward into himself the exercises of his\nsoul must alternately penetrate. You must lift up yourself in the\nprayer of faith, and rend your heart in the work of repentance; you\nmust ascend into heaven to bring the blessing down, and descend into\nthe depths to draw it up. Extremes meet in a lively Christian. He is\nat once very high and very lowly. God puts all His treasures in the\npower of a soul that rises to reach the upper springs, as the Andes\nintercept water from the sky sufficient to fertilise a continent. And\nwhen the Spirit has so descended like floods of water, the secret\nplaces of a broken heart afford room for his indwelling, so that the\ngrace which came at first from God rises within the man like a\nspringing well, satisfying himself and refreshing his\nneighbours.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 23. 1. That which a wise man utters is _in itself_\ngood--instructive, edifying, \"profitable to direct.\" The streams bear\nanalogy to the fountain. 2. The wise man uses the understanding\nimparted to him for the benefit of others. The wisdom that is in his\nheart passes to his lips. 3. His self-knowledge, his experience of\nhis own heart, his incessant self-inspection, . . . his knowledge\nboth of the \"old man\" and of the \"new man\" in their respective\nprinciples and influences as they exist and contend within himself,\nall qualify him for wisely and judiciously counselling others,\naccording to their characters and situations. 4. The truly wise man\nwill, in his wisdom, accommodate the _manner_ of his instructions and\ncounsels to the varying characters and tempers of his fellow-men. A\nvast deal depends on this. The end is often lost, not for want of\nwisdom in the lesson itself, but for lack of discretion in the _mode_\nof imparting it. A thorough knowledge of anatomy is necessary to a\njudicious and successful practice in the operations of surgery. Ere\nhe venture to make his incision, the surgeon ought to understand all\nabout the region where it is to be made--what arteries, veins,\nglands, nerves, lie in the way of his instrument; and should be fully\naware of the peculiarities of the case under his treatment. In like\nmanner an intimate acquaintance with the _anatomy of the heart_ is\nnecessary to discriminative and successful dealing with _moral\ncases_--to the suitable communication of instruction and advice.\nWithout the surgical knowledge mentioned, a practitioner may inflict\na worse evil than the one he means to cure. And so, through the\nignorance of _moral_ anatomy, may the injudicious adviser, who treats\nall cases alike, and makes no account of the peculiarities of\ncharacter and situation with which he has to do.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWho does not know the difference between one who speaks of what he\nhas read or heard, and one who speaks of what he has felt and tasted?\nThe one has the knowledge of the Gospel--dry and spiritless. The\nother has the _savour_ of this knowledge (2 Cor. ii. 14)--fragrant\nand invigorating. The theorist may exceed in the quantum (for\nSatan--as an angel of light--is a fearful proof how much knowledge\nmay be consistent with ungodliness); but the real difference applies,\nnot to the extent, but to the character of knowledge; not to the\nmatter known, but to the mode of knowing it. . . . It is not,\ntherefore, the intellectual knowledge of Divine truth that makes the\ndivine. The only true divine is he who knows holy things in a holy\nmanner; because he only is gifted with a spiritual taste and relish\nfor them. . . . And this experimental knowledge gives a rich unction\nto his communications. Divinity is not said by rote. _The heart\nteacheth the mouth.--Bridges._\n\nEvery wise man is both a master and scholar, and that unto himself;\nas a master he sitteth in the chair of his heart, and giveth thence\nlessons to his several scholars, that are within the school of his\nown person, of his own life. His hands he teacheth what to do, and\nhow to work; his feet he teacheth whither to go, and how to walk; his\nears what to hear, and how to listen; his eyes what to see, and how\nto look; his mouth what to say, and how to speak. And that being an\nunruly scholar, and like a wild youth, much care he hath, and much\npains he taketh to instruct it well and to keep it in good\norder.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 24. The words express the twofold idea of _pleasantness_ and of\n_benefit._ Many things have the one quality which have not the other.\nMany a poison is like honey, sweet to the taste; but instead of being\n_health_ to the bones, it is laden with _death._ So it may be in\nregard to their present effect, and their ultimate influence with\n_words._ Harshness and severity never afford pleasure, and seldom\nyield profit. If they were, in any case, requisite to the latter, we\nshould be under the necessity of giving it the preference, for profit\nmust ever take precedence of mere pleasure. But it will be usually\nfound that _both_ are united. _Pleasant_ words, however, must be\ndistinguished from _flattering_ words. The latter may be at times\npalatable, but they can never be otherwise than injurious; for they\nare not words of _truth.--Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 25 is a repetition of chap. xiv. 12, for which see Homiletics.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThese words concern not so much the course of the open sinner as of\nthe mistaken and self-deceived man. . . . The practice of sin seems\nexpedient, seems pleasant, seems unavoidable, but it does not seem\n_right._ Those who live in the open practice of it are in the ways of\ndeath, and they know it. They are blinded, infatuated, intoxicated,\nif you will, but they are not _mistaken._ There is, however, a very\ndifferent class of persons, to whom the text directly applies, and to\nwhom the warning is very solemn; persons whose course lies just short\nof that degree of divergence from right where the conscience begins\nto protest, and yet is sure, as every divergence must if followed, to\nlead very far from it at last. . . . It is this sort of travellers\nwherewith, in our day, the downward road is lavishly crowded; men who\nwalk not with the sinful multitude, but on convenient embankments so\ncontrived as to make the great broad road appear immensely distant\nand precipitous beneath, and the narrow path comfortably near and\naccessible above. . . . It does not say of these apparently right\nways that they _are_ themselves ways of death, but that they _end_ in\nways of death. And this is important; for nothing is so common as for\nthe man, when warned, to vindicate himself by endeavouring to show,\nand often by successfully showing, that there is nothing destructive\nin his present course. . . . The ways are mainly of two kinds--errors\nin practice and errors in doctrine. . . . There is (1) _A life not\nled under the influence of practical religion._ . . . Improbable as\nit may seem that this correct man, this blameless and upright liver,\nshould perish at last, it is but a necessary consequence from his\nhaving rejected the only remedy which God has provided for the\nuniversal taint of our nature. (2) _Those believing from the heart\nyet notoriously and confessedly wanting in some of the main elements\nof the Gospel._ Or, (3) _Those who, while professing zeal for\nreligion in general, nourish some one known sin or prohibited\nindulgence._ . . . And regarding errors of doctrine, there is nothing\nin life for which we are so deeply and solemnly accountable as the\nformation of our belief. It is the compass which guides our way,\nwhich, if it vary ever so little from the truth, is sure to cause a\nfatal divergence in the end.--_Alford._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nTHE MAINSPRING OF HUMAN INDUSTRY.\n\n+I. God intends every man to be a labourer.+ Adam in Paradise was\nrequired to dress and keep the Garden of Eden, so that the labourer's\npatent of nobility dates from before the fall. The Son of God, in\nhuman flesh, laboured with His own hands for the supply of His daily\nwants, and thus for ever sanctified the ordinary toil of life. (On\nthe profitableness of labour, see on chap. xiv. 23.)\n\n+II. God has taken means to ensure the continuance of labour.+ He has\nso created man that if the majority do not labour neither can they\neat, nor can those eat who do not labour. There must be always a\nlarge proportion of workers in the great hive of human creatures, or\nboth they and the drones would starve. It is hunger that keeps the\nworld in motion, and it is the craving of man's mouth that builds our\ncities and our ships, that stimulates invention, and sends men abroad\nin quest of fresh fields of industry. It is this necessity to eat\nthat keeps all the members of the human family in a state of\nceaseless activity, and prevents them from sinking into a state of\nmental stagnation and bodily disease. It is a noteworthy fact that\nthose nations who have to work hard to supply their physical wants\nare more intellectually and spiritually healthy than those who live\nin lands where the needs of life are satisfied with little labour.\nGod has promised that \"while the earth remaineth, seedtime and\nharvest shall not cease\" (Gen. viii. 22); but He has also, by the\nconstitution of man, ordained that he must be unceasingly active upon\nthe face of the earth; and He has so ordained because of the many\nblessings which flow from this necessity.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSince that which causes us to labour and trouble becomes a means of\nour subsistence, it in turn helps us to overcome labour and trouble,\nfor this very thing, by virtue of God's wise regulating providence,\nbecomes for us a spur to industry.--_Von. Gerlach._\n\nA man's industry in his calling is no sure sign of virtue, for\nalthough it is a duty commanded by God, and necessary to be\npractised, yet profit and necessity may constrain a man to labour,\nwho has no regard either to God or man. But this proves that idleness\nis a most inexcusable sin. It is not only condemned in the Scripture,\nbut it is a sign that a man wants common reason as well as piety,\nwhen he can neither be drawn by interest, nor driven by necessity, to\nwork. Self-love is a damning sin where it reigns as the chief\nprinciple of action; but the want of self-love where it is required\nis no less criminal.--_Lawson._\n\nTo labour is man's punishment, and that man laboureth for himself is\nGod's mercy. For as it is painful to labour, so it is made more\npainful when another reapeth the fruit thereof; but when ourselves\nare comforted with the fruit thereof, the labour is much eased in the\ngathering of it. God himself does not look for any benefit from our\nlabour, it is all for ourselves, whatever we do. And therefore as God\ndoth command labour, so the mouth of our benefit doth call for\nit.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 27-30.\n\nDIFFERENT SPECIES OF THE SAME GENUS.\n\n+I. Human depravity manifests itself in a variety for forms.--+There\nmay be many lawless children in a family, but they may not all sin\nagainst the same law--they may all rebel against what is true and\ngood, but some may be pre-eminent transgressors in one way and some\nin another. One son may be a notorious liar and another may be a\nslave to ungovernable passion, while a third may be addicted to\nanother and different vice. It is so in the great human family--all\nunregenerate men are transgressors against God's good and righteous\nlaw, but their transgressions may take different forms.\n\n+II. But all ungodliness is subversive of human happiness.--+If a man\nsets at nought the law of God, he will be a curse to those around\nhim. There are many such men who seem to delight in increasing the\nmisery of mankind, they make it their business to \"dig up evil,\" they\nwork diligently to bring to light that which it is most desirable\nshould be hidden and forgotten, and so they are like a scorching,\nconsuming fire to the peace of many of their fellow creatures. And if\nthey are not so openly and manifestly bad, if they are untruthful\nmen, they must sow around them seeds of suspicion and discord which\nhinder men from being bound together in bonds of friendship or break\nsuch bonds when they have been formed.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 27. _\"A worthless man.\"_ This is the farthest an impenitent\nmoralist will go in condemning himself. He may be a worthless man (a\nman of Belial, _i.e.,_ of no profit), but he is not a harmful\nman. . . . Solomon calls this mild gracelessness a digging up of\nevil. Recurring to the potency of the tongue, he says, \"The _lips_ of\nsuch men, sweet as they may seem, fairly scorch and burn.\"--_Miller._\n\nIn the expression \"diggeth up evil\" two ideas may be\nincluded:--1. _Taking pains to devise it._ We dig or search for\ntreasure in a mine, or where we fancy it lies concealed: thus the\nwicked man does in regard to evil. It is his treasure--that on which\nhe sets his heart; and for it, as for treasure, he \"digs\" and\n\"searches\"--ay, often deep and long. His very happiness seems to\ndepend on his reaching and finding it. He is specially laborious and\npersevering when anyone chances to have become the object of his\npique or malice. Marvellous is the assiduity with which he then\nstrains every nerve to produce mischief,--plodding and plotting for\nit,--mining and undermining,--exploring in every direction, often\nwhere no one could think of but himself,--and with savage delight\nexulting in the discovery of aught that can be made available for his\ndiabolic purpose. 2. _Taking pains to revive it after it has been\nburied and forgotten._ He goes down into the very graves of old\nquarrels; brings them up afresh; puts new life into them; wakes up\ngrudges that had long slept; and sets people by the ears again who\nhad abandoned their enmities, and had been for years in\nreconciliation and peace. As to \"evil,\" whether old and new, \"the son\nof Belial\" is like one in quest of some mine of coal, or of precious\nmetal. He examines his ground, and wherever he discovers any hopeful\nsymptoms on the surface he proceeds to drill, and bore, and excavate.\nThe slightest probability of success will be enough for his\nencouragement to toil and harass himself night and day until he can\nmake something of it. The persevering pains of such men would be\nincredible were they not sadly attested by _facts--\"They search out\niniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward\nthought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep\"_ (Psalm\nlxiv. 6).--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhisperers are like the wind that creeps in by the chinks and\ncrevices of a wall, or the cracks in a window, that commonly proves\nmore dangerous than a storm that meets a man in the face upon the\nplain.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 28. The idea is, sin cannot keep silence. In its quiet hour it\nspeaks, _rolling out_ (literally) articulate influences. The very\nidea is terrible. It _separates friends._ That is, the world being\nknit together by the law of love, the impenitent separate it asunder.\nThey separate man from his race, and destroy that highest friendship\nthat he might have with the Almighty.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 29. Yet though a wicked man be never so violent, he cannot\ncompel thee to his ways, he can but _entice_ thee, he can but _lead_\nthee; it is still in thine own power whether thou wilt follow him or\nno. Wherefore though it agree to his violence to lead, let it be thy\ncare to keep back from his ways.--_Jermin._\n\nUnbelief can hardly be libelled, and Solomon's very thought is to\nshow how _violent_ it is! It is the match even of hell, for it\nderides it! It is the robber even of God, for it thieves from Him. It\ntakes life without paying for it. It assaults the Maker upon His\nthrone. It stares broadly at the truth each Sunday when it listens,\nand flouts it as though never heard. Unbelief is _\"violence;\"_ and\nyet, as though it were the most seductive charm it \"seduces\"\n_(entices)_ one's neighbour.--_Miller._\n\nThese sons of Belial are also _tempters of others._ A fearful\nemployment--a fearful delight! Yet the employment would not be\nfollowed were there not pleasure in it. The pleasure is\nfiendish--laying plans and putting every vile art into practice, to\nseduce the virtuous and unsuspecting youth from the way of\nrectitude! . . . As there is joy in heaven over one sinner that\nrepenteth, so there is a malicious _joy in hell_ when such tempters\nsucceed in turning any from the right to the wrong, from the narrow\nto the broad way. This is the joy of fiends, the other of\nangels.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 30. Wicked men are great students; they beat their brains and\nclose their eyes that they may revolve and excogitate mischief with\nmore freedom of mind. They search the devil's skull for new devices,\nand are very intentive to invent that which may do hurt; their wits\nwill better serve them to find out a hundred shifts or carnal\narguments, than to yield to one saving truth.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 31.\n\nA CROWN OF GLORY.\n\n+I. Hoary heads may be found which are not in the way of\nrighteousness.+ A hoary head in the way of ungodliness is one of the\nsaddest sights that a thoughtful mind can look upon. 1. _Because in\nsuch a man the tendency towards evil has been strengthened by the\nhabits of a long life._ In childhood there is a condition of\ncomparative innocency to start with, and there is hope that this\nfreedom from actual transgression may develop into a tried virtue in\nthe passage from youth to old age. But when childhood has passed\naway, the condition of comparative innocence has passed away too, and\nif the evil tendencies of human nature are not resisted they grow\nstronger as the man grows in years, and old age finds him more under\nthe dominion of sinful habit than any former period of his life. An\nungodly man is more ungodly when he is old than he has ever been\nbefore, and is therefore a sadder object of contemplation then than\nhe was in his youth or in his prime. Such a hoary-headed sinner often\nwishes that it was now as easy to do right as it was in his youth,\nbut he finds that it is not so. \"To will\" may be \"present\" with him\n(Rom. vii. 18), but he finds that by reason of his long indulgence in\nsinful habits it is less easy now to perform that which he will than\nit was when his locks were black and his form unbent. The man whose\nlimbs are palsied by age finds that they do not move in obedience to\nhis will so readily as they did in the days of his health, and the\naged man finds also that his moral actions are not so easily\ncontrolled as they were when he was young--the vessel does not answer\nto her helm so quickly as it did then. It is always sad to look upon\na slave, even upon one who is only a slave in body. But it is far\nsadder to see a man who is in spiritual bondage--one who is \"taken\ncaptive by the devil at his will\" (2 Tim. ii. 26), and we look upon\nsuch an one whenever we look upon a hoary head in the way of\nungodliness. 2. _Because such a man is growing old in soul as well as\nin body._ When he was a child the seeds of perpetual youth were\nimplanted within him; if he had then given himself up to holy\ninfluences old age would have found him as young in heart as when he\nwas a boy, because although the outer man of all men perishes daily,\nthe inner man of the godly is renewed day by day (2 Cor. iv. 16). But\nungodliness deprives a man of the blessedness of being for ever\nyoung--of retaining to the latest hour of life the freshness of\nfeeling which characterises the young, and of leaving the world with\na certainty that all his mental and spiritual powers will be renewed\nthroughout eternity. His soul sympathises with his body, and the\nweakness and decay of the shell is a symbol of what is going on\nwithin. 3. _Because he is nearing the mysterious exodus from this\nworld which must be accomplished by all without being prepared for\nit._ All men are near to death--men of all ages are uncertain whether\nthey will be here on the morrow, but the old man knows certainly that\nhis race is almost run--that he must shortly put off this tabernacle.\nAnd there is nothing more depressing to a man than to feel that he is\nutterly unprepared to meet the demands of a great crisis in his life\nwhich is near--that he has soon to meet a person who holds his\ndestines in his hand and that he has nothing to hope, but everything\nto fear from him--that he has to embark on a voyage to a distant land\nwithout any knowledge of what shall befall him when he arrives there.\nAnd if a long course of ungodliness has blunted his capability of\nseeing his own true position, it is clear to thoughtful onlookers,\nand the sight fills them with sadness.\n\n+II. But a hoary head in the way of righteousness is a kingly head.+\nThere is nothing kingly in old age considered in itself. An old man's\nbody is not such a kingly object to look upon as a young man's--it\ndoes not give us the idea of so much power and capability. And an\nungodly old man--as we have seen--is not a king but a slave--a slave\nto sinful habits, to the infirmities of age, and to the fear of\ndeath. But the hoary head of a righteous man--1. _Tells a tale of\nconquest._ It speaks of many temptations met, and wrestled with, and\novercome. His passions are not his masters, but his servants--he has\nlearned to bring into subjection even his thoughts; he reigns as king\nover himself, and so his hoary hairs are a symbol of his kingship.\n2. _It is a sign of spiritual maturity._ In all the works of God we\nexpect the best and the most perfect results at the last. There is a\nglory and a beauty in the field covered with the green blades of\nearly spring, but the period of its perfection is not in the spring,\nbut in the autumn, when the full corn in the ear stands ready for the\nsickle. The mind of the youthful philosopher may be mighty in its\npower, but its capabilities are greater when he has spent a long life\nin developing them. It is in harmony with all the methods of God's\nworking that all that is of real worth in a man should be nearer\nperfection the longer he lives, and it is so with all those who are\nwilling to bring their lives into harmony with the Divine Will. If\nan old man is a godly man, he is more like God in his character and\ndisposition in his old age than he ever was before, and this\nspiritual maturity invests him with a kingly dignity. 3. _It is an\nearnest of a brighter crown which is awaiting him._ To him death is\nnot an welcome visitor, and God is a Being in whose presence he\nexpects to realise \"fulness of joy\" (Psa. xvi. 11), and the country\nbeyond the grave a place to which he often longs to depart. All such\nhoary-headed servants of God can adopt the language of the aged Paul,\nand say, _\"I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure\nis at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I\nhave kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of\nrighteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at\nthat day\"_ (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8). To all such it is especially fit that\nkingly honours should be paid. _\"Thou shalt rise up before the hoary\nhead, and honour the face of the old man\"_ (Lev. xix. 32).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe honour them whose heads have been encircled with crowns by the\nhands of men, and will we refuse honour to those whom God himself\nhath crowned with silver hairs?--_Lawson._\n\nThe word _if_ is a supplement. The verse may be read, \"The hoary head\nis a crown of glory: _it shall be_ found in the way of\nrighteousness.\" Two things are implied:--The conduciveness of\nrighteousness to _the attainment of old age,_ and its conduciveness\nto the _respectability and honour of old age._--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe hoary head is the old man's glory and claim for reverence. God\nsolemnly links the honour of it with His own fear (Lev. xix. 32).\n\"The ancient\" are numbered with \"the honourable\" (Isa. ix. 15). The\nsin of despising them is marked (Isa. iii. 5), and, when shown\ntowards His own prophet, was awfully punished (2 Kings ii. 23, 24).\nWisdom and experience may be supposed to belong to them (Job\nxii. 12), and the contempt of this wisdom was the destruction of a\nkingdom (1 Kings xii. 13-20). But the diamond in the _crown_ is, when\nit is found in the way of righteousness. Even a heathen monarch did\nhomage to it (Gen. xlvii. 7-10); an ungodly nation and king paid to\nit the deepest respect (1 Sam. xxv. 1; 2 Kings xiii. 14). The fathers\nof the Old and New Testament reflected _its glory._ The one died in\nfaith, waiting the Lord's salvation; the other was ready to \"depart\nin peace\" at the joyous sight of it (Luke ii. 28, 29). Zacharias and\nElizabeth walked in all the ordinances of the Lord blameless; Anna \"a\nwidow indeed,\" in the faith and hope of the Gospel; Polycarp, with\nhis fourscore and six years, in his Master's service. Crowns of glory\nwere their hoary heads, shining with all the splendour of royalty.\nEarnestly does the holy Psalmist _plead_ this _crown_ for usefulness\nto the Church (Psa. lxxi. 18); the Apostle, for the cause of his\nconverted slave (Philemon 9).--_Bridges._\n\nThe old age is to be reverenced most which is white, not with gray\nhairs only, but with heavenly grace. Commendable old age leaneth upon\ntwo staves--the one a remembrance of a life well led, the other a\nhope of eternal life. Take away these two staves, and old age cannot\nstand with comfort; pluck out the gray hairs of virtues, and the gray\nhead cannot shine with any bright glory. . . . The gray head is a\nglorious ornament, for, first hoary hairs do wonderfully become the\nancient person, whom they make to look the more grave, and to carry\nthe greater authority in his countenance; secondly, they are a\ngarland or diadem, which not the art of men, but the finger of God,\nhath fashioned and set on the head.--_Muffet._\n\nHoariness is only honourable when found in a way of righteousness. A\nwhite head, accompanied with a holy heart, makes a man truly\nhonourable. There are two glorious sights in the world: the one is a\nyoung man walking in his uprightness, and the other is an old man\nwalking in the ways of righteousness. It was Abraham's honour that he\nwent to his grave in a good old age, or rather, as the Hebrew hath\nit, with a good grey head (Gen. xxv. 8). Many there be that go to\ntheir graves with a grey head, but this was Abraham's crown, that he\nwent to his grave with a good grey head. Had Abraham's head been\nnever so grey, if it had not been good it would have been no honour\nto him. . . . When the head is as white as snow, and the soul is a\nblack as hell, God usually gives up such to scorn and contempt. . . .\nBut God usually reveals Himself most to old disciples, to old saints:\n\"With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding\"\n(Job xii. 12). God usually manifests most of Himself to aged saints.\nThey usually pray most and pay most, they labour most and long most\nafter the choicest manifestations of Himself and of His grace, and\ntherefore He opens His bosom most to them, and makes them of His\ncabinet council. \"And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that\nthing which I do,\" etc. (Gen. xviii. 17-19). Abraham was an old\nfriend, and therefore God makes him both of His court and council. We\nusually open our hearts most freely, fully, and familiarly, to old\nfriends. So doth God to His ancient friends.--_Brooks._\n\nAge is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling of the fresh\nlife within that withers and bursts the husk.--_George Macdonald._\n\nAged piety is peculiarly honourable. 1. It hath long continued. When\nit is said \"If it be _found,_\" etc., intimates that such a one has\nbeen long walking in that way. 2. It is founded on knowledge and\nexperience. They are well acquainted with the suitableness and\nsufficiency of the Redeemer. They have made many useful observations\non the methods of providence towards themselves, their families, and\nthe Church of God. They know much of the evil of sin, of the nature\nof temptations, and of the many devices of Satan. 3. It is proved and\nsteadfast. The aged Christian is \"rooted in the faith,\" grounded and\nsettled, his habits of piety are become quite natural. 4. It is\nattended with much usefulness. The piety of an aged Christian is much\nto the glory of God, as it shows especially the Gospel's power to\nbear the Christian on through difficulties and temptations. And aged\nsaints are very _useful to mankind._ Their steadfast piety puts to\nsilence the ignorance of foolish men who complain of the restraints\nof religion as unreasonable and intolerable, and of the Redeemer's\nlaws as impracticable. They are living witnesses to mankind to the\nkindness of God's providence and the riches of His grace.--_Job\nOrton._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.\n\nTAKING A CITY AND RULING THE SPIRIT.\n\n+I. A man who takes a city may do a good work.+ When Solomon says\nthat the man who rules his spirit does a better work than he who\ntakes a city, he by no means implies that the taking of a city is a\nwrong action. In the records of God's dealings with the nations of\nold, we find that He sometimes laid it as a duty upon His chosen\nservants to take a city. The overthrow of a city is sometimes\nnecessary for the preservation of the morality of the human race, and\nit is as indispensable for its well-being as the amputation of a\ndiseased limb is for the health of the individual man. Large cities\nare favourable to the development and increase of crime, and\nsometimes become such moral pest-houses that God, out of regard for\nHis human family, causes them to be wiped from off the earth, and\nsometimes uses His own servants to do the work. It was He who\ncommanded Joshua to take the city of Jericho and the other cities of\nCanaan, and they were destroyed because of the sin of those who dwelt\nin them. Or the overthrow of a city may be the downfall of a tyrant,\nand the deliverance of the oppressed, and then we also know that it\nis well-pleasing to God. The Bible has it in many songs of praise to\nGod for His overthrow of those who held their fellow-men in\nbondage--songs which were not only acceptable to Him, but which were\nthe fruit of the inspiration of His Spirit, and therefore we know\nthat the taking of a city which was followed by such a result might\nin itself be a righteous and praiseworthy act.\n\n+II. A man may do a good work in taking a city, and yet be under the\ndominion of sinful habits.+ Many a man has acquired vast power over\nothers without ever learning how to master his own evil\npassions--many a city has been taken by him, and good may have been\nthe outcome of some of his conquests, and yet he has been ever an\nabject bondslave to his own evil impulses. Many a conqueror of cities\nhas been himself brought more and more into captivity to the vices of\nthe mind as his conquests advanced, and though God may have used him\nto further His wise and beneficent purposes to the race, he may, by\nhis inability to rule himself, have lived and died a miserable victim\nof sin--in greater bondage to himself than any of those whom he\nconquered could ever be to him.\n\n+III. Self-rule is nobler than the possession of rule over others.+\n1. _This conquest is over spirit and the other may only be over\nflesh._ We cannot rule over the whole of our fellow-man by physical\nforce; if circumstances make us masters over his body, there is a\nspiritual part of him which we cannot enslave without his consent. A\n\"city\" and a man's \"spirit\" belong to entirely different regions, and\nthe latter cannot be ruled by the same weapons as the other. But\n\"spirit\" is far higher than matter, and when a man has learned to\nrule his own inner man he has made a conquest which is far more\ndifficult, and therefore nobler, than he who \"takes a city.\" The man\nwho can check a lawless thought or desire, must be as much greater\nthan he who can only subdue men's bodies, as mind is greater than\nmatter, and he must do a more glorious work because he lessens the\npower of sin in the universe. It may sometimes be a necessary and\ngood thing to drive the sinner out of the world, but it is infinitely\nbetter to kill sin, and this is what he who rules himself is always\ndoing. 2. _It requires the exercise of greater skill and is a more\ncomplete victory._ If there is a spiritual part of a man which cannot\nbe subdued to our will without his consent, this consent can only be\nobtained by the exercise of weapons which require more skilful\nhandling than the sword of steel. God never attempts to conquer the\nhuman spirit by physical force; He has created it to bow only to\nspiritual forces, and it is by these that He brings men into\nobedience to His will. A city may be surprised into submission, but\ndominion over the soul must be gained step by step. And the man who\nrules his own spirit uses these spiritual weapons, and achieves his\nconquest little by little. But if the weapons are more difficult to\nwield, and if the victory is more slowly won, the conquest is much\nmore complete. For when the spirit is ruled the entire man is ruled.\n3. _The battle is fought and the victory won in silence and in\nsecret._ When men take a city they are as conscious that the eyes of\nmany are upon them, and that the news of their victory will be spread\nthroughout half the world, and that thus they will acquire great\nrenown among their fellow-creatures. And this nerves them to the\nconflict. But the man who fights upon the battle-ground of his own\nheart fights in secret, and his victories bring him none of that\nrenown which falls to him who takes a city. No eye looks on but the\nomniscient eye of God, and although Divine approval is infinitely\nbeyond the praise of a world of finite creatures, yet it has not\nalways such a conscious influence as that of our fellow-men. 4. _The\nconflict and victory works nothing but good._ Even when the taking of\na city ends in the good of the majority, there must be suffering for\nsome who are innocent. But the bringing of the spirit under dominion\nto that which is good and true bring blessings on the man who wins\nthe victory, and works no ill to anyone, but is a source of good to\nmany. 5. _The glory of self-rule will last much longer than the glory\nof any material conquest._ Alexander of Macedon took many cities, but\nthe glory that once shed a halo around his name has died away as the\nworld has grown older. And even if the fame of an earthly warrior\ncould last to the end of time, it would last no longer if it rested\nonly on his military achievements. But the glory of self-rule is the\nglory of goodness which will never grow dim, but shine with\nincreasing brightness as the ages roll.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNow the Lord has made so glorious a conquest over these proud enemies\nthat rose up against you, I beseech you consider, of all conquests\nthe conquest of enemies within is the most honourable and the most\nnoble conquest; for in conquering those enemies that be within, you\nmake a conquest over the devil and hell itself. The word that is\nrendered \"ruleth,\" signifies to \"conquer,\" to \"overcome.\" It is this\nconquest that lifts a man up above all other men in the world. And as\nthis is the most noble conquest, so it is the most necessary\nconquest. You must be the death of your sins, or they will be the\ndeath of your souls. Sin is a viper that does always kill where it is\nnot killed. There is nothing gained by making peace with sin but\nrepentance here and hell hereafter. Every yielding to sin is a\nwelcoming of Satan into our very bosoms. Valentine the emperor said\nupon his deathbed, that among all his victories, one only comforted\nhim; and being asked what that was, he answered, \"I have overcome my\nworst enemy, mine own naughty heart.\" Ah, when you shall lie upon a\ndying bed, then no conquest will thoroughly comfort, but the conquest\nof your own sinful hearts. None were to triumph in Rome that had not\ngot five victories; and he shall never triumph in heaven that\nsubdueth not his five senses, saith Isidorus. Ah, souls! what mercy\nis it to be delivered from an enemy without, and to be eternally\ndestroyed by an enemy within?--_Brooks._\n\nTo follow the bent and tendency of our nature requires no struggle,\nand being common to all, involves no distinction. But to keep the\npassions in check--to bridle and deny them; instead of letting loose\nour rage against an enemy, to subdue him by kindness--this is one of\nthe severest efforts of a virtuous or of a gracious principle. The\nmost contemptible fool on earth may send a challenge, and draw a\ntrigger, but \"not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with\ngood,\" demands a vigour of mind and decision of character, far more\ndifficult of acquiring than the thoughtless courage that can stand\nthe fire of an adversary.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe _taking of a city_ is only the battle of a day. The other is the\nweary, unceasing conflict of a life. . . . But the magnifying of the\nconflict exalts the glory of the triumph. Gideon's _rule over his\nspirit_ was better than his victory over the Midianites (Judges\nviii. 1-3). David's similar conquest was _better_ than could have\nbeen the spoils of Nabal's house (1 Sam. xxv. 33). Not less glorious\nwas that decisive and conscious mastery over his spirit when he\nrefused to drink the water of Bethlehem, obtained at the hazard of\nhis bravest men; thus condemning the inordinate appetite that had\ndesired the refreshment at so unreasonable a cost (2 Sam.\nxxiii. 17). . . . To rule one's spirit is to subdue an enemy that has\nvanquished conquerors. . . . Meanwhile victory is declared, before\nthe conquest begins. Let every day then be a day of triumph. The\npromises are to _present_ victory (Rev. ii. 7, etc.). With such\nstirring, stimulating hopes, thou shall surely have rule if thou\ndarest to have it.--_Bridges._\n\nIt may be harder to keep from toppling over a precipice, than to\nlift, by sheer strength, our body over a wall. The reason is obvious.\nA feather might keep our balance, so we could lean and be safe; but\nthe difficulty is where to get it. We have strength enough if we only\nhad wherewithal it could be applied. The difficulty of _ruling our\nspirits_ is, that they are _ourselves._ The difficulty of an\ninebriate in resisting a desire, is--that it is his desire. What can\nhe resist it with? It might be far slighter, and yet, if there be\nnothing to oppose, like the slight weight that topples one upon the\nAlps, it is as sure to ruin him as a thousand tons.--_Miller._\n\nSuch an one is more excellent than he that is strong of body; for he\ncan bear reproaches, which are more intolerable burdens than any that\nare wont to be laid upon the backs of the strongest.--_Muffet._\n\n Therein stands the office of a king,\n His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise,\n That for the public all this weight he bears;\n Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules\n Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king;\n Which every wise and virtuous man attain;\n And who attains not, ill aspires to rule\n Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes,\n Subject himself to anarchy within,\n Or lawless passions in him which he serves.--_Milton._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 33.\n\nTHE LOT AND ITS DISPOSER.\n\n+I. There is a special Providence of God in the midst of His\nuniversal government.+ In nature there is a manifestation of a\nuniversal Providence ruling over all God's creatures. But the\nindividual is not lost in the multitude--each bird of the air and\nevery blade of grass in the field is under the special supervision of\nits Creator. And God is Ruler in the army of heaven and among the\ninhabitants of the earth, but He does not deal with either angels or\nmen in the mass as human rulers must do, but knows, and cares for,\nand guides the destines of the individual man--the disposal of the\nlot of each one is from the Lord.\n\n+II. The special Providence of God works through human\ninstrumentality.+ Reference is here doubtless made to the ancient\ncustom of casting lots to ascertain the Divine Will. This was done at\nthe division of the land of Canaan among the children of Israel, on\nthe occasion of the election of their first king, and in choosing the\napostle who took the place of Judas among the twelve. In all these\ncases it was recognised that there was no chance in the disposal of\nthe lot--that the decision in each case was from the Lord\nHimself--but in each case human instrumentality was used by Him to\nmake known His Will. This linking of human instrumentality with\nDivine sovereignty is found in all God's dealings with men. He has\npromised that seedtime and harvest shall not cease while the earth\ncontinues, but he requires men to sow the grain to bring about the\nharvest. The \"casting of the lot\" is symbolic of the part that human\neffort takes in the government of the world--although God is above\nand behind it, He does not work without it.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nOne general principle regarding the employment of the _\"lot\"_ is\nsufficiently manifest, that it should never be introduced except in\ncases where reason and evidence are incompetent to decide. And we\nmay, I think, safely go so far as to affirm that in cases of\nimportance and of extremity--that is, where other means of arriving\nat a satisfactory conclusion or a harmonious agreement have\nfailed--there does not appear to be anything in Scripture by which\nsuch an appeal can be considered as interdicted. . . . Still, if\nthere is nothing interdictory of the use of it, there is nothing that\nmakes it _obligatory_ in any specified circumstances; and it is clear\nthat, if used at all, it should be used seriously and sparingly. It\nis very wrong, and the reverse of truth, to speak of any matter\nwhatever as being in this way referred to _chance._ There _is_ no\nsuch thing. Chance is nothing--an absolute nonentity. It is a mere\nterm for expressing _our ignorance._ Every turn of the dice in the\nbox is regulated by certain physical laws, so that, _if we knew_ all\nthe turns, we could infallibly tell what number would cast up.\nBesides, in no case is there a more thorough disavowal of chance than\nin the use of _the lot._ It is the strongest and most direct\nrecognition that can be made of a particular providence--of the\nconstant and minute superintendence of an omniscient, overruling\nmind.--_Wardlaw._\n\nEverything is a wheel of Providence. Who directed the Ishmaelites on\ntheir journey to Egypt at the very moment that Joseph was cast into\nthe pit? Who guided Pharaoh's daughter to the stream just when the\nark, with its precious deposit, was committed to the waters? What\ngave Ahasuerus a sleepless night, that he might be amused with the\nrecords of his kingdom?--_Bridges._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Sacrifices,+ literally _killings, i.e.,_ slain\nbeasts, not necessarily animals killed for sacrifice. +2. A son that\ncauseth shame,+ rather, a _degenerate son. (Delitzsch and Z\u00f6ckler)_.\n+4. A liar,+ literally, _a lie, falsehood._ +7. Excellent speech,+\nliterally \"a lip of excess or prominence, an assuming, imperious\nstyle of speech\" (_Z\u00f6ckler_). +A prince,+ rather, _a noble,_ a man of\nlofty disposition. +8. A gift.+ Some expositors understand this in\nthe sense of a bribe. Delitzsch translates the whole verse--\"The gift\nof bribery appears a jewel to its receiver, whithersoever he turneth\nhimself he acted prudently,\" _i.e.,_ \"it determines and impels him to\napply all his understanding, in order that he may reach the goal for\nwhich it shall be his reward.\" Z\u00f6ckler understands it to refer to the\ngift of seasonable liberality which secures for its giver supporters\nand friends. +9. Repeateth a matter.+ Most expositors understand this\nrepetition to refer to a revival of a past wrong, but Miller\ntranslates \"He who falls back into an act,\" _i.e._, transgresses\nagain after forgiveness. +11.+ Many commentators translate the first\nclause _\"Rebellion,\"_ or _\"a rebel\"_ seeketh only after evil, _i.e.,_\nbrings retribution upon himself. +12.+ Miller translates the latter\nclause \"but not a fool his folly.\" (See his comment.) +14. Meddled\nwith,+ rather _\"pours forth.\"_ +17. \"Friend+ and +brother+ are\nrelated the one as the climax of the other. The friend is developed\ninto a brother by adversity.\" (_Lange's Commentary._) +20. A froward\nheart,+ rather, _a false heart._ +22. A broken spirit.+ Miller\nrenders _\"an upbraiding spirit,\" i.e.,_ spirit which cavils at God's\nprovidential dealings. +23. A gift,+ _i.e., a bribe,_ +judgment,+\n_i.e., justice._ +24.+ Many explain this verse to mean that the wise\nfind wisdom everywhere while the fool seeks it everywhere but in the\nright place. Delitzsch and others understand the proverb to mean that\nwisdom is the aim of the man of understanding while the fool has no\ndefinite aim in life. +26. Also,+ rather, _even._ It emphasizes the\nverb immediately following, viz., _to punish, i.e._, to inflict a\npecuniary fine. Z\u00f6ckler renders the verse, _\"Also to punish the\nrighteous is not good, to smile the noble contrary to justice,\"_ and\nexplains the meaning thus, \"The fine as a comparatively light penalty\nwhich may easily at one time or another fall with a certain justice\neven on a just man, stands contrasted with the much severer\npunishment with stripes; and as these two verbal ideas are related,\nso are also the predicates 'not good' and 'contrary to right' (above\ndesert, beyond all proportion to the justice and reasonable) in the\nrelation of a climax.\" Delitzsch reads, _\"Also to inflict punishment\non the righteous is not good; this, the one overthrows his noble on\naccount of his righteousness,\" i.e.,_ it is not good when a ruler\nmakes his power to punish to be felt by the innocent as well as by\nthe guilty. Miller translates, _'Even deserved punishment to the\nrighteous does not seem good, when designed to chasten the willing\nwith a view to holiness,\"_ and explains his translation of the word\ngenerally translated _princes,_ or _the noble,_ by a reference to the\nHebrew root from which it is derived and which may be rendered\n_willing_ or _generous._ +27. Excellent,+ rather a _cool_ spirit.\n\n\nThe homiletic teaching of verse 1 is the same as that of chap.\nxv. 17. (See pages 421, 422).\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nTHE FOOLISH SON AND THE WISE SERVANT.\n\n+I. High social position is not necessarily the outcome of mental\nability or moral worth.+ Many a man is born heir to a great estate,\nor even to a throne, who brings shame upon the name he bears and the\nplace he occupies. He may be inferior in intellectual power to many\nof the dependents upon the house, or he may be worse in character\nthan they are. Or if he is not so degraded in character, or in such\nlimited ability as to be surpassed by the majority, there may be one\nwho serves him whose aim in life is far more lofty than his own, and\nwho has far greater capabilities than he has.\n\n+II. A wise man will acquire influence, whatever position he fills.+\nA servant who understands his duties, and conscientiously fulfils\nthem, will win respect and confidence; and these will give him\ninfluence in his master's house, and over all with who his business\nbrings him into contact. There are many instances, both in the\nhistory of private families and in the history of courts, in which\nthe judicious conduct of a subordinate person has averted evils which\nwould otherwise have followed the crimes of a son of the house, and\nthe father of such a son can but acknowledge such services, and\nreward them, if he is possessed of any gratitude. But whether he does\nso or not, it is an ordination of God's providence, which we see in\nconstant operation around us, that _a wise man is a fool's master._\nIt is a law of nature that a stronger physical body shall govern the\nweaker, if no other power interferes, and it is a law in the universe\nof mind that the stronger mind shall rule the weak, and make it\nserver his purpose in some way. This is the secret of many of the\nsocial changes which are always going on, in which some who were born\nto affluence come down to penury, and those who were born in\nobscurity take their places.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nEliezer will show the custom that suggests the type. He was a _wise\nservant._ Abraham thought he would have to be his heir (Gen. xv. 2,\n3). All commentators put _\"son\"_ in apposition with him _who causes\nshame; i.e.,_ makes them the same person. But to be the same person\nthey should be in the same form grammatically, and _\"son\"_ is in the\nconstruct. The _causer of shame,_ therefore, is the father. And this\nis more consistent, for a wise father could uphold a _son,_ or could\ngive the inheritance to other _brethren._ In the worldly sense there\ncould be no difficulty. In the spiritual what noted instances!--in\nthe Israelites, who, unlike Abraham, failed to command their\nhouseholds (Gen. xviii. 19), and who gave place to their bought\nservants, the hated Gentiles!--in Satan, who has given place to man\n(Psalm viii. 2)!--in modern men who have professed the faith, but\nhave debauched their children till they see them hardening under\ntheir very eyes, and some far-off waif gets before them into the\neverlasting kingdom. Better, says the last proverb, the utmost\npoverty, with peace and love; better, says the proverb, the poorest\nhold upon the Church, if there be the humbler hold upon the service\nof the Most High.--_Miller._\n\nIf wisdom make us free, then are we free indeed: as on the other\nside, he is altogether a servant that dealeth unwisely. But he that\nis wisdom's freeman is not only a freeman but a master, not only a\nmaster but a _son,_ not only a son but an _heir, an heir among his\nbrethren._ So highly doth wisdom exalt. But thus it is with the\nFather of the world, it is not so with worldly fathers. Their foolish\nlove doth honour their son, though his foolish life doth fill them\nwith shame: their proud carriage despiteth their servant, though his\nwise carriage exalteth their estate. The son shall have all though he\ndeserve nothing, the servant shall not have his wages though they be\ndue unto him. But the wisdom of God bestoweth His love, the justice\nof God divideth His inheritance in another manner. Oftentimes, even\nin this life, he putteth the servant in the son's place. . . . Be\nwise, then, though thou be a servant, and thou shalt be His son who\nis the Father of wisdom. Be not wicked, though the son of rich\nparents, and, if may be, heir to a great estate, for He, the Lord of\nall, can quickly make thee a poor servant for thy sins, who has made\nthyself a servant to thy sins.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nTHE TRIER OF HEARTS.\n\nWe have here an analogy implied between men's hearts and gold and\nsilver.\n\n+I. Both have an intrinsic worth.+ Gold and silver have not only an\nartificial value, but they have qualities in themselves which render\nthem of especial worth. So the heart of man--that spiritual and\nimmortal part of him which constitutes him a man--is of priceless\nworth because of its infinite capacities of good and evil, its\ninfinite capabilities of enjoyment and of suffering.\n\n+II. Both must be separated from worthless alloy if they are to\nattain their real value.+ Gold and silver are comparatively worthless\nuntil they are separated from every other mineral; they must be\nunalloyed with baser metal, or nearly so, before their intrinsic\nexcellence and capabilities become apparent and they can be put to\nthe uses for which they are so peculiarly fitted. So the human soul\ncannot rise to the high destiny to which it is appointed until there\nis a separation made between it and sinful habits, motives, and\ndesires.\n\n+III. Both human souls and precious metals are subjected to a testing\nprocess.+ The gold and the silver ores are thrown into the crucible\nand placed over the fire, in order that it may be made manifest how\nmuch there is of real worth in them, and the human soul is subjected\nto trials of various kinds by the Great Searcher of hearts, in order\nthat both the good and the evil that is therein may be seen, and the\none separated from the other. The proverb seems rather to refer to\nthe _testing,_ than to the purifying process.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Trying_ is more than simply _discerning._ The Lord does not need to\n_try_ in order to make any discovery for Himself. He \"knoweth what is\nin man.\" But He \"tries,\" in order to bring to light what may lie\nconcealed from men, and especially from the individual himself. And\nthis He does in order to the person's conviction and benefit: and\nthat He may be vindicated in His final judgments He \"tries,\" in\ndifferent respects, both the wicked and the righteous. By the\ndispensations of His providence He often elicits the latent evils\nthat are in the hearts of the ungodly and the worldly. He brings out\ntheir hidden abominations. He manifests the deceitfulness, the\nhypocrisy, the \"desperate wickedness\" of their \"inward parts,\" their\nrebellions and unsubdued dispositions. He exposed the simulation of\ndissemblers, and of those whose religion only seems to thrive when\ntheir profession of it brings no suffering, and demands no\nsacrifice. . . . In the same manner, too, does God try and bring out\nto view the inward graces and virtues of His children. And while\ndisclosing He refines and purifies them, He detects and removes the\nalloy--the dross and tin of self and the world, separating the \"vile\"\nfrom the \"precious,\" and so rendering the precious the more\nexcellent.--_Wardlaw._\n\nSilver is refined by getting the silver out from among the dross.\nChristians are refined by putting the silver in among the dross, and\nrefining the dross away. Men in a natural state are not an ore of\nsilver, but are dross, and they are nothing else. He who sits to\npurify them (Mal. iii. 3) does not disengage the gold, but supplies\nit as He goes along. In other respects the emblem is complete.\n(1) The _\"furnace\"_ takes out the dross. So does _\"Jehovah.\"_ (2) The\n_\"furnace\"_ burns out the dross. So does _\"Jehovah,\"_ with biting\nflames. (3) The _\"furnace\"_ is a gradual worker. So is God.--_Miller._\n\nMan trieth many things, and many things in man are tried by man. The\n_silver_ of a man's _word_ is tried by a wise care: the _gold_ of a\nman's _deeds_ is tried by the fruit of them: the _silver_ of a man's\n_wit_ is tried by dangers and distresses, the _gold_ of a man's\n_understanding_ is tried by weighty and important business; the\n_gold_ of a man's _strength_ is tried by hard and burdensome labour;\nthe gold of his _knowledge_ by hard and difficult questions; the\nsilver of a man's _diligence_ is tried by the haste of affairs: the\ngold of a man's _faithfulness_ by trust reposed in him: the silver of\na man's estate is tried by a careful account, the gold of his virtues\nby troubles and temptations. Thus there is a _fining-pot for the\nsilver, and a furnace for the gold:_ and the heart of man trieth\nother things, but the _trier of the heart is the Lord alone._ The\nfine silver, the pure gold that lie in that, can be proved by nothing\nbut by His touch. Whoever else taketh upon him to search the secrets\nof the heart, layeth open his own sin and folly. The heart itself\ncannot try itself; God is the goldsmith for it. Or else the original\nwill bear well this sense, that God, by troubles, trieth the heart of\nman. Wherefore Tertullian saith, When we are burned in the heat of\npersecution then are we tried in the hold-fast of our faith. . . .\nAnd surely if Seneca could say, \"I give thanks unto fortune because\nshe would try how much I esteemed honesty, so great a thing ought not\nto stand me in a little,\" then certainly the servants of God ought to\nthank God when He, by troubles, trieth how well they love\nHim.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nTHE EVIL SPEAKER AND THE LISTENER.\n\n+I. That which men give heed to reveals their character.+ If a man\nwill listen to another who he knows to be false--if he permits him to\nbe continually pouring into his ear that which he knows to be\nuntrue--he is a liar himself. He could not make himself a receiver of\nlies if he were not of a kindred spirit with the liar. We classify\nanimals according to the food which they eat, and we can classify men\nwhen we know upon what mental and moral food they love to feed. He\nwho gives heed to falsehood and lying lips is a false man himself.\n\n+II. Delight in wicked speech leads to wicked actions.+ Those who use\nungodly language never stop there. There is but a step between wicked\nwords and wicked deeds. Neither do those who begin by giving heed to\nmen whose speech is prompted by him who is the father of lies (John\nviii. 44) stop with the mere listening. The listening, as we have\nseen, implies a certain degree of sympathy with the listener; this\nsympathy leads to imitation, and he who gives heed to false lips not\nonly becomes himself a man of wicked speech but a \"wicked doer.\"\n\n+III. The liar and he who listens to him divide the responsibility of\nthe sin between them.+ These two characters help to increase each\nother's guilt by strengthening each other in their ungodliness. The\nliar is encouraged to go on in his lying by those who give heed to\nhis lies; if there were none willing to listen to him he would soon\ncease to sin in this direction. So that the receiver of falsehood\nwill have to share the punishment of him who propagates it. Then the\nliar increases the wickedness of the wicked doer by his false words,\nwhich help to make his heart yet more ungodly and his doings yet more\nwicked. Thus ungodly men exert a reciprocal influence upon each other\nfor evil.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWicked men have a great treasure of evil in their hearts, and yet\nhave not enough to satisfy their own corrupt dispositions. They are\nlike covetous men, in whom their large possessions only increase\ntheir lust of having, and therefore they carry on a trade with other\nwicked men, who are able to add to their store of iniquity, by\nflattering and counselling them in sin.--_Lawson._\n\n_\"A liar\"_ is of essential use to the evil-doer. He can suborn him.\nHe can get him to bear witness in his favour--to perjure himself to\nget him off, when in danger of being convicted. Such characters, too,\nit may be noticed, are fond of the lies of _false teachers._ They\nkeep their ear greedily open to these. They are smoothed, and\nflattered, and encouraged by them in their evil courses. They cannot\nbut like the doctrine that allays their fears; that palliates sin;\nthat makes light of future punishment; that tells them of a God all\nmercy; that assures them of ultimate universal salvation. Thus it was\nof old; and thus it is still (Isa. xxx. 9-11).--_Wardlaw._\n\nA man most mischievous himself yields most mischievously to the\nmischief of other sinners. _\"A lie\"_ is the most weakly credulous.\nThis is often noticed among the earthly. The biter is often most\nbitten, the tyrant most tortured. The cunning is often most caught,\nand what is singularly the fact, the sceptic is often the most\nbelieving. It is not a complete proverb, thought, for earth, because\nit is not universal. It is spiritually, as with all these other\ntexts, that the truth has no exception. The greatest harm-doer is\nSatan, and so the greatest harm is done to Satan. He is the father of\nlies, and has been the most lied to. He was more deceived in Eden\nthan his victim, and on Calvary than the men who crucified our Lord.\nAnd all his followers take from the world equal mischief with that\nwhich they inflict upon it.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.\n\nA DOUBLE REVELATION.\n\n+I. Revealing crime.+ _He who mocketh the poor reveals his own\ncharacter._ If we find one brother of a family mocking another\nbrother, we feel that his conduct is a revelation of the state of his\nheart. We feel that such a man must be destitute of all right\nfeeling--that he has no regard for their common parent--none of that\ntender feeling which ought to bind members of the same family. God\nhas made of one blood all nations of the earth, and he who mocks the\npoor mocks one of the same great human family as himself, and thus\nshows that he lacks all true humanity and all right feeling towards\nthe common Father of both. _The displeasure with which God regards\nsuch a man reveals the Divine character._ If the ruler of a country\nidentifies himself with the most defenceless and friendless of his\nsubjects--if he exacts the severest penalties for any wrong done to\nthem--if, in short, he reckons an offence against them as committed\nagainst himself--he reveals that he is a man of true benevolence. The\ndispleasure with which God regards not only them who oppress the\npoor, but also those who mock them--and a man does this when he gives\nempty words but no sympathy and help--reveals the tender compassion\nof His nature. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. xiv. 31,\npage 389.\n\n+II. An aggravated crime.+ _\"He who is glad at calamities,\"_ etc. It\nis a sin both against God and human nature to mock the poor--to treat\nmen with indifference and contempt because they are in a lowly\nstation--because they are compelled to labour much and labour hard\nfor the supply of their daily wants: he who is guilty of such conduct\nreveals a nature that is entirely opposed to the nature of God, and\nlays himself open to retribution. But when a man is not only\nindifferent to the miseries of others, but can actually find in them\nan occasion of gladness, he is as near to Satan in character and\ndisposition as a man out of hell can be. He is not only ungodlike,\nbut is devilish. It is a prominent characteristic of the evil one\nthat he finds a fiendish delight in the calamities of men, and a man\ncannot give a more convincing proof that he is of his \"father the\ndevil\" (John xiii. 44) than by imitating him in this particular crime.\n\n+III. A heavy retribution.+ We can form some estimate of the weight\nof punishment which must fall upon this last offender, by remembering\nhow God regards the first. If He convicts him who mocks the poor of\ncasting reproach upon his Maker, how much more will He visit him who\n\"is glad at calamities.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSo Tyrus is threatened, because she was glad at Jerusalem's\ncalamities, saying, \"I shall be replenished now she is laid waste\"\n(Ezek. xxvi. 2). And Edom similarly (Obad. 12).--_Fausset._\n\nIt is a sad thing when one \"potsherd of the earth,\" because it\nhappens to have got from the hand of the potter a little gilding and\nsuperficial decoration, mocks at another \"potsherd of the earth\"\nwhich chances to be somewhat more homely in its outward appearance,\nor, perhaps, formed of a little coarser material than the other; both\nthe work of the same hands, and both alike frail, brittle, and\nperishable.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhy should I, for a little difference in this one particular of\nworldly wealth, despise my poor brother? When so many and great\nthings unites us, shall wealth disunite us? One sun shines on us\nboth; one blood bought us both; one heaven will receive us both, only\nhe hath not so much of earth as I, and possibly much more of\nheaven.--_Bishop Reynolds._\n\nTo pour contempt upon the current coin with the king's image on it,\nis treason against the sovereign. No less contempt is it of the\nSacred Majesty, to despise _the poor,_ who have, no less than the\nrich, the king's image upon them (Gen. ix. 6). This view marks the\ncontempt of the poor as a sin of the deepest dye.--_Bridges._\n\nIf God should appear in human shape, would we dare to insult him?\nWould not the fear of a just and dreadful vengeance deter us? And to\nmock the poor, amounts to the very same thing. God did actually\nappear in our nature, and He was then poor for our sakes; and those\nthat despise the poor, despise them for a reason that reflects upon\nour Saviour Himself when He dwelt among us.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.\n\nFATHERS AND CHILDREN.\n\nTwo things are implied in this proverb:--First, that the fathers are\ngood men. An aged man who is not a godly man cannot in any sense\nreflect any glory upon his descendants. Secondly, that the children\nare also godly and true, otherwise they are anything but a crown to\ntheir parents. The Wise Man is here speaking of those who are in both\nrelations what God intended them to be. When such is the case--\n\n+I. The children bring honour to their parents.+ They testify that\nthe parents have trained them in the way that they should go--that\nthey have given them a good example as well as good advice, and every\nchild is then like a separate mirror, reflecting the character of the\ngodly parent by whose influence he has become what he now is. And the\ngreater number of these mirrors there are, the more brilliant is the\ncrown of honour which is worn by the godly ancestor whose virtues are\nthus reproduced in his children and in his children's children, even\nlong after he has left the world. Every tribute of respect that is\npaid to the children is another jewel placed in the crown of the\ngodly ancestor.\n\n+II. The parents are the glory of their children.+ Men glory in being\ndescended from ancestors who have been great warriors or who have\nleft them a vast inheritance of material wealth, but an inheritance\nof goodness reflects as much more glory upon those who are its heirs\nas the glory of heaven exceeds that of earth. Goodness holds a very\nold patent of nobility, and when children can boast of a long line of\nGod-fearing ancestors, they can boast of a dignity which is as old as\nGod. To be the descendants of those who are now before the throne of\nGod is a glory before which all earthly glory fades away.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.\n\nA TWOFOLD INCONGRUITY.\n\n+I. Truth from the mouth of a godless man.+ This is not an unknown\ncase. A man of immoral practices may inculcate precepts of purity--a\ndishonest man may, for the purpose of cloaking his own character, be\nloud in his praises of integrity and uprightness. But the speech of\nsuch a man will fall powerless on his hearers, even if they do not\nknow thoroughly the character of the speaker. There will be a lack of\nthe true ring of sincerity about his words--being words only, and not\nconvictions, they will be \"as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.\"\nSuppose that a barrister, who was very ignorant of law and possessed\nof very limited mental capacities, having undertaken the defence of\nan important case, were to apply to one of his most learned and\neloquent legal brethren to write his speech for him. When he got up\nto deliver that which was not the production of his own mind--that\nwhich he was not able thoroughly to appreciate himself--would not the\nlisteners be struck with a sense of incongruity, would they not feel\nthat, however good the arguments, however vivid the illustrations,\nhowever powerful the appeals, there was something lacking--that the\nspeaker was a stripling wearing the armour of a giant? Something of\nthis same feeling is experienced when an immoral man gives utterance\nto moral sentiments--he does not know the meaning of his own words,\nhe lacks the experience necessary to give weight to what he says. He\nspeaks what is in itself true, but he is not a true man himself, and\nconsequently the utterance is like a \"jewel of gold in a swine's\nsnout.\"\n\n+II. Untruth from the mouth of a man of exalted station.+ A prince\n(_i.e.,_ one who holds a high place among his fellow-men) is\nespecially bound to be a man of truth and honour. It is here implied\nthat he is to be an embodiment of truthfulness--that whether he owes\nhis position to wealth, to birth, or to intellectual gifts--whatever\nelse he lacks, he ought to be a truthful man; his words ought to be\nexcellent, and they ought to be the reflection of excellence of\ncharacter.\n\n+III. The second incongruity is more mischievous than the first.+\n\"Excellent speech becometh not a fool, _much less_ do lying lips a\nprince.\" If a moral fool is a man who holds no position in the world,\nwhat he says will not be of so much consequence, because his\ninfluence upon others is little. He will injure himself, and those\nimmediately connected with him, but the harm done will not be so\nwidely spread as if he were one of the great of the land. The first\nman, if he puts on a garb of morality, and adopts language which does\nnot represent his true self, is a liar, but his lying does not injure\nothers so much as it does himself. But a \"lying prince\" is an\ninstrument of wide-spread evil. To lie in a cottage is a sin against\nGod and man, but to lie in a palace is a greater sin, because the\ninmate of the palace holds in his hand an immense power for good and\nfor evil. What he says and does is felt more or less indirectly\nthroughout his dominion, and as his responsibility is so great, the\nguilt of using it wrongly is great also.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nGod likes not fair words from a foul mouth. Christ silenced the devil\nwhen he confessed Him to be the Son of the Most High God. The leper's\nlips should be covered, according to the law.--_Trapp._\n\nLying lips are no less unbecoming in the mouth of a prince, who ought\nto honour the dignity of his station by the dignity of his manner. A\nprince of our own is said to have frequently used this proverbial\nsaying, \"He that knows not how to dissemble knows not how to reign.\"\nYou may judge from the text before us whether he deserved to be\ncalled the Solomon of his age. It was certainly a nobler saying of\none of the kings of France,--that if truth were banished from all the\nrest of the world it ought to be found in the breasts of princes. A\nman's dignity obliges him to a behaviour worthy of it, and of him\nwhose favour has conferred it. All Christians are advanced to\nspiritual honours of the most exalted kind. They are the children of\nGod, and heirs of the eternal kingdom, and ought to resemble their\nheavenly Father, who is the God of truth. When a young prince desired\na certain philosopher to give him a directory for his conduct, all\nhis instructions were comprised in one sentence, \"Remember that thou\nart a king's son.\" Let Christians remember who they are, and how they\ncame to be what they are, and act in character.--_Lawson._\n\nForce not thyself above, degrade not thyself below thy\ncondition.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nTHE POWER OF GIFTS.\n\n+I. All men value gifts.+ Whether they be gifts which are of\nintrinsic value from their beauty or their rarity or whether they are\nof little worth in themselves, but are the expression of the love and\ngratitude of those who offer them, there is a certain pleasure in\nreceiving them. A free-will offering is more acceptable to a\nright-minded man than that which is bestowed upon him as a matter of\nnecessity. The fact that it is a gift invests it with a value beyond\nthat which would otherwise be attached to it--makes it as a \"precious\nstone\" to the receiver. The good-will that prompts the gift turns a\npebble into a diamond.\n\n+II. All the blessing of a gift does not rest with the receiver.+--As\na precious stone reflects rays of light in whichever way it is held,\nso generous-hearted liberality blesses him who gives as well as him\nwho takes. The giver has the gratitude and love of the recipient and\nexperiences the truth of the words of the Lord Jesus: \"It is more\nblessed to give than to receive\" (Acts. xx. 35). (For the opposite\nmeanings which different commentators attach to the word \"gift,\" see\nCritical Notes.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n1. Those that have money in their _hand_ think they can do anything\n_with_ it. Rich men, whithersoever they turn this sparkling diamond,\nexpect it should dazzle the eyes of all, and make them do just what\nthey would have them do in hopes of it. 2. Those who have money in\ntheir _eye_ will do anything _for_ it. It has great influence upon\nthem, and they will be sure to go the way it leads them.--_Henry._\n\nViewed as referring to the person who _confers_ the gift, or _has it\nto bestow,_--we may notice _first,_ that the reference may be to the\nman who _is known_ to have something to bestow _which all covet._ In\nthis case, every one desires his favour, strives to oblige him, tries\nevery means of insinuation into his good graces. A man who has any\nskill in man\u0153vering may, in this way, render what he has to confer a\ncapital instrument for pushing forward his own prosperity; keeping\nall in expectation,--cherishing hope,--making his desired and coveted\ngift look first one way, then another, then a third; perhaps\npartially bestowing, and still reserving enough to hold expectants\nhanging on, so as to have them available for his own ends.\n_Secondly:_--On the part of those who have gifts to bestow, uses may\nbe made of them that are honourable and prudent,--quite consistent,\nnot with mere self-interest, but with right principle. They may be\nemployed to avert threatened evil, and for the more sure attainment\nof desired good. Such was Jacob's gift to his brother Esau; when, in\nsetting it apart, he said, \"I will appease him with the present that\ngoeth before me, and afterward will I see his face.\" Such was the\ngift of the same patriarch, at a later period, to \"the man the lord\nof the country,\" when he sent his sons the second time to Joseph in\nEgypt.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nHOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND HOW TO SEPARATE THEM.\n\nWe have before noticed ways in which love covers sin or\ntransgression. (See Homiletics of chapter x. 12, page 157.) This\nproverb sets forth--\n\n+I. That he who thus covers sin is a great benefactor of the human\nrace.+ The great need of a fallen world is such a state of heart as\nwill promote love among men. One of Christ's last commands to his\ndisciples was _\"Love one another as I have loved you\"_ (John\nxvi. 12). And there is no more effectual way of promoting love than\nby freely forgiving an offence and at the same time endeavouring to\nturn the transgressor from the error of his way. A stream in winter\nmay, by reason of the biting cold, be congealed into a rock-like\nsolid mass, but when the summer sun shines upon it, it cannot long\nresist the influence, but melts and begins again to ripple and\nsparkle under its beams. So a sense of guilt and shame hardens the\nhuman heart, but a consciousness that the sin has been freely\nforgiven and forgotten melts it into contrition and love if it is not\nutterly dead to moral influences. This is the great power which binds\nsin-forgiven men and women to God--having been forgiven much they\nlove much (Luke vii. 47-50).\n\n+II. A man of opposite character is a curse to his race.+ Friendship\nis the greatest boon of human existence, and he whose words or deeds\ntend to break any such tie does his fellow-men a great wrong. There\nis no more effectual way of doing it than by a constant repetition of\nthe faults of others, either by reminding the offender himself of his\nshortcomings or by speaking of them to a third person. Solomon may\nrefer to either of these habits--both are bad, and show a disposition\nentirely opposed to that of Him who, when he forgave His ancient\npeople, promised that He would \"remember their sin no more\" (Jer.\nxxxi. 34).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Seeketh love!_ A beautiful expression, much to be kept in mind! It\nshows a delight in the atmosphere of _love_--man's highest elevation\nin communion with his God (1 John iv. 16). It implies not the mere\nexercise of _love,_ where it is presented, but the searching and\nmaking opportunity for it. But how seldom do we rise to the high\nstandard of this primary grace, exalted as it is pre-eminently above\n\"the best gifts\" (1 Cor. xii. 31; xiii.); and illustrated and\nenforced by no less than the Divine example! (Eph. v. 1, 2). Yet too\noften it sits at the door of our lips, instead of finding a home in\nour hearts; forgetting that the exhortation is not, that we should\n_talk_ of _love,_ but that we should \"walk in it;\" not stepping over\nit, crossing it, walking by the side, but _\"in it,\"_ as our highway\nand course. One step of our feet is better than a hundred words of\nthe tongue.--_Bridges._\n\n_All unnecessary repetition_ even of _real_ faults comes under the\ncategory of _scandal,_ and is sinful and mischievous. You may fancy\nyou are within the limit of blameworthiness, when you are telling no\nmore than what is _true:_ but, if you are telling even truth\n_needlessly,_ for no good and laudable end, you are chargeable with\nthe offence.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAlas! how many things are there to be suffered, how many things to be\nforgotten, how many things, though seen, to be as it were unseen,\nthat love may be preferred. He that covereth transgression warmeth\naffection, and he that seeketh the love of man shall be sure to find\nthe love of God. The way to seek and find other things is by\nuncovering that which is hid; but the way to seek and find love is by\ncovering the offence.--_Jermin._\n\nIf one has been our enemy it has been for some trespass. The best way\nto abate the enmity is to cover up and smother over, and thus erase\nfrom memory our act against him. He that does this _\"seeks love.\"_\n\"He who falls back into the wrong,\" _i.e.,_ iterates or doubles over\nhis offence, drives away everything. (See Critical Notes.) . . .\nSpiritually, a man is not to complain of the alienation of his Maker,\nif he wilfully retain his sin. If God has given us a special way for\n_covering sin,_ and we postpone it, and go tumbling back into our\nacts, the strife is ours.--_Miller._\n\nThere are two ways of making peace and reconciling differences: the\none begins with amnesty, the other with a recital of injuries,\ncombined with apologies and excuses. Now I remember that it was the\nopinion of a very wise man, and a great politician, that \"he who\nnegotiates a peace without recapitulating the grounds of difference\nrather deludes the minds of the parties, by representing the\nsweetness of concord, than reconciles them by equitable adjustment.\"\nBut Solomon, a wiser man than he, is of a contrary opinion, approving\nof amnesty, and forbidding a recapitulation of the past. For in it\nare these disadvantages: it is as the chafing of a sore; it creates\nthe risk of a new quarrel (for the parties will never agree as to the\nproportions of injuries on either side); and lastly, it brings it to\na matter of apologies: whereas either party would rather be thought\nto have forgiven an injury than to have accepted an excuse.--_Lord\nBacon._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nCORRECTION MUST BE ADAPTED TO THE CHARACTER OF THE OFFENDER.\n\n+I. Some men can be influenced by moral means.+ A man whose moral\nnature is developed can be brought to a sense of error by an appeal\nto his own sense of right and wrong. Although he has fallen into sin\nhe does not love it, and the rebuke from without finds an echo in the\nmonitor within his own breast. His susceptibility to reproof\narises--1. _From a deep sense of his obligations to God._ He knows\nwhat God has done to put away sin and its effects from the universe,\nand gratitude to Him opens his ear and his heart to reproof. 2. _From\na sense of his own true interest._ A man would be counted a fool if\nhe were to be angry with the physician who desired to free him from\nthe dominion of a bodily disease, and a morally wise man is too\nkeenly alive to the worth of his own soul not to listen to a wise\nreproof.\n\n+II. But there are men who can only be aroused to a sense of\nwrong-doing by physical suffering.+ Such men, by a long course of\ncrime or by a constant resistance of moral influences, have sunk\nalmost to the level of the brute. They are like the horse and mule\nwhich have no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and\nbridle (Psalm xxxii. 9). Nothing can awaken their sleeping\nconsciences but severe and startling judgments or bodily\nchastisement, and even these \"stripes\" may fail to bring them to a\nright state of mind. Let men, then, beware, lest being often reproved\nand hardening themselves against it (ch. xxix. 1), they become so\ncallous to the words of God and good men, or to the visitations of\nProvidence, as to be \"past feeling\" (Eph. iv. 19).\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nIt was a maxim of Bishop Griswold--\"when censured or accused, to\n_correct_--not to justify my error.\" A certain minister, with more\nzeal than discretion, once became impressed with the thought that the\nbishop was a mere formalist in religion, and that it was his duty to\ngo and warn him of his danger. Accordingly he called upon the bishop,\nvery solemnly made known his errand, and forthwith entered upon his\nreproof. The bishop listened in silence till his visitor had closed a\nseverely denunciatory exhortation, and then in substance replied as\nfollows:--\"My dear friend, I do not wonder that they who witness the\ninconsistency of my conduct, and see how poorly I adorn the doctrine\nof God my Saviour, should think I have no religion. I often fear for\nmyself that such is the case, and feel very grateful to you for\ngiving me the warning.\" The reply was made with such evidently\nunaffected humility, and with such deep sincerity, that if an audible\nvoice from heaven had attested the genuineness of his Christian\ncharacter it could not more effectually have silenced his kindly\nintending but mis-judging censor, or more completely disabused him of\nhis false impressions.--_Episcopal Record._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFools have sometimes received correction and made a good use of it,\nbut they were fools no longer, for the rod and reproof gave them\nwisdom; but it is a sign that folly is deeply ingrained when an\nhundred rods leave men as great fools as they found them.--_Lawson._\n\nA look from Christ brake Peter's heart and dissolved it into\ntears. . . . But Jeroboam's withered hand works nothing upon his\nheart.--_Trapp._\n\nThe folly of simplicity is a softness of nature; the folly of sin is\na hardness of heart; the folly of conceit is a stiffness of will, and\nlittle doth a rod enter into any of them. For though the first be\nsoft, it is hard to work upon it, although it be with hard and many\nstrokes of the stick. The woolliness of a sheep's skin keeps back the\nforce of the beating rod. . . . The rock in the wilderness first\ndenied water to the Israelites, as, withstanding nature's force and\nthe first stroke of Moses, it resisted as opposing the infidelity of\nsin, to the second stroke it yielded as submitting to God's power.\nBut it is not the power of God's rod that enters into a\nfool.--_Jermin._\n\nA needle pierces deeper into flesh than a sword into\nstone.--_Bridges._\n\nDavid is softened with _Thou art the man;_ but Pharaoh remains\nhardened under all the plagues of Egypt.--_Henry._\n\nEven amongst the children of God themselves there are great\ndiversities of temper; some requiring harder dealing than others to\nbring them down, and to reclaim them from their follies, as is the\ncase often with children in the same family. A word, or a look, will\ngo with melting and heart-breaking power to the very soul of one,\nwhile the severest correction, and oft-repeated, will fail to bring\ndown the stubborn and fractious spirit of another. O for more of the\nspirit of Job and less of the spirit of Jonah!--for more of that\ntruly child-like disposition which gives way before every Divine\nadmonition, which melts into penitence under the eye of an offended\nGod, and looks up with a child's submission at the slightest touch of\nHis corrective rod!--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-13.\n\nPHASES OF EVIL.\n\n+I. The main characteristic of a sinner is that he is a rebel against\nthe moral order of the universe.+ \"He seeketh only rebellion.\" The\nplanets in their courses describe their orbits in obedience to the\nlaw of gravitation, and because they do so the order of the heavens\nis preserved. God is the sun of the moral universe, and before sin\nentered it all His creatures kept the path of obedience to His will,\nheld to their allegiance by the love and confidence which they bore\nto their Lawgiver. But sin snapped the bond, and the word sinner\nstands for one who has broken away from the moral law of God; every\nsinner seeketh rebellion.\n\n+II. A sinner is a restless being.+ He _seeks_ rebellion. These words\nseem to depict the restless character of the ungodly man. When a soul\nhas lost its centre of gravity--when the will of God is not the\npolestar of life--it drifts about in obedience first to one lawless\npassion and then another, following in the footsteps of the great\nleader of rebellion, the first sinner, who, by his own confession, is\ncontinually going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in\nit (Job i. 7).\n\n+III. A sinner is an injurious man.+ No man can set himself in\nantagonism to the law of God, which leads to the happiness of his\ncreatures, without bringing misery upon others, and the more\ndetermined his rebellion the more cruel are the effects of his sin\nupon them. A bear is naturally a cruel beast, but then a bear is\nrobbed of what her instinct leads her to guard most jealously she is\nan object to be dreaded and avoided. Yet a wicked man is more to be\nfeared, for there are in him capabilities of mischief beyond those\npossessed by the furious brute. The anger of the beast might be\ndiverted or appeased--even a bear robbed of her whelps would forget\nher anger if a carcase were thrown in her path upon which she might\nwreak her vengeance. But the wrath of an angry man is less easily\nappeased. The mischief which the furious bear can do is more limited.\nThe superior skill of man can soon put a stop to the ravages of a\nwild beast, but the angry folly of a single fool has often destroyed\nmany lives and broken many hearts.\n\n+IV. A sinner is an ungrateful thing.+ Many an ungodly man would deny\nthis charge, but everyone who continues in a state of rebellion\nagainst God is continually rewarding evil for good. But the sin of\nthe text doubtless refers to the ingratitude towards a fellow-man.\nThis sin cannot be charged home upon every ungodly man--there are\nthose who, though careless of rendering to God that which is His due,\nare content with rendering to their fellow-men evil for evil, and\nwould not knowingly render evil for good. But while the heart is in a\nstate of rebellion against its rightful sovereign, every evil\ntendency is continually growing stronger, and men by degrees descend\nto depths of evil from which they would once have recoiled with\nhorror.\n\n+V. God will, sooner or later, call His rebellious subjects to\naccount.+ Although men sometimes go on in open rebellion against God\nfor many years, not one shall finally escape. A writ has been issued\nfor the apprehension of each one, although the execution is in some\ncases deferred. _\"Every one of us shall give an account of himself to\nGod\"_ (Rom. xiv. 12), and the messenger that summons the ungodly man\nto the Divine tribunal will be \"cruel\" because looked at through the\nmedium of a guilty conscience.\n\n+VI. The sinner brings evil upon his posterity.+ It is a truth which\nis illustrated by the experience of our daily life that no man stands\nalone in the world--that the sins of the fathers are, in some\nmeasure, visited upon the children--that \"whoso regardeth evil for\ngood,\" not only brings evil upon himself but upon _\"his house.\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 11. God sometimes employs terrible messengers to chastise His\nown people. When David numbered his subjects, 70,000 of them were\ndestroyed in three days by a visible messenger of severity, under the\ndirection of an invisible minister of providence. If God takes such\nvengeance of the rebellions of some whom He pardons, what will the\nend be of them that seek only rebellion!--_Lawson._\n\nGod hath forces enough at hand to fetch in His rebels. . . . The\nstones in the walls of Aphek shall sooner turn executioners than a\nrebellious Aramite shall escape unrevenged.--_Trapp._\n\nMany things there are which an evil man proposeth to his seeking:\nsometimes pleasures, sometimes profit, sometimes honour, sometimes\nfavour, but in truth it is only rebellion against God that is sought\nby him. For these things are not to be found in the ways of\nwickedness, and therefore it is only his deceived imagination that\nlooketh for them there. But rebellion against God is found in all his\nways.--_Jermin._\n\nThere are men that are summoning a cruel messenger to be sent against\nthemselves. . . . They are \"only the rebellious.\" A door of mercy!\nand a ransom fixed for sin! and only one class to fail! and they\nspontaneously rebels! These are the men that go in search of evil,\nand this is the meaning of the wise man.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 12. Witness Jacob's sons putting a whole city to fire and sword\nfor the folly of one man; Saul slaying a large company of innocent\npriests; Nebuchadnezzar heating the furnace sevenfold; Herod\nmurdering the children in Ramah; \"Saul breathing out threatenings and\nslaughter against the disciples of the Lord\"--was not all this the\nrage of a beast, not the reason of a man? Humbling, indeed, is this\npicture of man, once \"created in the image of God\" (Gen.\ni. 27).--_Bridges._\n\nFor the \"fool,\" what a meeting! when he has been robbed of every\nearthly chance! and is dead eternally! and the _\"folly,\"_ that has\nrobbed him, is shut up with him in everlasting misery!--_Miller._\n\nSee Miller's reading of the verse in Critical Notes.\n\n\nVerse 13. To render good for evil is Divine, good for good is human,\nevil for evil is brutish, evil for good is devilish.--_Trapp._\n\nThe most striking illustration of this sentence, is the history of\nthe Jewish nation. Never was such ingratitude showed to any\nbenefactor, as they showed to the Son of God, and never was the\npunishment of any people so dreadful, and of so long continuance.\nThat scattered people proclaim to every nation under heaven how\ndangerous the sin of ingratitude is, especially when God our Saviour\nis the object of it.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nTHE BEGINNING OF STRIFE.\n\n+I. This moral pestilence is of great antiquity.+ It began with the\nangels who \"kept not their first estate\" (Jude 6), and from that\nfar-distant period until now the universe has never been free from\ndiscord--good and evil have striven against each other, and strife\nhas also reigned between those who are on the side of evil. There was\nstrife between the first two human brothers born into this world, and\nsince the day when Cain slew Abel because his own works were evil and\nhis brother's righteous, this terrible enemy of human happiness has\nbeen slaying his victims wherever men were to be found.\n\n+II. Strife is a thing of growth.+ There is a moment when the fire\nwhich will presently destroy a town is only a tiny spark which the\nbreath of a child could extinguish,--the leak which at last sinks the\nvessel and sends a hundred brave men to a watery grave was once no\nlarger than a pin-hole--and the breach in the dam through which a\ntorrent of water rushes, leaving desolation behind it, begins with an\nopening through which no more than a few drops of water can force\ntheir way. So it is with strife. It does not attain to its full\ndimensions in a moment. The hatred in the heart which is the root of\nstrife may be at first but a passing feeling, but if it is not\novercome at its first appearance it grows in strength from day to\nday. And its outward manifestation in strife may begin with but a few\nangry words--an apparently trifling disagreement. But those who have\nindulged in it will presently find themselves in the grip of a\ngiant--overmastered, and carried headlong by passion to crimes of\nwhich they once thought it impossible they could ever be guilty.\n\n+III. If the miserable effects of strife are to be avoided, it must\nbe attacked in its beginnings.+ Seeing how disastrous are the effects\nof the leak in the ship, and how much desolation is caused by the\nravages of fire or the bursting forth of pent-up water through its\nbanks, it behoves all who are in any way responsible in these matters\nto be watchful for the first indications of mischief, and to put a\nstop to it before it gets beyond their power. And if a man would\navoid being a party to a quarrel, he must watch narrowly the first\nrisings of anger in his heart and take care that he never utters the\n_first_ angry word. If the _first_ remains unspoken, a _second_ can\nnever pass his lips; but if in an unguarded moment the angry feeling\nfinds an outlet in angry speech, the speaker himself cannot tell\nwhere and how the mischief will end. It may go from words of strife\nto deeds of strife, and both will entail more misery upon their\nauthor than upon him who is the subject of them. The self-interest of\nevery man ought to prompt him to check the beginnings of strife in\nhimself and in others; it is so great an enemy to our social\nwell-being that we are all as much interested in putting a stop to\nits ravages as we are in arresting the progress of a pestilential\ndisease. But the children of God are specially called to this work.\nThey are bound to be imitators of their Father in this matter, and He\nis \"the God of peace\" (Rom. xv. 33). All the plans and purposes of\nGod have for their aim \"peace on earth\" (Luke ii. 14), and His\nchildren ought to emulate His example. And they cannot do otherwise.\nThey have been made partakers of the Divine nature (2 Peter i. 4),\nand the nature of God is eminently peace-loving. If, therefore, a man\nhas been born of God he must delight in social peace and harmony--he\nmust recoil from strife and discord. It is _peacemakers_ that shall\nbe called _\"the children of God\"_ (Matt. v. 9), and _\"He that saith\nhe is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until\nnow\"_ (1 John ii. 9).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nMan is a sociable-living creature, and should converse with man in\nlove and tranquility. Man should be a supporter of man; is he become\nan overthrower? O apostasy, not only from religion, but also from\nhumanity! The greatest danger that befalls man comes from where it\nshould least come, from man himself. Lions fight not with lions;\nserpents spend not their venom on serpents; but man is the main\nsuborner of mischief to his own kind. . . . God hath hewn us all out\nof one rock, tempered all our bodies of one clay, and spirited our\nsouls of one breath. Therefore, saith Augustine, since we proceed all\nout of one stock, let us all be of one mind. Beasts molest not their\nown kind, and birds of a feather fly lovingly together. Not only the\nblessed angels of heaven agree in mutual harmony, but even the very\ndevils of hell are not divided, lest they ruin their kingdom. We have\none greater reason of love and unity observed than all the rest. For\nwhereas God made not all angels of one angel, nor all beasts of the\ngreat behemoth, nor all fishes of the huge leviathan, nor all birds\nof the majestical eagle, yet He made all men of one man.--_T. Adams._\n\nWe are but several streams issuing from one primitive source; one\nblood flows in all our veins; one nourishment repairs our decayed\nbodies; we are co-habitants of the same earth, and fellow-citizens of\nthe same great commonwealth; and he that hates another detests his\nown most lively picture; he that harms another injures his own\nnature. . . . The heavenly angels, when they agree most highly to\nbless and to wish the greatest happiness to mankind, could not better\nexpress their sense than by saying, \"Be on earth peace, and goodwill\namong men.\"--_Barrow._\n\nIt is easier to abstain from a contest than to withdraw from\nit.--_Seneca._\n\nBoth the destructive elements--fire and water--illustrate the danger\nof the beginning of strife (chap. xxvi. 21). To neither element can\nwe say, \"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further!\" (Job\nxxxviii. 11). . . . Seldom when we have heard the first word, do we\nhear the last. An inundation of evil is poured in. . . . The bank is\nmuch more easily preserved than repaired. . . . For, as one strongly\nobserved, \"Man knows the beginning of sin, but who bounds the issues\nthereof?\"--_Bridges._\n\nQuietness is like a pleasant pond full of sweet fish sporting\nthemselves up and down in it, and multiplying continually to a great\nincrease; so in a quiet life men's affairs do prosper, and their\nestate is increased to plenty and abundance, so that they bathe\nthemselves in the comfort of it. But let the sluice be taken up, the\nfishes are quickly gone, the waters stay not until they be gone also,\nand nothing but mud and mire is left; and even so let the gap of\ncontention be opened, all comforts flee away, and usually the estates\nsink lower and lower until it be dried up to beggary and misery. Make\nup, then, all breaches as soon as they appear, or rather keep all\nsound by watchfulness, so that no breach may appear. And let not the\nserpent get in his head, for, because the scales of his body stand\nthe other way, it is not easy to get it out again; because the mind\nof thine adversary is made averse from thee, it is not easy to end a\nstrife begun.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nINVERSION AND RESTITUTION.\n\n+I. A present inversion of moral order.+ There is an established law,\nby which things spiritual are governed as well as things material.\nAccording to this law, punishment ought to come to the unrighteous\nand the righteous should be justified; that is, they should be\ndeclared to be righteous and treated accordingly. This law must and\nwill prevail in the upshot and issue of things, because the Great\nLawgiver of the universe is perfectly just and holy; but it does not\nalways govern the dealings of men with men. Injustice may be meted\nout to a man by his fellow-man from _ignorance._ A human judge may\npass an unjust sentence upon a prisoner, or society may condemn a man\nundeservedly simply because they are ignorant of all the facts of the\ncase. We are so little capable of weighing all the motives of our\nfellow-creatures, that we may unwittingly sometimes justify the\nwicked and condemn the just. But the proverb is evidently directed\nagainst those who do it because they are themselves\n_unrighteous_--against those who are prompted by motives of\nself-interest or malice or by a simple hatred of good wherever it is\nfound.\n\n+II. A future restitution of moral order.+ If a man has an ear for\nmusic, all discordant tones are displeasing to him; but when the law\nof harmony is entirely subverted, all his musical sensibilities are\noutraged. So when a righteous man becomes cognizant of some gross\ninjustice his whole soul rises up in protest against it. What\ntherefore must be the light in which the perfectly pure and just God\nregards such subversion of moral order? He can but regard it with\nrepugnance. But the certainty of this fact makes another fact no less\ncertain--viz., that there will come a period in the history of the\nuniverse when this inversion shall cease, when moral order shall be\nrestored, and it shall be no longer possible for the wicked to be\njustified, or for the righteous to be condemned. Thus saith the Lord,\n_\"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness\nfor light, and light for darkness. . . . Which justify the wicked for\nreward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him.\nTherefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth\nthe chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom\nshall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord\nof hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel\"_ (Isa.\nv. 20, 23, 24). When this sentence is completely carried out moral\norder and harmony will be restored to the universe.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis verse shows that the term justify (Hebrew, _matzeddik_) is\nforensic, to _pronounce just_ one, even though not just in himself: a\nkeyword in the doctrinal Epistle to the Romans: the opposite of\n_\"condemn\"_ or _pronounce impious_ (_mareshiang_).--_Fausset._\n\nThat _\"both\"_ should be, to the expression _\"even\"_ seems to point to\nas wonderful. They are both very plain propositions; and yet neither\nof them, in the mind of the sinner, is free from half-conscious\nsurprise. That God \"will by no means clear the guilty\" (Exod.\nxxxiv. 7) and, therefore, that \"without the shedding of blood is no\nremission\" (Heb. ix. 22), when learned, is half the Gospel. To learn\nit easily, would imply that \"then hath the offence of the Cross\nceased\" (Gal. v. 11). God will not condemn Himself in his \"righteous\"\naction, and He cannot _\"justify the wicked\"_ without a mediator; and\nSolomon, without being able to clear all the difficulties, sets in\nthis sentence as one of the great timbers of thought, which he looks\nto to defend the Gospel.--_Miller._\n\nHe spareth the wolf and so hurteth the lambs; He toucheth the members\nof Christ and the very apples of the Lord's eye.--_Muffet._\n\nBut let us place ourselves before the \"Judge of all\" accused by\nSatan, our own conscience, and the righteous law of God; convicted of\nevery charge; yet justified. Does God then in thus \"justifying the\nungodly\" (Rom. iv. 5) contravene this rule? Far from it. If He\n_justifies the wicked,_ it is on account of righteousness (Ib.\niii. 25, 26). If He _condemns the just,_ it is on the imputation of\nunrighteousness. Nowhere throughout the universe do the moral\nperfections of the Governor of the world shine so gloriously as at\nthe cross of Calvary. The satisfaction of the holy law, and the\nmanifestation of righteous mercy, harmonise with the justification of\nthe condemned sinner. And this combined glory tunes the song of\neverlasting praise.--_Bridges._\n\nThat condemning the just is a grievous crime, there is no doubt. But\nsome will be startled at the wise man's assertion, that justifying\nthe wicked is a crime of the like nature and malignity. But we rebel\nagainst God by turning to the right hand, as well as by turning to\nthe left, from that way in which we are commanded to walk. Justifying\nthe wicked has an appearance of mercy in it, but there is cruelty to\nmillions in unreasonable acts of mercy to individuals. It was not\naltogether without ground observed by a senator to the Emperor\nCocceius Nerva, when his detestation of his predecessor's cruelty\nseduced him into the extreme of clemency,--That it was bad to live in\na state where every thing was forbidden, but worse to live in a state\nwhere every thing was allowed. Historians tell us, that the provinces\nof the empire suffered more oppression under the administration of\nthis mild prince, than in the bloody reign of Domitian.--_Lawson._\n\nAs in the administration of justice, in the world or in the Church,\nso in the official declaration of doctrine and of duty,\n_faithfulness_ is the first and most essential qualification. No\n\"gift,\" no bribe, no love of gain,--or, in the apostle's words,\n\"greed of filthy lucre,\"--must ever be allowed to corrupt \"the man of\nGod,\" and tempt him either to pervert or to keep back the truth--to\n\"shun to declare\" any part of \"the counsel of God,\" or to utter a\nsingle sentiment but what he believes to be a lesson of God's Word,\na Divinely authorised message. For a minister of Christ either to\nsay what is false or to withhold what is true, from a wish to please\nthose on whom he may feel himself dependent, is as unworthy of him as\nfor a judge on the civil bench to pervert justice, and may be to\nothers unspeakably more mischievous. The decisions of the latter can\naffect only what is temporary; the effects of the former's unfaithful\ntemporising may extend to eternity. The guilt of the former,\ntherefore, may be greater than that of the latter, in the proportion\nof the value of the _soul_ to the _body,_ of _eternity_ to _time._\nThere must be no bribery or corruption here. O to be able to say with\nPaul, \"I am clear from the blood of all men.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen Jacob, blessing the sons of Joseph, put his hands across, and\nlaid his right hand on the head of Ephraim the younger, and his left\nhand on the head of Manasseh the elder, the thing displeased Joseph.\nBut Jacob refused to have his hands removed. Now that which Jacob did\nin the blessing of his grandchildren, the same is the cursed doing of\nmany who in the world are seated in the place of justice. For those\nwhom God setteth on His right hand, they set on the left, those who\nGod setteth on His left hand they set on the right. . . . And though\nGod Himself call to them, _Not so,_ yet they refuse to alter their\nsentence. . . . And though their hands in justifying go across, yet\nbeing joined together in wickedness they are both an abomination to\nthe Lord.--_Jermin._\n\n_He that saith to the wicked, thou are righteous_ (1) condemneth the\nlaw of God, for that condemneth the wicked; (2) doth as much as he\nmay to bring sin into credit, that others also should practise it\nwithout fear or reproach; (3) hardeneth the heart and hurteth the\nsoul of the offender, debarring him from corrections, which are God's\nmedicines for the curing of evils. He dealeth as a murderer under the\nname of a physician that encourageth his patient to eat the poison\nfreely.--_Dod._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nNEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES.\n\n+I. One of the uses which ought to be made of wealth.+ Men ought to\nuse it to \"get wisdom.\" it is obvious that a wealthy man has more\nopportunities of gaining knowledge than a poor man has, and an\nincrease of knowledge ought to make a man wiser. A rich man's wealth\ngives him access to the wisdom of the great minds of past ages, and\nit often obtains for him the companionship of the most learned men of\nhis own generation. It enables him to gain a knowledge of the world\non which he lives and of the men who people it; by travel he can\nstand face to face with all the glorious works of God in nature, and\nhe can mingle with men of various races and see human nature in all\nits various phases. And these experiences ought to make him a wise\nman. Wealth is given to men for this purpose, among others, to make\nthem intellectually and morally better--for although spiritual\nblessings cannot be purchased for money, yet where the grace of God\nis in the heart, the \"price in the hand\" will increase a man's\nopportunities of growing in the knowledge of God and in the practice\nof godliness. Those who are _\"rich in this world\"_ may and ought to\nlay _\"up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time\nto come, that they may lay hold on eternal life\"_ (1 Tim. i. 17-19).\nTheir wealth ought not to be a hindrance but a help to high spiritual\nattainments. When we use bread rightly we get strength out of it;\nwhen we use water rightly we get refreshment out of it; when we use\nlight rightly we get guidance out of it; and when the gift of wealth\nis rightly used, men get wisdom out of it.\n\n+II. Wealth bestowed, where we can give no reason for its bestowal.+\nWealth in the hand of a fool seems thrown away. If we saw a bundle of\nbank-notes in the hands of an infant we should at once say they were\nin the wrong hand; but many a princely fortune is at the disposal of\nmen who are as incapable now of putting it to a good use, as they\nwere when they were children. Neither the head nor the heart are\ncapable of guiding the hand--there is neither moral nor intellectual\ncapability to make the riches the means of blessing even the\npossessor. _\"Wherefore,\"_ then, _\"is there a price in the hand of a\nfool to get wisdom,\"_ especially when there are so many men in\npoverty who would make the best possible use of riches? We cannot\nanswer the question. Even the wise man does not attempt to solve the\nproblem. Men daily come face to face with facts connected with human\nexistence which they cannot explain. In some of these they can see\nadaptation; although they cannot tell _how_ it is that the thing is\nso, they can discern a _fitness_ in its being so. But there are other\nfacts in the government of God for which we can assign no reason, and\nthe \"price in the hand of a fool\" is one of them. The Divine Ruler of\nmen's destines fulfils His wise purposes in ways and by means which\noften perplex His finite creatures.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe understand the term _\"a price,\"_ as signifying _whatever puts it\nin anyone's power to acquire_ the particular object. The phraseology\nis borrowed from the _market._ Any article, we are wont to say, may\nbe had there, if a man has but the price to pay for it. What the\n_\"price\"_ is to the article wanted, the _means of acquiring_ are to\n_\"wisdom.\"_ When we wish to put any article of ordinary merchandise\nwithin a person's power, we furnish that person with the price at\nwhich it is valued. There are cases, however, in which this may not\nbe enough. The price may be in a man's hand, and yet the article may\nnot be within his reach, not, at the time, to be had. Happily, it is\nnever so with the wisdom here spoken of. If the means are possessed\nof acquiring it, it may always be acquired. It is in the hand of God\nhimself; and He is never either at a distance that we cannot repair\nto Him, or unwilling to bestow it upon us when we come to Him for\nit--_bestow_ it, I say, for we must remember, with regard to divine\nwisdom, that, in a literal sense, it _cannot be purchased._ It must\nbe had _\"without money and without price.\"_ It is not to be \"gotten\nfor gold.\" Why is it, then, that in so many cases in which \"the price\nis in the hand to get wisdom,\" the means of securing it possessed,\nits lessons remained unlearned, the mind ignorant, the heart\nunimproved? . . . Here is the answer--the only one that can with\ntruth be given,--there has been _\"no heart to it.\"_ The principle is\nof wide application, and might be largely illustrated. . . . There is\nno maxim more thoroughly established by experience, than that a man\ncannot excel in anything to which _his heart does not lie._ When do\nmen succeed best in the pursuit of any object? Is it not when they\n_have a heart to it?_ What is it that keeps all men astir in the\npursuit and acquisition of wealth? Is it not that _they have a heart\nto it?_ How do men acquire celebrity in any of the departments of\nscience or of art? Is it not when they _have a heart to it?_--some\nmeasure of enthusiastic eagerness and persevering delight in the\npursuit? . . . I put it to your consciences,--whether there be\nanything else whatever, that keeps you from the knowledge and the\nfear of God, wherein true religion consists, than your _having no\nheart to them?_ Talk not to me of _inability:_--your inability is\nentirely moral, and consists in nothing else whatever than your\n_\"having no heart\"_ to that which is good. And is this not criminal?\nIf not, then there is no sin nor crime on earth, in hell, in the\nuniverse; nor is the existence or the conception of such a thing as\nmoral evil possible. The want of heart to that which is good, is the\nvery essence of all that is sinful. You offer anything but a valid\nexcuse for your want of religion, when you say you _\"have no heart to\nit.\"_ You plead in excuse the very essence of your guilt. If you\ndesired to fear God, and could not help the contrary, your inability\nmight be something in your behalf. But the thing cannot be. To desire\nto fear God, and not to be able, is a contradiction in terms. The\nhaving of the desire is the having of the principle. There can be no\ndesiring to fear without fearing, no desiring to love without\nloving.--_Wardlaw._\n\nNo means can make a man wise who wanteth a good will to learn\nheavenly wisdom. Ishmael had good education, and Ahithophel had quick\ncapacity, and the fool spoken of in the Gospel had great wealth, and\nnone of all these attained to any grace. One of them was strong, and\nanother witty, and another wealthy, but never a one wise and godly.\nJudas had as good a teacher as Peter, or as any other apostle, and\nhad as good company, and saw as many miracles; and yet they having\ngood hearts become worthy and excellent persons, and he having a\nfalse heart became a traitor and a devil.--_Dod._\n\nWherefore serve good natural parts, either of body or mind; or\nauthority, opportunity, or other advantages, if they be not rightly\nimproved and employed? Certainly they will prove no better than\nUriah's letters to those that have them; or as the sword which Hector\ngave to Ajax, which, so long as he used it against his enemies,\nserved for help and defence, but after he began to abuse it, turned\ninto his own bowels. This will be a bodkin at thy heart one day: \"I\nmight have been saved, but I woefully let slip those opportunities\nwhich God had thrust into my hand.\"--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 17, 18, _and of CHAP. xviii._ 24.\n\nTRUE FRIENDSHIP.\n\n+I. A true friend loves under all conditions.+ 1. _He loves in times\nof separation._ The distance between our earth and the sun does not\nprevent the one from influencing the other--there is a power in\ngravitation which can make itself felt even when the objects affected\nby it are thousands of miles apart. So true love is quite independent\nof space--oceans may roll between the friends, yea, the very grave\nmay separate them, and yet the gravitating force which first drew the\nheart of one man to another will make itself felt. It has been said\nthat the dead and the absent have no friends, but this is a libel\nupon human nature. A friend loveth whether the object of his love is\npresent or absent, and will, if needs be, defend his friend's\ncharacter when he is not present to speak for himself. 2. _He loves\neven in times of temporary estrangement._ Transitory differences are\nnot incompatible with the most genuine friendship, and while human\nnature is in its present imperfect condition it will sometimes happen\nthat one real and true friend will disappoint and grieve another. But\nif the real and true feeling is in the heart it will be as unshaken\nby these temporary disturbances as the root of the tree is by the\nstorm-wind that moves its branches.\n\n+II. Friendship is especially precious in times of trial.+ True\nfriends are not like the locust, which seeks only the green pastures\nand fruitful fields, and leaves them as soon as it has taken from\nthem all that it could feed upon, but they are like the stars, the\nvalue of whose light is only really understood when all other lights\nare absent. When all is going well with a man he may underestimate\nthe value of his friend's regard; he may not really know how\nheartfelt it is; but when misfortune, or sickness, or bereavement\novertake him, he realises that a \"brother is born for adversity.\"\n\n+III. There is a bond stronger than any tie of blood-relationship.+\nWe have abundant and melancholy proofs that the mere fact of being\nbrothers according to the flesh does not make men one in heart. The\nfirst man who tasted death was murdered by his brother, and many sons\nof the same father since that day have been separated from each other\nby a hatred as deep and deadly as that which prompted Cain to murder\nAbel. In the family in which Solomon was a son there was one brother\nwith the blood of another upon his head (2 Sam. xiii. 28-30).\nSomething stronger and deeper than the mere tie of blood is needed to\nmake men one in heart. The most beautiful example of friendship upon\nrecord existed between the son of Saul and the shepherd of Bethlehem\nwhere there was no relationship according to the flesh, and where the\nheir-apparent to the throne loved as his own soul the youth who was\nto supplant him. There is no friendship so firm and enduring as that\nwhich is based upon doing the will of God (Mark iii. 35) no\nbrotherhood so perfect and lasting as that which has its origin in a\ncommon discipleship to Him who is not ashamed to call them brothers\n(Heb. ii. 11), and who is Himself the \"friend above all others,\"\nwhose love can span the distance between His throne in glory and the\nmeanest hovel upon earth, and the greater distance between Divine\nperfection and human sinfulness, and who was in all things _\"made\nlike unto his brethren,\"_ that having Himself _\"suffered being\ntempted, He might be able to succour them that are tempted\"_ (Heb.\nii. 17), and thus prove Himself to be pre-eminently the \"Brother born\nfor adversity,\" and the \"Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.\"\n\n+IV. It is an evidence of great folly to treat men as bosom-friends\nbefore we know them.+ There are men who will trust in a comparative\nstranger to such an extent as to lend their credit and their good\nname to him without any reasonable security. Such a man Solomon here\ncharacterises as being \"void of understanding.\" It is a mark of a\nfool to enter into any engagement without deliberation, and in\nnothing does lack of wisdom more plainly manifest itself than in the\nformation of hasty friendships, especially if the friendship involves\na man in any kind of suretyship. From lack of prudence in this matter\nmany a man has been \"all his lifetime subject to bondage.\" It behoves\nall men in the matter of friendship to follow the advice of\nPolonius:--\n\n The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,\n Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel;\n But do not dull thy palm with entertainment\n Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP._\n\nDamon was sentenced to die on a certain day, and sought permission of\nDionysius of Syracuse to visit his family in the interim. It was\ngranted on condition of securing a hostage for himself. Pythias heard\nof it, and volunteered to stand in his friend's place. The king\nvisited him in prison, and conversed with him about the motive of his\nconduct, affirming his disbelief in the influence of friendship.\nPythias expressed his wish to die, that his friend's honour might be\nvindicated. He prayed the gods to delay the return of Damon till\nafter his own execution in his stead. The fatal day arrived.\nDionysius sat on a moving throne drawn by six white horses. Pythias\nmounted the scaffold and thus addressed the spectators, \"My prayer is\nheard; the gods are propitious, for the winds have been contrary till\nyesterday. Damon could not come, he could not conquer\nimpossibilities; he will be here to-morrow, and the blood that is\nshed to-day shall have ransomed the life of my friend. Could I erase\nfrom your bosoms every mean suspicion of the honour of Damon, I\nshould go to my death as I should to my bridal.\". . . As he closed a\nvoice in the distance cried, \"Stop the execution!\" and the cry was\ntaken up and repeated by the whole assembly. A man rode up at full\nspeed, mounted the scaffold, and embraced Pythias, crying, \"You are\nsafe now, my beloved friend! I have nothing but death to suffer, and\nam delivered from reproaches for having endangered a life so much\ndearer than my own.\" Pythias replied, \"Fatal haste, cruel impatience!\nWhat envious powers have wrought impossibilities in your favour? But\nI will not be wholly disappointed. Since I cannot die to save you, I\nwill not survive you.\" The king was moved to tears, and, ascending\nthe scaffold, cried, \"Live, live, ye incomparable pair! Ye have borne\nunquestionable testimony to the existence of virtue, and that virtue\nequally evinces the existence of a god to reward it. Live happy, live\nrenowned, and oh! form me by your precepts, as ye have invited me by\nyour example, to be worthy of the participation of so sacred a\nfriendship.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 17. _\"The Friend.\"_ We are to notice the article. It does not\nimpair the proverb for its secular use. We have such an idiom: _\"the\nfriend,\" i.e., the true friend._ Even a worldly friend, to be worth\nanything, must be for all times; and what is a brother born for, but\nfor distress? But spiritually, the article is just in its place.\nThere is but One Only _\"Friend,\"_ and a _\"Brother\"_ who would not\nhave been _\"born\"_ at all, but for the distress and straitness of His\nhouse.--_Miller._\n\nFriendship contrasted with the wicked decreases from hour to hour,\nlike the early shadow of the morning; but friendship formed with the\nvirtuous will increase like the shadow of evening, till the sun of\nlife shall set.--_Herder._\n\nExtremity distinguisheth friends. Worldly pleasures, like physicians,\ngive us over, when once we lie-a-dying; and yet the death-bed hath\nmost need of comforts. Christ Jesus standeth by His in the pangs of\ndeath, and after death at the bar of judgment; not leaving them\neither in their bed or grave. I will use them, therefore, to my best\nadvantage; not trust them. But for Thee, O my Lord, which in mercy\nand truth canst not fail me, who I have found ever faithful and\npresent in all extremities, kill me, yet will I trust in Thee.--_Bp.\nHall._\n\nA friend shares my sorrow and makes it but a moiety; but He swells my\njoy and makes it double. For so two channels divide the river and\nlessen it into rivulets and make it fordable, and apt to drink up at\nthe first revels of the Syrian star; but two torches do not divide,\nbut increase the flame. And though my tears are the sooner dried up\nwhen they run on my friend's cheek in furrows of compassion; yet when\nmy flame has kindled his lamp, we unite the glories, and make them\nradiant, like the golden candlesticks that burn before the throne of\nGod; because they shine by numbers, by unions, and confederations of\nlight and joy.--_Jeremy Taylor._\n\nWhen a man blind from his birth was asked what he thought the sun was\nlike, he replied, \"Like friendship.\" He could not conceive of\nanything as more fitting as a similitude for what he had been taught\nto regard as the most glorious of material objects, and whose\nquickening and exhilarating influences he had rejoiced to\nfeel.--_Morris._\n\nA brother for adversity is one who will act the brother in a season\nof adversity. Of such an one it is said, _he must or shall be born,_\npossibly, _he is born._ I do not understand this last clause unless\nthe assertion is, that none but such as are _born brethren, i.e.,_\nkindred by blood, will cleave to us in distress. Yet this is true\nonly in a qualified sense. But another shade of meaning may be\nassigned to the passage, which is, that such a man as a friend in\nadversity _is yet to be born, i.e.,_ none such are now to be found;\nthus making it substantially equivalent in sense to the expression:\n\"How few and rare are such faithful friends.\"--_Stuart._\n\nAs in the natural, so in the spiritual brotherhood, misery breeds\nunity. Ridley and Hooper, that when they were bishops, differed so\nmuch about ceremonies, could agree well enough, and be mutual\ncomforts one to another when they were both prisoners. Esther\nconcealed her kindred in hard times, but God's people cannot; Moses\nmust rescue his beaten brother out of the hand of the Egyptian,\nthough he venture his life by it.--_Trapp._\n\nMan in his weakness needs a steady friend, and God in His wisdom has\nprovided one in the constitution of nature. Not entrusting all to\nacquired friendship, He has given us some as a birthright\ninheritance. For the day of adversity a brother is born to many who\nwould not have been able to win one. It is at once a glory to God in\nthe highest, and a sweet solace to afflicted men, when a brother or a\nsister, under the secret and steady impulses of nature, bears and\ndoes for the distressed what no other friend, however loving, could\nbe expected to bear or do. How foolish for themselves are those who\nlightly snap those bonds asunder, or touch them oft with the\ncorrosive drops of contention! One who is born your brother is best\nfitted to be your friend in trouble, if unnatural strife has not rent\nasunder those whom their Maker intended to be one in spirit. . . .\n_\"There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.\"_ He must be\na fast friend indeed, for a brother, if nature's affections have been\ncherished, lies close in, and keeps a steady hold. . . . Oh, when\nhindering things are taken out of the way of God's work, a brother\nlies very close to a brother. He who comes closer must be no common\nfriend. . . . It is the idea of a friendship more perfect, fitting\nmore kindly into our necessities, and bearing more patiently with our\nweaknesses, than the instinctive love of a brother by birth. From\nGod's hand-work in nature a very tender and a very strong friendship\nproceeds: from His covenant of mercy comes a friendship tenderer and\nstronger still. Now, although the conception is embodied in the\ncommunion of saints, its full realisation is only found in the love\nwherewith Christ loves His own. . . . The precious germ which\nSolomon's words unfold, bore its ripened fruit only when He who is\nbone of our bone gave Himself the just for the unjust. Thus by a\nsurer process than verbal criticism, we are conducted to the man\nChrist Jesus, as at once the Brother born for adversity, and the\nFriend that sticketh closer than a brother. . . . In the day of your\ndeepest adversity even a born brother must let go his hold. That\nextremity is the opportunity of your best friend.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 18. It is good to try him whom we intend for a bosom friend\nbefore we trust him; as men prove their vessels with water before\nthey fill them with wine. Many complain of the treachery of their\nfriends, and say, with Queen Elizabeth, that in trust they have found\ntreason; but most of these have greatest cause, if all things be duly\nweighed, to complain of themselves for making no better\nchoice.--_Swinnock._\n\nSeeing he hath not understanding to keep himself from hurt, it were\ngood if he had not power in his hand to do himself hurt. . . . Surely\nsuch a fool may quickly wring his hands together in sorrow, who\nbefore did clap his hands in joy, and may strike himself in anger\nwith the same hand, wherewith in the foolish kindness of surety he\nstruck the hand of another. . . . For often this over-kind part of a\nfriend is the breaking of friendship if it bring no further\nmischief.--_Jermin._\n\n\nThe evil effects of _strife_ and _pride,_ which form the subject of\nverse 19, have been treated before. See on verse 14, and on chaps.\nxi. 2, and xvi. 18. Some expositors attach a slight difference to the\nmeaning of the latter clause. See below.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Sets high_ (exalteth) _his gate;\"_ a figure that is probably\nmisunderstood. It probably means _belligerence._ A moat over which\nissued armed bands, with banners and mounted spearmen, required high\nspace to let them go forth. \"Lift up your heads, O ye gates,\" etc.\nThe soul that fixes itself that way against the Almighty, ready to\nmarch out upon Him on any occasion of quarrel, _\"seeks\"_\nruin.--_Miller._\n\nThe slothful man exposes himself to misery; but he waits for it till\nit comes upon him like a traveller. The aspiring man, that cannot be\nhappy without a stately dwelling, and a splendid manner of living\nbeyond what his estate will bear, _seeks_ for destruction, and sends\na coach and six to bring it to him.--_Lawson._\n\n_\"And he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.\"_ Some take this\nfor a comparison:--As surely as he that exalteth his gate (enlarging\nit out of due proportion) seeketh destruction to his house, by thus\nweakening its structure,--_so surely_ does he that loveth strife\ngenerate transgression. The phrase _\"exalteth his gate,\"_ however,\ninstead of being thus understood literally, may, with more propriety,\nbe interpreted of a man's _ambitiously affecting a style of living\nbeyond his income_--disproportionate to the amount of his means of\nmaintaining it. The _general character_ is described by one\nparticular manifestation of it--the high style of the exterior of his\nmansion. The \"exalting of the _gate_\" applies to the entire style of\nhis household establishment--not to his dwelling merely, but to his\nequipage, his table, his servants, his dress, and everything else. He\nwho does this _\"seeks destruction:\"_ he courts his own downfall, as\neffectually as if it were his direct object to ruin himself. Matthew\nHenry, in his own quaint and pithy way, says--\"He makes his gate so\nlarge, that his house and estate go out at it.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nThere is none that loveth strife more than he that _exalteth his\ngate,_ either the gate of his ears to hear the tales of others, and\nthe praises of himself, or else the gates of his eyes overlooking\nothers with scorn and disdain, and his own worth by many degrees, or\nelse the gate of his mouth, which is properly the gate of man, with\nbig and swelling words, with high and lofty terms which usually are\nthe sparks that kindle contention. But what doth such an one do, but\never _seek for destruction,_ which at his lifted-up gate, findeth\neasy passage to run in upon him.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subjects of verses 20 and 21, see on chapter\nx. 1, 13, 14, etc., and on verse 24.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nTHE MERRY HEART.\n\n+I. The mind acts upon the body.+ It is a fact which no observant man\nwould deny, that there is an intimate connection between sorrow of\nsoul and sickness of body, and that cheerfulness of spirit tends to\nphysical health. A physician always tries to keep his patient in good\nspirits, and when he discerns that he is weighed down by some mental\nburden, he wisely seeks to lighten that as well as to administer\nremedies to the body. And when a man is in health cheerfulness of\ndisposition tends to keep him so; while a depressed condition of mind\nmakes him a more easy prey to disease. That \"a merry heart doeth good\nlike a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones,\" is a\nconvincing proof of the mysterious sympathy that exists between the\n_man_ and his _earthly dwelling-place._\n\n+II. What will conduce to cheerfulness of spirit--to what Solomon\nhere calls \"a merry heart?\"+ 1. _A heart at peace with God._ Some\npoisons taken into the system produce for a time a calming and\nquieting influence upon the body, but it is a quiet and a calm which\ncomes from deadening the capabilities of feeling. Opium may send a\nman to sleep, but it is a sleep which gives neither refreshment nor\nstrength. A quiet conscience is the first and indispensable element\nof heart-cheerfulness, and there are other methods of getting free\nfor a time from pain of conscience beside \"that peace with God which\ncomes from being justified by faith\" (Rom. v. 1). But all other quiet\nof soul comes from opiates whose power is but for a time, while this\npeace comes from the consciousness of reconciliation with God--from a\nsense of standing in a right relation to all that is right and true\nin the universe. 2. _A vivid realisation of unseen realities._ Though\na state of reconciliation with God will give freedom from the sense\nof guilt, it does not always give that active state of cheerfulness\nwhich can be called \"a merry heart.\" A river sometimes glides along\nbetween its banks in a state of undisturbed calmness; but there are\ntimes when the volume of water is so great that it overflows its\nchannels. Peace is like a calm river, but joy is like one whose\nwaters cannot contain themselves within its boundaries, but must pour\nforth on the right hand and on the left. _Peace_ has been defined as\n\"love resting,\" and joy as \"love exulting.\" The one is a passive\nstate of mind, while the other is active. But it is the latter,\nrather than the former, which makes that cheerful spirit which \"doeth\ngood like a medicine,\" and it is the fruit only of a vivid sense of\n\"things not seen\" (Heb. xi. 1). Those who live on high lands and\nbreathe the pure mountain air, are conscious of an exuberance of\nanimal life, of which even perfectly healthy people who live in the\nvalleys know nothing. So, men who live in the higher regions of\nspiritual life know a \"joy in God\"--are sensible of an uplifting of\nspirit--to which ordinary and every-day Christians are strangers.\nThey are not only _believers,_ but they are filled with \"all joy and\npeace in believing;\" they not only have \"peace with God through our\nLord Jesus Christ,\" but they \"rejoice in hope of the glory of God\"\n(Rom. v. 1, 2). 3. _A life of active love._ A selfish man can never\nbe a cheerful man--he who lives for himself alone can never know the\nhealing power of \"a merry heart.\" There can be no abiding\ncheerfulness of heart without joy in God, and there can be no abiding\njoy in God without love to man. \"There is nothing,\" says _Dr.\nMaclaren,_ \"more evanescent in its nature than the emotion of\nreligious joy, faith, or the like, unless it be turned into a spring\nof action for God. Such emotions, like photographs, vanish from the\nheart unless they be fixed. Work for God is the way to fix them. Joy\nin God is the strength of work for God, but Work for God is the\nperpetuation of joy in God.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nMirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent. Those\nare often raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are\nsubject to the greatest depressions of melancholy. On the contrary,\ncheerfulness, though it does not give the mind such an exquisite\ngladness, prevents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth\nis like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds,\nand glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight\nin the mind. . . . Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health.\nRepinings and secret murmurs of heart give imperceptible strokes to\nthose delicate fibres of which the vital parts are composed, and wear\nout the machine insensibly; not to mention those violent ferments\nwhich they stir upon the blood, and those irregular disturbed motions\nwhich they raise in the animal spirits. I scarce remember, in my own\nobservation, to have met with many old men, or with such who (to use\nour English phrase) wear well, that had not at least a certain\nindolence in their humour, if not a more than ordinary gaiety and\ncheerfulness of heart. The truth is, health and cheerfulness mutually\nbeget each other.--_Addison._\n\nThe verb means, _to cure,_ and, as far as we can fix it, the noun\nmeans, not a _medicine,_ but a final _\"cure.\"_ In the world at large\ncheerfulness is an immense gift; but in religion the wise man wishes\nto say that hopefulness is strength (Neh. viii. 10); that it is\nbetter to look cheerfully upon God, than with complaints; that if we\nare to be _cured_ at all, a glad heart will help it.--_Miller._\n\nAll true mirth is from rectitude of the mind, from a right frame of\nsoul. When faith hath once healed the conscience, and grace hath\nhushed the affections, and composed all within, so that there is a\nSabbath of the spirit, and a blessed tranquility lodged in the soul,\nthen the body also is vigorous and vegetous, for most part in very\ngood plight and healthful constitution, which makes man's life very\ncomfortable. . . . They that in the use of lawful means _wait on the\nLord, shall renew their strength_ (Isa. ix. 31).--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nBRIBERY.\n\n+I. Its nature.+ An act of bribery may be committed without any\nmonetary transaction taking place. It is not necessary that gold\nshould pass from hand to hand to make a man guilty of bribery. It is\nnot even necessary that there should be a distinct promise of any\ngood either in the present or the future. A man bribes another if he\nmerely implies by word or deed that he can make him suffer for\nspeaking what he knows is the truth, and for acting according to the\ndictates of his conscience. And a man is guilty of accepting a bribe\nif he abstains from such speech or action from a fear of loss or from\na hope of gain, although no distinct promise or threatening has been\nmade by those whom he wishes to propitiate.\n\n+II. Its cause.+ Want of integrity on the part of both the man who\noffers the bribe and him who accepts it. There are some men in the\nworld to whom even a man who held their lives in his hand would not\nthink of offering a bribe of any kind. He knows it would be as\nuseless to attempt to make such men swerve from the path of right as\nto try to alter the course of the earth round the sun. There are\nmany, we know, in this country, notwithstanding its many timeservers\nand place-hunters who, like Samuel of old can say, _\"Whose ox have I\ntaken, or whose ass have I taken, or who have I defrauded, who have I\noppressed, or of whose hands have I received any bribe to blind mine\neyes therewith?\"_ (1 Sam. xii. 3). Only one thing is needed to\ndestroy bribery--in its most impalpable and shadowy forms as well as\nin its more glaring and shameless manifestations--and that is\nuniversal honesty of character. When every man loves truth and right\nmore than he loves material gain then bribery will cease, but not\nbefore. Men may be restrained by shame from being guilty of it\nopenly, and will call it by some less obnoxious name, but the spirit\nof bribery will be at work so long as there are men upon the earth\nwho love gain more than godliness.\n\n+III. The universal testimony of the human conscience against it.+\n\"The wicked man taketh a gift _out of his bosom_\"--it is a\ntransaction of secrecy--there is a shame connected with the act which\nproves that conscience condemns it. The man who offers the bribe does\nnot do it openly, which shows that he is fully conscious that he is\ntransgressing the law of right; and the man who accepts it does not\nboast openly that he has done so for the same reason. Bribery is a\nsin which is repeatedly denounced by God (Isa. i. 23, 24; Ezra\nxxii. 13), but men who have not possessed the light of revelation\nhave denounced bribery as a crime.\n\n+IV. Its effect.+ It \"perverts the ways of justice.\" Its effect is to\nbring about that abomination mentioned in verse 15--the justification\nof the wicked and the condemnation of the just. (See Homiletics on\nthat verse.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAn honest man would rather lose his cause, however just, than gain it\nby such a base thing as a bribe. It must have been a great bondage\nfor Paul to have been confined in a prison, when he loved the pulpit\nso well, had not his will been sunk in the Will of God; yet he would\nnot offer the least bribe to his covetous judge, who detained him in\nprison, expecting that money would be offered for his freedom (Acts\nxxiv. 6).--_Lawson._\n\nIs not the child of God often pressed with this temptation? Does the\ninfluence of a gift, the sense of obligation, never repress the bold\nconsistency of godliness? Does no bias of friendship, no plausible\nadvantage, entice into a crooked path?--_Bridges._\n\nThere is a gift of thankfulness, there is a gift of reconciliation,\nthere is a gift of goodwill, all these are lawful. Besides these\nthere is a gift of corruption; this is unlawful.--_Muffet._\n\nBribery is an officious fellow, and a special bidder to the fatal\nbanquet, (Prov. ix. 17, 18). He invites both forward and froward: the\nforward and yielding by promises of good cheer, _secunda dies,_ that\nthey shall have a fair day of it; the backward, honest man, by\nterrors and menaces that his cause shall else go westward (indeed, it\ngoes to Westminster!). Yea, with pretence of commiseration and pity,\nas if the conscience of their right did animate him to their cause.\nThus with a show of sanctimony they get a saint's money; but indeed,\n_argentum f\u00e6cundum, argumentum facundum,_--there is no persuasion\nmore pathethical than the purse's. Bribery stands at the stairfoot in\nthe robes of an officer, and helps up injury to the place of\naudience; thus Judas's bag is drawn with two strings, made of silk\nand silver, favour and reward. All officers belong not to one court;\ntheir conditions alter with their places. There are some that seem so\ngood that they lament the vices, whereupon they yet inflict but\npecuniary punishments. Some of them are like the Israelites, with a\nsword in one hand and a trowel in the other, with the motto of that\nold emblem, _In utrumque paratus;_ as the one daubs up justice, so\nthe other cuts breaches of division. They mourn for truth and equity,\nas the sons of Jacob for Joseph, when themselves sold it; they\nexclaim against penal transgressions. . . . If the party be innocent,\nlet his cause be sentenced for his innocence's sake; if guilty, let\nnot gold buy out his punishment. If the cause be doubtful, the judge\nshall see it worse when he hath blinded his eyes with bribes. But the\nwill of the giver doth transfer right of the gift to the receiver.\nNo; for it is not a voluntary will. But as a man is willing to give\nhis purse to the thief rather than venture life or limb, so the poor\nman gives his bribes rather than hazard his cause. Thou sayest the\nthief has no right to the purse so given; God saith, Nor thou to the\nbribe. . . . Far be from our souls this wickedness, that the ear\nwhich should be open to complaints is thus stopped with the ear-wax\nof partiality. Alas! poor Truth, that she must now be put to the\ncharges of a golden ear-pick, or she cannot be heard.--_T. Adams._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24 _IN CONNECTION\nWITH THE FIRST CLAUSE OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nTHE EYES OF A FOOL AND THOSE OF A WISE MAN.\n\n+I. Even a fool is conscious that there is good to be found.+ If we\nmeet a traveller in search of a certain city, even although he is\njourneying in the very opposite direction to that in which the city\nlies, yet the fact that he is journeying at all shows that he is\nconscious of its existence. His eyes may be turned away from it\ninstead of towards it, his feet may be carrying him every moment\nfarther from it, yet he would not be seeking it in any direction if\nhe had not a persuasion that it was in existence. A man may be\ndigging for gold in a soil in which gold has never been found, nor\never will be, but the fact that he is digging anywhere proves that he\nis alive to the fact that there is gold in the world. So the fool is\nhere represented as seeking--which shows that he is persuaded that\nthere is a certain good and desirable thing which is attainable. Most\nmen are seeking--_\"There be many which say, Who will show us any\ngood?\"_ (Psalms iv. 6). They are in one direction and another looking\nfor that which will satisfy and ennoble them, and this universal\nquest proves a universal sense of the existence of some desirable\ngood.\n\n+II. But the fool looks afar for what he needs while it is close at\nhand.+ An idle, unpractical man of business spends his time in\nfancies that he could make his fortune if he were in some far-off\nland, and all the time misses the opportunities of doing so which are\nwithin his reach at home. The idle youth dreams of the grand things\nhe would do if he were a man, and neglects to do that which would\nennoble and bless his present life. It is a very common\ncharacteristic of moral fools to imagine that they would be blest if\nthey possessed something which is entirely beyond their reach,\nwhereas means of obtaining the only real and lasting good are\nscattered around them so abundantly that they trample them every day\nunder their feet. Every sinful man feels that it would be good for\nhim to stand in a different relation to God, but he does not always\nseek that good in the direction in which it is to be found. He feels\nhis need of a different disposition and character, but he does not go\nin quest of them where they may be found. In verse 22 the wise man\ntraces this habit of the moral fool to the source. He finds \"no good\"\nbecause he \"is froward in heart.\" The fruitlessness of his search is\ndue to nothing else but to his own perversity. He would rather demand\nexternal evidence for the truth of revelation than test it by\ncompliance with its precepts. He excuses his neglect of the plain\ncommands of God, by dwelling upon mysteries connected with His\nGospel, which finite minds cannot solve. Israel of old was warned of\nthis error. _\"For this commandment which I command thee this day, it\nis not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven,\nthat thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring\nit unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the\nsea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and\nbring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very\nnigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do\nit\"_ (Deut. xxx. 11-14). And Paul convicts them of the same sin after\nthe coming of the Messiah. The Scribes and Pharisees in the days of\nChrist perversely looked everywhere for light, except to the moral\nsun which was shining in their midst.\n\n+III. The man whose understanding is enlightened not only knows what\nhe needs, but he knows where to find it.+ It is a mark of practical\nsagacity in human affairs to know what is wanted, and to know also\nwhere to look for a supply of the want. A traveller ought not only to\nknow the name of the city which he wants to find, but he ought to\nknow upon which road to travel to find it. The physician ought not\nonly to know what his patient needs, but he ought to know where to\nfind the remedy. The statesman ought to be able to detect the\nnation's needs, and he ought also to know where to look for a supply\nof the need. And so in every department of social life. A man's life\nwill be a failure if he can only discern that something is wanting in\nhimself, in his family, or in his business, but does not know where\nto turn to supply the want. So it is in spiritual things. But he who\nis morally wise knows what is the real good to be aimed at, and knows\nwhere to seek it. He knows that _\"happy is the man that findeth\nwisdom, and the man that getteth understanding,\"_ that _\"the\nmerchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the\ngain thereof than fine gold\"_ (chap. iii. 13, 14). And he knows that\nit is \"before him\"--that the _\"fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and\nto depart from evil is understanding\"_ (Job. xxviii. 28); and that he\nneed not go \"to the ends of the earth\" in quest of this, but that it\nis within the reach of every sincere and earnest seeker. (Many\nexpositors give this verse a different rendering. See Critical Notes.\nIt would then express a truth similar to that contained in Homiletics\non chap. xiii. 14, page 313.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHeaven is able to know so much more plainly than hell. The very thing\nwhich is the best enlightener, the minds of hell will be entirely\nwithout. \"The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is\nnot in me. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof\nwith our ears.\" Hell, therefore, will always cavil. If saints judge\nbetter than sinners, how much better God than saints. _\"Wisdom is\nbefore_ (His) _very face,\"_ while the _\"eyes,\"_ not of the _\"stupid\"_\nonly, but of Gabriel himself, must be in the respect of contrast,\n_\"at the end of the earth.\" \"At the end,\"_ not in the middle, where\nthe thing can be best judged, but at the dark extremity.--_Miller._\n\nThe countenance is the glass of the mind, and the star of the\ncountenance is the eye. \"In the face of the prudent wisdom is\npresent.\" In the whole countenance of the discreet person, and in\nevery part thereof, there is a wise moderation; for in his brows he\ncarrieth calmness, in his eyes modesty, in his cheeks cheerfulness,\nin his lips comeliness, in his whole face a certain grace and\nstaidness. \"But the eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth.\"\nOn the contrary, he who is simple or vain governeth not his very eyes\naright, but letteth loose unto them the bridle in such sort as that\nthey roll or rove after every vanity, or pry into every\ncorner.--_Muffet._\n\nWe must not only learn wisdom, but keep it in our eyes, that it may\nbe a light to our feet; for a man that has wisdom in his mind, and\nforgets to use it, is like one that has money in his chest, but\nforgets to carry some of it with him when he is going a long journey,\nto bear his necessary expenses. He will be at a great loss, on many\noccasions, that has money in his house, but none in his\npocket.--_Lawson._\n\n_\"But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.\"_ He has no\nfixed and steady principle or rule; nothing on which he fixes his eye\nfor his guidance. His thoughts are incessantly wandering after\nmatters he has nothing to do with,--anything and everything but that\nwhich he should at the time be minding;--roving after every vanity,\nand keeping steadily no pursuit. It is specially true of \"things\npertaining to salvation.\" Wisdom, in this matter above all others, is\n\"before him that hath understanding.\" He looks to one point. He sees\n_one thing to be needful._ He sees the wisdom of God providing for\nit. There he fixes. And this is wisdom. It is ever before him. _One_\nend--_one_ means. Whereas \"the fool's eyes are in the ends of the\nearth.\" He has examined nothing. He roves at random, with no\ndeterminate ideas about the most interesting, by infinite degrees, of\nall concerns. Ask him _how he hopes to be saved,_ and you immediately\ndiscover his thoughtless unsettledness. He is \"in the ends of the\nearth.\" His answer is to seek. It is here, it is there, it is\nnowhere. He hesitates, he supposes, he guesses, he is at a stand--he\ncannot tell. . . . There is another character that may here be meant,\nnamely, the _schemer,_ the _visionary projector._ The truly\nintelligent man applies the plain and obvious dictates of common\nsense to the attainment of his end; but the scheming visionary fool\nis ever after out-of-the-way plans, new and far-fetched\nexpedients.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWisdom is full in the sight of the man of understanding, he beholdeth\nthe beauty and perfection of it, he looketh into the worth and\nhappiness of it. He sets it before him as a pattern, by which he\nframeth and ordereth all his ways, all his doings. His eye is never\nfrom it. It is the glass by which he espieth out the blemishes and\ndefects of his life, and if he see in it a true resemblance of\nhimself, it is not the glass that must be said to be true for that\ncannot be false, but it is himself that is a man of true worth; the\nglass approving his goodness, not he the goodness of the glass. But a\nfool beholds wisdom as a thing afar from him; he discerneth not what\nit is, nor what is the glory and excellency of it: he perceiveth\nnothing whereby either to take direction from it, or liking to it. He\nthinketh that he must go to the ends of the earth to get it, and if\never, it is in the end of his life, that he hath any sight of\nit. . . . Or else we may understand the latter part of the verse\nthus: That a fool's eyes are in the ends of the earth, because in any\ntrouble or distress he looketh all up and down the earth, from one\nend of it to the other for help and succour, and in the end as a fool\nremaineth helpless. But wisdom is before him that hath understanding,\nand stopping his eyes from looking too much that way, turneth them\nand directeth them up to heaven, where help ought to be sought and is\nsure to be found.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 25 is a repetition of the thought in verse 21. For Homiletics\nand Comments see on chap. x. 1.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nSMITING THE JUST.\n\nThis verse has been variously rendered and explained. (See Critical\nNotes and the comments of different expositors.) It suggests,\nhowever--\n\n+I. That punishment in itself is sometimes necessary and desirable.+\nWhen the laws of the family are wise and good, it is a great\nmisfortune for the children, and a great sin against them, not to\nvisit their transgressions with a suitable punishment. And it is\nabsolutely essential to the existence of a well-ordered state, that\nthere should be punishment for those who rebel against righteous\nlaws. Civil rule is of Divine ordination--\"the powers that be are\nordained of God\" (Rom. xiii. 1). When, therefore, there is no just\ncause for civil rebellion, it is a sin not only against the state but\nagainst the Ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth, to break the\nestablished laws. Punishment forms a necessary part of the government\nof the universe. God has, both by example and precept, shown its\nnecessity. When there was rebellion in heaven against a perfect\ngovernment, punishment followed, which was proportioned to the\ngreatness of the transgression--the sentence passed upon the first\nrebel in the universe and upon those who were confederate with him\nwas a terrible one, but it was only commensurate to the exceeding\nmagnitude of the offence. If rebellion against a government had been\nallowed to go unpunished, it would have made way for universal\nanarchy. And a community of any kind without punishment for\ntransgressors, is lacking in a most essential element of its peace\nand stability.\n\n+II. But those whose moral character fits them to be the awarders of\npunishment are often the victims of it.+ The natural and right order\nof things in this respect is often exactly the reverse of what it\nought to be, and just and noble men are treated as transgressors and\nsuffer the punishment which ought to fall upon their persecutors.\nMight is very far from being right in this world, and even in this\ncountry Richard Baxter stood at the bar while Judge Jeffries sat upon\nthe bench. The apostles of the Lord suffered scourging at the hands\nof the council at Jerusalem (Acts v. 40); Paul was condemned to death\nby Nero, and Incarnate Righteousness was crucified between two\nthieves at the instigation of some of the worst men that the world\nhas ever seen. In all these cases, and in ten thousand others, the\njust were smitten, and as a rule they have suffered, not merely\n_although_ they were righteous, but _because_ they were so--it was\ntheir integrity that aroused the enmity of their persecutors--these\nmoral _\"princes\"_ were _\"stricken for equity.\"_\n\n+III. Such an abuse of power will in its turn be visited with\npunishment.+ Those who have thus unjustly condemned the righteous,\nhave found in their own personal experience that \"to punish the just\nis _not good_\"--\"not good\" for their own peace of mind--not good for\ntheir future reputation--not good for the nation who instigated them\nor permitted them to do the deed. Haman found that it was not good\nfor him to aim a blow at the upright Mordecai when he was himself\nhanged upon his own gallows; the Persian princes found it was not\ngood to strike a prince for equity when they were themselves cast\ninto the den of lions; Judge Jeffries found it out when he lay face\nto face with death in the Tower. And among all the nations whose\nhistory has confirmed the truth of the text, none stands out so\nprominently as that one whose king was the author of the proverb. The\npunishment of the _just_--the striking of _moral princes_ for\nequity--was one of the most prominent of their national crimes, and\nHe whose death at their hands filled up the measure of their\niniquity, declared that it was the great cause of their national\nruin. _\"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye\nbuild the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the\nrighteous, and say if we had been in the days of our fathers we would\nnot have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.\nWherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of\nthem that killed the prophets. . . . Wherefore, behold, I send unto\nyou prophets, and wise men, and Scribes; and some of them ye shall\nkill and crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in your\nsynagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may\ncome all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of\nrighteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye\nslew between the temple and the altar\"_ (Matt. xxiii. 29-35). The\nJewish nation has been for nearly nineteen centuries a witness that\n\"to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Even deserved punishment to the righteous does not seem good when\ndesigned to chasten the willing with a view to holiness. \"Even.\"_\nThis seems to have been treated as a word _de trop._ King James' men\nmade it _also;_ as though Solomon grew tired of sameness, and broke\nthe monotone by a new opening vocable. But with the above rendering\nit takes its usual sense. _\"Righteous.\"_ This word and _\"punishment\"_\nbear the weight of the word _\"even.\" Even the righteous,_ who ought\nto know better; and _\"even punishment,\"_ which the righteous, at\nlast, ought to be willing to bear.--_Miller._\n\nOften is the wise man's meaning much beyond his words. _To punish the\njust_ not only _is not good,_ but it is \"the abomination\" (verse\n15)--\"an evident token of perdition\" (Philip. i. 28). If rulers are\n\"a terror to good works,\" they are ministers of God in authority, but\nministers of Satan in administration. And how will such injustice\n\"abide the day of His coming,\" when He shall \"lay judgment to the\nline, and righteousness to the plummet!\"--_Bridges._\n\nThe word _prince_ signifies _noble,_ and is differently understood.\nIt may be applied to the nobility of _station,_ or to that of _mind._\nSome give preference to the latter; and by interpreting it of the\n_noble-minded,_ and the _\"just\"_ in the former clause, of _the\nrighteous_ or the _people of God,_ make the two clauses thus to\ncorrespond, and to have much the same import. It seems, however, both\nmore natural and more comprehensive to consider _two_ ideas to be\nexpressed; the one relating to the duty of the _ruler,_ and the other\nto that of the _ruled._ It is the incumbent duty of the ruler, on the\none part, to administer justice with strict impartiality. It is the\nduty, on the other part, of subjects to countenance, encourage, and\nsupport the ruler in the equitable administration of his trust. To\n_\"strike\"_ is evidently to be understood, not literally alone of\nactual striking, but of \"smiting with the tongue\" as well as with the\nfist or the rod,--of all kinds of vituperation and abuse, and\nattempts to bring the throne into disrepute and odium, and unsettle\nits stability, by shaking the confidence and attachment of the\ncommunity. There are many occasions in which a man may be tempted to\nthis. He may, in particular cases, have his mind biassed by pride, by\nself-interest, by partiality towards a friend, by political\npredilections; so that even when all has been done with impartial\ninvestigation, and the judgment pronounced according to legitimate\nrules of evidence and demands of equity, there may be unfair,\nunreasonable and angry dissatisfaction; and the prince may be smitten\nfor justice. Every man ought to be on his guard against this. The\nhigher the responsibility,--the more burdensome and difficult the\ntrust,--and the more serious the results of bringing authorities and\nthe laws into disesteem, and unsettling public confidence in\nthem,--ought to be the amount of our reluctant caution in pronouncing\ncensure. Another remark may be ventured. One of the great\ndifficulties with which governments of great nations have to contend,\narises from the variety of crossing and contending interests with\nwhich they have to deal. How anxious soever they may honestly be, to\nallow no undue bias to draw them from the line of impartial justice,\nyet there is hardly a measure they can adopt that does not affect\ndifferently different classes of the community; so that, from their\nvarious predisposing circumstances, that shall appear to one\nclass--to those in one particular department of trade or\ncommerce--the very essence of injustice, which by another is lauded\nas a most unexceptionable exemplification of impartial equity. This\nought surely to have the effect--I do not by any means say of\nforbidding the most vigilant observance and the freest and most\nsearching scrutiny and discussion of every measure, and the exposure\nof its evil or questionable character and tendency--but assuredly of\nprocuring some allowance for the difficulty of the task of pleasing\nall parties, and some moderation in the tone of censure even where to\nus the grounds for it are clear and palpable. No man who knows\nhimself will affirm, in almost any case, that, placed, in other\ncircumstances, he might not see with other eyes. I speak in general.\nThere are cases in which the interests of a suffering country are, to\na vast extent, involved, in which it becomes every man's paramount\nduty to speak out and to speak plainly, and to make the ears of the\nrulers to tingle with the outcry of humanity and justice. I would\nfurther apply the spirit of this verse to the case of _arbitrators._\nWe have ourselves, it may be, consented to submit a litigated point\nto arbitration. We do so with a full persuasion of our being in the\nright--of our claim being the just one. But the arbiters unite in\ngiving it against us. It would be most unreasonable on our part to\nretain a grudge, especially at the one appointed by ourselves, on\nthis account. Our reference implied confidence in his impartiality\nand honour, and implied a pledge of cheerful acquiescence. To\ngrumble, to censure, and to withdraw our friendship, would be indeed\nto _\"strike him for equity.\"_ He would have proved himself unworthy\nof his trust, if his disposition to please and serve us had been too\nstrong for principle, conscience, and oath. There is _one_\ngovernment, in which \"the just\" are never \"punished\"--all whose laws\nand all whose sanctions are the perfection of equity. But alas! it is\nunder that very government that the spirit expressed by the phrase\n\"striking princes for equity\" is most fearfully manifested. All the\nmurmurings of sinners against either the law of God or its revealed\nand threatened penalty, are the very essence, in its deepest\nmalignity, of this spirit.--_Wardlaw._\n\nRighteous men are princes in all lands (Psa. xlv. 16); yea, they are\nkings in righteousness as Melchisedec. Indeed they are somewhat\nobscure kings as he was, but kings they appear to be, by comparing\nMatt. xiii. 17 with Luke x. 24; \"many righteous,\" saith Matthew,\n\"many kings,\" saith Luke. Now, to strike a king is high treason; and\nalthough princes have put up blows, as when one struck our Henry VI.,\nhe only said, \"Forsooth, you do wrong yourself more than me, to\nstrike the Lord's anointed.\"--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 27, 28.\n\nTWO BADGES OF A WISE MAN.\n\n+I. Reticence of speech.+ This subject has been dwelt on before. See\non chap. x. 19-21. The verses before us suggest further that a man\nwho is sparing of words is not necessarily a man of abundant wisdom,\nfor even a fool may hold his peace sometimes. Solomon elsewhere tells\nus that \"a fool uttereth all his mind\" (Prov. xxix. 11); but the fool\nof this text is not so foolish as to do that. It has been remarked\nthat \"by silence a fool abates something of his senselessness, and\nsince he gets the opportunity to collect himself and to reflect, a\nbeginning of wisdom is developed in him\" (_Von Gerlach_). It argues\nsome amount of wisdom in a man if he is silent when he has nothing to\nsay which is worth the saying. But the false conclusion must not be\ndrawn, that every man who is not given to much speech is a man of\ngreat understanding and of vast mental resources. It is much better\nthat the stone should remain upon the mouth of a well of impure\nwater, but it must not be taken for granted, because the well is kept\nclosed, that there is a supply of life-giving water within.\n\n+II. Calmness of temper.+ It is a mark of wisdom to strive after a\n\"cool\" (excellent) \"spirit.\" 1. _It makes life more pleasant._ A man\nwho allows himself to be vexed and irritated by all the annoyances of\nevery-day life has no enjoyment of his existence. A fretful and hasty\ntemper makes every bitter draught more bitter, and takes the\nsweetness out of the cup that would otherwise be a pleasant one.\n2. _It makes a man more respected and more useful._ A man who cannot\ncurb his temper is a despicable object, and will certainly be\ndespised. A passionate man may be pitied and excused, but he cannot\nbe respected. Hence he cannot have much influence for good upon\nothers. This subject also has been treated before. See Homiletics on\nchap. xiv. 17 and 29, pages 363 and 386.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"He that retains his words knows knowledge.\"_ The words are precise.\nIt is the fact that he \"knows knowledge\" that impels a man to\nrestrain his words. If he did not _\"know knowledge,\"_ if he had not\n_light,_ and did not know it when he saw it; if he did not see light\nin God, and know it when he has seen it, and really see enough of it\nto convince him that \"God is light,\" he could not stand the darkness.\nThe unfortunates in hell have no light to enable them to endure the\ndark. But the saint, _knowing knowledge,_ and seeing that it exists\nin God, is balanced enough against the mysteries to enable him to\nrestrain his words. . . . The wise man asserts that this silence is a\nchief mark of piety. . . . If a man do shut his lips he is\nwise. . . . The fool is a wise man when he is silent, and when, in\nmeek submission, he bows to what he cannot understand.--_Miller._\n\nHe cannot be known for a fool who says nothing. He is a fool, not who\nhath unwise thoughts, but who utters them. Even concealed folly is\nwisdom.--_Bp. Hall._\n\nHe that hath knowledge hath not many words: the fulness of the one\ncauseth in him a scarcity of the other. And there is nothing that he\nspendeth idly more unwillingly than his words. But yet, _having\nknowledge,_ he knoweth both when to spare and when to spend. . . .\nThe original words here are _knowing knowledge,_ for many know much,\nbut it is not knowledge that they know. Some labour hard and waste\ntheir time to know needless vanities, which, being better unknown,\nhave not true knowledge in them. . . . Right knowledge is the\nknowledge of the Lord, and he that knoweth this spareth his words to\nspend them to God's glory. And as it is in many the penury of their\nknowledge that causeth the superfluity of their words, so chiefly is\nthe lack of this knowledge. For it is by this knowledge we learn that\nan account must be given for every idle word. . . . Silence being so\nrare a virtue, where wisdom doth command it, it is accounted a virtue\nwhere folly doth impose it. He that fails of this first help, and is\nso far gone in folly as that his tongue outgoes his understanding,\nyet hath a second help, and that is to stop, and shut his lips before\nthey go too far, which, though not the first, yet is a second praise;\nand he hath the repute of some understanding who either seeth, or is\nthought to see, his want of understanding.--_Jermin._\n\nIt has been safely enough alleged that of two men equally successful\nin the business of life, the man who is silent will be generally\ndeemed to have more in him than the man who talks; the latter \"shows\nhis hand;\" everybody can tell the exact length of his tether; he has\ntrotted himself out so often that all his points and paces are a\nmatter of notoriety. But of the taciturn man, little or nothing is\nknown. \"The shallow murmur but the deep are dumb.\" Friends and\nacquaintances shake their heads knowingly, and exclaim with an air of\nauthority, that \"So and so\" has a great deal more in him than people\nimagine. They are as often wrong as right, but what need that signify\nto the silent man? . . . To follow out one of the Caxtonian\nessayist's illustrations,--When we see a dumb strong-box, with its\nlid braced down by iron clasps and secured by a jealous padlock,\ninvoluntarily we supposed that its contents must be infinitely more\nprecious than the gauds and nicknacks which are unguardedly scattered\nabout a lady's dressing-room. \"Who could believe that a box so\nrigidly locked had nothing in it but odds and ends, which would be\njust as safe in a bandbox?\"--_Jacox._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Through desire, etc.+ The readings and\nexpositions of this verse are many. Z\u00f6ckler translates, _\"He that\nseparateth himself seeketh his own pleasure, against all counsel doth\nhe rush on,\"_ and the renderings of Stuart, Miller, and Delitzsch are\nsubstantially the same, except that Delitzsch translates the latter\nclause--_\"against all that is beneficial he shows his teeth.\"_ Other\nreadings are _\"A self-conceited fool seeks to gratify his fancy and\nintermingleth himself with all things\" (Schultens); \"He who has\nseparated himself agitates questions as his desire prompts, and\nbreaks his teeth on every hard point\" (Schulz); \"He seeks occasion,\nwho desires to separate himself from his friends\" (Hodgson)._ Others\nread as in the Authorised Version. (See Comments.) +3. Ignominy,+\nrather, _\"shameful deeds.\"_ +4.+ The last clause of this verse may be\ndivided into two smaller ones and placed in apposition, thus: _\"a\nbabbling brook,\"--a fountain of wisdom._ Fausset remarks that the\nHebrew word used for _man_ is _ish,_ a _good_ man, not _adam,_ the\ngeneral term for man. +6. Calleth for.+ Stuart understands this in\nthe sense of _\"to deserve.\"_ +8. Wounds.+ The word so translated\noccurs only here and in chap. xxvi. 22, and will bear very different\nrenderings. Some translate it _words of sport_ (Stuart and Z\u00f6ckler);\nothers, with Delitzsch, _dainty morsels;_ others, _\"whispers, soft\nbreezes.\"_ +9. Waster,+ or _destroyer._ +10. Safe,+ or _lifted high._\n+14. Infirmity,+ _i.e.,_ sickness, disease of body. As in similar\nverses, Miller translates +\"a wounded spirit;\"+ _a spirit of\nupbraiding._ Here again, as in verse 4, the Hebrew word _ish_ is used\nfor man. +16. A man's gifts.+ \"Hebrew, _adam,_ the gift of a _man,_\nhowever humble and low\" _(Fausset)_. +19. \"Is harder to be won;\"+\nthese words are not in the original, but have been inserted to supply\nthe sense. Some translators read _\"a brother offended resisteth more\nthan a strong city.\"_ Miller reads, _\"When a brother is revolted\naway, it is from a city of strength.\"_ +20. Satisfied.+ \"If this word\nis taken in a good sense the _fruit_ must be good; but it may be\nironical, meaning false or malignant words will find ample\nretribution. Perhaps the next verse helps us determine the meaning\"\n_(Stuart)_. +21. They that love it,+ _i.e.,_ \"make it a special\nobject of gratification\" _(Stuart)_ +24.+ The first clause of this\nverse should be \"A man of many friends will prove himself base, or is\nso to his own destruction,\" _i.e.,_ he who professes to regard\neverybody as his friend will, in so doing, involve himself in trouble.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 1 _and_ 2.\n\nReference to the Critical Notes and to the Comments will show the\nwidely different translations and expositions given to the first\nverse. We follow the Authorised Version.\n\nSOLITUDE.\n\n+I. Solitude is indispensable to the attainment of wisdom.+ If a tree\nis to become well-proportioned--if it is to spread out its branches\non every side so that its girth is to be proportioned to its height,\nit must have space--a degree of separation is indispensable to its\nperfect development. It must be free to stretch out its roots and\nshoots on every side, and to appropriate to itself those elements in\nthe earth and in the atmosphere which will make it strong and\nvigorous. So if a man is to be a wise man, if his mental and\nspiritual capabilities are to be developed as his Creator intended\nthey should be, he must at times separate himself--a certain amount\nof solitude is indispensable. If he would grow wise in the mysteries\nof the natural world he must oftentimes shut himself away from the\nhaunts of men, and ponder the manifold phenomena which creation\npresents to him, and endeavour to unravel her secrets. If he desires\nto become wise by acquaintance with the thoughts and deeds of the\ngreat and mighty men of past ages he must withdraw himself at certain\nseasons from the society of his fellow-men, and give himself up to\nstudy and reflection. And if he desire to acquire what, after all,\ncan alone make him a truly wise man--an acquaintance with himself and\nwith God--he must have seasons of separation in which to listen to\nthe voice of his own heart and to the voice of his Maker. A man, when\nhe is alone, is more likely to see things as they really are; he is\nless under the influence of the seen and temporal than when he is in\nthe market, or on the crowded highway, and consequently things unseen\nand eternal have a more powerful influence over him at such a season.\nNo man can be wise unless he has some self-knowledge, and no man can\nsubject himself to much inspection while in company, hence the advice\nof George Herbert--\n\n \"By all means use sometimes to be alone;\n Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear;\n Dare to look in thy chest, for 'tis thine own,\n And tumble up and down what thou find'st there.\n Who cannot rest till he good fellows find,\n He breaks up house, turns out of doors his mind.\"\n\nand it is equally true that no man is possessed of true wisdom who\nhas not some knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself in the\nwritten Word, and solitude is very favourable to a growth in Divine\nknowledge. Men can gain much, even of the highest wisdom, from\nintercourse with their fellow-men, but all human guides are fallible\nand all human teaching is imperfect--there must be seasons when a man\n\"separates himself\" from them all and stands face to face with the\nfountain of all truth, if he would \"intermeddle\" with pure wisdom.\n\n+II. Those who are truly wise seek wisdom for its own sake.+ Many men\nseek secular knowledge for the sole purpose of acquiring fame by the\nacquisition. Some men spend days of solitude in patient investigation\nfor no other purpose than to make a name for themselves. Some men\neven profess to be seekers after true and spiritual wisdom, when they\nare only striving to gratify some unworthy ambition. Such a man seems\nto be pourtrayed in the second verse as the \"fool who hath no delight\nin understanding but that his heart may discover itself.\" (If he\nseeks knowledge at all, it is neither for its own sake nor for the\npurposes of fitting him for usefulness, but solely for the ends of\nself-display--_Wardlaw._) (He \"hath no delight\" in knowledge, \"but in\nthe displaying of his own thoughts.\"--_Hodgson._) But the true lover\nof wisdom is impelled to seek from the love of truth--from the desire\nwhich possesses his soul to \"intermeddle with knowledge.\" When Sir\nIsaac Newton gave himself up to the pursuit of scientific truth, he\n\"separated himself\" simply from a \"desire\" to _know,_ and without the\nremotest desire or expectation of his present world-wide fame. And if\nit is so with every true lover of merely intellectual wisdom, it is\npre-eminently so with the man who seeks spiritual wisdom. He is\nimpelled to the search simply by a desire which is born of his\nappreciation of its worth--by a knowledge of its power to bless his\nlife.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA certain degree of solitude seems necessary to the full growth and\nspread of the highest mind; and therefore must a very extensive\nintercourse with men stifle many a holy germ, and scare away the\ngods, who shun the restless tumult of noisy companies, and the\ndiscussion of petty interests.--_Novalis._\n\nDesire is the chariot-wheel of the soul, the spring of energy and\ndelight. The man of business or science if filled with his great\nobject; and _through desire he separates himself_ from all lets and\nhindrances, that he may _intermeddle with_ its whole range. \"This one\nthing\"--saith the man of God--\"I do\" (Philip. iii. 13). This one\nthing is everything with him. _He separates himself_ from all outward\nhindrances, vain company, trifling amusements or studies, needless\nengagements, that he may _seek and intermeddle with all wisdom._ John\n_separated himself_ in the wilderness, Paul in Arabia, our blessed\nLord in frequent retirement, in order to greater concentration in\ntheir momentous work. Deeply does the Christian minister feel the\nresponsibility of this holy _separation,_ that he may \"give himself\nwholly to\" his office (1 Tim. iv. 15; 2 Tim. ii. 4). Without\nit--Christian--thy soul can never prosper. How canst thou\n_intermeddle with the great wisdom_ of knowing thyself, if thy whole\nmind be full of the world's chaff and vanity? There must be a\nwithdrawal, to \"commune with thine own heart\" and to ask the\nquestions--\"Where art thou? What doest thou here?\" Much is there to\nbe inquired into and pondered. Everything here calls for our deepest,\nclosest thoughts. We must walk with God in secret, or the enemy will\nwalk with us, and our souls will die. \"Arise, go forth into the\nplain, and I will there talk with thee\" (Ezek. iii. 22). \"When thou\nwast under the fig-tree I saw thee\" (John i. 48). Deal much in\nsecrecy, if thou wouldst know \"the secret of the Lord.\" Like thy\nDivine Master, thou wilt never be less alone than when alone (Ib.\nxvi. 32). There is much to be wrought, gained, and enjoyed. Thy most\nspiritual knowledge, thy richest experience will be found here. And\nthen, when we look around us into the infinitely extended field of\nthe Revelation of God, what a world of heavenly _wisdom is there to\nintermeddle with!_ In the hurry of this world's atmosphere how little\ncan we apprehend it! And yet such is the field of wonder, that the\ncontemplation of a single point overwhelmed the Apostle with adoring\nastonishment (Rom. xi. 33). Here are \"things, which even the angels\ndesire to look into\" (1 Pet. i. 12). The redeemed will be employed\nthroughout eternity in this delighted searching; exploring \"the\nbreadth, the length, and depth, and height,\" until they be \"filled\nwith all the fulness of God\" (Eph. iii. 18, 19). Surely then if we\nhave any _desire,_ we shall _separate ourselves_ from the cloudy\natmosphere around us, that we may have fellowship with these happy\ninvestigators of the Divine mysteries.--_Bridges._\n\nThe _separated one_ here is the impenitent. _\"The aims of a man left\nto himself\"_ is really a translation of but two words, meaning _a\nseparated one seeks. \"At the dictate of desire\"_ is but one noun with\na preceding particle, meaning _after,_ or _according to._ The noun\nmeans a _longing._ The sentence means that when a man gets separated\nfrom his place in the universe he _seeks,_ or _has a pursuit,_ after\nhis present bent or longing. The word translated _wisdom_ in the\nsecond clause is derived from a verb that means to _be_ or _stand_\nwith some stability (see comment on chap. ii. 7), yielding the sense\nthe lost man sits careless to what is _\"stable.\"_ He does not regard\nit. He strikes for what he desires. A pretty thing for him to cavil!\nsince _\"against everything stable he just lets himself roll.\"_. . .\nThe whole meaning is that the lost man is in high chase under the\nspur of appetite, and ruthlessly bears down _everything\nstable.--Miller._\n\n_\"Through desire\"_ (through self-willed and self-seeking desire of\nwisdom)--_\"wisdom,\"_ Heb. _tushigyah,_ lit. all that is solid and\nstable: subsistence, essence, existence. The Pharisees were such;\nfrom the Hebrew, _pharash,_ to separate. They trusted in themselves,\nand in their own wisdom, despising others (Luke xviii. 9, xvi. 15;\nJude 19). All heresy has more or less originated in the self-conceit\nwhich leads men to separate themselves from the congregation of the\nLord (Ezek. xiv. 7; Hosea ix. 10; Heb x. 25). The two evils censured\nare (1) that of those who think they are born for themselves, and\nthat others ought to be ministers of their self-seeking desires;\n(2) that of those who intermeddle with what does not concern them.\nThe motive is through (his own) _\"desire\"_ of being esteemed\nsingularly learned, as verse 2 shows, not from sincere \"delight in\nunderstanding.\" His aim is singularity, through self-seeking desire\n(Psa. x. 3; cxii. 10) of raising himself to a separate elevation from\nthe common crowd, and of being thought versed in all that can be\nknown: so \"he intermeddleth with all wisdom.\" His restless appetite\nfor making himself peculiar and separate from others is marked by the\nindefinite verb \"seeketh,\" it not being added what he seeketh, for he\nhardly knows himself what.--_Fausset._\n\nIf we have to decide between the two interpretations, one blaming and\nthe other commending the life of isolation, the answer must be that\nthe former is more in harmony with the broad, genial temper of the\nBook of Proverbs.--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nThis verse also, as will be seen from a reference to the Critical\nNotes, and also from the Comments, is susceptible of several\ninterpretations. We think it treats of--\n\nTHE SHORT-LIVED PROSPERITY OF EVIL MEN.\n\n+I. Wicked men do come into places of power and influence.+ This fact\nhas often tried the faith of righteous men. Asaph's _\"steps had\nwell-nigh slipped\"_ when he saw _\"the prosperity of the\nwicked\"_--that _\"violence covered them as a garment,\"_ and that they\n_\"set their mouth against the heavens;\"_ and yet that _\"their\nstrength was firm,\"_ and _\"they had more than heart could wish\"_\n(Psa. lxxiii. 2-8). The tiller of the soil knows from experience that\nthe useless weeds and noxious plants often seem to absorb all the\nnutriment from the earth, and so make it well-nigh impossible for the\nuseful herb and sweet-scented flower to grow in the same field or\ngarden. And moral weeds seem to have a like capability of utilising\neverything that comes in their way to their own advancement--the\nunrighteous man makes a fortune, or a position, or a name for\nhimself, while his godly neighbour is struggling for a bare\nsubsistence. In the field of the world, the tares grow as well as the\nwheat (Matt. xiii. 26), and often they seem for a time to be more\nflourishing. Ahab and Jezebel dwell in Samaria, and Elijah is\ncompelled to flee into the desert. Herod feasts in the palace, while\nJohn the Baptist is beheaded in the dungeon.\n\n+II. Contempt and reproach are their final portion.+ Their day of\npower is short-lived. David has recorded as his experience that he\nhad _\"seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a\ngreen bay-tree\"_--but he _\"passed by, and lo, he was not\"_ (Psa.\nxxxvii. 35). And however their success may dazzle men's eyes and warp\ntheir judgment for a season, contempt is their portion at last. They\nare often held in contempt even while living, and the reproaches of\nthose who have been made to suffer by them are heaped upon their\nheads. Many of those who fawned upon them and flattered them while\nthey were prospering will be most ready to scorn and upbraid them, if\nthe day of their retribution arrives before they quit this world. And\nif they keep their power and influence throughout the term of their\nhuman probation, their names will be contemned by posterity, and in\nthe day when \"everyone receives the things done in his body\" (2 Cor.\nv. 10), they shall _\"awake to shame and everlasting contempt\"_ (Dan.\nxii. 2).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWhen a _\"wicked\"_ man enters upon the stage, that creature, the most\ndegraded of the universe, and who has the least right to show any\n_contempt,_ is the _very_ person to be the most _contemptuous;_ and\nthe mortal who is himself most _disgraced,_ shows the readiest mind\nto cry shame upon and to _reproach_ and that even the Most High.\nDoubtless there is secular truth in all this. The _disgraced_ citizen\nis often the most _reproachful.--Miller._\n\nI. They bring \"contempt,\" not to themselves only, but to the places\nthey fill, and the societies to which they become united--to\nthemselves, for the unworthy manner in which they fulfil the duties\nof the trust they have assumed, or have had committed to them; and to\ntheir places and societies, with which their names are associated.\nThey entail _\"ignominy and reproach\"_ upon all they have to do with.\nAnd in no case is this more true, than with regard to offences in the\nChurch. O what an amount of scorn and reproach has been brought upon\nthe sacred office of the ministry by the intrusion, under numberless\npretexts, and from numberless causes, of wicked, worldly, ungodly men\ninto its holy function! How full is Church history of this deplorable\nevil!--and how many infidels and scorners has Church history by this\nmeans produced. Thus it was under the old dispensation. The\nwickedness of the sons of Eli made men \"abhor the offering of the\nLord.\" And thus it is still. Of the \"false teachers\" who should arise\nin the latter days, it is said--\"by reason of them the way of truth\nshall be evil-spoken of.\" From few other sources, if from any, has\nthere proceeded a greater profusion of unmerited \"reproach\" of the\nname and doctrine and kingdom of the Lord; or has \"the chair of the\nscorner\" drawn a greater number and variety of its sarcastic sneers\nand bitter revilings. II. The phrase may mean--\"When the wicked\ncometh\" into _intimacy, companionship, familiarity,_ \"then cometh\ncontempt.\"--He who admits the wicked to his intimacy--makes him his\nassociate--must share the infamy of his ill-chosen companion. Many a\ntime too has _this_ been exemplified.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nA GOOD MAN'S MOUTH.\n\nWe must understand Solomon here to refer to a good man--to a man\nwhose words are in harmony with the mind of God. Of such a man it may\nbe said that his words are as deep waters and as a living spring.\n\n+I. Because his soul is in communication with an exhaustless source\nof spiritual life and wisdom.+ Rivers and wells that are fed from the\nmountain recesses which are filled with eternal snows never dry\nup--they are fed from a source that is never exhausted. So long as\nthe lasting hills remain, and the present natural laws govern the\nworld they must give forth every day abundant streams. A\ncommunication has been established between the soul of a good man and\nthe living God--he holds constant communion with a source of\nspiritual life which can never fail, and consequently he can never be\nat a loss for subjects upon which to discourse--his mind is always\nfilled with new thoughts of God, and new hopes of heaven upon which\nto meditate himself and which he can communicate to others.\n\n+II. Because that which flows from his lips is beneficial and\nrefreshing to others.+ The waters in a shallow and stagnant pond give\nlittle or no refreshment to the thirsty traveller; they may even be\nthe means of imparting disease to those who drink of them, or who\nlive near them. But the water from a well, or from a deep and flowing\nstream, is generally pure and wholesome to the taste, and refreshing\nto the land through which it flows. And so it is with the speech of a\ngodly man. Very mighty are the influence of words for good or for\nill. Our first parents lost Eden by listening to the words of the\ntempter, and the speech of the wicked always diffuses an unwholesome\nmoral atmosphere around it, if it does not eject a deadly poison into\nthe soul. But the conversation and teaching of the godly are always a\nmeans of moral health to others; by their words they witness for the\ntruth of God, and are the means of _\"opening men's eyes, and turning\nthem from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God\"_ (Acts\nxxvi. 13). And, like their Divine Master, they _\"know how to speak a\nword in season to him that is weary\"_ (Isa. l. 4), and thus that\nwhich flows from their lips is as refreshing and healthful to weary\nand struggling men and women on the highway of life as the living,\ncooling water-course is to the dusty and thirsty traveller.\n\n+III. Because the flow is natural and spontaneous.+ Water may be sent\nthrough a tract of country by artificial means; fields may be watered\nand reservoirs filled by calling in science to supply natural\ndeficiencies. But there is, after all, no comparison between this\nkind of forced irrigation and that which is the result of natural\ncauses. If there is water beneath the surface of the earth it must\nforce its way and find an outlet; it needs no hand of man to come to\nits aid; it penetrates the soil and forms a fertilising stream in\nobedience to natural law. And so the speech of a good man has nothing\nforced or artificial about it. It is the overflow of heartfelt\nexperience. Like the apostles of old, he _\"cannot but speak the\nthings which he has seen and heard\"_ (Acts iv. 20). The _\"good\nthings\"_ of his lips are the natural outcome of the _\"good treasure\nof his heart,\" \"for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth\nspeaketh\"_ (Matt. xii. 34, 35).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nTalleyrand defined speech to be the art of concealing one's opinions.\nSpeech, even without any attempt at concealment, must be endlessly\ndeep and wide as uttering all our being. Who can translate all its\noutgoings? If this be so with man, who shall judge of God and censure\nHis obscurer revelations? Solomon is satisfied with one great\ndifference,--that while men's speech is _\"deep,\"_ God's speech is\nboth _\"deep\"_ and _\"living.\"_ One has a vital source, the other is\ndead and stagnant. Grant that both are obscure. One is the darkness\nof a pool, the other the breadth and gush of an overflowing water. We\nought to submit to mystery in God, for the tide of His utterance is\nto flow on for ever.--_Miller._\n\nOne \"greater than Solomon\" \"astonished the people\" by the clearness,\nno less than by the _depth of the waters_ (Matt. vii. 28, 29). No\nblessing is more valuable than a \"rich indwelling of the Word,\" ready\nto be brought out on all suitable occasions of instruction. If the\nwise man sometimes \"spares his words,\" it is not for want of matter,\nbut for greater edification. The stream is ready to flow, and\nsometimes can scarcely be restrained. The cold-hearted, speculative\nprofessor has his _flow_--sometimes a torrent of words, yet without a\ndrop of profitable matter; chilling, even when doctrinally correct;\nwithout life, unction, or love. Lord! deliver us from this barren\n\"talk of the lips\" (chap. xiv. 23). May our _waters be deep,_ flowing\nfrom thine own inner sanctuary, refreshing and fertilising the Church\nof God!--_Bridges._\n\nIn the two clauses of the verse, on the principle of parallelism,\nthere appears to be an inversion of the same sentiment; for, properly\nspeaking, the words uttered are not the \"deep waters,\" but the stream\nthat issues from them; and, on the other hand, \"the wellspring of\nwisdom\" is not \"the flowing brook,\" but the deep and copious fountain\nor reservoir from which it issues. Another passage may serve to\nconfirm this view. \"Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water;\nbut a man of understanding will draw it out.\" Here, the counsel is\nthe deep water, not the words. But the words are the stream which the\ndeep waters send forth. The words bring out and contain the\ncounsel.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt must be remembered that \"deep waters\" are associated in the Old\nTestament with the thought of darkness and mystery (xx. 5; Psalms\nlxix. 2; Eccles. vii. 24), and we get a more profound thought if we\nsee in the proverb a comparison between all teaching from without and\nthat of the light within. The words of a man's mouth are dark as the\n\"deep waters of a pool, or tank; but the well-spring of wisdom is as\na flowing brook, bright and clear.\" So taken the verse presents a\ncontrast like that of Jeremiah ii. 13.--_Plumptre._\n\nWhen this word _vir_ is used for man in sacred Scriptures it\nsignifieth one who is strong and mighty, and for his strength great\nand excellent, and then by a man here we may understand him who is\nmighty and great in knowledge; the words of such a man are as deep\nwaters, to the bottom whereof the shallow capacity of every one is\nnot able to reach. But yet where the spring of those waters is a\nwell-spring of wisdom, though sometimes it send forth deep waters,\nyet it doth not always; for that were to overwhelm the hearers. But\nat other times it is as a flowing brook, more shallow for capacity,\nbut more forcible also in the stream of it, and either by persuasive\nexhortation carrying on the hearers to a pursuit of virtue and\ngodliness, or else by a dissuasive reproof carrying them away from\nthe practice of wickedness, and in both washing away the stains of\ntheir sinful lives. Wherefore St. Gregory saith, so must every\npreacher deal with his hearers as God dealeth with him; he must not\npreach to the simple as much as he knoweth because himself doth not\nknow of heavenly mysteries as much as they are.--_Jermin._\n\n\nThe subject of verse 5 has been treated in the Homiletics on chap.\nxvii., verses 15 and 26.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-8.\n\nFOLLY AND ITS RESULTS.\n\n+I. None but a foolish man seeks contention.+ As we saw in the\nprevious chapter (verse 14) contention or strife is an evil of which\nnone at its beginnings can see the end. It may seem a very\ninsignificant deed to strike a flint and steel together so as to\nproduce a single spark, but one spark may produce a terrible and\ndestructive fire. When a settler in a forest rubs two dry sticks\ntogether the act seems a trifling one, but the friction in time\ndevelops the latent heat of the wood, and there is enough fire\nbrought into activity to lay low many a mighty forest tree. None but\nfoolish men and children ever play with fire, and when they do it\nthey generally suffer themselves first, but they are often not the\nonly sufferers. So it is with contention, or a dispute in words. Wise\nmen are often obliged to contend for truth and right, but they never\n_seek_ an occasion of dispute. But there are moral fools who think it\nonly an amusement to pick a quarrel, little heeding what the\nconsequences of it may be, not caring if blows succeed to angry\nwords, or perhaps even desiring that they should do so. But although\na man may play with fire and escape unharmed, or may even apply a\ntorch to his neighbour's house without singeing so much as a hair of\nhis own head, no fool's lips enter into contention or call for\nstrokes without bringing retribution upon his own head. \"His mouth\"\nis in his own \"destruction,\" and \"his lips are the snare of his\nsoul,\" for it is a law as old as the universe that _\"with what\nmeasure ye meet it shall be measured to you again\"_ (Matt. vi. 1, 2).\nThe man who seeks contention will always find others like-minded with\nhimself who will be willing to do for them what he has done for\nothers, and he who \"calls for strokes\" upon his fellow-creatures will\nreceive them upon his own head with compound interest.\n\n+II. None but a cruel man will be a tale-bearer.+ A quarrelsome,\npassionate man is a fool, and he is also a cruel man, but he is not\nso cruel as the tale-bearer. The first man wounds, but he inflicts\nhis injury in open daylight and in the front of his victim, but the\nsecond is like the treacherous footpad whose face is never seen and\nwhose step is never heard, but who comes up behind his prey in the\ndark and leaves no trace behind but the mortal sword-thrust. But it\nmust not be forgotten that there must always be two persons\nimplicated in the guilt and cruelty of thus killing the reputation of\na fellow-creature. The tale-bearer must have a repository for his\nslanders--the busy tongue must have a listening ear or no mischief\nwould be done, and tale-bearing would die out for want of an\natmosphere in which it could live. A reference to the Critical Notes\nwill show that the word translated \"wounds\" may be rendered\n\"dainties,\" and it is because evil reports of others are so keenly\nrelished by an unsanctified man that the words of a tale-bearer are\nable to inflict such suffering and work so much ill in the world.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 6. The emperor Julian used to banter the Christians with that\nprecept of our Lord, \"When thine adversary smites thee on the one\ncheek, turn to him the other also:\" but Christians consult their ease\nas well as their consciences when they obey this precept in the\nspirit of it; whereas proud and passionate fools, when they give vent\nto their rancorous spirits, because they cannot bear the shadow of an\nindignity, not only turn the other cheek to their adversary, but\nsmite, and urge, and almost force him to strike and destroy\nthem.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 8. The bite of a viper is not so deadly as the wound of these\n\"tale-bearers'\" stories and insinuations. The truth is they contrive\nto infuse _their_ poison without a bite. If they would but appear in\ntheir true character;--would they but show their fangs, and make us\nfeel them, we should be put upon our guard. We know the viper. We\nshun it. And when it has unhappily succeeded in wounding us, we\ninstantly have recourse to means for preventing the poison from\ngetting into the mass of the blood, and pervading the system. But\nthese _human_ vipers infuse their poison in the language of kindness\nand love. \"Their words are smoother than oil; yet are they drawn\nswords;\"--envenomed fangs, of which the virus gets into our system\nere we are aware, works its mischievous and morally deadly effects,\nand becomes incapable of extraction. Every attempt at its removal\nstill leaves some portion of it behind. There is, in the original\nword, an implication of softness, simplicity, undesignedness, which\nonly gives the secret weapon with which the wound is inflicted the\ngreater keenness.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe tongue of the tale-bearer is a two-edged sword, at once it\ncutteth on both sides, and his words are his wounds, at once wounding\nboth him of whom he speaketh and him to whom he speaketh. To the one\nhe gives the wounds of his slandering, to the other the wounds of his\nflattering. The one he woundeth so, that his blow is neither heard,\nseen, nor felt. The other he woundeth so, that though his blow be\nheard, seen, and felt, yet it is not perceived: in both they go down\ninto the heart, as revealing the heart of the one, and as removing\nthe heart of the other from him. . . . Or the words may be\ntranslated, _the words of a tale-bearer are as smoothing words:_ for\nhe frameth his own words to as much softness, as those which he\nreporteth he maketh to be hard. And indeed, as they sound, they are\ncommonly so pleasing, that they easily slip down into the heart,\nwhere they are readily entertained.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nTWIN-BROTHERS.\n\n+I. Slothfulness and prodigality have the same origin.+ As brothers\nare the children of a common parent, so sloth and waste have their\nroot in the common sin of ungodliness; men are spendthrifts or they\nare lazy, because they have no right sense of their obligations to\nGod and to man--because they do not look upon their life as a\nstewardship for which they must give an account (Rom. xiv. 12), but\nas a gift which they are at liberty to spend as they please. The acts\nof the prodigal and the slothful man differ in themselves, but they\nall spring from that spirit of self-pleasing which is the essence of\nungodliness.\n\n+II. The slothful man is a waster of God's most precious gifts.+\nTwin-brothers are often so much alike that it is difficult for\nonlookers to distinguish one from the other. And there is an aspect\nin which we may view the slothful man in which we not only note the\nclose resemblance he bears to his prodigal brother, but in which he\nis transformed into the prodigal himself. For the negative\nsinner--the man who does nothing--is a waster of his time and of his\ntalents, and is therefore guilty of a positive crime. The man who\n\"hid the Lord's talent\" was visited with a stern sentence as a\npositive transgressor (Matt. xxv. 25). If we convict a man of\nprodigality for wasting gold, what shall we say of him who wastes\nwhat no gold can buy? \"Time,\" says J. A. James, \"is the most precious\nthing in the world. When God gives us a moment, He does not promise\nus another, as if to teach us highly to value and improve it, by the\nconsideration, for aught we know, it may be the last. Time, when\ngone, never returns. We talk about 'fetching up' a lost hour, but the\nthing is impossible. A moment once lost, is lost for ever. We could\nas rationally set out to find a sound that had expired in air, as to\nfind a lost moment.\" And when we reflect what infinite results depend\nupon what a man does with his time, we see the force of the proverb,\nbecause the slothful man is a waster of the most precious commodity\nin this world.\n\n+III. The results of both extravagance and sloth are the same.+ It\nmakes no difference in the end whether a man gets nothing, or spends\nall that he gets, he can come to poverty by either road. The one has\nbeen compared to a man who dies by a rapid and violent disease, and\nthe other by a slow and subtle consumption. But the grave, sooner or\nlater, receives them both.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe practical lesson is, that in personal and domestic interests,\n_diligence_ and _economy_ should _go together,_ and that the one\nwithout the other never can avail for either obtaining or securing\neven the comforts of life. Of what use is industry if its proceeds\nare not prudently managed when they come in?--if husband, or wife, or\nboth, be destitute of discretion, improvident and thriftless? if\nthere is the absence of all sober and considerate calculation, and,\nas a consequence, no due proportioning of outlay to income, but a\nreckless and wasteful expenditure, leaving an unlooked-for\ndeficiency--a woful amount _minus_--at the year's end? The poor\ninconsiderate fools never think what they are about. They keep no\ndaily reckoning--no accounts; and so their money is gone, they can't\ntell how--they had no idea they were living at such a rate!--and even\nwhen they have made the discovery there is no improvement. They say,\npossibly, _they must take care;_ but they only _say_ it, and\nimmediately forget it. Things go on as before; and still (to use\nrather a colloquial, but sufficiently expressive phrase), what is\ntaken in by the door is thrown out by the window; and still the\nwonder continues _how it goes!_ They are ever marvelling how _other\nfolks do._ They can't understand it. For _their_ parts, all that\ncomes in finds its way off from them as fast as it comes, and many a\ntime faster! Thus, as might be expected, there are the same\nappearances of bareness, and cheerlessness, and want, in the dwelling\nof the _thriftless_ as in that of the _slothful._ Extremes thus\nmeet. . . . _Diligence,_ let me remind you, is as necessary for the\nacquisition of spiritual as of temporal good--of the riches of Divine\nknowledge of the mind, as of the blessings of the Divine life to the\nheart. And not less is _economy of means._ How often may it be seen,\nthat with means of a very limited and stinted amount, there is more\nof spiritual prosperity in one instance, than is discoverable in\nanother, with means the most varied and abundant. Many believers, it\nis to be feared, are spiritual spendthrifts. They use their\nprivileges on no principle of economy. They read, they hear, they\nfrequent ordinances--and yet their progress in spiritual attainments\nbears no proportion to the extent of their advantages. Rich in\nprivileges, they are poor in the graces and enjoyments of the life of\nGod in the soul. Why? The answer is plain. They who thrive on slender\nmeans, make the most of what they have; whereas they who live in the\nmidst of abundance get into habits of carelessness, and of the\nprodigal use of what they have.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe word also here used may seem to refer this verse to that which\ngoeth before it; and then it is a further description of a\ntalebearer. For he is commonly a fellow slothful in his work, being\nbusy in his words, and he is indeed brother to him that is a great\nwaster, spoiling his own estate by his slothfulness, and by the\nmischief which his talebearing falleth upon him; and spoiling him to\nwhom he talketh by the ill mind which he putteth into him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 10 _and_ 11.\n\nTWO CITADELS.\n\n+I. The citadel of him who trusts in the Lord.+ _\"The name of the\nLord.\"_ God has revealed Himself to men by many names, each one of\nwhich is intended to set forth some attribute of His perfect nature.\nThe name \"I AM,\" by which He revealed Himself to Israel (Exod.\niii. 14) set forth His eternal self-existence, but He has also\nrevealed Himself by names which are used to express human relations,\nsuch as king, judge, husband, father. These names are often borne by\nmen who are destitute of the qualifications and feelings proper to\nthe relationships which they express, but when any one of them is\napplied to God it is applied to one who combines within Himself all\nthose attributes of character in perfection which ought to be\npossessed in some degree by men who are called by these names. The\nrighteous man's refuge, then, is a Living Personality--a\nSelf-existent and Eternal King and Father, infinite in power, in\nwisdom, and in tenderness. It is therefore 1. _An ever-present\nrefuge._ \"God is not far from every one of us\" (Acts xvii. 27), and\nbeing ever near, is always accessible. 2. _An impregnable refuge._\nBefore an enemy can attack those who have taken refuge in a fortress,\nthey must carry the citadel itself. So before any enemy can harm a\nrighteous man, he must overcome the Almighty God; he must circumvent\nHis plans, and overthrow His purposes.\n\n \"When His wisdom can mistake,\n His might decay, His love forsake,\"\n\n_then,_ but not till then, will those be exposed to danger who have\nput their trust in Him. 3. _An eternal refuge._ The _\"arms\"_ of\nstrength that defend the children of God are _\"everlasting arms\"_\n(Deut. xxxiii. 7). Many of the ancient fortresses that are scattered\nover our land were once deemed impregnable refuges. But although they\nbade defiance to many an assault of men in battle-array, they have\nhad to yield to a more subtle enemy. Time has crumbled their once\nmighty walls, and made them unfit for purposes of defence. But the\nrighteous man can say to Him who is his \"strong tower,\" _\"Lord, Thou\nhast been our dwelling-place in all generations. . . . Even from\neverlasting to everlasting Thou art God\"_ (Psa. xc. 1, 2).\n\n+II. The stronghold of the man who trusts in riches.+ 1. _Riches are\nno defence against a man's most powerful enemies._ While a man has\nwealth he is defended from many bodily ills and from many vexations\nof spirit. A man of narrow means has often to fight a hard battle to\nsupply his bodily necessities, and is a stranger to those luxuries\nwhich make his life, in this respect, so comfortable to a rich man.\nAnd a poor man has also to bend his will to the will of his richer\nneighbour--to endure often \"th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's\ncontumely.\" Wealth is a defence against all these enemies to a man's\ncomfort. But there are troubles far heavier than any of these, from\nwhich riches afford no protection. Disease and death cannot be turned\naside with money--a troubled soul cannot be comforted with gold. A\nbed of down cannot do much for a man whose body is racked with\npain--it can do nothing for him whose soul is bowed down by sorrow,\nor smitten with a fear of death. In any of these straits a soul can\nfind no \"strong city\" of refuge in the possession of untold millions;\nthese enemies laugh at such a wall of defence. The man who trusts in\nmaterial wealth as his chief good, has either made too low an\nestimate of his own needs, or too high an estimate of the power of\nwealth. 2. _Wealth is a fortress with a most uncertain foundation._\nGranted that it is a defence against some very real ills, who can\ninsure to himself a continuance of his present possessions? The\nuncertainty of riches has been a subject upon which the sages and\nmoralists of all ages have dwelt--the millionaire of to-day may be a\nbeggar to-morrow, and he who was last year surrounded by this \"high\nwall,\" which shut in so much that was agreeable to his senses and\nshut out so many discomforts from his temporal life, may be standing\nto-day a forlorn, unsheltered creature, with only the ruins of his\nonce imposing fortress around him. On this subject see also\nHomiletics on chap. xi. 28.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe strong refuge is not only safe, but _\"set aloft,\"_ so the word\nsignifies, out of gunshot. None can pull out of His hands. Run\ntherefore to God by praying, not fainting. This is the best policy\nfor security. That which is said of wily persons that are full of\nfetches, of windings, and of turnings in the world, that such will\nnever break, is much more true of a righteous, praying Christian. He\nhath but one grand policy to secure him against all dangers, and that\nis, to run to God.--_Trapp._\n\nTo this tower the wicked are sometimes driven in distress, then\nseeking help here, when it is nowhere else to be found. But the\nrighteous in any distress runneth presently unto it. Thither their\neyes look, thither their hearts carry them. Yea, they are not only\ncarried _unto_ it but _into_ it, by placing their confidence in it,\nand making it their safety. They are well acquainted with the way,\nand therefore can make speed; they have cast off the clogs of worldly\nimpediments and so are fit for _running;_ they think it much longer\nuntil they come to God, than impatient hearts do until they come to\nhelp.--_Jermin._\n\nTo \"the righteous\" God is good, and he nestles and shelters himself\nin that; _\"runs into\"_ the nurture and shelter of God's love, and, in\nthe comfort of this _strong tower, \"is lifted high.\"_ But there is a\nprofounder sense. The very _\"name\"_ that is cavilled at by the lost\nis the foundation of the Christian's safety. \"What the law could not\ndo in that it was weak through the flesh,\" God did by His _\"name.\"_\nHe gave it to Christ's humanity. More specifically speaking, He used\nit in the _\"name\"_ of His own righteousness, to balance our guilt and\nto give weight and value to the price of His redemption. We are\nrepeatedly said to be saved by the _\"name\"_ of God (Psa. liv. 1; John\nxvii. 11, 12). And this is the meaning. The perfect holiness of God,\nwhich the lost man would upbraid, is what is vital in the cross of\nChrist. It is not only \"a strong tower,\" but our only defence. And\nthe act of faith is a renouncing of self and a snatching at \"the\nname,\" that is, the righteousness or substituted standing of our\nGreat Deliverer.--_Miller._\n\n_Take the sinner in his first awakening conviction._ He trembles at\nthe thought of eternal condemnation. He looks forward--all is terror;\nbackward--nothing but remorse; inward--all is darkness. Till now he\nhad no idea of his need of salvation. His enemy now suggests that it\nis beyond his reach; that he has sinned too long and too much,\nagainst too much light and knowledge; how can he be saved? But _the\nname of the Lord_ meets his eye. He spells out every letter, and\nputting it together, cries--\"Who is a God like unto thee?\" (Mic.\nvii. 18). He runs to _it, as to a strong tower._ His burden of\nconscience is relieved. His soul is set free, and he enjoys his\n_safety. Take--again--the child of God_--feeble, distressed,\nassaulted. \"What, if I should return to the world, look back, give up\nmy profession, yield to my own deceitful heart, and perish at last\nwith aggraved condemnation?\" You are walking outside the gates of\n_your tower;_ no wonder that your imprudence exposes you to \"the\nfiery darts of the wicked.\" Read again _the name of the Lord!_ Go\nback within the walls--See upon the _tower the name_--\"I am the Lord;\nI change not\" (Mal. iii. 6). Read the direction to trust in it--\"Who\nis there among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of\nhis servant: that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? _Let him\ntrust in the name of the Lord,_ and stay upon his God\" (Isa. l. 10).\nMark the warrant of experience in this trust--\"They that know _thy\nname_ shall put their trust in Thee; for thou, Lord, hast not\nforsaken them that seek Thee\" (Psalm ix. 10). Thus sense of danger,\nknowledge of the way, confidence in _the strength of the tower_--all\ngives a spring of life and earnestness to _run into it._ Here the\n_righteous_--the man justified by the grace, and sanctified by the\nSpirit of God--_runneth_ every day, every hour; realizing at once his\nfearful danger, and his perfect security.--_Bridges._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 12, see on chap. xi. 2 and xvi. 18.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nANSWERING BEFORE HEARING.\n\n+I. A man who gives judgement in a matter before he has heard all the\nfacts of the case wrongs himself.+ If he were to give his opinion\nupon a building as soon as the builders had dug out the foundation,\nor were to criticise a picture when the artist had only sketched its\noutline upon his canvas, he would be deemed a fool, and what he said\nwould have no weight whatever. Men would justly say that the house or\nthe picture had as yet no existence, and therefore could not be\njudged. And a man who has only heard a part of \"a matter\" is in no\nbetter position to judge in it, and commits as great a folly if he\nattempts to do so. He does violence to his very understanding--to\nthose mental faculties which enable him to place things side by side\nand to compare them, and to sift and weigh evidence before he arrives\nat a conclusion. Unless he does this, the opinion that he forms\nto-day will be altered to-morrow, and his mind will never be firmly\nmade up on any subject. As a necessary consequence, nobody will give\nmuch heed to his judgment--no thoughtful person will attach much\nweight to his words--and he will thus deprive himself of that\nconsideration and respect which he might otherwise have enjoyed.\n\n+II. Such a man often deeply wrongs others.+ A half-told story often\nmakes the state of matters appear so different from the truth that it\nis a gross injustice to condemn or justify any person when that is\nall that is known. A man who does it proclaims that he values very\nlightly the reputation of those concerned, and is often a robber of\nwhat is more to a man than his purse, viz. his good name.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSecularly, this is beyond a doubt; judicially, here is a great\noutrage; socially, a something very impolite; but religiously, a\nthing altogether a _\"shame.\"_ Men born yesterday might certainly\nafford to listen. Life is a wide thing; and might, at least, be acted\nthrough, before in the darker points we insist upon a judgment. . . .\n_Folly,_ and therefore, mischief; _shame,_ and therefore, ill desert.\nThese elements often appear together.--_Miller._\n\nAccording to Mr. Stuart Mill, it might be plausibly maintained that\nin almost every one of the leading controversies, past or present, in\nsocial philosophy, both sides were right in what they affirmed,\nthough wrong in what they denied; and that if either could have been\nmade to take the other's views in addition to his own, little more\nwould have been needed to make its doctrine correct. . . . Nicodemus\ndid well to start the seasonable query, \"Doth our law judge any man\nbefore it hear him, and know what he doth?\" Festus did well to\nprotest that it was not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man\nto die before that he which was accused had the accusers face to\nface, and had licence to answer for himself concerning the charge\nlaid against him. And in the same spirit and by the same rule,\notherwise applied, had Felix done well to defer hearing Paul's\ndefence until Paul's accusers were present. . . . Aristides, they\ntell us, would lend but one ear to anyone who accused an absent\n\"party,\" and used to hold his hand on the other, intimating that he\nreserved one ear for the absentee accused. . . . Cicero, \"the\ngreatest orator, save one, of antiquity,\" has left it on record, as\nwe are pertinently reminded on the _Essays on Liberty,_ that he\nalways studied his adversaries' case with as great intensity as his\nown, if not still greater. And what Cicero practised as the means of\nforensic success, requires, as the essayist urges, to be imitated by\nall who study any subject in order to arrive at the truth. For he who\nknows only his own side of the case is convicted of knowing little of\nthat; his reasons may be good and no one may have been able to refute\nthem, but if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the\nopposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, what\nrational ground has he for preferring either opinion?--_Jacox._\n\nWe ought to be the more cautious in forming and pronouncing opinions,\nbecause we are so little disposed to admit conviction if we fall into\nmistakes, or to retract them upon conviction. It is commonly supposed\nthat ministers cannot repent, although they do not claim, like the\nPope, the gift of infallibility; and there is too much reason for the\nsupposition, provided it be not restricted to that order of men: for\nthe same pride that makes one set of men stubborn in their wrong\nopinions is to be found in other men, although it is not perhaps so\nmuch strengthened by particular circumstances, nor so visible in\ntheir conduct, because they meet not with the same temptations to\ndiscover it. How many do we find who will not change their sentiments\nabout religion, or about persons and things, upon the clearest\nevidence, and give way to anger upon the least contradiction to their\nfavourite notions, as if their dearest interests were attacked!\nSaints themselves are not entirely delivered from this selfish\ndisposition, as we see in the behaviour of David to Mephibosheth,\nafter he had pronounced a rash sentence in his case.--_Lawson._\n\nThe sources of the evil are various. There is--1. Natural or acquired\n_eagerness of spirit,_ and _impatience of protracted inquiry._ Such\nminds cannot bear anything that requires close and long-sustained\nattention. They become uneasy, fretted, and fidgety; and are ever\nanxious to catch at any occasion for cutting the matter short and\nbeing done with it. 2. The _sympathy of passion with one or the other\nof the parties._ One of them happens to be their friend; and whether\nit be he or his adversary that makes the statement, partiality for\nhim stirs their resentment at the injury done to him; the blood\nwarms, and, passion thus striking in, they hastily interrupt the\nnarration--will hear no more of it--and at once proceed to load the\nenemy of their friend with abuse and imprecation. They know their\nfriend, and to them it is enough that he has been a sufferer; they\ntake it for granted that he must be in the right.\n3. _Indolence--indisposition to be troubled._ This is a temper the\nvery opposite of the first, but producing a similar effect. The\nformer jumped to a conclusion from over-eagerness; this comes soon to\na close from sheer sluggishness of mind. It is to a man of this\nstagnant and lazy temperament an exertion quite unbearable to keep\nhis mind so long on the stretch as to listen even to a statement, and\nstill more to an argument or pleading, that cannot be finished in a\nbreath and done with. His attention soon flags; he gets sick of it;\nhe seems as if he were listening when he is not, and with a yawn of\nexhaustion and misery he pronounces his verdict, and at times with\ngreat decision, for no other purpose than to get quit of the trouble.\nHe can stand it no longer. 4. _Self-conceit_--the _affectation of\nextraordinary acuteness._ This would be an amusing character, were it\nnot, at the same time, so provoking. The self-conceited man assumes a\nvery sagacious and penetrating look--sits down with apparent\ndetermination to hear out the cause on both sides, and to \"judge\nrighteous judgment.\" But it is hardly well begun, when the\nself-conceited man sees to the end of it. . . . It is surprising with\nwhat agility this spirit of self-conceit gets over difficulties. It\nsees none--no, never.\n\n \"Where others toil with philosophic force,\n Its nimble nonsense takes a shorter course;\n Flings at your head conviction in a lump,\n And gains remote conclusions at a jump.\"\n\n--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nSICKNESS OF BODY AND WOUNDS OF SOUL.\n\n+I. A man can rise above pain of body.+ Men who do not seek\nsupernatural help sometimes do it. They are endowed with a natural\ncourage which makes them scorn to be overcome by physical pain, or\nthey are naturally very hopeful, and are enabled in some measure to\nlook beyond the present suffering to a time of relief in the future.\nOr intense excitement of the mind renders them for a time at least\noblivious to bodily sensations. How many illustrations of this last\ncase we have in men who have been desperately wounded in battle, and\nyet have been so intensely absorbed in the terrible contest that they\nhave seemed scarcely aware of it, and have kept their position until\ntheir strength has utterly failed. But it is pre-eminently the godly\nman who can \"sustain\" infirmity of body. It is a fact of history that\ngodly men and women have been even joyful in spirit when suffering\ngreat bodily pain. Instances are common in which those who have been\nin agony of body from some terrible disease have been full of comfort\nin their spirits, and have borne witness that they were conscious of\na sustaining power outside themselves--of supernatural help from\nabove which enabled them to \"glory in tribulation.\" But this ability\nof human creatures to rise above bodily suffering has been most\nremarkably exemplified in those who have suffered because they were\nthe servants of God--who have been witnesses for the truth of the\nGospel of Christ. Even women have borne the most severe bodily\nsufferings not only with fortitude but with exultation--lifted above\ntheir bodily pain by a vivid realisation of unseen and spiritual\nrealities and an intense consciousness of the favour of God.\n\n+II. But a wounded spirit crushes the entire man.+ The spirit of the\nman is the man himself, his power to love, to hope, and to enjoy.\nWhen these have lost their energy, there is nothing to lift him up,\nand existence becomes an intolerable burden. The spirit can sustain\nthe body under its trials, but sensual gratification and physical\ncomforts can do nothing towards alleviating spiritual distress. But\nobserve:--1. _That all sorrow of heart does not crush a man._\nSanctified sorrow, although it wounds the spirit, yet it only wounds\nit to raise it to a higher level--to make it capable of a more\nrefined enjoyment. Bereavement, the faithlessness of friends,\ndisappointed hopes, often deeply wound the spirit, yet men bear these\nwounds and often are made better and stronger by them. A sense of the\nfavour of God and a peaceful conscience will prevent men from being\noverwhelmed by even very keen mental sorrow. 2. _An unbearable wound\nof spirit can be the portion of those only who have no sense of the\nfavour of God._ So long as a man has this no pain of body or sorrow\nof soul can cast him down entirely, but without it he has little\npower to bear manfully the burdens of life, and a sense of the\nabsence of it would be enough to crush him utterly although he had no\nother burdens to bear.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSpiritual sickness varies (as some diseases do in the body according\nto the constitution of the sick) thereafter as the soul is that hath\nit, whether regenerate or reprobate. The malignancy is great in both,\nbut with far less danger in the former. 1. In the elect, this\nspiritual sickness is an afflicted conscience, when God will suffer\nus to take a deep sense of our sins, and bring us to the life of\ngrace by the valley of death, as it were by hell gates unto heaven.\nThere is no anguish to that of the conscience: \"A wounded spirit who\ncan bear?\" They that have been valiant in bearing wrongs, in\nforbearing delights, have yet had womanish and coward spirits in\nsustaining the terrors of a tumultuous conscience. If our strength\nwere as an army, and our lands not limited save with east and west,\nif our meat mere manna, and our garments as the ephod of Aaron; yet\nthe afflicted conscience would refuse to be cheered with all these\ncomforts. When God shall raise up our sins, like dust and smoke in\nthe eyes of our souls . . . when He either hides His countenance from\nus, or beholds us with an angry look; lo, then, if any sickness be\nlike this sickness, any calamity like the fainting soul! Many\noffences touch the body which extend not to the soul; but if the soul\nbe grieved, the sympathising flesh suffers deeply with it. The blood\nis dried up, the marrow wasted, the flesh pined, as if the powers and\npores of the body opened themselves like so many windows to discover\nthe passions of the distressed prisoner within. It was not the sense\nof outward sufferings (for mere men have borne the agonies of death\nundaunted) but the wrestling of God's wrath with His spirit, that\ndrew from Christ that complaint, able to make heaven and earth stand\naghast: \"My soul is heavy unto death\" (Matt. xxvi. 38). . . . Neither\nis this sickness of conscience properly good in itself, nor any grace\nof God, but used by God as an instrument of good to His, as when by\nthe spirit of bondage He brings us to adoption. So the needle that\ndraws the thread through the cloth is some means to join it\ntogether. . . . 2. Spiritual sickness for sin befalling a reprobate\nsoul, is final and total desperation. This is that fearful consequent\nwhich treads upon the heels of presumption. Cain's fratricide,\nJudas's treachery, presumptuous, aspiring, heaven-daring sins, find\nthe final catastrophe, to despair of the mercy of God. . . . As if\nthe goodness of God, and the value of Christ's ransom, were below his\niniquity. As if the pardon of his sins would empty God's storehouse\nof compassion, and leave His stock of mercy poor. . . . This is that\nsin which not only offers injury and indignity to the Lord of heaven\nand earth, but even breaks that league of kindness which we owe to\nour own flesh. To commit sin is the killing of the soul; to refuse\nhope of mercy is to cast it down to hell. Therefore St. Jerome\naffirms that Judas sinned more in despairing of his Master's pardon\nthan in betraying Him; since nothing can be more derogatory to the\ngoodness of God, which He hath granted by promise and oath--two\nimmutable witnesses--to penitent sinners than to credit the father of\nlies before Him.--_T. Adams._\n\n\"The spirit of a man may control his sickness, but a spirit of\nupbraiding, who can carry that?\" To give all up, and simply lie back\nand murmur, is bad even for worldly disorders; but Solomon derives\nout of it a much more profound spiritual sense. The \"spirit of a\nman,\" at least among those to whom Solomon wrote, had truth enough to\nsave him if he would only _listen. Control._ The original is\n_contain,_ as in wine in a bottle, _sickness_--literally what is\nphysical; but in this same book employed for the spiritual malady. If\nthe soul, therefore, would lie quiet, and yield to its own light, it\nwould be joined by what is higher, and would contain, or control its\nown malady; God helping, as He would, would check, and get the better\nof it; but \"a spirit of upbraiding\"--and by this is meant precisely\nthe _quarrel_ (chap. xvii. 19) with God which has been so long\ndiscussed--is what ruins all. It is upon them that are _contentious,_\nand will not obey the truth, (Rom. ii. 8)--that truth being in all of\nthem through \"the invisible things\" which are seen \"by the things\nthat are made\" (Rom. i. 20)--that the apostle denounces \"tribulation\nand wrath, indignation and anguish.\" Not that men can save\nthemselves, but that they would save themselves under God's\ninfluences if they did not contend with Him; that it is _\"rebellion\"_\nthat turns the scale (Psa. lxvii. 6); that there is light enough in\nevery man to draw him to saving light if he would only follow it; and\nthat on this very account it is the great sorrow of the sinner that\nhe has this \"spirit of upbraiding,\" which, in the spiritual world, no\nmoral malady \"can carry.\"--_Miller._\n\nSt. Gregory saith by patience we possess our souls, because, while we\nlearn to bear rule over ourselves, we begin to possess that which we\nare. And surely, if thou be courageously patient, whatsoever thou\nmayest lose yet thou enjoyest that which thou hast; or, if thou hast\nnothing, yet thou shalt enjoy thyself, thou shalt enjoy the comfort\nof thy own spirit. Whereas impatiency for anything that is lost\ntaketh away the comfort of all that remaineth, yea, the comfort of\nthine own self.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nPRUDENCE AND KNOWLEDGE.\n\nWe have before given a definition of prudence as wisdom applied to\npractice; a prudent man is likewise defined as one \"cautious to avoid\nharm.\" Taking in both definitions, the text suggests--\n\n+I. That ignorance exposes men to danger.+ This is true in relation\nto any and every kind of evil to which men are exposed. A man who is\nin the general sense of the term an ignorant man--who does not\npossess even the rudimentary knowledge of an ordinary schoolboy--is\nliable to be imposed upon and deceived by those who know more.\nIgnorance of physical and scientific truth often leads men to expose\nthemselves to bodily danger without being aware of it, and ignorance\nof spiritual truth often causes men to become victims of great moral\nevil without realising their danger. If a man, therefore, desires to\navoid harm to body, mind, and soul, he must set himself to acquire\nknowledge both in relation to things material and spiritual.\n\n+II. Prudence, i.e., wisdom applied to practice, is an indispensable\nqualification for obtaining knowledge.+ If a man possesses an estate\nbeneath whose surface he knows there lies buried much precious\nmineral treasure, he must bring much wisdom and skill into play\nbefore he has the treasure in his hand. Wisdom must be reduced to\npractice in sinking the shaft and in working the mine before the\nhidden wealth is brought to light to enrich its owner. He must work,\nhe must work in harmony with certain fixed laws if he is to become\npossessor of the treasure. So with obtaining knowledge. A man must\nexert himself--he must seek--and his exertions must be wisely\ndirected if he is to possess the knowledge which is better than any\nmaterial treasure because it enriches the better part of a man. It is\nnot enough to be active, but he must see that his actions are wisely\ndirected, that the means are adapted to the end in view. If there is\neffort without wisdom to guide it there may be _seeking_ without\n_getting._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA heart made discerning gains in knowledge, etc. This is a beautiful\nfact. Snow gathers snow as we roll it on the ground. A wood gathers\nwood, like all vegetable or vital growths. A sinner stands dead like\na blasted oak, but a saint not only lives by growing, but grows by\nliving.--_Miller._\n\n\"The _heart_\" is here, as in many other instances, apparently used\nfor _the mind_ in general, including both the intellect and the\naffections. There is in \"the wise\" a love of knowledge, and an\napplication of the mental powers for its attainment. And as _\"the\near\"_ is one of the great inlets to instruction, it may here, with\npropriety, be considered as comprehending all the ways in which\nknowledge may be acquired.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe common course is that _seeking_ goes before _getting,_ but here\ngetting is first, and seeking follows after. For surely they are the\nbest seekers of knowledge, and are most earnest after it, who have\nalready gotten it. They who have not gotten it do not know the worth\nof it, and so have no mind to look after it, or if they have the\nmind, they have no knowledge how to seek it. But they who have\nalready found it are so affected with the worth of it, so directed by\nthe light of it, as that they still seek more, still get\nmore.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nTHE INFLUENCE OF TALENT.\n\nUnderstanding the gift here spoken of as a special mental endowment\n(see Hitzig), we remark--\n\n+I. That great abilities are gifts from God.+ There are certain\nmental capabilities which are the common inheritance of men in\ngeneral, but it cannot be denied that there are men who, apart for\nall the differences made by circumstances and education, have\ncapacities and abilities which far exceed those of ordinary men. The\ngift of one talent is more common than the gift of ten, yet both the\nten and the one are gifts from the same hand. Although the Divine\nCreator gives to all men _liberally,_ He does not give to all\n_equally,_ but seeing that man is not responsible for this\ninequality, those who are most richly endowed should find in the fact\nof their superiority matter for gratitude and not for\nself-glorification.\n\n+II. Such a gift tends to the exaltation of the man who possesses\nit.+ It \"maketh room for him\" in the world--it opens up to him many\nopportunities of social advancement, and it \"bringeth him before\ngreat men,\"--men who are either great in wealth and position or\nintellectually and morally great, or are great in both senses of the\nword. As surely as water will find its level, so a truly gifted man\nwill find some outlet for his talents--some sphere large enough to\nuse what has been bestowed upon him for the very purpose of being\nused. Even Daniel, although a captive in Babylon, found that the\nGod-given powers within him made room for him at a heathen court and\nbrought him before more than one mighty monarch.\n\n+III. Such a gift to a man is a gift for men.+ Although it tends to\nhis own personal exaltation and benefit, it is not bestowed for that\npurpose only or chiefly. When God bestows upon one man capabilities\nand endowments far above the common order, He does not intend to\nbless that man alone by the gift, but he holds him responsible for\nthe use of the power put into his hand--He expects him so to enjoy\nhis talents that his fellow-men also may be blessed by the gift. Thus\nthe administrative ability which was bestowed upon Joseph was not\ngiven for him simply or chiefly to bring him before Pharaoh for his\nown advancement, but to bring blessing to the Egyptian nation, and to\nfurther God's purposes concerning his own family. When the Lord\nreckons with His servants, He will account that talent mis-used which\nis used for self-aggrandisement alone.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nCROSS-EXAMINATION.\n\n+I. The evidence of one person alone must not be too much depended\non.+ This is but another way of putting the old proverb that \"One\ntale is good till another is told.\" And this does not necessarily\nimply that the first teller of the tale is an untruthful person, but\nwe are so apt to apprehend facts through the medium of our own\nprejudices--to see things in the light in which we wish to see\nthem--that even two truthful men may sometimes vary much in their\nversion of the same occurrence. This will be more certainly the case\nif it is a man's \"own cause\" that is under discussion, self-interest\nis then very likely to lead him to give a one-sided statement. He may\nunintentionally leave out facts which in the eyes of another person\nmay be very important, or he may being others into a prominence to\nwhich an impartial judge may not consider them entitled. Hence--\n\n+II. The need of cross-examination+--of another to \"come and search\nhim.\" Questioning may not convict the first person of any\nmis-statement, but it may elicit other facts which give quite a\ndifferent colouring to the whole. The wife of Potiphar seemed _\"just\nin her cause\"_ when she declared that Joseph left his garment in her\nhand and fled. This was not an untruth, and appearances were\ncertainly very much against her innocent victim, but if Joseph had\nbeen allowed to tell his story too, the truth might have come to\nlight. Therefore we learn that we must not give a verdict for or\nagainst an accused person until both he and his accuser have been\nheard.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe first clause reads thus in the Hebrew, _\"A righteous one, the\nfirst in his quarrel,\"_ and has a brevity which is practically too\ngreat. The _righteous_ is not a _righteous_ man _pro vero,_ but only\n_righteous,_ he having the first chance to speak. How true this is,\nmen for the first time in a court can easily imagine. Each last\nstrong speech comes out victorious. Now the lost has done all the\nstrong speaking as yet. Wait till God speaks, and the case will look\nvery differently.--_Miller._\n\nIn every case, the first information, if it have dwelt for a little\nin the judge's mind, takes deep root, and colours and takes\npossession of it, insomuch that it will hardly be washed out unless\neither some clear falsehood be detected or some deceit in the\nstatement thereof.--_Bacon._\n\nSaul made himself appear _just in his own cause._ The necessity of\nthe case seemed to warrant the deviation from the command. But Samuel\n_searched him,_ and laid open his rebellion (1 Sam. xv. 17-23).\nZiba's cause _seemed_ just in David's eyes, until Mephibosheth's\nexplanation _searched him_ to his confusion. Job's incautious\nself-defence was laid open by Elihu's probing application (Job\nxxxiii. 8-12).--_Bridges._\n\nIn religious disputes it is a great injustice to depend for the\ncharacter of a sect, or an impartial representation of their\ndoctrines, upon one whom partially has blinded and rendered unfit,\nhowever honest he may be, to do them justice. Party spirit has as\nmuch influence as gifts to blind the eyes of the wise, and to pervert\nthe words of the righteous.--_Lawson._\n\nThis word, falling from heaven on the busy life of man, is echoed\nback from every quarter in a universal acknowledgement of its\njustness. . . . This scripture reveals a crook in the creature that\nGod made upright. There is a bias in the heart, the fountain of\nimpulse, and the resulting life-course turns deceitfully aside.\nSelf-love is the twist in the heart within, and self-interest is the\nside to which the variation from righteousness steadily tends. . . .\nThe heart makes the lie, deceiving first the man himself, and\nthereafter his neighbours. The bent is in the mould where the thought\nis first cast in embryo, and everything that comes forth is crooked.\nIn my early childhood a fact regarding the relations of matter came\nunder my observation which I now see has its analogue in the moral\nlaws. An industrious old man, by trade a mason, was engaged to build\na certain piece of wall at so much per yard. He came at the appointed\ntime, laid the foundations according to the specifications, and\nproceeded with his building, course upon course, according to the\napproved methods of his craft. When the work had advanced several\nfeet above the ground, a younger man, with a steadier hand and a\nbrighter eye, came to assist the elder operator. Casting his eye\nalong the work, as he laid down his tools and adjusted his apron, he\ndetected a defect, and instantly called out to his senior partner\nthat the wall was not plumb. \"It must be plumb,\" enjoined the\nbuilder, somewhat piqued, \"for I have laid every stone by the\nplumb-line.\" Suiting the action to the word he grasped the rule, laid\nit along his work, and triumphantly pointed to the lead vibrating and\nsettling down precisely on the cut that marks the middle. Sure enough\nthe wall was according to rule, and yet the wall was not plumb. The\nrule was examined, and the discovery was made that the old man, with\nhis defective eyesight, had drawn the cord through the wrong slit at\nthe top of the instrument, and then from some cause which I cannot\nexplain, using only one side of it, had never detected the\nmistake. . . . It is on some such principle that people err in\npreparing a representation of their own case. They suspend their\nplumb, not from the middle, but from one edge of the rule, and that\nthe edge which lies next their own interests.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nTHE USE OF THE LOT.\n\nWe have before had the lot as a symbol of human freedom and Divine\npre-ordination (chap. xvi. 33, page 499). In this verse the thought\nis the advantage of its use as putting an end to contention. That it\nis thus a means to a most desirable end appears when we consider--\n\n+I. That it prevents waste of time.+ Time is to human creatures a\nvery precious commodity, because the longest life lived in this world\nis comparatively short. If a man has a very small inheritance he\ncannot afford to have one and another of his neighbours encroaching\nupon his land and taking a portion here and there, or others putting\ntheir hands into his pockets and helping themselves to what is only\nsufficient for his own needs. If a young artist has a sketch given to\nhim by his master which he is to fill up in a given time, he cannot\nafford to spend the moments disputing with the fellow-pupils about\ntheir respective rights to certain brushes and colours; while he is\ncontending the hours are going, and when the master calls for the\npicture he will have none to show. A man's life is a limited\ninheritance, given to him by God, to use first of all for his own\nspiritual good, and he cannot afford to be robbed of any part of it.\nIt is an outline which God has given to him to be filled up in a\ncertain time--spiritual and mental capacities and abilities are\nbestowed upon him which he is expected so to use as to form a godly\nnoble character, and he cannot afford to waste any of the life given\nhim for this purpose in contention with his brother man, thereby\narousing the devil within himself and in him with whom he disputes.\nThe use of the lot is therefore desirable under certain conditions\nand restrictions, because in ending contention it saves time. When\nthe eleven Apostles were awaiting the seal of their commission, they\nfelt that they had no time to waste in contending who should fill up\nthe empty place in their band--they knew that, although they were\nbrethren in Christ, they might differ in their opinions in the\nmatter--and they therefore wisely determined to decide it by\nreferring to the lot. There have been, since, Christian men and women\nwho resort to the same method of avoiding contention; and with the\nexample of the Apostles before us, we can have no doubt that they are\njustified in so doing. But--\n\n+II. It prevents waste of material wealth.+ If the kings and great\nmen of the earth had resorted to this method if \"causing contentions\nto cease and parting between the mighty,\" how many homes and cities\nwould have escaped overthrow, how many a fruitful and prosperous\ncountry would have been preserved from desolation, and how many a\nprincely fortune would have remained in the hands of its rightful\nowners. God divided the land of Israel by lot, and if men had\ngenerally been content to permit Him to divide the earth among them\nin a similar manner, how much more rich and prosperous would they\nhave been.\n\n+III. It prevents waste of human life.+ It would be indeed a blessing\nif property was the most precious thing wasted in the contentions of\nmen. But, alas, disputes often lead to far more serious consequences,\nand that life of man, which is at the best so limited, has been made\nmuch shorter by the sword of his fellow-man. Sometimes family feuds\nhave led men to resort to this terrible method of settling disputes,\nand men of the same parentage have fought till one shed the other's\nblood. And sometimes it has been a nation that has contended with\nanother, and then not one has fallen a victim, but hundreds on both\nsides. And when we think not only of the wounds thus inflicted, and\nthe lives thus cut off, but of the wounded hearts and darkened lives\nof those who mourn them, we must allow that any means of ending\ncontention is better than permitting it to work its deadly work. And\nthe fact that the lot was used by Israel at the command of God, and\nsanctioned by Him in the early history of the Christian Church, makes\nit certain that if used in a right spirit it might still be employed\nso as to be acceptable to Him.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAs the lot was had recourse to when causes were such as admitted not\nof determination otherwise, there seems to be a natural enough\nrelation of suggestion between this verse and the preceding. In cases\nwhere representations differed, and the evidence between them was\nsuch as to leave it impossible to say certainly on which side was the\npreponderance, or when the parties would not submit to arbitration,\nor when they were too powerful to be safely meddled with, then \"the\nlot caused contentions to cease, and parted between the\nmighty.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nThere seems no Scriptural prohibition to the use of this ordinance,\nprovided it be exercised in a reverential dependence upon God, and\nnot profaned for common purposes or worldly ends. At the same time\nthe Word of God appears to be more fully recognised as the arbiter of\nthe Divine will. . . . Perhaps it is more easy to abide by the\ndecision of the lot than of the Word. The last requires more\nself-denial, humility, and patience, and therefore is more\npractically useful.--_Bridges._\n\nHe that hath commanded to cease from labour, hath much more commanded\nto cease from strife. He that was pleased to make the Sabbath of\nrest, is also pleased with those who make a Sabbath of peace. This is\na Sabbath altogether moral, never to be abrogated. Wherefore let\nreason and indifferency hear the differences that are between any,\nand if it can be done let them be reconciled. But if otherwise it\ncannot be ordered then let a _lot_ be the compromiser of them. In\nthat there can be no partiality, and though itself cannot judge of\nright, yet He that guides it is the most righteous Judge of the\nworld. If a lot have erred, it is when men's understanding should\nhave put things right, for God, having given power to men, He looks\nthat man should use it. But God so loveth peace, that, where men\ncannot, He will do right, if that the lot refer unto His arbitrament.\nWherefore, when the mighty strive, and might of reason standeth on\nboth sides equally, being too strong for man to decide, let the\nAlmighty by His lot decide it.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 19.\n\nCASTLE BARS.\n\nThe state of things treated in this verse reveals most conclusively\nthat man has fallen. Contention between any men is a plain proof that\nthere is some flaw in human nature, that the relations of human\ncreatures are not what they ought to be. If the disputants are men of\nthe same nation, their contention seems more unnatural than if they\nbelonged to different races, but when some of the same father--men\nbrought up at the knees of the same mother, are found in a state of\nenmity, we have a very strong proof that the race is not what its\nhead was when he came fresh from the hand of his Creator. Such enmity\nSolomon compares to the bars of a castle--\n\n+I. Because it is hard to break through.+ The bars that guard the\noutlet of a fortress are strong, and when the iron crowbar is applied\nto them with a view of making an entrance, the weapon finds itself\nresisted by a substance as unyielding as its own. The bars strike\nagainst each other, but neither being more brittle than its\nantagonist, no progress is made. It is no ordinary difference that\nmakes a ground of quarrel between brothers; there are so many ties to\nbe broken and so many motives of self-interest to bind them, that the\nenmity must be deep to separate them at first, and being deep and\nstrong, it is not easily broken down.\n\n+II. Because it is the only thing that separates them.+ Friends who\ndeeply love each other and are one in spirit sometimes find nothing\nbetween them but a few bars--the iron grating of a dungeon may be all\nthat keeps them apart. But although it is only that, it is a very\nreal and terrible barrier. And a dispute between brethren is like\niron bars, dividing those who ought to be one more truly and sadly\nthan any prison door could separate them. They may be dwelling under\nthe same roof, and so have every opportunity of enjoying each other's\nsociety and gladdening each other's life. But contention builds\naround each one a more impregnable barrier than the highest walls of\nthe strongest fortress.\n\n+III. That to subdue such enmity requires more wisdom and skill than\nto take a city.+ There are several methods by which a city may be\nwon. It may be taken by superior physical force, it may be surprised\nand captured, or its inhabitants may be starved into a surrender. But\nit is not so easy to capture a human heart--an angry brother must be\nsubdued by different means, and by weapons which require more skilful\nhandling. No physical force can break down enmity of heart--even God\ncannot reconcile men unto Himself by His physical omnipotence, but\nwins them by love. And this is the only power which can win \"a\nbrother offended.\" If he has been in the wrong we must approach him\nwith a free forgiveness, and if the wrong has been on our side we\nmust approach with submission and acknowledgement of our fault.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"When a brother is revolted away, it is from a city of strength; and\ncontentions are like the bars of a citadel.\" The whole meaning is,\nthat one _\"brother,\" \"revolted_ away\" from another, is _\"revolted\nfrom a city of strength,\"_ that being what one is to all the rest. In\nother words, brothers are a shelter to brothers, and quarrels lock up\nthat resort. . . . Notice, that a brother is not only a commoner\ndefence, but a \"citadel;\" and a \"bar\" to that keep shuts a man out of\nhis best earthly dependence. It is a fine adage, even for this\nworld . . . but when applied to our Great Brother, and to our God and\nKing, it is one of the noblest of inspired texts. He who offends our\nBrother Prince shuts a high tower (Psa. xviii. 2). He who quarrels\nwith our Surety snaps to the lock of a citadel; and then, alas, it\nshall be, just as the wild rush of embittered enemies should have\nroused him to enter in.--_Miller._\n\nThe sweeter the wine the sharper the vinegar; accordingly, the\ngreater the love implanted by nature, the more bitter the hate when\nthis love is violated.--_Zeltner._\n\nThe _matter of fact_ is here stated--and there are natural enough\nreasons to account for it. More is justly expected from a brother\nthan from a stranger--more of affection, gratitude, kindly treatment,\nfidelity, and trustworthiness. When such expectations are\ndisappointed, the wound in the spirit is proportionately deeper, and\nmore difficult of healing--the breach wider, and harder of being made\nup. Besides, the slower a person is to take offence--the longer he\nforbears--the more he forgives--the more difficult it is fairly to\novercome the yearnings of affection, and break the bonds of\nbrotherhood--the more inveterate may the spirit of resentment be; the\nmore sullen and distant the alienation, when it is actually\nproduced.--_Warren._\n\nWhether it be a brother by race, place, or grace; those oft that\nloved most dearly, if once the devil cast his club between them, hate\nmost deadly. . . . As for brethren by profession, and that of the\ntrue religion too, among Protestants, you shall meet with many\ndivisions, and those prosecuted with a great deal of bitterness. No\nwar breaks out sooner, or lasts longer, than that among divines, or\nthat about a sacrament; a sacrament of love, a communion, and yet the\noccasion, by accident, of much dissension.--_Trapp._\n\nThe original word here used is a brother revolting or departing by\ndisloyalty; or else a brother offended by disloyal departing. For\nsuch ought to be the command of love between brethren, that he that\nbreaks it is a disloyal rebel unto it. And surely they that need to\nbe firmly tied, because, being divided, they are so hardly joined.\nFor as that which being whole is most strongly united, being broken\nis farthest from being made whole; and as a stick of hard wax, being\nbroken, may more easily be conjoined than a stick of hard wood, so\nare the divisions of brethren more hardly composed than the\ncontentions of others.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 20 _and_ 21.\n\nTHE POWER OF THE LITTLE MEMBER.\n\nSolomon again and again reverts to the mighty influences for good and\nevil which flow from the use of the tongue--that \"little member\" upon\nwhich such great issues often depend. He here notices--\n\n+I. The power of words over the man who utters them.+ He declares\nthat the state of the inward man--its rest or unrest, its gladness or\nits gloom--depends very much upon the use that is made of the tongue.\nA little thought and observation will convince us that this is true.\nBeginning with the familiar intercourse of every-day life, how true\nit is that the utterance of kindly words of sympathy, and advice and\nwarning, have a tendency to make sunshine in the heart of him who\nutters them, while censorious, hasty, harsh words embitter and darken\nthe spirit of their author. Going beyond these to utterances which\nhave a wider influence, the proverb is no less true. The painter that\nhas conceived a picture in his mind, and then, seeing it upon canvas,\nthinks of the many eyes who will gaze upon it with interest, and of\nthose who perchance will be elevated and instructed by it, feels a\nsatisfaction in the thought that it owes its existence to him--that\nwithout the working of his brain and hand it would not have been. \"He\nis filled with the increase\" of his skilful hand. So the man whose\nwords are listened to and waited for by other men--whether he be the\nskilful barrister, or the powerful statesman, or the preacher of the\nGospel, has a satisfaction in being able to put forth his conceptions\nas to give to his fellow-men new ideas--to show them things in a\nlight in which they might never have seen them but for this power\nwhich he possesses. He has joy in being the originator of fresh and\nliving thoughts, and in being able by clothing them in words to\nimpart them to others. But upon the moral quality of the \"fruit of\nhis mouth\" will depend the length and depth of his satisfaction. The\nsingle power to influence men by speech will gratify for the\nmoment--but if the increase of the lips is to be an abiding source of\ncontentment there must be a consciousness that the power has been\nused to benefit mankind in some way or other--that the skilful\npleading has been on the side of right, that the powerful logic has\nbeen used to expose the false and to defend the true, or the\nbrilliant oratory has had for its aim the moral enlightenment and\nstrengthening of the listeners. If it be not so, the fruit of man's\nmouth will be like the roll given to the apocalyptic seer, \"in the\nmouth as sweet as honey,\" but afterwards \"bitter\" (Rev. x. 10). How\nsad must be the reflections of those who have possessed this\nGod-given power for good or ill when they have had to look back upon\nits misuse.\n\n+II. The power of words over those who hear them.+ The tongue in its\nmighty influence is a king having the power of life and death. No\nother member of the human body can lay claim to such wide-spread and\nregal authority. The eye can influence men, but not so powerfully as\nthe tongue, nor can its influence reach so many at once. The hand can\nstrike down the body of a single foe, or two or three at once. But\nthe tongue can reach a thousand hearts at one time, and make men its\nslaves, not in twos and threes but in masses. As it sways the\naffections and takes a man's will captive, it wields the power of\nlife and death not over the body of the man but over the man himself.\nThe tongue of the tempter can drag its victims down, body and soul,\nto hell, while the tongue which is touched with a living coal from\noff the altar of God can be the means of persuading men to be\nreconciled to their Heavenly Father, and so of making them partakers\nof eternal life. Seeing, then, what issues of life and death are\ndependent upon this king, it is manifest that men should keep him in\nabsolute control; if so much depends upon his action he ought to be\nunder the strictest supervision. If one member of the body politic,\nby the position which he holds and the ability which he possesses, is\nable to exercise a very powerful influence in the kingdom for weal or\nfor woe, men watch him narrowly and jealously to see how he uses his\npower, and if they are anxious for the well-being of the State they\nendeavour to restrain him when he is going wrong and stimulate him\nwhen he is using his influence for the right. So ought every man to\nwatch and guard his own tongue; seeing that life, and death are in\nits power, he ought to bring all his words to the bar of conscience\nand try them there, severely condemning them if they have not been\nsuch as would minister life to the hearers, and remembering that his\nMaster has said, _\"By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy\nwords thou shalt be condemned\"_ (Matt. xii. 37).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIf a man were possessed of a field exceedingly productive, either of\ngood fruits or of noisome and poisonous herbs, according to the\ncultivation bestowed on it, what pains would he use to clear it of\nevery weed, and to have it sown with good grain! and yet, when the\nharvest is come, he may take his choice whether he will eat of the\nproduct or not. Such a field is the tongue of man, with this\ndifference, that a man is obliged to eat the fruit of it, although it\nshould be worse than hemlock. What care, then, should we use to pluck\nfrom our hearts every root of bitterness, and to have them furnished\nwith knowledge and prudence, that our discourse may be good, to the\nuse of edifying!--_Lawson._\n\nThere is a sense in which we may understand the language, even taking\nthe former clause of the twentieth verse _literally_--\"A man's\n_belly_ shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth.\" You may\nsmile and say, A man cannot live upon words! Very true. But the way\nin which a man uses his lips and his tongue, as the organs of speech,\nmay contribute not a little to his getting, or his failing to get,\n\"the meat that perisheth.\" I mean not that any of you should, in the\nslightest degree, try to work your way in life by words of flattery;\nbut when a man's general conversation is such as to procure for him a\ncharacter of discretion, courtesy, gratitude, straightforward\nintegrity, and trustworthiness, this may surely contribute, eminently\nand directly, to the temporal sustenance and comfort of the man\nhimself and his family: while an opposite style of intercourse may\ntend to penury and starvation. A man may, in various ways, make his\n\"lips\" the instrument of either want on the one hand, or plenty on\nthe other.--_Wardlaw._\n\nOur understanding of verse 20 is, that as the outward wants of a man\nare satisfied by his daily acts, so he himself is, and that simply\n_as_ his acts, or because of the intimate sympathy between the man\nand what he does. This thought is still clearer in the verse that\nfollows:--\"Death and life are in the power (literally the _hand_) of\nthe tongue.\" There can be no doubt that men's conduct (for tongue is\nbut the leading instrument of it) determines _death_ or _life,_ yet,\nin spite of the adventurous hazard, their _love_ to it (or literally,\n_just as they love this or that sort of tongue_), they shall eat its\nfruit, and incur, of course, fearful responsibilities.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nA TWOFOLD GOOD.\n\n+I. Polygamy cannot be recommended by those who have practised it.+ A\nthousand counterfeit coins, even if they pass as genuine for a time,\nare nothing worth in comparison with one real golden sovereign. Both\nmay bear the image and superscription of the king, but the one is an\ninsult to the name it bears while the other has a right to be\nimprinted with the royal name. The author of this proverb was a\npolygamist--his great experience qualified him to give an opinion\nupon the subject--but we do not here find him dwelling upon the\nsatisfaction of the harem, but upon the blessedness of a _wife._ He\nwas fully conscious of the fact that a real partner of his life--one\nwoman to be a help-meet for him according to the Divine\nintention--would have added much more to his real welfare than the\nthousand counterfeits to whom it was an insult to God to give the\nname of wives. More than once he bears testimony to the blessedness\nof marriage in the true sense of the word, but we never find him\npraising the practice which was so great a curse to his own life. In\nthis proverb he indirectly condemns himself and warns others by his\nown example. A vessel that has gone to pieces upon the rocks may\nstill be used to prevent others from sharing her fate. The broken\ntimbers may serve to light a beacon fire which may warn other vessels\nto take another course. Polygamy was the rock upon which Solomon\nshipwrecked his social happiness and much more (1 Kings xi. 3), and\nhe seems here and elsewhere to warn his descendants not to follow in\nhis footsteps in this respect and conform to the custom of the\nheathen monarchs by whom they were surrounded.\n\n+II. Monogamy brings a double portion--a good thing and the Divine\nfavour.+ The favour of a good parent is a thing prized highly by a\ndutiful child, and enhances the value of every other blessing. The\nfavour of a good king is in itself a fortune which few men would\ndespise. The favour of God is a fortune for a period which extends\nbeyond that named in the marriage vow, it is a fortune which no\ncreature can afford to despise, and a blessing which those who know\nHim prize before all things in earth or heaven. When a man enters\ninto the marriage relation according to the Divine intention--making\na woman his wife in the true sense of the word--he not only adds to\nhis own comfort and consults his own interest, but he does that which\nis pleasing to God--he takes a step upon which he can fearlessly ask\nfor the Divine blessing.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"Findeth\" implies the _rarity_ of the thing obtained (Eccles.\nvii. 27, 28), and the need of circumspection in the search. Blind\npassion is not to make the selection at random.--_Fausset._\n\nThe married who is truly Christian knows that, even though sometimes\nthings are badly matched, still his marriage relation is well\npleasing to God as His creation and ordinance, and what he therein\ndoes or endures, passes as done or suffered for God.--_Luther._\n\nThere is a secular and a spiritual in every proverb. These two are\nnot apart, but flow easily into each other. Secularly, a wife is the\nhighest treasure. It is a vapid distinction to say a good wife, and\nthe Bible many a time hurries on without any such distinction (comp.\nch. iv. 3). A bad \"wife\" is no _\"wife\"_ at all. A wife is the holiest\nof all relations; in the world the most powerful for good. . . . A\ngood marriage is a means of grace, . . . of course any relation that\nis near and potent is covered by the passage.--_Miller._\n\nI shall always endeavour to make choice of such a woman for my spouse\nwho hath first made choice of Christ as a spouse for herself; that\nnone may be made one flesh with me who is not made one spirit with\nChrist my Saviour. For I look upon the image of Christ as the best\nmark of beauty I can behold in her, and the grace of God as the best\nportion I can receive with her.--_Bp. Reynolds._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nTHE RICH AND POOR.\n\nThis proverb treats of a twofold aspect of human life which furnishes\na strong proof of the fallen condition of human nature. There is,\nprobably, no part of this earth--teeming although it is with riches\nenough to satisfy the needs of every living thing--in which those are\nnot to be found who have to struggle hard for their daily bread, and\nwho even then come off with but a scanty share. Poverty seems as\nuniversal as disease and death, and must be referred to the same\nsource. For those who know anything of the character of God, know\nthat it was not a part of his original intention that men should be\nplaced in such circumstances; and when they look abroad upon their\nfellow-creatures, they see that all the poverty of the poor can be\ntraced to wrong-doing on the part of men--to the selfishness of some,\nand to the indolence and vice of others. It is quite certain that,\nwhen God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, the miserable\npoverty which now surrounds us on every side will cease to exist.\nSolomon here sets forth--\n\n+I. One of the many evils of poverty.+ He has before mentioned some\nof its advantages (see chap. xiii. 8, page 300), but the evil of the\ntext is a very real and common one. A poor man has not only a very\nsmall share of the material comforts of life, but even for these he\nis often compelled to sue as for a favour. Even if he is an honest\nand able man, he may be so dependent upon the caprices of the wealthy\nas to have to entreat their help and patronage before he can use his\npowers to his own advantage. Such a state of things is often felt to\nbe hard and is undoubtedly so, and unless a poor man is noble and\nself-respecting, it has a tendency to make him cringing and\nservile--to dispose him to barter his conscience and his rights in\norder to satisfy his bodily needs. We know there have been many noble\nexceptions to this rule--that there have been hundreds of poor men\nwho have preferred starvation to a forfeiture of any part of their\nGod-given inheritance--but the temptation of the poor man in this\ndirection is often very strong by reason of his great necessity.\n\n+II. One of the many temptations of wealth.+ It would be a difficult\nmatter, and perhaps an impossible one, to enumerate all the\nrespective moral advantages of poverty and riches, and strike the\ntrue balance between them. There can be no doubt that each has its\npeculiar temptations (see chap. xxx. 7-9), and that one of the sins\nto which the rich man is most liable is that of inconsiderateness of\nthe claims of his poor brother, and even of insolence towards him. It\nis a universal tendency of fallen humanity to look exclusively on his\nown things and not on the things of others, and the wealth of the\nrich man enables him to indulge this tendency to its utmost. And men\nare prone to go even beyond this--the children of the same common\nFather often take delight in making their poor brethren feel their\ndependence on them, and instead of giving sympathy and help freely\nand after a brotherly fashion, they withhold the first entirely, and\nif they give the latter they do it coldly and even contemptuously.\nThat this is by no means the rule we have many proofs, but that the\ntendency is strong we know not only from observation but from the\nfrequent warnings against it in the Word of God. The Apostle James\ncharges even the professed followers of Christ with having \"despised\nthe poor\" (Jas. ii. 6).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe angels smile at the way the sinner cavils. He reverses what the\nproverb pronounces natural. For He who is supremely _rich_ is meek\nand tender, and he who is profoundly poor is loud in his\nreproach!--_Miller._\n\nThe languages of several countries are not so different as of the\npoor and rich man in one and the same country, and a stranger of\nanother land is not such a foreigner as in the same land a poor man\nstanding at the door of the rich. The one when he speaketh is not\nunderstood by the ear, the other when he speaketh is not understood\nby the heart: the words of the one are not apprehended, the wants of\nthe other are not apprehended; the one is heard, but not conceived;\nthe other is conceived, but not heard. When two talk in diverse\nlanguages they are known to be men of diverse countries; but when the\npoor and rich talk together, so different is their speech that one\nwould hardly think them to be both men, and of the same nature. The\none speaks as if he had hardly breath to bring forth his words, the\nother speaketh with such a strong breath that the harshness of it\ngiveth an ill scent a great way off.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nTHE OBLIGATIONS OF FRIENDSHIP.\n\nIt will be seen from the Critical Notes that most modern critics\ntranslate the first clause of this verse very differently from the\nrendering in our Bibles. Some expositors, however, adhere to the old\ntranslation, and we therefore look at it--\n\n+I. As expressing a need of human nature.+ It matters not in which\ncondition man is found, whether in riches or in poverty, whether\nignorant and rude or highly civilized and educated, he needs the\nfriendship of one or more of his fellow creatures. The special\ngood-will of some who can feel with him and for him in all the\nvicissitudes of life is indispensable to his happiness. Among all the\ngifts which an Almighty Father has given to His children, there is\nperhaps none, after His Own gracious favour, which is so necessary\nto their welfare or is so productive of joy as this gift of\nfriendship. Men cannot live a life of isolation and know anything of\nthe enjoyment of life. We cannot conceive of even perfect creatures\nliving such a life--we know the angels and redeemed saints derive\nmuch of their bliss from the friendship of each other, and how much\nmore does man in his present imperfect state need it. And the need\ncan be supplied even in this selfish world. Men have been, and still\nare, able to find among their fellows those who are worthy of the\nname of friend. True it is that there is much that is called\nfriendship that is unworthy of the name, but as we do not reject the\nreal coin because there are base imitations of it, so we must not\npermit the counterfeit of friendship to shake our confidence in the\nreal thing.\n\n+II. As setting forth an indispensable condition of making and\nkeeping friends.+ If a man desires to know the sweets of real\nfriendship he must be prepared to be himself a real friend. The\nselfish and morose man who will not deny himself for another's good,\nor who cannot rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who\nweep, cannot expect others to deny themselves for him and to\nsympathise with his joy and sorrow. If there is to be a genuine\nfriendship there must be mutual confidence and a mutual recognition\nof excellencies, for if the trust and admiration is on one side only\nthe fire will soon burn out for want of fuel. There are men whose\nlove cannot be extinguished by coldness and distrust, but they are\nfew and far between, and the wise man's words hold good as a general\nrule that \"a man that hath friends must show himself friendly.\" (The\nlatter clause of this verse was treated in Homiletics on chap.\nxvii. 17-18, page 518.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_A man of friends is apt to be broken all to pieces._ (This is\nMiller's rendering only.) The significance of the whole is that a man\nof _wide acquaintance_ is apt to _break._ Human friendships cost. In\nthe strife to appear well, in the time it takes, in the industries\nthey scatter, in the hospitalities they provoke, and in the\nsecurityships they engender, broadening our socialities will try\nevery one of us well. It is not so with heavenly friendships. All\nspiritual communisms bless.--_Miller._\n\nSolomon delivers a warning against the vainglorious passion of\naspiring to an universal acquaintance and an empty popularity, such\nas was courted by his brother Absalom, which will bring with it no\nsupport in adversity, but will ruin a man by pride and rashness and\nprodigal expenditure.--_Wordsworth._\n\n\nSUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER.--That the chapter before us treats mainly of\nthe virtues of social life, of sociability, affability, love of\nfriends, compassion, etc., appears not merely from its initial and\nclosing sentences, the first of which is directed against\nmisanthropic selfishness, the latter against thoughtless and\ninconstant universal friendship, or seeming friendship, but also from\nthe various rebukes which it contains of a contentious, quarrelsome,\nand partisan disposition, _e.g.,_ verses 5, 6, 8, 17-21. But in\naddition, most of the propositions that seem to be more remote may be\nbrought under this general category of love to neighbours as the sum\nand basis of all social virtues; so especially the testimonies\nagainst wild, foolish talking (verses 2, 7, 13, comp. 4 and 15); that\nagainst bold impiety, proud dispositions and hardness of heart\nagainst the poor (vers. 3, 12, 23); that against slothfulness in the\nduties of one's calling, foolish confidence in earthly riches, and\nwant of true moral courage and confidence in God (vers. 9-11; comp.\n14). Nay, even the commendation of a large liberality as a means of\ngaining for one's self favour and influence in human society (ver.\n16), and likewise the praise of an excellent mistress of a family,\nare quite closely connected with this main subject of the chapter,\nwhich admonishes to love towards one's fellow-men; they only show the\nmany-sided completeness with which the theme is here\ntreated.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1.+ Delitzsch translates the last clause, _\"Than\none with perverse lips, and so a fool.\"_ +2. Sinneth,+ literally\n\"goeth astray.\" Delitzsch reads the last clause, _\"He who hasteneth\nwith the legs after it goeth astray.\"_ +3. Perverteth,+ rather\n\"overtures,\" \"ruins.\" +5. Speaketh lies,+ rather _\"whose breath is\nlies.\"_ +6. The prince,+ rather \"the noble or generous man.\" It seems\nto refer to one of rank, who is also of a benevolent disposition.\n_\"Entreat the favour,\"_ literally _\"stroke the face.\"_ +7. He\npursueth them,+ &c. This clause is variously rendered. Z\u00f6ckler reads,\n_\"He seeketh words_ (of friendship), _and there are none;\"_\nDelitzsch, _\"Seeking after words which are vain;\"_ Miller, _\"As one\nsnatching at words, they come to stand towards him;\"_ Maurer and\nothers, _\"He pursueth after_ (the fulfilment of the) _words_ (of\ntheir past promises to him), _and these_ (promises) _are not_ (made\ngood).\" +8. Wisdom.+ Literally _heart._ +9. Speaketh lies,+ _\"whose\nbreath is lies.\"_ +10. Delight.+ Most commentators translate this\nword _\"luxury.\"_ Miller, however, as will be seen from his comment,\nretains the reading of the English version. +11. Discretion,+ or\n_\"intelligence.\"_ +13. Calamity.+ The word so translated is in the\nplural form, so as to express the continuance of the trouble.\n+16.+ Miller reads the verse _\"He that guards the commandment guards\nhimself; in scattering his ways he dies.\"_ (See his comment.)\nHitzig's rendering of the last clause agrees with Miller's. +18. Let\nnot thy soul spare for his crying.+ The translations of most\nexpositors here differ widely from the Authorised Version. Gortius,\nMaurer, Delitzsch, Z\u00f6ckler, etc., read, _\"Let not thy soul rise to\nkill him,\" \"Go not too far to kill him,\"_ etc., all understanding the\nprecept to be directed against excessive severity. Cartwright renders\nit \"Let not thy soul spare him, _to his destruction._\" +20. Latter\nend,+ rather _afterwards._ +22. The desire of a man,+ &c. Rather _\"A\nman's delight_ (or glory) _is his beneficence,\"_ or _A man's kindness\nis what makes him desirable_ or, _is a desirable adornment._ +24. In\nhis bosom,+ rather, _in the dish._ This is of course a hyperbolic\nexpression to set forth the inactivity of the slothful man.\n\"Athen\u00e6us,\" says Fausset, \"describes (ch. xii. 27) the slothful man\nas waiting until the roasted and seasoned thrushes fly into his mouth\nbegging to be devoured.\" +27. Cease my son,+ &c. \"That causeth\" are\nnot in the original and the instruction spoken of may therefore be\nevil or good. \"Two conceptions are possible: 1. The instruction is\nthat of wisdom itself, and therefore a good wholesome discipline that\nleads to life; then the words can be only ironical, presenting under\nthe appearance of a discussion from discipline in wisdom a very\nurgent counsel to hear and receive it (so Ewald, Bertheau, Elster).\n2. The instruction is evil and perverted, described in clause 2 as\none that causes departure from the words of wisdom. Then the\nadmonition is seriously intended\" (Z\u00f6ckler, in Lange's Commentary).\nOn Z\u00f6ckler's first interpretation Dr. Aiken remarks, \"To call this\n'irony' seems to us a misnomer. Cease to hear instruction only to\ndespise it. What can be more direct or literally pertinent?\"\nDelitzsch says, \"The proverb is a dissuasive from hypocrisy, a\nwarning against the self-deception of which Jas. i. 22-24 speaks,\nagainst heightening one's own condemnation, which is the case of that\nservant who knows his lord's will and does it not (Luke xii. 47).\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nTHE BETTER PART.\n\n+I. A reference to an unexplained mystery of human life.+ It is here\nimplied, though it is not directly expressed, that the fool who is\nperverse in his lips--who sets himself in speech and action against\nthe moral law of the universe--is not so poor a man as he who walks\nin integrity. (We have before had this latter character before us.\nSee Homiletics on chap. xi. 3, page 196.) It seems as strange that\npower and influence should be so often given to those who know least\nhow to put them to a good use, as it would be to see a parent put a\nknife into the hand of a child who is incapable of using it, yet it\nis a sight which meets us on every hand, and a mystery which has\npresented itself to the minds of thinking men in all ages. Solomon\nhad met with such instances in his day--he had seen the godly and\nupright walking in the shade and treading the bye-paths of life,\nwhile the perverse and foolish man was basking in the sunlight of\nworldly prosperity in the highways of society.\n\n+II. An assertion, that, notwithstanding contrary appearances, the\nbetter portion is with the better man.+ It is not, after all, what a\nman's portion is, but how he uses it, that makes his life a blessing\nor a curse. A man who walks in integrity makes the righteous law of\nhis God the rule of his life, and this keeping of the Divine\ncommandments brings with it a reward (Psa. xix. 11) of which the\nrebellious fool knows nothing. He knows how to use his more limited\nopportunities and influence to the best advantage--how to put out his\nsmall capital so as to obtain the best interest upon it--how to trade\nwith his five talents so as to make them other five, and so he is\ndaily laying up a treasure which is better than all the fame and\nwealth that belongs to this world, for it is the riches of a\nrighteous character by which he is raised himself to a higher\nspiritual level, and by which he is able to make the world better\nthan he found it.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIntegrity is itself a life, and a whole enjoyment, and better,\ntherefore, than worldly interests which are nothing of the kind.\nWalking is an eastern figure, and we have failed to substitute it by\na western one. A _way_ in the East means a man's total course.\n_Walking,_ therefore, means his total life or being. _Better is a\npoor man, etc.,_ refers, therefore, to a man not living in his money,\nnor indeed, in his horses or in his hounds, not _living in_ his\nintegrity, but _walking_ in it, _i.e.,_ spending his whole time in\nit, staying in that way; of course, taking his pleasure in it (see\nverse 22). We have before seen that _speech_ means _whole conduct._\nThe mouth, in those days, was the great implement of action. It is so\nstill. The commonest labourer bargains out and orders out half his\nliving by his mouth. \"Perverse\" or \"crooked\" in speech means speaking\n(_i.e._ acting) athwart of what we ourselves know in many\nparticulars; first, athwart all moral truth; second, athwart deep\npersonal conviction; third, athwart all personal interest (as our\ntext implies). A Christian talks straight, because he speaks (acts)\ncoincidentally with all of these. A sinner is crooked of lip, because\nhe says what he does not think, and traverses for his lusts all the\nbest principles of his moral nature.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 2 _and_ 3.\n\nIGNORANCE LEADING TO SIN.\n\n+I. The soul of man cannot be absolutely without knowledge.+ There is\nsome knowledge which comes to the soul without any effort on the part\nof the man, which he has but to live to acquire, just as he has but\nto open his eyes to see. He is conscious of his own existence--of his\npersonal identity as apart from all the beings and things by which he\nis surrounded, and of his capability of suffering and enjoyment, of\nhope and despair. And because of the light within him he cannot be\naltogether ignorant of the difference between right and wrong,\nbetween truth and falsehood. But his necessary knowledge extends to\nbeings and things outside of himself. He knows without any effort\nmuch about the men and things which surround him, and the visible\nthings of creation make it impossible that he should be altogether\nignorant of the existence of the invisible God and Creator. So the\napostle argues in Rom. i. 20.\n\n+II. There is a knowledge which it is good to be without.+ There is a\nknowledge which human nature in its original dignity and sinlessness\ndid not possess, the absence of this experimental knowledge was an\nessential element of its blessedness. The ignorance of evil was a\nblessed ignorance in which man's Creator would have kept him but for\nhis own wilfulness, and the knowledge of which brought him misery. It\nis the blessedness of the unfallen spirits who have kept their first\nestate, that although they are conscious of the existence of evil in\nthe universe, they have no experimental knowledge of it, and this\nignorance constitutes the blessedness of the ever-blessed God\nHimself. Those sons of men who, because they are, and ever have been,\nin perfect health, know nothing experimentally of bodily pain or\nweakness, find it very good to be without this knowledge, and how\nmuch more good it is to be without a knowledge of soul disease and\nspiritual suffering.\n\n+III. But there is an acquired knowledge which is indispensable to a\nman's well-being.+ Intellectual knowledge of some kind is necessary\nto prevent a man from being a shame to himself and a cumberer of the\nland. The well-being of the community depends upon one man's knowing\nsome one thing that another man does not know; no man can know all\nthings or even many things; no man, however great his knowledge, has\nenough of it to make him independent of the knowledge of others, but\nevery man ought to have such a thorough knowledge of some facts and\ntruths as to enable him to minister first to some of his own daily\nneeds and to contribute something to the well-being of his fellow\ncreatures. Some men must have theoretical knowledge, and others must\nknow how to reduce theories to practice--the knowledge of the one is\nuseless without the knowledge of the other. It behoves some men to\ninvestigate the history of the past, and to use this knowledge they\nso acquire for the good of the present generation, but while they are\ndoing this it is indispensable that others should acquire a knowledge\nof things as they are at present, and should utilise their knowledge\nfor the attainment of other ends which are quite as good. But\nintellectual knowledge of some kind is also necessary for the\nwell-being of the mind itself. Man's mind can no more feed upon\nitself and be healthy than his body can feed upon itself and live. As\nthe body needs to receive matter into itself to nourish and sustain\nit, so the mind needs to receive ideas upon which to feed and by\nwhich to grow. Without such a reception the intellectual part of a\nman remains undeveloped, and he is very far from the creature,\nintellectually considered, that God intended him to be. But there is\na kind of knowledge even more needful for man to possess than that\nwhich will merely enlarge his mind or promote his temporal\nwell-being. If his existence is to be really blest he must know\nthings which relate to his spiritual well-being--he must be\nacquainted with the will of God concerning him, both in relation to\nthe life that now is and to that which is to come. It is a calamity\nto be ignorant of things which fit a man to make the best of the\npresent life, but it is a far greater calamity to be without that\nknowledge which fits a man for a blessed life beyond death. No man\nwho possesses the revealed Word of God in the Scriptures need be\nwithout this most blessed and indispensable knowledge--everyone who\nthirsts for it may drink of this living water, and every hungry soul\nmay eat of this bread and learn what are the thoughts of God\nconcerning him, and what are the Divine purposes concerning his\npresent and his future (Isa. lv. 1-7). And to be without this\nknowledge is indeed \"not good,\" for it prevents the soul from\nrecovering its lost and original dignity. A knowledge of the glorious\nGod in the face of Jesus Christ is the means by which we are\ndelivered from the penalty and power of sin, and more than recover\nthe position lost by man's fall. Ignorance here is indeed a fatal\nignorance in those who have the knowledge within their reach; it is\nnot good for any human soul to be without this knowledge, and it is\nmost soul-destroying to those who have only to seek it in order to\nfind it.\n\n+IV. Some of the evil consequences which flow from ignorance in\ngeneral and from ignorance of God in particular.+ 1. _Ignorance leads\nto hasty action, and consequently often to wrong action._ For, \"he\nthat hasteth with his feet sinneth,\" and \"the foolishness of man\nperverteth his way.\" In common and every-day life we find that the\nmost ignorant people are the least cautious, and act with the least\nreflection. Knowledge teaches men to think before they act, for it\nmakes men more alive to the importance of their actions. A child will\nplay with gunpowder with as little hesitation as he would with common\ndust, but a man would not do so, because he knows what would be the\nconsequences if it ignited. A man who has never been in a coalmine,\nand who was ignorant of the dangers of fire-damp, would be very\nlikely to descend the shaft and enter hastily into the gloomy\npassages without first testing the state of the air, but a miner\nwould not do so, because he knows more about the matter. He would\nadvance cautiously, and ascertain what was before him before he\nventured far. So people who are ignorant of the mind and will of God\nas revealed in His Word act without much thought as to the\nconsequences of their actions--they enter upon a road at the impulse\nof a passing fancy, without asking themselves whither it leads--they\ndecide upon a certain course of action without thought of the\nconsequence. And such a hasting with the feet is always a perversion\nof a man's way, a wandering from the right path, for a fallen man\ndoes not forsake the evil and choose the good by instinct but by\neffort founded upon reflection. 2. _Spiritual ignorance leads to\nrebellion against God._ It is only a man who does not know God, who\n\"frets against the Lord.\" A child because he is ignorant of his\nfather's motives will fret against the wise and kind restrictions\nwhich the father places around him. So men wilfully ignorant that\nwhenever God says \"Thou shalt not\" He is only saying \"Do thyself no\nharm,\" chafe and fret against His moral laws. They will not set\nthemselves to obtain that knowledge of God which the Gospel reveals\nand consequently they look at all His commands through a cloud of\nignorance which makes them grievous and heavy instead of easy and\nlight. And there are many mysteries connected with God's government\nthat will tend to make men's hearts fretful and discontented if they\nremain in ignorance of His character. There are many problems in\nconnection with man's present life which he cannot solve--many\napparent contradictions, and much which looks like injustice on the\npart of Him who rules the world, and every soul who does not know God\nas He is revealed in His Son will, when he thinks on these things, is\nlikely to be led to harbour rebellious thoughts against Him. When we\nconsider the evil which flows from ignorance of God we can better\nunderstand how it is that \"the knowledge of the Lord\" is so often\nused in Scripture as synonymous with all that can bless and elevate\nmankind (see Isa. xi. 9, etc.).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe should desire first the enlightening of the eyes and then the\nstrengthening of the feet. Hence \"Make me to understand the way of\nThy precepts,\" and then, \"I will run the way of Thy commandments\"\n(Psa. cxix. 27, 32). He that would sail safely must get a good pilot\nbefore good rowers. Swift horses, without a skilful waggoner,\nendangers more. He that labours for feet before he has eyes, takes a\npreposterous course; for, of the two the lame is more likely to come\nto his journey's end than the blind. . . . Hence we see that there is\nmore hope of a vicious person that hath a good understanding, than of\nan utterly dark and blind soul, though he walks upon zealous\nfeet. . . . _Learn to know God._ \"How shall we believe on Him we have\nnot known?\" (Rom. x. 14). Knowledge is not so much slighted here, as\nit will be wished hereafter. The rich man in hell desires to have his\nbrethren taught (Luke xvi. 28). Sure if he were alive again, he would\nhire them a preacher. \"The people are destroyed for lack of\nknowledge\" (Hosea iv. 6). If we see a proper man cast away at the\nsessions for a _non legit,_ with pity we conclude he might have been\nsaved, if he could have read. At that general and last assizes, when\nChrist shall \"come in flaming fire,\" woe be to them that \"know not\nGod\" (2 Thess. i. 8). For \"He will pour out His fury upon the\nheathen, that know Him not, and upon the families that call not on\nHis name\" (Jer. x. 25). . . . In Prov. ix. 18, the new guest at the\nfatal banquet is described by his ignorance. \"He knoweth not\" what\ncompany is in the house, \"that the dead are there.\" It is the devil's\npolicy, when he would rob and ransack the house of our conscience,\nlike a thief to put out the candle of our knowledge; that we might\nneither discern his purposes, nor decline his mischiefs. . . . Indeed\nignorance may make a sin a less sin, but not no sin. \"I obtained\nmercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief,\" says the apostle\n(1 Tim. i. 13). The sins of them that know are more heinous than the\nsins of them that know not. But if thou hadst no other sin, thy\nignorance is enough to condemn thee, for thou art bound to know. They\nthat will not know the Lord, the Lord will not know them.--_T. Adams._\n\nThe most innocent of all faults might seem ignorance. The only sin\n(when philosophically stated) is ignorance. The \"chains\" that confine\nthe lost (2 Pet. ii. 4) are \"darkness.\" The charge that overtakes the\nsaved is light (2 Cor. iv. 6). The graces that adorn the Christian\nall flow from a new intelligence. Our text is literally exact. If the\nman \"has no knowledge,\" and that of a deep spiritual sort, his \"life\nis no good;\" that is, it possesses none, and is itself a horrid evil.\nAnd yet the concluding clause largely relieves the difficulty. The\nman, knowing there was something wrong, ought to pause, and grope\nabout for the light, just as all would in a dark cavern. Instead of\nthat he rushes darkly on. Here, the inspired finger is put upon the\nprecise mistake. We are warned that we are in blindness. Why not\nhesitate, then, and cast about us? We push on, knowing we are in the\ndark. This is the photograph of the impenitent. . . . And yet, the\nwise man says, he ignores this point of wilfulness, and in his heart\nis angry with the Almighty. He \"perverteth,\" or _subverteth_ \"his\nway,\" that is, totally _upsets_ and ruins, so that it is no way at\nall. Nothing could describe more truly the sinner's path, because it\ndoes not reach even the ends that he himself relied on. Death\narrives, too, to wreck it totally. And though he has resisted the\nmost winning arts to draw him unto Christ, yet, at each sad defeat,\n\"his heart is angry against Jehovah.\"--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 2. Haste, as opposed to sloth, is the energy of Divine grace\n(Psa. cxix. 60; Luke xix. 6). Here, as opposed to consideration,\n_acting hastily_ is sin. This impatience is the genuine exercise of\nself-will, not taking time to inquire; not \"waiting for the counsel\nof the Lord.\" Godly Joshua offended here (Josh. ix. 14, 15). Saul's\nimpatience cost him his kingdom (1 Sam. xiii. 12). David's _haste_\nwas the occasion of gross injustice (2 Sam. xvi. 3, 4).--_Bridges._\n\n_Religion a sentiment and a science._ I know of no attack on\nChristianity more artfully made than that which is attempted when a\ndistinction is attempted to be drawn between religion and\ntheology. . . . Let us see what the value of religion is, when it is\nseparated from theology. We are told that religion is a sentiment, a\ntemper, a state of mind. Theology is a science, a pursuit, a\nstudy . . . and it is asserted and insinuated that it may be well\nwith the soul, although it be destitute of spiritual knowledge. . . .\nBut we, who are called Christians, by the very name we bear, imply\nthat more than devotional sentiment is necessary to make a religious\nman. . . . You must accept Jesus as the only Saviour if you would\nescape perdition, and how can you accept Him unless you know Him?\nNay, further, how can you accept Him unless you know yourself? . . .\nThere are many other things which we ought to know and believe, to\nour soul's health and comfort; but . . . the soul that is without\nknowledge of this, the great Christian scheme, the Divine plan of\nsalvation, is only nominally and by courtesy a Christian soul. . . .\nExcept as hearing upon these truths, the religious sentiment is a\nluxury and nothing more. . . . It is not the theoretical\n_distinction_ between the sentiment and the science that we censure,\nbut their separation and divorce.--_Dean Hook._\n\n\nVerse 3. Such was _the foolishness_ of Adam! First he _perverted his\nway;_ then he charged upon God its bitter fruit. \"God, making him\nupright,\" made him happy. Had he been ruled by his will, he would\nhave continued so. But, \"seeking out his own inventions\" (Eccles.\nvii. 29), he made himself miserable. As the author of his own misery,\nit was reasonable that he should fret against himself, but such was\nhis pride and baseness, that _his heart fretted against the Lord,_ as\nif He, and not himself, was responsible (Gen. iii. 6-12). This his\nfirst-born, when his own sin had brought \"punishment\" on him,\n_fretted,_ as if \"it were greater than he could bear\" (Ib. iv. 8-13).\nThis has been _the foolishness_ of Adam's children ever since God has\nlinked together moral and penal evil, sin and sorrow. The fool rushes\ninto the sin and most unreasonably _frets_ for the sorrow; as if he\ncould \"gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles\" (Matt.\nvii. 16). He charges his crosses, not on his own perverseness, but on\nthe injustice of God (Ezek. xviii. 25). But God is clear from all the\nblame (James i. 13, 14): He had shown the better; man chooses the\nworse. He had warned by His Word and by conscience. Man, deaf to the\nwarning, plunges into the misery; and, while \"eating the fruit of his\nown ways,\" _his heart frets against the Lord._ \"It is hard to have\npassions, and to be punished for indulging them. I could not help it.\nWhy did He not give me grace to avoid it?\" (See Jer. vii. 10). Such\nis the pride and blasphemy of an unhumbled spirit. The malefactor\nblames the judge for his righteous sentence (Isa. viii. 21, 22; Rev.\nxvi. 9-11, 21).--_Bridges._\n\nThis was the case in Greece as well as in Judea; for Homer observed\nthat \"men lay those evils upon the gods, which they have incurred\nthrough their own folly and perverseness.\". . . This is often the\ncase with regard--1. _To men's health._ By intemperance . . .\nindolence . . . or too close application to business . . . or unruly\npassions, they injure their frame . . . and then censure the\nprovidence of God. 2. _To their circumstances in life._ . . . Men\ncomplain that providence frowns on them . . . when they have chosen a\nwrong profession, despising the advice of others . . . or when they\nhave brought themselves into straits by their own negligence. 3. _To\ntheir relations in life._ They complain of being unequally\nyoked . . . when they chose by the sight of the eye, or the vanity\nand lusts of the heart. . . . They complain that their children are\nundutiful . . . when they have neglected their government. 4. _To\ntheir religious concerns._ They complain that they want inward peace\nwhen . . . they neglect the appointed means of grace . . . and that\nGod giveth Satan power over them when by neglect they tempt the\ntempter.--_Job Orton._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the main thought of verse 4 see on chapter xiv. 20,\npage 370.\n\n_SUGGESTIVE COMMENT._\n\nThey are friends to the wealth, not the wealthy. They regard not\n_qualis sis,_ but _quantus_--not how thou art, but how great. . . .\nThese flatter a rich man, as we feed beasts, till he be fat, and then\nfall on him. . . . These friends love not thy soul's good, but thy\nbody's goods.--_T. Adams._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 9.\n\nTHE END OF A FALSE TONGUE.\n\nWe have before had proverbs dealing with the evil of lying (see\nHomiletics on chap. xii. 17-19, xiv. 25, pages 274 and 379), and the\nconstant recurrence of the subject, together with the repetition of\nthe verses here, shows us the vast importance which the inspired\nwriter attached to truth, and the many and great evils which flow\nfrom a disregard of it. Again and again he holds up the liar to view\nas a monster of iniquity, and seeks, both by the threatening of the\nretribution which awaits it and by the misery which it causes to\nothers, to deter men from yielding to this sin. If we consider what\nmischief a false man can do, we shall not be surprised at the\nprominence which the wise man gives to this subject (see ch.\nxii. 17-19, 22, page 274). But the most dangerous element of the\nlying tongue is the fact that in nine cases out of ten no human\ntribunal can bring to justice, and perhaps few human tribunals would\ncare to do so. \"The world,\" says Dr. David Thomas (\"Practical\nPhilosopher,\" page 414) \"abounds in falsehood. Lies swarm in every\ndepartment of life. They are in the market, on the hustings, in\ncourts of justice, in the senate house, in the sanctuaries of\nreligion; and they crowd the very pages of modern literature. They\ninfest the social atmosphere. Men on all hands live in fiction and by\nfiction.\" If we allow that this picture is a true one, and alas! we\ncannot deny that it is, we can see that the evil is one with which no\nhuman hand can deal. A tiger may come down from a neighbouring forest\nand enter the city, and spread terror and dismay all round, and even\nkill a dozen of its inhabitants. But he is a tangible creature, he\ncan be faced and attacked with weapons which can pierce his skin and\nmake him powerless to do any further mischief. But into the same city\nmay enter upon the summer wind impalpable particles of matter charged\nwith a poison which may slay not ten men but ten thousand, and no\nweapon that has ever been forged by human hand can slay these\ndestroyers. The plague will keep numbering its victims until the\npoison has spent itself or until a pure and healthful breeze scatters\nthe deadly atmosphere. So with lying in comparison with more palpable\nand gross crimes. The thief can be caught and imprisoned, the\nmurderer is generally traced and hanged; but the sin of lying so\npermeates the whole social atmosphere that nothing but the diffusion\nof heavenly truth can rid the world of the poison. But the liar,\nhowever he escapes some forms of retribution, \"shall not go\nunpunished.\" 1. _He shall be self-punished._ His own conscience will\nbe his judge and executioner in one. The fear of discovery here will\ngenerally haunt him as a shadow does the substance, but if this ghost\nis laid there will be times, however hardened he may be, when that\nwitness for truth that is within him will scourge him in the present\nand fill him with forebodings concerning the future. 2. _Men will\npunish him by not believing him when he speaks the truth._ In\nproportion as a man's veracity is doubted will be the suspicion with\nwhich his word is received. He may tell the truth on two occasions\nout of three, but if his falsehood on the third is found out, his\ntruth-telling on the first and second will not avail him much. It is\na terrible thing to live always in an atmosphere of distrust, but it\nis one of the punishments of a liar. 3. _God will punish him after he\nleaves this world._ Concerning him and some other great transgressors\nit is written that--_\"they shall have their part in the lake which\nburneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death\"_ (Rev.\nxxi. 8). Whatever may be the precise meaning of these terrible words,\nwe know that they were spoken by one whose every word was _\"true and\nfaithful\"_ (see verse 5 of the same chapter), and they are but an\nintensified form of the last clause of our texts--\"He that speaketh\nlies shall perish.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFalsehood is like fire in stubble. It likewise turns all around it\ninto its own substance for a moment--one crackling, blazing moment,\nand then dies. And all its contents are scattered in the wind without\nplace or evidence of their existence, as viewless as the wind which\nscatters them.--_Coleridge._\n\n\"He whose breath is lies shall be lost.\" _Breath_ means the inborn\nand natural impulse. The root of the verb translated _\"shall perish,\"\nmeans to lose oneself by wandering about._ The cognate Arabic means\nto _flee away wild in the desert._ The spirit, therefore, that\nhabitually breathes out falsities, and so acts constitutionally\nathwart of what is true, is best described by keeping to the\noriginal; that is, instead of perishing in the broader and vaguer\nway, he _wanders off and is lost_ in the wilderness of his own\ndeceptions.--_Miller._\n\nThe thief doth only send one to the devil; the adulterer, two; the\nslanderer hurteth three--himself, the person of whom, the person to\nwhom he tells the lie.--_T. Adams._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 6 _and_ 7.\n\nTHE PROOFS OF HUMAN SELFISHNESS.\n\n+I. The servile regard which men pay to rank and wealth.+ A prince is\na man in whose hand there is power to advance the material interests\nof other men, and this makes him a loadstone to the godless man\nwhatever his character may be. As the magnet will attract all the\nsteel dust within its reach, so the prince is a magnet which attracts\nall the self-seeking and the worldly who can by any possibility\nobtain any favour from him. To gain that favour they will fawn upon\nhim and flatter him, and will stoop even to become supplicants at his\nfeet. Let him be one of the most contemptible of human creatures,\nthere will not be wanting those who may be in many respects his\nsuperiors who will serve him from hope of advancing their own\ninterests. We know that this is not universally the case--that there\nhave been noble men in all ages who would scorn to entreat the favour\nof any man, simply because he was a man of power; but Solomon here\nspeaks of the rule and not of the exception, and the fact that it is\nso testifies to the self-seeking which is the characteristic of men\nin general.\n\n+II. The treatment which the poor man often receives from his more\nwealthy kinsfolk.+ The proverb implies that those who hate him and\npass him by with disdain are richer than himself, and therefore not\nonly bound to pity his poverty but able to lighten his burden. But\nthe same selfishness which draws men to the rich causes them to shun\nthe poor in general, and especially their poor relations, for they\nfeel conscious that these latter have a stronger claim upon them than\nthose who are not so related. And even if the poor man does not need\nthe help of his richer brethren he will often find himself\nunrecognised by them, simply because he occupies a lower social\nstation. He has nothing to give them in the way of material good--his\nfavour is worth nothing in the way of promoting their worldly\ninterests--the very fact that he is poor and yet is more or less\nnearly connected by family ties is supposed to dim the lustre of\ntheir greatness, and they therefore cherish towards him a positive\ndislike which they manifest by avoiding his society as much as\npossible, and by receiving all his advances towards friendship with\ncoolness and disdain. If we had no other proof of the depth to which\nman has fallen since God created him in His own image, the regard\nwhich men pay, not to what a man _is,_ but to what he _has,_ would be\none sad enough. (See also Homiletics on chap. xiv. 20, page 370.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nPrinces need not pride themselves in the homage that is paid to them,\nfor their favour is sought by men, not so much out of regard to their\npersons, as from a regard to their power. Kindness and liberality\nhave a greater influence for gaining the hearts of men, than dignity\nof station. There are many that seek the ruler's favour, but every\nman loves him that is generous. When power and generosity meet in the\nsame person, he becomes an object of universal esteem, like Marcus\nAntoninus, who was lamented by every man when he was dead, as if the\nglory of the Roman empire had died with him.\n\nHow inexcusable are we, if we do not love God with all our hearts.\nHis gifts to us are past number, and all the gifts of men to us are\nthe fruits of His bounty, conveyed by the ministry of those whose\nhearts are disposed by His providence to kindness. \"I have seen thy\nface,\" said Jacob to Esau, \"as the face of God.\" His brother's favour\nhe knew to be a fruit of the mercy of Him with whom he spake and\nprevailed at Bethel.--_Lawson._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verses 8 and 9 see verses 2 and 5 of this chapter,\nalso on chapters viii. 36 and ix. 12, pages 121 and 124.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nINCONGRUITIES.\n\n+I. Where there is wealth or exalted station their ought to be\ncorrespondent qualifications.+ (For the real signification of the\nword translated \"delight\" see Critical Notes.) If a man is rich he\nought to be wise, and if he is powerful he ought to have been\ninstructed how to use his power well. A fool is useless in any\ncondition of life, but a fool who is the possessor of a fortune is a\npower for evil. We must understand the word \"servant\" here to mean an\nignorant and incapable man--one who, though able to serve, has no\nability to rule. A man may be very well fitted to perform the duties\nof a common seaman, but if he is ignorant of the laws of navigation\nit would be a great misfortune for both himself and the rest of the\ncrew if he were to be appointed to the captain's post. If he had\nremained before the mast he might have done good service, but when he\nis promoted to a higher rank he is only an instrument of mischief. Of\nthe two incongruities dealt with in the proverb this last is the most\nfruitful of evil. It is a lamentable thing when great riches come\ninto the possession of a fool who does not know how to use his wealth\neither for his own or his neighbour's good, and it may be productive\nof positive harm both to himself and others. Instances are not at all\nuncommon, and most men have met with them, in which a man in a very\nhumble station, and destitute of true and spiritual wisdom, inherits\nsuddenly a large fortune. In the majority of such cases the\ninheritance is a curse rather than a blessing, for the inheritor has\nno idea how to use it so as to promote his own real welfare. His\nhigher nature has never been developed, consequently he has no\nspiritual or intellectual desires to gratify, and all he can do with\nhis wealth is to minister to his appetites and gratify his passions,\nwhich he often does in a most unseemly way, and to an extent which\nmakes him a worse man when he is rich than he was when he was poor.\nBut this misuse of wealth is not so great a misfortune as the misuse\nof power. The evil effects of the first will be confined within\ncomparatively narrow limits, but those of the latter are widespread.\nWhen a man is neither a prince by birth or by nature, and yet is in a\nposition which gives him power over men who are either or both, there\nis a great disproportion in the moral fitness of things which\ngenerally brings much social and national trouble. For if a man's\nonly title to rule is that of birth, it is better for those whom he\nrules than if he had none at all. If he is an incapable man himself\nhe may be the descendant of greater men, although they cannot\nreverence him for what he is. But when he has not even this small\nclaim on their obedience, the unseemliness is so great that national\nanarchy, and consequently much individual suffering, is the almost\ncertain result.\n\n+II. Either of these incongruities present a deep mystery in the\nDivine government.+ When we consider what a great power for good as\nwell as for evil is wrapped up in wealth, the providence appears to\nus dark which often gives it to the moral fool and leaves the wise\nman destitute. But when we find a weak man apparently holding in his\nhands the destinies of many stronger and nobler men--a \"servant\"\nruling over \"princes\"--the providence seems darker still. But there\nare two sources whence we can draw comfort. We can look forward to\nthat \"time of restitution of all things\" (Acts iii. 21) when all\nthese manifest inconsistencies shall be done away with, and we can\nassure ourselves that \"things are not what they seem\"--that the\nwisdom of the wise man is a greater power for good than the wealth of\nthe rich, and that, after all, the choice of the ruler is in the hand\nof those whom he rules, and that if the latter are \"princes\" they\nwill not long suffer themselves to be ruled by one who is \"a servant.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n1. In its secular form this truth is obvious. 2. In its higher but\nintermediate form, it means that an ungodly sinner, here called _\"a\nstupid man,\"_ on his way to death and judgment, is so shockingly off\nin all interests of his being, that _\"delight\"_ is a mockery; it is\nanything but suited to his state. And to have him stand, as he often\ndoes, superior to Christians, overawing Christian life, and\nrepressing Christian eminence of character, is indeed a _servant\nruling a prince;_ and it is as good an instance as could be met, of\nsomething that does not _suit,_ or as the original has it, does not\n_sit well._ 3. But Solomon would carry it a story higher. He means to\ncontinue his pursuit of the _impenitent._ He means to tell them that\ntheir _delight,_ in itself considered, would not _sit well;_ that to\nreward a fool would bring dishonour upon government; and to release\nthe outlaw from his bonds would really be to elect the slave to a\npost higher than the _\"princes.\"--Miller._\n\nWith all the preference here expressed for virtuous poverty, the\nseemliness of rank, and the violence done by the upstart rule of the\nlower over the higher, are not overlooked.--_Chalmers._\n\nAbundance of wealth, dainty fare, and pastime or recreation, is not\nmeet for a vain and wicked person. For, first of all, he rather\ndeserveth correction than recreation; secondly, he abuseth all his\ndelights and possessions to his own hurt, being drunken with his\nvanities; last of all, he is so puffed upon and corrupted by\nprosperity, that he oppresseth his neighbours. . . . But if a light\nvanity beseem not a vain person, then authority, which carrieth with\nit a weight of glory, less beseemeth a vile person, who is of a\nservile disposition and condition, especially that rule which is\nexercised over noble personages.--_Muffet._\n\nJudge, then, how horrible it is that men should set the devil or his\ntwo angels, the world and the flesh, on the throne, while they place\nGod on the footstool; or that in this commonwealth of man, reason,\nwhich is the queen or princess over the better powers and graces of\nthe soul, should stoop to so base a slave as sensual lust.--_T.\nAdams._\n\nThe reason is, because a wise man is master of his delight, a fool is\nservant unto it. And delight never doth well but where it is\ncommanded, never doth so ill as where it is commander. . . . The\ncommand of delight is like the ruling of a servant over princes; and\nas he is foolish in ruling, so it is the quality of a fool to give\nthe ruling of his heart unto delight.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 11 _and_ 12.\n\nTWO KINGS.\n\n+I. The man who exercises despotic power over the destinies of his\nfellow creatures.+ The similitudes by which Solomon describes the\npower that is sometimes lodged in a kingly hand are very strong, and\nwere more true in his day than they are in ours. The wrath of a\ndespot is like the roaring of a lion because it is an indication of\nthe destructive power that lies behind it. That roar is not an empty\nsound, for everyone who hears it knows that the savage beast can do\nmore than roar--that he can tear in pieces the unfortunate victim of\nhis wrath. If he could only roar men would listen unmoved, but they\ntremble because they know that his anger can find an outlet in a more\nterrible manner. There are men whose wrath, although it is fierce,\ndoes not fill its objects with any alarm--they know that the man's\nanger can only find an outlet in words and that he is impotent to do\nthem harm. But there are those whose anger can work terrible evil to\nits victims, and who have such forces at their command that a man may\nwell fear to incur their wrath. There have been despots in the world\nto incur whose displeasure was like awaking the fury of a wild beast,\nand whose manner of repaying those who had offended them was more\nbrutal than human. But men in such a position have as much power to\nbless as to curse. If they choose to exercise their prerogative in a\nkindly manner they can exercise an influence as reviving and as\ncheering as that of \"the dew upon the grass.\" Such an one can elevate\nhis subjects both socially and morally by the enactment of wise laws,\nand in this sense can make a wilderness rejoice and blossom as the\nrose. Perhaps, however, the proverb more directly refers to the power\nof the king to exalt and promote his favourites--those who either by\nchance or by devotion to his interests become objects of his especial\nregard. If such men are poor the king's favour can effect as great a\ntransformation in their circumstances as the dew will upon a field\nscorched by the sun, and so long as that favour continues they are as\ncontinually and as liberally nourished as the grass is watered by the\ndaily dew.\n\n+II. The man who can curb his anger and pardon an offence.+ Solomon\nwas a king whose power was not inaptly described by the twelfth\nverse, but he had too much spiritual enlightenment to conceive that\nthere was any true glory in it alone. He gives the palm to the man\nwho can \"rule his spirit,\" and who can \"pass over a transgression,\"\nespecially if that man has great power in his hand to visit the\noffender with punishment. If it is the glory of a man with limited\ninfluence to pardon an offender, it is much more glorious for a king\nto do so, because his wrath is able to exercise itself without being\ncalled to an account. This thought may be applied to the King of\nkings, to the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe. When Moses besought\nHim to show him His glory, _\"He said, I will make all my goodness\npass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before\nthee,\"_ and that name was, _\"The Lord, the Lord God merciful and\ngracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping\nmercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,\"_\n(Exod. xxxiii. 19, xxxiv. 6). For Homiletics on the same subject see\non chap. xiv. 29, page 386, and on chap. xvi. 32, page 497.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIf men, as they grow more sensible, forgive easier, and it is their\n_honour_ or _glory_ to \"pass over an offence,\" the implication is\nthat thus it must be with the All-Wise. Complaint is foolish, for\neternity will reveal that the Almighty took no pleasure in punishing\nus. _\"The commonest man,\"_ literally \"a man,\" but _a man_ under the\ntitle which, all through this book, as in Isaiah ii. 9, distinguishes\nitself from another title, which means _a man of the better sort._\nThis gives two points of heightened emphasis:--First, even the\ncommonest man thinks it well to forgive. How much more the Almighty!\nAnd, second, even the commonest man, when _intelligent,_ forgives the\neasier: how much more the _Great Intelligence?_ He who best\nunderstands His honour would not be likely to inflict punishment,\nunless where it was impossible that there should be a final escape\n(ver. 5).--_Miller._\n\nThe monarch of the forest is a just comparison to the monarch of the\nland. \"The lion hath roared; who will not fear?\" The rocks and hills\necho the terrific cry. The whole race of the animals of the forest\nare driven to flight, or petrified to the spot. Such is _the king's\nwrath_ in a land of despotism; reigning without law, above law, his\nwill his only law; an awful picture of cruelty, tyranny, and caprice!\nUnlimited power is too much for proud human nature to bear, except\nwith special grace from above.--_Bridges._\n\nDiscretion is a buckler made of a cold, hard, smooth metal, and that\nwhich giveth the true temper to the metal is _delay._ For in all the\nways of discretion delay holdeth it by the hand, it judgeth not\nwithout delay, it worketh not without delay, it is not angry without\ndelay. The fiery darts that are thrown against it kindle not this\nmetal hastily, the strokes of wrong and injury bruise not this metal\neasily; the apprehensions of a moved spirit fasten not easily upon\nit, the fury that assaulteth it slips off by a mild smoothness from\nit.--_Jermin._\n\nThe only legitimate anger is a holy emotion directed against an\nunholy thing. Sin, and not our neighbour, must be its object. Zeal\nfor righteousness, and not our own pride, must be its distinguishing\ncharacter. The exercise of anger, although not necessarily sinful, is\nexceedingly difficult and dangerous. . . . Thus it comes about, that\nalthough anger be not in its own nature and in all cases sinful, the\nbest practical rule of life is to repress it, as if it were. The Holy\nmight use it against sin in the world, if the Holy were here, but it\nseems too sharp a weapon for our handling. . . . The best practical\nrule for the treatment of anger against persons is to defer it. Its\nnature presses for instant vengeance, and the appetite should be\nstarved. A wise man may indeed experience the heat, but he will do\nnothing till he cools again. When your clothes outside are on fire\nyou wrap yourself in a blanket, if you can, and so smother the flame;\nin like manner, when your heart within has caught the fire of anger,\nyour first business is to get the flame extinguished. . . . To pass\nover a transgression is a man's \"glory.\" . . . This is a note in\nunison with the Sermon on the Mount, and therefore at variance with\nmost of our modern codes of honour. It has often been remarked that\nthe Bible proves itself Divine by the knowledge of man which it\ndisplays; but perhaps its opposition to the main currents of a human\nheart are as clear a mark of its heavenly origin as its discovery of\nwhat these currents are.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 13, 14 _and_ 18.\n\nDOMESTIC SORROW AND HOW TO AVOID IT.\n\n+I. Two fruitful sources of sorrow.+ There are many fountains whence\nflow waters which sadly embitter the lives of men, but there is none\noutside of personal character which can more entirely darken their\ndays than either of those mentioned in the thirteenth verse. To be\neither the father of a foolish son or the husband of a contentious\nwife is sorrow indeed. The first clause of this proverb is nearly the\nsame as that in chap. x. 1, for Homiletics on which see page 137. The\ncontentious wife is here compared to a _\"continual dropping,\"_\nbecause although the discomfort would not be great if it were only\noccasional, its perpetual existence makes life wretched. A drop of\nwater falling upon a man's head is a very trifling matter, but one of\nthe most dreaded tortures of the Spanish inquisition was that in\nwhich a man was placed in such a position that a single drop was\nconstantly descending upon his head. Hour after hour, day after day,\nand night after night, the drops followed one another in regular and\nunbroken succession until the poor wretch first lost reason and then\nlife. It is much harder to bear a burden which is never lifted from\nthe shoulders than to carry one which is much heavier for a short\ntime and for a very limited distance. So it is easier for a man to\nrise above trials which, although they may be almost overwhelming for\na time, last but through a comparatively very short portion of his\nlife. But the trial of a contentious wife is unceasing so long as the\nmarriage bond continues, and it is this that makes it so greatly to\nbe dreaded.\n\n+II. Means suggested whereby these sources of sorrow may be avoided.+\nIf so much depends upon our family relationships--if the character of\nthe wife and child have so much to do with our weal and woe--it\nbecomes a most momentous question how to act so as to secure a\nprudent wife in the first place, and then to avoid the calamity of a\nfoolish son. It must be remembered that the first is purely a matter\nof _choice._ A man's \"house and riches\" may be \"the inheritance of\nfathers,\" his social position may depend upon his parents, but his\nwife depends upon his own choice, and as \"a prudent wife is from the\nLord,\" if he seeks the guidance of Him who is alone the infallible\nreader of character, instead of following the leading of his fancy or\nconsulting his worldly interests, he may with confidence expect to\navoid the curse and secure the blessing. The other relationship is\nnot one of choice. Our children are sent to us by the hand of God,\nand we have no more voice in determining their dispositions and\nmental constitutions than we have the colour of their hair, or any\nother bodily characteristic. But of two things we are certain.\n1. _That they will need a training which will not always be pleasant\nto them._ Where there is disease in the body a cure cannot often be\neffected without a resort to unpleasant--often to painful--measures.\nIt is not pleasant to a surgeon to use the knife, but it is often\nindispensable to his patient's recovery to health. And both\nexperience and revelation testify to the fact that our children come\ninto the world with a moral taint upon them--that they have a\ntendency to go the wrong way--that, in the words of the Psalmist (Ps.\nli. 5) they are \"shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin.\" If a\nparent desires to avoid the calamity of a foolish son he must early\nrecognise the truth that his child will not become morally wise\nunless he _\"chasten\"_ him, unless he subject him to a system of moral\ntraining, unless he make him feel that punishment must follow sin.\nThis will be as painful sometimes to the parent as to the child; the\ncrying of the son will hurt the father more than the rod will hurt\nthe child, but the end to be attained by present suffering must be\nborne in mind, and must nerve the heart and head of him whose duty it\nis to administer chastisement. (On this subject see also Homiletics\non chap. xii. 24, page 334.) 2. _That there is reason to hope that\nchildren, if rightly trained, will be a joy and not a sorrow. There\nis hope._ When a river has but just left its source among the hills,\nand the current is feeble, its progress can be stopped with ease; but\nwhen it has flowed on for a few miles and there is depth of water\nenough to float a fleet, it is almost impossible to stop its onward\ncourse. So, when the power of evil in the human soul is in its\ninfancy, it is a much more easy task to restrain it than when it has\nacquired strength by years of uncontrolled dominion. When the young\noak is but a few inches above the ground, the hand of the woodman can\nbend the slender stem as he pleases; but when it has grown for half a\ncentury he is powerless to turn it from the direction which it has\ntaken. So a child's will is pliable to the wise training of the\nparent, and if the education of the moral nature be begun early,\nthere is every reason to hope that it will acquire strength to\novercome both sin within and without, and that a righteous manhood\nwill in the future more than repay both him whose duty it is to\nchasten, and him upon whom the chastisement must fall.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 13, 14. \"A prudent wife\" is not to be got by an _im_prudent\nmode of choice. The gift must be sought \"from the Lord.\" But this\ndoes not mean that the Lord is supernaturally to point out the\nindividual. Our own discretion must be put in exercise, along with\nprayer for the Divine superintendence and direction, so as to bring\nabout a happy result. And then the precious gift should be owned, and\nthe all-bountiful Giver praised for his goodness in bestowing\nit.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\"Every good gift is from the Lord\" (James i. 17) only, some in the\nordinary course, others more directly from Him. Houses and riches,\nthrough His gifts, come by descent. They are the inheritance of\nfathers. The heir is known, and in the course of events he takes\npossession of his estate. But the prudent wife is wholly unconnected\nwith the man. There has been no previous bond of relation. She is\noften brought from a distance. \"The Lord brought her to the man\" by\nHis special Providence, and therefore as His special gift.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 18. The great force of the rule is its timely\napplication--_while there is hope._ For hopeless the case may be, if\nthe remedy be delayed. The cure of the evil must be commenced in\ninfancy. Not a moment is to be lost. \"Betimes\" (chap. xiii. 24;\nxxii. 15)--is the season when the good can be effected with the most\nease, and the fewest strokes. The lesson of obedience should be\nlearnt at the first dawn. One decided struggle and victory _in very\nearly life,_ may, under God, do much towards settling the point at\nonce and to the end. On the other hand, _sharp chastening_ may fail\nlater to accomplish, what a slight rebuke in the early course might\nhave wrought.--_Bridges._\n\nYou are here taught further, that _firmness_ must be in union with\naffection in applying the rod. The words seem to express a harsh, yet\nit is an important and most salutary lesson:--_\"let not thy soul\nspare for his crying.\"_ The words to not mean, that you should not\nfeel, very far from that. It was the knowledge that feeling was\nunavoidable, and that the strength and tenderness of it was ever apt\nto tempt parents to relent and desist, and leave their end\nunaccomplished,--that made it necessary to warn against too ready a\nyielding to this natural inclination. The child may cry, and cry\nbitterly, previously to the correction; but, when you have reason to\nthink the crying is for the rod rather than for the fault, and that,\nbut for the threatened chastisement, the heart would probably have\nbeen unmoved, and the eyes dry;--then you must not allow yourselves\nto be so unmanned by his tears, as to suspend your purpose, and\ndecline its infliction. If a child perceives this (and soon are\nchildren sharp enough to find it out) he has discovered the way to\nmove you next time; and will have recourse to it\naccordingly.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nOn the subject of verse 15 see Homiletics on chap. vi. 9, 10, page 79.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nA DOUBLE KEEPING.\n\n+I. A keeping of the Divine commandments.+ What is it to \"keep the\ncommandments?\" Dr. Miller translates this verb to _guard_ or _watch._\nTaken in this sense therefore the proverb implies that there is\nneed--1. _To lay up God's law in our hearts._ It is to be our\nconstant aim to _know_ the will of God--the words which He has\nspoken, the commands which He has given, are to be constantly kept in\nremembrance and made the principal subject of our thoughts. We are to\ntread in the footsteps of the man described in the first Psalm, whose\n_\"delight is in the law of the Lord\"_ and who _\"meditates\"_ upon it\n_\"day and night.\"_ But the word as it is commonly understood\nimplies--2. _To translate God's law into life._ It is one thing to\n_know_ the will of God, it is another thing to _do_ it. Knowledge\nmust come before obedience, but knowledge alone will not save the\nsoul from death.\n\n+II. A keeping of the human soul.+ There is but one way to guard the\nhuman soul from the dangers to which it is exposed, and that is by\ncomplying with the demands of the God who can alone give spiritual\nlife. He commands us to yield ourselves unreservedly to His guidance,\nto accept His method of being made right in relation to His law, to\nfight against the evil tendencies of our fallen nature, and to seek\nHis help to overcome them. In doing this He has promised that we\nshall find that emancipation from the bondage of sin, that awakening\nof spiritual faculties, and that sense of His favour which alone is\nthe life of the soul. We have before dwelt upon proverbs which embody\ntruths similar to those contained in this verse. (See on chap. xi. 3,\npage 195; chap. x. 8, page 151; chap. xiii. 6, 13, 14, pages 299,\n312, 313; chap. xvi. 17, page 479.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Keep_ means to retain. _Guard_ means to watch. The root of the\npresent word means _to bristle,_ then to _watch close,_ either from\nthe _bristling_ of spears, or from a _sharp stave._ There is a\nphilosophy in these words, . . . viz., that conscience is vagrant. We\nhave to watch. Like the mind itself, it is hard to hold it to the\npoint. _Attention_ is our whole voluntary work. And, to a most\namazing degree, the Scriptures are framed upon this idea. We are to\n_remember now our Creator_ (Eccles. xii. 1). We are to _remember the\nSabbath day_ (Exod. xx. 8). We are to _\"observe to do,\"_ etc. (this\nvery word _guard._) See Deut. v. 1, 32, _et passim. \"Wherewithal_\nshall a young man cleanse his way? By _taking heed_ (this same word\n_guarding_) thereto according to Thy Word\" (Psa. cxix. 9). _\"Guards\nhimself\"_ (the same word). (See Critical Notes.) This is an iron link\nof sequence which no Anti-Calvinistic thought can shake. He who\nstands sentry over the \"commandment\" stands sentry over _himself;_\nliterally _\"his soul.\"_ There is no helplessness in man other than\nthat _tardema,_ or _deep sleep_ (ver. 15) which _\"sloth\"_ wilfully\ncasts him into, and which a voluntary slothfulness perpetually\nincreases and maintains. \"The fault is not in our stars, but in\nourselves, that we are aliens.\" The proverb advances upon this in the\nsecond clause. What more voluntary than a man's _\"way?\"_ It has a\nvoluntary goal, it has a daily journeying, and it includes all that\n_is_ voluntary. Seize a man at any moment. All that he is upon is\npart of his life's travel. Now, a Christian has but one _way._ So far\nforth as he is a Christian, he has but one end, and one path for\nreaching it. There is a beautiful unitariness in his journeying. It\nis a habit of Scripture to turn attention to the _scattered_ life of\nthe lost. They have no one end. \"If thine eye be single, thy whole\nbody shall be full of light,\" says the Saviour (Matt. vi. 23). Thou\n\"hast scattered thy ways to the strangers,\" says Jeremiah (iii. 13);\nthis same expression. \"Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy\nway\" (Jer. ii. 36). _Despiseth_ (English version) suits the lexicon\nand suits the sense, for certainly the lost man has less respect for\nhis way and life than the pardoned believer; but \"scattering\" is\nequally legitimate and common; more strengthened by analogy, and more\nin keeping with the first clause, where the verb _to guard_ stands\nmore opposed to vagrant and distraught ideas. _\"Dies;\"_ see Job v. 2.\nCorruption is seated in the soul, but not out of reach by any means.\nA man can increase it. What we do outside kills inwardly. A man's\ncounting-house might seem to have little to do with the state of _his\nsoul,_ but it is shaping it all the time. If he _scatters_ his ways\nhe is killing his soul, and what we are to remark is, that there is\nan _ipso actu_ condition of the effect (as in chap. xi. 19) which is\nexpressed in the Hebrew. The vagrancy of a morning's worldliness is\nthat much more death, as punctually administered as any of the\nchemistries of nature. The form is participial. It is \"_in_\nscattering,\" or \"_as_ scattering,\" his ways that _\"he dies.\"--Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nTHE BEST INVESTMENT.\n\n+I. A God-like disposition.+ To \"pity the poor\" and to show that we\ndo so by ministering to their necessities (for this is implied in the\nproverb) is to be like God. We have before seen how He identifies\nHimself with them, and how severe is the condemnation which He passes\nupon those who wrong them. (See Homiletics and Comments upon chap.\nxiv. 31, page 390, and upon chap. xvii. 5, page 504.) God is a Being\nof compassion--the Gospel of salvation is a testimony to the\npitifulness of His nature. He has remembered man in his low estate\nand in his condition of spiritual poverty, and out of the \"riches of\nHis grace\" (Ephes. i. 7) He has supplied his need. But he has not\nonly an eye for the spiritual necessities of His creatures, but for\nthose also which belong exclusively to their bodily nature. God\nmanifest in flesh had compassion upon the multitude because \"they had\nnothing to eat\" (Matt. xv. 32), and the same pitiful heart is still\nmoved with a like emotion when He looks into the haunts of poverty\nand sees men and women and little children without the necessaries of\nlife, or toiling hard and long for a pittance that is only just\nenough to keep them from starvation. The man therefore who \"has pity\non the poor\" manifests a disposition akin to that of his Father in\nheaven.\n\n+II. A most reliable debtor.+ God incarnate fed the hungry by\nmiracle, but now that He has left the earth for a season He entrusts\nthe duty to human hands. He does not now rain down bread from heaven\nto feed even his spiritual Israel, but He expects those of His\nchildren to whom He has given more than enough of this world's good\nthings to do it for Him, and looks upon the act as a loan to Himself.\n1. _That the investment will be a profitable one is certain, from the\ncharacter of God._ When men entrust others with their money, they\nhave especial regard to the character of those whom they make their\ndebtor. This forms the chief and most reliable security that a man\ncan have that he will receive it again. God's character is\npre-eminently good--so good that His Word is more than the bond of\nthe most trustworthy human creature, and none in heaven or earth or\nhell will ever be able to say that He has not paid them what was\ntheir due. 2. _The wealth of God is a guarantee that He will repay\nwith interest._ A man who is generous by nature, and possessed of\nabundant means, will not only faithfully repay a loan but, if his\ndebtor is a needy man, will feel a pleasure in adding to it a large\ninterest, or will press him to accept some extra token of his esteem.\nGod is a great and bountiful proprietor of all the resources of the\nuniverse, whether spiritual or material, and He loves to give\nabundantly. He has been always giving out of His fulness since there\nhas been a creature upon whom to lavish His gifts, and He delights to\nsee His children give, like Himself, generously and ungrudgingly.\nAnd, seeing he takes upon Himself to repay what is given to the poor,\nHis generosity and His wealth are sureties that the interest for the\nloan will be very ample. His children may have to wait long for it,\nbut the longer they wait the greater the accumulation of interest.\nThey may receive a partial repayment in material good, but the great\nrecompense will be at the _\"resurrection of the just\"_ (Luke xiv. 14)\non that day when the King shall say unto them, _\"Come, ye blessed of\nmy Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation\nof the world; for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I was\nthirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye took me in;\nnaked and ye clothed me\"_ (Matt. xxv. 34, 36).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWhen Alexander set forward upon his great exploits before he went\nfrom Macedonia, he divided among his captains and friends all that he\nhad; for which, when one of his friends reproved him, saying that he\nwas prodigal, for that he had reserved nothing for himself, the\nanswer which Alexander gave was this: that he had reserved much unto\nhimself, namely, hope of the monarchy of the world, which by the\nvalour and help of those his captains and nobles he hoped to obtain.\nAnd thus, surely, he that giveth to the poor may seem to be prodigal,\nyet, in respect of the hope that he hath of profit, he is\nfrugal-wise; neither is his hope such as Alexander's was, which\ndepended on the uncertainty of war, but such as is grounded upon the\ncertainty of God's Word.--_Spencer._\n\nThe Lord will not only pay for the poor man, but requite him that\ngave alms, with usury, returning great gifts for small. Give, then,\nthine house, and receive heaven; give transitory goods, and receive a\ndurable substance; give a cup of cold water and receive God's\nkingdom. . . . If our rich friend should say unto us, lay out so much\nmoney for me, I will repay it, we would willingly and readily do it.\nSeeing, then, our best friend, yea, our king, the King of kings,\nbiddeth us to give to the poor, promising that He will see us\nanswered for that we give, shall we not bestow alms at His motion and\nfor His sake?--_Muffet._\n\nThe off-hand sense is no doubt correct, and, as a worldly maxim,\n_often_ the munificent are rewarded in this world. . . . But we are\nnot to suppose the generous to suffer, and the saint might lose by\nbeing paid in money. The saint might need the chastisement of\npecuniary distress. We are not to suppose, therefore, this sense to\nbe the grand one. But the meaning is that obedience, if it be\nspiritual, is a positive thing; that it involves large and generous\nsacrifices; that it is to \"visit the fatherless\" (Jas. i. 27); and to\nfeed the hungry (Matt. xxv. 35); and that, in the grandest sense, he\nthat does these things _\"makes a borrower of Jehovah;\"_ and that the\ntransaction, under the grand head of guarding his own soul (ver. 16),\nwill pay him better than any less positive and more mystic species of\nobedience. . . . It may be fancy, but _causing to borrow_ seems to\nbe more expressive than (as an equivalent) to _lend_ (E.V.). We _can\nmake_ God borrow of us at any time among the widows and the orphans\n(Matt. xxv. 40; Jer. xlix. 11).--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18-20.\n\nRELATIVE DUTIES.\n\nWe have before considered verse 18 in connection with verses 13 and\n14. A reference to the Critical Notes will, however, show that there\nis an interpretation of the last clause which was not treated there.\nVerses 19 and 20, regarded separately, embody thoughts and precepts\nwhich we have had before. (See Homiletics on chap. xiv. 17, 29, pages\n363, 386, and on chap. xii. 15, page 271.) But these verses, taken in\nconjunction with the other interpretation of the last clause of verse\n18, may be regarded as giving valuable advice both to those who have\nto enforce discipline and administer chastisement, and to those who\nhave to endure them.\n\n+I. Counsel for parents.+ The reasonableness and necessity of\nchastisement has been considered before, but the additional thought\nwhich the other rendering of verse 18 makes prominent is, _that it\nmust be administered from a sense of duty, and dictated by love._\nParents are far too apt to punish their children, not because they\nhave sinned against _God,_ but because they have offended\n_them,_--and when this is the case, the anger manifested deprives the\ncorrection of its salutary effect. \"When the rod is used,\" says\nWardlaw,--and the words may be applied to any form of parental\nchastisement,--\"the end in view should be, purely and exclusively,\nthe _benefit of the child;_ not the gratification of any resentful\npassion on the part of the parent. Should the latter be apparent to\nthe child, the effect is lost, and worse than lost; for, instead of\nthe sentiment of grief and melting tenderness, there will be\nengendered a feeling of sullen hostility, . . . if not, even, of\nangry scorn, towards him who has manifested selfish passion rather\nthan parental love.\" The parent must regard himself as God's\nrepresentative, and must act, not as for himself, but for the Divine\nMaster and Father of both parent and child. If this is done, there\nwill be none of that \"provocation to wrath\" or \"discouragement\"\nagainst which Paul puts Christians on their guard (Col. iii. 21;\nEphes. vi. 4), and there will be good ground to hope that the\nchastisement will bring profit.\n\n+II. Counsel to children.+ The reasoning here is akin to that used by\nthe Apostle in the twelfth of Hebrews. It is admitted by him (verses\n11, 12), that \"no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous,\nbut grievous;\" nevertheless, those who have to endure it are exhorted\nto accept it with submission because of the precious\n_after-yield_--they are counselled to give themselves up to the\nDivine pruner and suffer Him to work His will upon them now, in\nconsideration of the _\"peaceable fruits of righteousness\"_ which will\nbe the result in the days of harvest. So Solomon argues here. He does\nnot deny that \"counsel\" and \"instruction,\" or rather _discipline,_\nmay often be unpalatable and irksome, but he holds up the wisdom that\nmay be gained by them as an incentive to induce the young to \"hear\"\nand to \"receive\" them--he \"reaches a hand through time,\" and \"fetches\nthe far-off interest\" of what at present seems grievous in order to\ngive effect to his exhortations. The actions of men in the present\nare mainly determined by the amount of consideration they give to the\nfuture. There are men who live wholly in the present hour--who\ngratify the fancy or follow the passion of to-day without giving a\nthought of the needs of to-morrow, or the penalty that they may then\nhave to pay for their folly. Others look ahead a little farther--they\nfashion the actions of to-day with a due regard to the interests of\ntheir whole future _earthly_ life, but they bestow no thought upon\nthe infinite _\"afterward\"_ that is to succeed it. The proverb\ncounsels both the young and the old to bring this long to-morrow into\nthe plans of to-day, and to let the remembrance of it open the ear to\nthe words of Divine wisdom by whomsoever they are spoken, and bend\nthe will to receive the \"chastening of the Lord,\" whether it come in\nthe form of parental discipline or in a sterner garb.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 18, 19. _\"Being in great wrath, remit the punishment; but if\nthou let him escape, yet apply_ (or add) _chastisement again.\"_ (So\nMuffet renders verse 19.) When thou are in thy mood, or burnest with\nfiery anger and displeasure, let pass for that time the correcting of\nthy child, lest thou passest measure therein, or mayest chance to\ngive him some deadly blow. Nevertheless, if for that time or for that\nfault thou let him go free, yet let him not always go uncorrected;\nbut when thou art more calm, according as he offereth occasion,\ncorrect him again.--_Muffet._\n\nDo not venom discipline by naked animosity. This is the human aspect.\nBut now for the fine model of Jehovah. \"He does not afflict\nwillingly\" (Lam. iii. 33). He follows this maxim: \"Discipline thy\nson, because there is now hope.\" But Solomon wishes plainly to\ndeclare that _to kill him He does not lift up His soul._ \"He taketh\nno pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but that all should turn\nand live\" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). It is evidently these great timbers of\nthought that Solomon is eyeing at the bottom of his structure. He is\nsettling them along in place. Secularly, they may have but little\nconnection; spiritually, they are all morticed close.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nMANY PLANS WORKING TO ONE END.\n\nThis proverb suggests--\n\n+I. The ignorance and sinfulness of man, the infinite knowledge and\ngoodness of God.+ Man is a creature of many devices; he is changeable\nin his purpose and plans because he is so ignorant concerning their\nissue. He cannot foretel with any certainty whether the event will be\naccording to his desire, or, if it should be so, whether it will\nbring him satisfaction. Hence the purpose of to-day is not the\npurpose of next year--the plans of his youth are different from those\nof his riper years. But God is the same in His purposes yesterday,\nto-day, and for ever, because He can _\"declare the end from the\nbeginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done\"_\n(Isa. xlvi. 10). A man's devices change in proportion as his feelings\nand desires vary; and these are changeable in proportion as he lacks\nperfection in his moral nature. But a Being of infinite goodness is\nnot subject to these changing moods and desires: and His plans are\nlike His character, always the same.\n\n+II. The attitude which men ought to take in relation to this truth.+\nIt is obvious that the counsel of God must stand, and that it\ndeserves to stand before all the devices of men. If, therefore, men\nwould have their devices stand they must learn to square them by the\ncounsel of God. A child will have its own way when it has learned to\nconform its will to the will of its parent. And if a man would have\nhis _\"heart's desire,\"_ he must so _\"delight in God\"_ (Psa.\nxxxvii. 4) that what pleases God pleases him also. For other\nHomiletics on this subject see on chap. xvi. 1 and 9, pp. 451, 468.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe great collective whole of the \"devices\" of all hearts constitutes\nthe grand complex scheme of the human race for their happiness.\nRespecting the object of every device, God has His design. There is\nin the world a want of coalescence between the designs of man and\nGod--an estranged spirit of design on the part of man. God's design\nis fixed and paramount.--_J. Foster._\n\n_A man of the better sort._ This is simply one of the names for man.\nWe do not always translate it _one of the better sort._ But it is\nrarely chosen listlessly. Here it creates an emphasis. The most\nimposing _\"schemes\"_ belong to the intelligent and great. The world\nis full of them. How foolish to build them up! Jehovah advises a\nwhole new behaviour for His creatures. How mad to scheme away from\nit.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nPOVERTY OF HEART AND POVERTY OF CIRCUMSTANCES.\n\nIf we read the first clause of this proverb as it stands in our\ntranslation it sets forth--\n\n+I. The true measure of a man's benevolence.+ It is not to be\nmeasured by the amount of money that he expends upon his\nfellow-creatures, but upon his desire to benefit them. His desire to\nhelp them may be very strong, and yet his circumstances may be such\nthat he has little more than sympathy to give. \"The heart may be\nfull,\" says Wardlaw, \"when the hand is empty.\" And many deeds of\ncharity that earn for men the title of benevolent are not really\nperformed for motives of goodwill to others but from selfish and\nvainglorious ends. If we take the reading given in the Critical Notes\nit teaches rather the truth--\n\n+II. That small deeds of kindness are far preferable to large\nprofessions of it.+ The _liar_ of the second clause is evidently one\nwho has it in his power largely to help others, and whose promises\nare in proportion to his power. But they are promises only. He does\nnot hesitate by false words to raise hopes which he never intends to\nfulfil, and thus becomes like the deceitful mirage of the desert,\nwhich, after cheating the traveller with delusive hopes of water,\ndisappears, and leaves him more despairing than before. On the other\nhand, the poor man is evidently one whose words never go beyond his\ndeeds, and whose deeds, if not great, are up to his ability, and are\nso constantly performed and so evidently the outcome of real sympathy\nthat they are like the little rill which follows the wayfarer all\nthrough his journey, and, which, although it can give but a little\nwater at a time, is always at hand with that little.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nBut let it be observed and remembered--\"the desires of a man are not\nhis kindness,\" when he has the ability to be practically kind, and\nconfines himself to desires. No. In that case, there is the clearest\nof all evidence that the desire is not sincere; mere profession,\nwithout reality--\"love in word\"--which is only another phrase for no\nlove at all. While, therefore, there are cases in which we\ncheerfully, according to a common phrase, \"take the will for the\ndeed,\" knowing that there is a want of ability to do what the heart\nwishes; there are other cases in which we demand the deed as the only\nproof of the will--the gift as the only evidence of the\ncharity.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe imperial standard of weights and measures has been sent by the\nKing into the market place of human life, where men are busy cheating\nthemselves and each other. Many of these merchantmen, guided by a\nfalse standard, have been all their days accustomed to call evil good\nand good evil. When the balance is set up by royal authority, and the\nproclamation issued that all transactions must be tested thereby,\nswindlers are dismayed, and honest man are glad. Such is the word of\ntruth when it touches the transactions of men. . . . There is a most\nrefreshing simplicity in the language of Scripture upon these points.\nThis word speaks with authority. It is not tainted with the usual\nadulation of riches. A dishonest man is called a liar, however high\nhis position may be in the city. And the honest poor gets his patent\nof nobility from the Sovereign's hand. The honest rich are fully as\nmuch interested in reform in this matter as the honest poor. Make\nthis short proverb the keynote of our commercial system, and epidemic\npanics will disappear. . . . After each catastrophe people go about\nshaking their heads and wringing their hands, asking, What will\nbecome of us? What shall we do? We venture to propose an answer to\nthe inquiry. From the Bible first engrave on your hearts, then\ntranslate in your lives, and last emblazon aloft on the pediment of\nyour trade temple this short and simple legend: _\"A poor man is\nbetter than a liar.\"_\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subject of verse 23 see on chapter x. 24,\nxiv. 26, and xviii. 10, pages 179 and 542. Verse 24 will be treated\nin chap. xxvi. 12-16. For the subject of verses 25 and 29 see chap.\nxvii. 10, page 509.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 26-29.\n\nPOSSIBILITIES OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY.\n\n+I. The tenderest admonitions and the most solemn warnings sometimes\nfail to influence for good.+ Sometimes the most loving parental care\nseems utterly wasted upon an ungrateful child, and the more constant\nand tender the words of admonition the farther does he depart from\nthe way in which he ought to go. There is many a man so in love with\nsin that he may be said to \"devour iniquity\" (verse 28); and when\nthis fatal appetite has taken possession of the soul all appeals to\nhis better nature, and even to his own self-love, are vain.\n\n+II. When men are so hardened there is no depth of iniquity to which\nthey may not sink.+ He who scoffs at all threats of retribution, both\nin this life and in that which is to come, has broken through all\nbarriers of restraint, and will be capable of outraging all the\ntender ties of human relationship, even to the extent of bringing his\nparents to disgrace and shame. The most hardened sinners in the\nuniverse of God are not found in heathen lands, or among the ignorant\nat home, but they are those who, having heard instruction, have\n\"erred from the words of knowledge.\" Each day that they resist the\ngood influence brought to bear upon them they increase their moral\ninsensibility, and their final condemnation (verse 29). Hence the\nadmonition of verse 27. (See Critical Notes.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 26. This were an admirable text for young men entering upon\nlife and still at the expense of their parents. It is a great\nenormity either to waste the property of their father while he is\nalive, or after they have succeeded to expel the widowed mother from\nthe premises.--_Chalmers._\n\n\nVerse 27. It is so proper and natural for a son to hear instruction,\nthat the hearing instruction maketh to be a son. . . . But if thou\nhear instruction, hear it not--not to be the better for it.\nInstruction speaketh to keep thee _from erring:_ do not thou _hear it\nto err:_ instruction putteth into thee the words of knowledge; do not\nthou put them out by erring from them, by not following them. . . .\nCease thus to hear, but hear still. For by hearing at length thine\nerror may be corrected; whereas, if thou hear not, thou dost not only\nerr, but deprivest thyself of the means that reduce thee from\nerring.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Strong drink.+ The Hebrew word _Shekhar_\nincludes every strong drink besides wine. Delitzsch translates it\n_mead._ +2. The fear of a king,+ _i.e.,_ the dread which he inspires.\n+Sinneth against his soul,+ or _\"forfeits his life,\"_ so Delitzsch\nand Miller. +3. To cease from strife.+ Rather, \"to remain far from\"\nit. +4.+ Delitzsch translates this verse, _\"At the beginning of the\nharvest the sluggard ploweth not, and so when he cometh to reaping\ntime there is nothing.\"_ +5. Counsel.+ Delitzsch translates this word\n_\"purpose,\"_ and understands it to refer to a secret plan.\n+6.+ Miller reads the first clause of this verse, _\"Much of the mere\nman one calls his goodness,\" i.e.,_ \"Much that is merely human.\" He\nallows, however, that the usual rendering conveys a very striking\nmeaning and agrees admirably with the second clause. The Hebrew word\nmeans literally _abundance of men._ Delitzsch translates, _\"Almost\neveryone meeteth a man who is gracious unto him; but a man who\nstandeth the test, who findeth such a one?\"_ +7.+ This verse should\nbe, _\"He who in his innocence walks uprightly, blessed are his\nchildren,\"_ etc. +8. Judgment.+ Rather _justice._ +Scattereth+ or\n_winnoweth._ +10. Divers weights.+ Literally, _\"a stone and a stone,\nan ephah and an ephah.\"_ +11.+ Touching the second clause of this\nverse, Miller says, \"It is too terse for English, and we cannot\ntranslate it. Nor can we brook the English version. _Doings_ are in\nthe same category with _work._ How can one be the test of the other?\nThe only room for a proposition is, obviously, for this: _'A child is\nknown by his doings;_ and the question, _Is he pure?_ is but the\nquestion, _Is his work right?_'\" +15.+ Here Miller reads, _There is\ngold,_ etc., in _the lips of knowledge._ +16. A Strange woman.+\nRather, _\"a stranger.\"_ +17. A man.+ The Hebrew word here uses is the\none which denotes _a superior man._ +18.+ The first clause may be\nread, _Establish thy purpose by counsel._ +19. \"Him that\nflattereth.\"+ Rather, _him that openeth wide his lips, i.e.,_ the\nbabbler. +24. Man.+ The first word, _Geber,_ denoting _a superior or\nmighty man:_ the second, _Adam, man in general, or an ordinary man._\n+25.+ The first clause of this verse should be, _\"It is a snare to a\nman to cry out hastily 'holy,' i.e.,_ to vow without thought and\nconsideration.\" +26. The wheel,+ _i.e.,_ the wheel of the threshing\ninstrument which blows away the chaff. +30. The blueness of a wound.+\n_Cutting wounds (Delitzsch), Wounding stripes (Z\u00f6ckler)._ Miller\ntranslates the _\"welts,\" (i.e.,_ the tumid and purple confines of a\nwound) _cleanse as though an evil,_ \"that is, although painful and\ndeformed, they have a clear office, viz., to purge away the sore.\"\nWardlaw suggests that the word, being etymologically derived from a\nverb denoting to _join together,_ may be translated _compressions,_\nand says, \"The compressions of a wound are necessary for cleansing\nout of it the prurient and peccant humour, which would prevent its\nhealing; they are, at the same time, in many cases exceedingly\npainful, and would only be endured or inflicted from necessity. And\nas they thus clean the wound and promote its healing, so in a _moral_\nsense does the severity of discipline affect with salutary and\ncleansing influence the condition of the inner man.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nSTRONG DRINK.\n\nTaking the two words here used to stand for all intoxicating drinks,\nwe remark--\n\n+I. That they are most deceptive in their operation.+ It is most\ncertain that there is no person who is now an abject slave to strong\ndrink, who would not once have indignantly repelled the insinuation\nthat he or she would ever be a drunkard. It is taken probably for a\nlong time without any evil effects being apparent, and the temporary\nstimulus is mistaken for a permanent increase of strength, until one\nday the unhappy victim finds himself a subject of the most tyrannical\nhabit that enslaves fallen humanity. And strong drink may truly be\nsaid to be a _\"mocker,\"_ when we see how men appear to struggle to\nescape from its deadly fascination, and how fruitless their efforts\noften are.\n\n+II. That they are powerful ministers to human passions.+ Wherever\nstrong drink enters, every evil tendency is increased tenfold; the\nangry man becomes a monster of cruelty, and he who was before a\ncomparatively harmless member of society, or even a useful one,\nbecomes hurtful and dangerous. The restraints that are all powerful\nto govern a man when sober are all as utterly useless when he is\nunder the power of string drink, as silken cords would be to keep a\nwild beast within bounds.\n\n+III. It is utter folly to tamper with such a foe to human dignity\nand happiness.+ The deceptive influence of strong drink, and the\nmiserable results of allowing it to gain the mastery over us, are all\naround men; none can now plead ignorance of its nature, or of its\neffects, for the world is full of homes ruined by it, and hearts\nwhich it has broken, and men whom it has changed into brutes.\nExperience sets her seal to Solomon's declaration, and brands as\n_without wisdom_ those who play with such a deadly and treacherous\nenemy.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSolomon seldom singles out a specific vice; and when he does, it is\noften exemplary, or to be understood of any. He does single out\ndrunkenness, however. Strikingly enough the Apostle does so (1 Cor.\nvi. 10).--_Miller._\n\nIf the fruit of his own vine sometimes chastised the unwary Israelite\nwith whips, the fiery product of our distilleries chastise the nation\nwith scorpions. The little finger of strong drink in modern times is\nthicker than the loins of its father and representative in Solomon's\nday. The deceits which our enemy practises are legion; and legion too\nare the unwary \"who are deceived thereby.\" I shall enumerate a few of\nits lying devices. 1. A great quantity of precious food is destroyed\nin this country that strong drink may be extracted from the\nrubbish. . . . On an average of ten years, the quantity of barley\nconverted into malt in the United Kingdom has been nearly six\nmillions of quarters annually. When you add to this the unmalted\ngrain consumed in the distillation of spirits in Ireland, you have an\naggregate sufficient to feed between four and five millions of people\nthroughout the year. . . . What do we obtain in return? A large\nquantity of malt liquors and distilled spirits. And is the grain\nequivalent, or nearly equivalent to the loss? 2. The curative and\nstrengthening powers of our strong drinks, which are so much vaunted,\nare in reality next to nothing. We speak of the ordinary use of these\narticles as beverages. . . . If they contribute at any time to the\nquantity of force exerted by man, it corresponds not to the corn that\nyou give to your horse, but to the whipping. A master who has hired\nyou for a day, and desires to make the most of his bargain, may\npossibly find it his interest to bring more out of your bones and\nsinews, by such a stimulus, but you certainly have no interest in\nlashing an additional effort out of yourself to-day, and lying in\nlethargy to-morrow. . . . Liebig has a pleasant notion about\nbalancing on the point of a pen-knife, like a pinch of snuff, all the\nnourishment that the most capacious German swallows with his beer in\na day. And it is chemistry he is giving us, not poetry or wit. . . .\n3. Strong drink deceives the nation, by the vast amount of revenue\nthat it pours into the public treasury. It is a true and wise economy\nto tax the articles heavily for behoof of the community, so far and\nas long as they are sold and used; but it is a false and foolish\neconomy to encourage the consumption of the article, for the sake of\nthe revenue it produces. Drink generates pauperism, and pauperism is\ncostly. Drink generates crime, and crime is costly. . . . There is a\nhuge living creature with as many limbs as a Hindoo idol, and these\nlimbs intertwined with each other in equally admirable confusion. The\ncreature having life must be fed, and being large, must have a good\ndeal of food for its sustenance. One day, having got rather short\nallowance, it was rolling its heavy head among its many limbs, and\nfound something warm and fleshy. Being hungry, it made an incision\nwith its teeth, laid its lips to the spot, and sucked. Warm blood\ncame freely; the creature sucked its fill, and gorged, lay down to\nsleep. Next day, it supplemented its short rations in the same way.\nEvery day the creature drank from that opening, and as this rich\ndraught made up about one third of its whole sustenance, the wonder\ngrew, why it was becoming weaker under the process, day by day. Some\none at last bethought him of turning over the animal's intermingled\nlimbs, and found that all this time it had been sucking its own\nblood! The discoverer proposed to bandage the spot, and not permit\nthe continuance of the unnatural operation. The financiers cried out,\n\"A third of the animal's sustenance comes from that opening; if you\nstop it, he will die!\" Behold the wise politicians who imagine that\nthe body politic would die of inanition, if it were deprived of the\nrevenue which it sucks from its own veins, in the shape of taxes on\nthe consumption of intoxicating drinks!--_Arnot._\n\n\nThe thoughts in verses 2 and 3 are the same as that in chap. xix. 12,\nsee page 571, and chaps. xiv. 29 and xvi. 32, pages 386 and 497. The\nthought in the fourth verse is identical with that in chap. x. 4,\nalthough the similitude is different, see page 142.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 5.\n\nDEEP SEA DREDGING.\n\n+I. Much that is good, or much that is bad, may lie hidden in a man's\nheart without its existence being suspected by the majority of his\nacquaintance.+ The word here rendered \"counsel\" may be taken in a\ntwofold sense. It may be used of knowledge, or of great mental\nability, which is hidden either because its possessor is exceedingly\nmodest or exceedingly reserved--either because he lacks the will or\nthe power to make it known. Or it may refer to deeply-laid schemes or\nwell-planned purposes which a man intends shall one day become facts,\nbut which at present exist only in his own mind. And according to the\nnature of the counsel it may be compared to the wealth of beauty and\nriches which lie hidden in the depth of the ocean, unsuspected by the\nmajority of those who sail above, or to the deadly torpedo which\nmakes no ripple upon the surface of the water, and which its victims\napproach without dreaming of what is concealed beneath.\n\n+II. The difficulty of one man's obtaining what another wishes to\nconceal will depend upon the comparative wisdom of both.+ For many\nages the deep sea seemed to defy all the efforts of man to explore\nits depths and to find out its secrets, but now even the ocean has to\nown him master in this respect, and to submit to have its treasures\nbrought to light. There has been, as it were, a struggle between the\nsea and the man of science as to which should possess the treasures\nof the deep, and the issue has depended upon the ability of the man\nin comparison with the depth of the ocean. So there is sometimes a\nstruggle between men--the one desiring to conceal his knowledge or\nhis plans within his own breast, and the other desiring to discover\nthem. The issue will depend upon the comparative mental power of the\ntwo men. If both be \"men of understanding,\" the resistance on the one\nside and the effort on the other will be continuous and long, and the\n\"deep waters\" may prove too deep for the bucket or the dredging net.\nBut if the balance of wisdom is in favour of the seeker--if there is\none spot where his line can reach--he will \"draw out\" the counsel and\nproclaim himself the master.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe whole emblem finely illustrates what is true of the \"inward\nlight\" as held by the \"Friends.\" All men have light which, if they\nwould follow, would lead them (granting that they persevere) into the\nlight of the gospel (Rom. i. 20). What better name for this than\ncounsel? Alas! it lies \"deep.\" No man will follow it but by the\nSpirit of God. . . . Nevertheless it is there! How solemn that fact\nat the judgment day! \"The word is nigh\" (Rom x. 8). _\"A man of\ndiscernment,\"_ or _\"understanding,\" i.e.,_ the Christian. . . . Only\nthe illuminated man, getting his light from its great fountain, will\nbe moved to go down into his _\"heart,\"_ where the counsel lies\nwaiting and, \"draw\" the \"deep waters.\"--_Miller._\n\nEvery question is, as it were, a turn of the windlass.--_Plumptre._\n\nHe is an expert fisher. . . . But man can but _draw them out;_ God\nseeth them in the heart, man can see no more than he draws out, but\nGod seeth all; man draws and labours for the knowledge he getteth,\nbut all things are naked and open unto God's sight.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-12.\n\nAN UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE, A GENERAL RULE, AND A RARE VIRTUE.\n\n+I. A double challenge to all men.+ Who can say, I am pure from my\nsin? A faithful man, who can find? To the first of these questions\nthe answer must be in the negative. 1. _God_ answers \"No\" to it. The\ntestimony of Scriptures is that in His sight _\"shall no man living be\njustified\"_ (Psa. cxlii. 2): that _\"all have sinned\"_ (Rom. iii. 23):\nthat _\"if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the\ntruth is not in us\"_ (1 John i. 8). His ability to form a correct\njudgment rests upon His _omniscience_--He hath made the _\"hearing ear\nand the seeing eye\"_ (verse 12), and shall He not _hear and see_ and\n_know the thoughts of man?_ (Psa. xciv. 9, 10). He is the ideal King\nwho _winnows_ the actions of man. See Miller's note on ver. 8 (Matt.\niii. 12). 2. _Man's experience_ answers \"No\" to it. \"Even a child is\nknown by its doings\" (verse 11); the actions are like the hands of a\nclock, which tell to those who look upon them whether all the wheels\nwithin are in perfect working order. When we mark at all observantly\nthe actions of even the best of men, we shall be most likely to\ndetect here and there a flaw in their characters--some\ninconsistencies which tell of moral imperfection--but if not, man\nneed only to look _within_ with some degree of impartiality to be\nconvinced that his _\"own heart condemns him\"_ (1 John iii. 20). But\nto the second challenge we need not give an universal negative.\nFaithful men are _rare,_ but they _can be found._ Even Solomon could\npoint to the \"just man\" who \"walked in his integrity,\" leaving a\nblessing behind him. His father David, although he was far from being\nfree from sin, yea, although he sinned deeply and terribly, and yet\nwas a man who could appeal to God to witness to his _integrity_ (Psa.\nvii. 8)--to the general intent and purpose of his life being toward\nGod and goodness--to his being in the main faithful to his\nconvictions of the right and true. (On this subject see on chap.\nxi. 3, page 196.) And although _faithful_ men are still rare enough\nto need _search,_ they are more common than they were in Solomon's\ndays. There are many men scattered throughout the world who put duty\nbefore worldly interests, and God's glory before their own, and are\nthus earning for themselves the _well-done_ of the _faithful_ though\nnot the _perfect_ servant (Matt. xxv. 21). For it is certain that if\na man is faithful to himself--if he subjects his own moral condition\nto that scrutiny which must convince him of his own impurity before a\nheart-searching and Holy God, and accepts His method of being\ncleansed from guilt--he will be faithful both to God and man.\n\n \"To thine own self be true:\n And it must follow as the night the day;\n Thou canst not then be false to any man.\"\n\n+II. A general rule.+ Another proposition here laid down is, that\nalthough absolutely pure men are not to be found, and although\nfaithful men are rare, yet \"most men will proclaim everyone his own\ngoodness\" (verse 6). There is a natural tendency in men to shrink\nfrom a very close inspection of their own motives, and desires, and\nfeelings--they look anywhere rather than within, and consequently,\nvery few have any conception of their own depravity. They have never\nmeasured even their actions, much less their thoughts, by the\nrequirements of God's law, and consequently, while He pronounces them\n_\"wretched, and miserable, and poor\"_ they are saying, _\"I am rich,\nand increased with goods, and have need of nothing\"_ (Rev. iii. 17,\n18). Most men are thanking God that _\"they are not as other men are\"_\nwhen they ought to be smiting their breasts and saying, _\"God be\nmerciful to me, a sinner\"_ (Luke xviii. 13). It is this wide-spread\nself-deception concerning their real condition that renders men so\nindifferent to God's method for restoring them, and thus keeps the\nworld in its present state of soul-sickness and death.\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 10, see on chap. xi. 1.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis faithfulness, where it exists, develops itself in two branches;\nthe one suppressing our neighbour's vanity, and the other our own.\nThe last mentioned is first in order of nature and in relative\nimportance the chief. True faithfulness, like charity, begins at\nhome. . . . Faithful reproof of another's foibles is a virtue which\nsome can exercise without an effort. They deal a hearty blow on the\nhead of a luckless brother egotist who stands in the way of their own\nadvancement, and then expect to be praised for faithfulness. But it\nis Jehu's driving. The zeal which impels it is not pure.--_Arnot._\n\nThe meaning is (see Critical Notes for Miller's rendering) that a man\nis apt to call mere animal traits, like amiableness, or good nature,\nby the name of _goodness;_ and the caution is, that seeking deep for\npiety (ver. 5), we should be careful to take up with no such stupid\ncounterfeit. Much of the mere _flesh_ to borrow a New Testament\nexpression, is kind and honest. There is much of the mere man's\nnative morality. We must take care not to take that for _\"goodness.\"_\nThere is a certain true _fidelity_ that embraces everything. That is\nreligion. It embraces God. It embraces spiritual _faithfulness._ It\nmay be easily counterfeited. It has been the snare of our race to\ntake _\"what is of the mere man,\"_ and confound it with it.--_Miller._\n\nA faithful man--as a parent--a reprover--an adviser--one \"without\nguile\"--who can find? (Mic. vii. 1, 2). Look close. View thyself in\nthe glass of the Word (Psa. ci. 6). Does thy neighbour, or thy\nfriend, find thee faithful to him? What does our daily intercourse\nwitness? Is not the attempt to speak what is agreeable often made at\nthe expense of truth? Are not professions of regard sometimes utterly\ninconsistent with our real feelings? In common life, where gross\nviolations are restrained, a thousand petty offences are allowed,\nthat break down the wall between sin and duty, and, judged by the\nDivine standard, are indeed guilty steps upon forbidden\nground.--_Bridges._\n\nBut the manner in which men make known what they account their\ngoodness is very various. Some are open with it. They almost\nliterally \"proclaim\" it upon the housetops. To every individual, and\nin every company, they speak of it--of what they are, of what they\nhave said, of what they have done, of what they think, and of what\nthey wish and intend to do. And O! if they had but the means what\nwould they not accomplish!\n\nSome there are who are quite as vain, and as ambitious of\ncommendation and praise--who, knowing that everything of the nature\nof ostentation is exceedingly unpopular, and lets a man down, and\ntempts others to pluck his feathers from him--set about their object\nwith greater art. They devise ways of getting their merits made known\nso as to avoid the flaw of ostentatious self-display. In company,\nthey commend others for the qualities which they conceive themselves\nspecially to possess, or for the doing of deeds which they themselves\nare sufficiently well known to have done; and they turn the\nconversation dexterously that way; or they find fault with others for\nthe want of the good they are desirous to get praise for; or they\nlament over their own deficiencies and failures in the very points in\nwhich they conceive their excellence to lie--to give others the\nopportunity of contradicting them; or, if they have done anything\nthey deem particularly generous and praise-worthy, they introduce\nsome similar case, and bring in, in as apparently accidental and\nunintentional a way as possible, the situation of the person or the\nfamily that has been the object of their bounty.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 7. Many are the several walks of men in this world--one walketh\nin his pleasure, as it were in the walks of a garden; another walketh\nin his profit, and he walketh as it were up and down the exchange;\nanother walketh in troubles, and he walketh as it were in a wood;\nanother walketh in his poverty, and he walketh as it were in a\ndesert; another walketh in his beastly lusts of drunkenness and\nuncleanness, and he walks as it were in mire and dirt; the just man\nwalketh in his integrity, and he walketh as it were in the holy\ntemple.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 8. We must be very careful, then, how we do our sifting. God's\nis perfectly complete. . . . He _winnows_ us at a glance. It is\nimportant, therefore, that we have something more than \"evil,\"\nbecause \"all\" that He shall _winnow_ bodily away.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 9. Behold here the king sitting upon the throne of His\njudgment, whereof the former verse speaketh! Who _can_ say it, and so\nbe untrue in saying it? Who shall say it, and be so impudent as to\nsay it? For to make clean the heart is His work who hath made the\nheart, thou who hast made it unclean canst not make it\nclean.--_Jermin._\n\nThis proverb is especially noteworthy because, in contrast with the\nstyle of conception which is elsewhere predominant in the Proverbs,\naccording to which the imperfection of all human piety is but\nslightly emphasized, and he who is relatively pious is allowed to\npass as righteous, it gives expression to the unsatisfying nature of\nall moral endeavours, as never conducting to the full extirpation of\nall sense of guilt, and a perfect feeling of peace with God; _it\naccordingly suggests the need of a higher revelation in which the\nsense of guilt and of an ever-imperfect fulfilment of duty shall\nfinally be overcome._--_Elster, in Lange's Commentary._\n\n\nVerse 10. Originally, as in xi. 1, of dishonesty in actual trade, but\nhere perhaps as a companion to verse 9, with a wider application to\nall inequality of judgment, to all judging one man by rules which we\ndo not apply to ourselves or to another.--_Plumptre._\n\nThat whereby thou takest from others shall add unto the weight of\nthine own punishment; that whereby thou addest in measuring for\nthyself shall make God to take away from the measure of His mercy\ntowards thee.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 11. There is no tree that in growing doth not bend rather to\nthe one side or the other; there is no river which, although it have\nmany windings and turnings, yet in the course of it doth not rather\nturn one way than another; and so it is in the life of man, even from\nthe childhood of man's life. Do not judge, therefore, of any man by\none work or two, so thou mayest wrong him and deceive\nthyself.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 13 see on chap. vi. 10, 11, page 79.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nBARGAINING.\n\nThis proverb refers--\n\n+I. To a world-wide manifestation of human selfishness.+ A custom\nthat was prevalent in the days of Solomon, many centuries ago, and\namid circumstances which differed widely from those by which we are\nsurrounded, has held its place among men until the present day, and\nwill doubtless continue to do so until the teachings and the spirit\nof Christianity rule the world. It prevails in modern England quite\nas extensively as it did in ancient Judea; and whether the buyer be a\nmillionaire bargaining for an estate, or a costermonger for the worth\nof a shilling, he is often found knowingly, and therefore criminally,\ndepreciating the value of the commodity. It is a trait of fallen\nhumanity which \"makes the whole world kin.\"\n\n+II. To a pitiful ground of boasting.+ Although it does need some\nskill and experience to tell the real value of an article, it\nrequires none to pronounce it good for nothing. Only a man with some\nknowledge and judgment can put a fair price upon it, but any fool can\nsay, \"It is naught, it is naught.\" And if by knowingly depreciating\nthe purchase the buyer robs the seller, he has but a very poor\ntransaction to boast of. He has wronged another, it is true, but he\nhas far more grievously wronged himself, for if his neighbour is the\npoorer by a few pence or pounds he is the poorer by so much injury\ndone to his own conscience, and by so much loss of the confidence of\nhis fellow men. He who makes a boast of such a matter must, indeed,\nhave few grounds for boasting.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis victorious boasting is not like other boasting. For that\ndelighteth to do it in the face of the conquered; but this, as justly\nashamed of itself, is made when they are gone one from the other. But\nto make a moral application of the words, as it is in buying\ncommodities, so it is in the getting of wisdom and godliness; while a\nman labours for the obtaining of it, the trouble of his pains maketh\nhim not to think so well of it, but having made it his own, then he\npraiseth the worth and excellency of it.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on Verse 15 see on chap. iii. 14, 15; viii. 11;\nxii. 14; xviii. 20, 21; pages 39, 107, 275, and 555.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nNECESSARY SECURITY.\n\n+I. An untrustworthy creditor.+ A man who under ordinary\ncircumstances makes himself a surety for one who is a stranger to\nhim, is chargeable with great folly, and the act may be a criminal\none. He is very foolish if he pledges himself up to his ability of\nredeeming his pledge, and he is dishonest if he goes beyond it. The\nwarning of the proverb is directed against entering into business\nrelations with a man who has so slight a sense of his own\nresponsibility as to become \"surety for a stranger.\" It may be\nregarded as a certainty that a man who will enter into such an\nengagement without reflection and caution is not to be depended\non--does not measure his actions in this particular by a very high\nstandard of morality. He may be a man of generous impulses and good\nintentions, but he lacks that substratum of high principle which\nmakes a safe creditor.\n\n+II. An extreme security.+ The necessity of exacting security before\ncredit, discloses the existence of immorality in the world. In a\nfamily where every brother is known to the other, and where the\ninterests of each are the interests of all, there is no need to take\na pledge for the performance of any promise, or the payment of any\ndebt. But in the imperfect state of society in which we find\nourselves, security before credit is necessary when we enter into\nbusiness transactions with our fellow men, for the world is not yet\nruled by the Divine precept, _\"Love thy neighbour as\nthyself\"_--(Matt. xix. 19). And the security may be regulated by the\nreliability of him whom we trust. Solomon here regards him who\nbecomes surety for a stranger, as so unlikely to be faithful to his\nown liabilities, that those who trust him may exact from him even\nthat pledge which was the last allowed in the Mosaic law, and which\ncould not be retained beyond the day (Exodus xxii. 26, 27). The\ninjunction is probably to be regarded rather as advice against\ntrusting such a man at all. (On the subject of suretyship, see\nComments on chap. vi. 1, page 76.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe moral is that securityships are so unsafe that we may treat the\nman as one already ruined. But in the spiritual world it means (chap.\nvi.) that a man who holds fast sloth (chap. v. 13), holds fast a bond\nof eternal vengeance; that he renews it by his wilful act (xvii. 18);\nthat it is a bond to a friend (chap. vi. 1), but that friend forced\n_ex lege_ to collect it; that if now at this late day he holds it on,\nstand clear from him! He will certainly be lost. _Take his garment,_\nthat is, use the last resort, as against the most hopeless\nbondsman.--_Miller._\n\nHis garment is not so near unto him as thou art unto thyself; this is\nnot more needful to keep him warm than it is to keep thee safe. And\nseeing that he, by his folly, hath made himself naked of\nunderstanding, it is not thou but himself that maketh him naked of\nhis garment. Seeing he is content to give himself a pledge for a\nstranger, it is less than thou doest in taking his garment as a\npledge of him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nBAD BREAD.\n\n+I. Some gratification is to be obtained from dishonest gain.+ Many a\nswindler gets not only bread by swindling, but many other things,\nwhich not only minister to his senses, but gratify mental appetites\nnot in themselves unlawful. And he finds pleasure in the fruit of his\ndishonesty--in, it may be, his well-furnished table, his luxurious\nmansion, his social position. It is not the highest and the purest\npleasure, but there is a sweetness in it, or men would not grasp so\neagerly the \"bread of deceit.\"\n\n+II. A time will come when it will not only cease to give pleasure,\nbut will bring misery.+ The dishonest man will find that, after all,\nhis gains are not bread for his higher nature--that his soul is still\nunsatisfied, and crying out for sustenance--and, more than this, that\nhis conscience demands satisfaction for the wrong-doing of the\npast--and even if he is permitted to keep possession of his\nill-gotten wealth, it is not only what chaff without the grain, or\nthe husk without the kernel, is to the starving man, but as the very\nsand of the desert or the dust of the highway in the mouth,\ntormenting as well as unsatisfying.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"Everything gotten wrongfully is here implied.\" Bitter was Achan's\nsweet, deceitfully hid in the tent, which brought ruin upon himself\nand his family (Josh. vii. 21-24). Look at Gehazi. What profit had he\nfrom his talents of silver and changes of garments? Bitter indeed was\nthe bread of deceit to him (2 Kings v. 20-27). Look even at Jacob, a\ntrue servant of God; and yet chastened heavily almost to the end of\nhis days with the bitter fruits of deceit (Gen. xxvii.;\nxli. 36-38).--_Bridges._\n\nMen must not think to dine with the devil, and then to sup with\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.--_Trapp._\n\nIt is crusted without, as if it were bread; but within, contrary to\nbread, is not soft. The deceived, tasting it with the tongue of his\nhope and presuming confidence, findeth nothing which is not grateful\nunto him: the deceiver tasting it with the tongue of present profit\nfindeth it most luscious unto him. But when the deceiver, having it\nin his mouth, pierceth it with the teeth of his trial, then so gravel\nbreaketh the teeth so it breaketh his heart; and when the deceiver\ncomes to feed upon it he findeth there is no juice of true\nprofit.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nTHOUGHT BEFORE ACTION.\n\n+I. The permanent success of an undertaking is generally in\nproportion to the thought bestowed upon it beforehand.+ It is an act\nof extreme folly to commit ourselves to any course, or to undertake\nany task without first weighing all the probable consequences, and\nproviding against the most likely contingencies. Such a wise\nforethought by no means excludes entire dependence upon God, for\nwhile it is most true that _\"Man's goings are of the Lord,\"_ and _\"a\nman cannot understand his own way\"_ (ver. 24), both common sense and\nthe Word of God plainly teach that man must use the powers of\nforethought with which he has been endowed, or he must be content to\nsee his purposes frustrated and his plans miscarry. If he desires his\n\"purposes\" to be \"established,\" in other words--what he does to have\na lasting result in the direction desired--he must _\"sit down first\"_\nand _\"count the cost\"_ (Luke xiv. 28, 31).\n\n+II. It is advisable to call in the wisdom of others to help us in\nour deliberations.+ Since one man is rarely, if ever, able to look at\na matter from every point of view, his plans are most likely to be\nwisely laid, and his purposes most likely to succeed, if he looks at\nthem with the eyes of other men as well as with his own. They may\ndiscern a weak spot where he saw nothing to fear, or a point of\nvantage which had escaped his notice entirely. Or they may see good\nreasons for dissuading him altogether from the undertaking, or may\nmake him so much the stronger for the task by encouragement and\ncounsel. It is not generally those who are most able to act alone who\nlightly esteem the advice of others--these men who are the most\nsuccessful in that to which they put their hand are not as a rule\ngiven to undervalue the wisdom of other people.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving\ncounsel. . . . Things will have their first or second agitation; if\nthey be not tossed upon by the waves of counsel, they will be tossed\nupon the waves of fortune, and be full of inconstancy, doing and\nundoing, like the reeling of a drunken man.--_Lord Bacon._\n\nPonder Bishop Hall's description of the spiritual _war._ \"It admits\nof no intermission. It knows no night, no winter. It abides no peace,\nno truce. It calls us not into garrison, where we may have ease and\nrespite, but into pitched fields continually. We see our enemies in\nthe face always, and are always seen and assaulted; ever resisting,\never defending, receiving and returning blows. If either we be\nnegligent or weary, we die. What other hope is there, while one\nfights and the other stands still? We can never have safety and peace\nbut in victory. Then must our resistance be courageous and constant,\nwhen both yielding is death, and all treaties of peace mortal.\" Does\nnot this war bring the greatest need of deliberate _counsel,_\ncarefully counting the cost (Luke xiv. 31, 32); cleaving to our\nAll-wise Counsellor (Isa. ix. 6) and Almighty Helper?--_Bridges._\n\nAmong the Romans, though a man were never so strong, never so\nvaliant, yet, if he wanted wisdom and counsel, he was said to be\n_miles sine oculis,_ a soldier without his eyes.--_Jermin._\n\n\nSee Critical Notes for the correct rendering of the second clause of\nverse 19, and for Homiletics see on chap. x. 19 and xi. 13, pages 168\nand 211.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 20.\n\nAN UNNATURAL CHILD AND A NATURAL LAW.\n\n+I. An unnatural child.+ The ungrateful son or daughter of good\nparents is an unnatural being. If experience did not contradict, we\nshould say that even fallen human creatures must return love for\nlove, and could not help feeling gratitude to those who have denied\nthemselves for their good. And if there is no love so strong and so\nunselfish as that which a parent feels toward a child, it does seem\nalmost impossible that any child can be unresponsive to it. But if to\nremain untouched by it is unnatural, how much more so is it to attain\nto the height of wickedness upon which the text passes judgment. We\nmust suppose that the proverb refers to fathers and mothers who are,\nto some extent, what they ought to be--who do in some measure reflect\nupon their offspring the tenderness of the Great and Divine\nFather--and then we can conceive of no more unnatural being than he\n\"who curseth his father or his mother.\" Every natural instinct tends\nin the opposite direction.\n\n+II. A natural law.+ It does not need any special Divine\ninterposition to blight and ruin such a man. The most powerful and\nblessed human influences are those which flow from the home-life, and\nfrom the emotions which ought to be kindled by the relationship of a\nchild to its parent. But if these holiest influences are resisted and\nthese emotions are stifled, moral darkness must overshadow the life,\nand it will continue to deepen while the hardness of heart continues.\nIt is well known that even the remembrance of parental love after\nlong years of insensibility to it is often the first step back into\nthe light of righteousness and hope, and that many who have sunk very\nlow in crime could trace their present condition to the unnatural sin\nof hardening their hearts against parental love.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis cursing, according to our Lord's standard, includes \"setting\nlight by father or mother;\" wilful disobedience--a fearful, palpable\nmark of the last days. How God regards it, let his own curse on Mount\nEbal (Deut. xxvii. 16), and his judgment of temporal death, testify.\nThe present degradation of Africa is a witness, on the confirming\npage of history, of the frown upon an undutiful son (Gen.\nix. 22-25)--his lamp put out in darkness.--_Bridges._\n\nIt must needs be an obscure darkness that is fallen upon that soul,\nin whom the light of nature is so far extinguished as that he curseth\nthem from whom he had the blessing of being. It must needs be a smoky\nbreath that shall reproach him who was the breath of his nostrils.\nAnd what can he expect but that his lamp shall be put out in\ndarkness.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics of verse 21, see on chap. xiii. 11, page 306; also on\nchap. xxi. 5, 7, 17, page 609.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nTHE RECOMPENSER OF EVIL.\n\n+I. The man who has been wronged is disqualified to punish the\noffender.+ A sense of pain and suffering is not helpful to a man's\njudgment. He sees neither things nor persons in the light in which he\nwould see them under happier conditions, and would not be likely to\ndeal impartially with the offender. Hence, both the Bible and wise\nhuman governments--while freely allowing that he who injures another\nought not to go unpunished--forbids men from undertaking the\npunishment themselves. Every human creature labours under another\ndisqualification also. He is himself a law-breaker in a greater or\nless degree, and is not himself guiltless in thought and word, and\nperhaps in deed, of wrong towards his neighbour. The best of men\ncannot claim to be guiltless in this matter, and the majority are\ngreat offenders in one form or another. Therefore on this account\nalso it is not meet for men to avenge their personal wrongs.\n\n+II. The most effectual way to rid one's self of the desire for\nrevenge.+ We do not understand this proverb to forbid the bringing of\nmen who have wronged us to the bar of human justice, for this may be\na duty which we owe to society. It would be criminal in most cases\nnot to apprehend one who had robbed us if it lay in our power to do\nso, for by letting him go free we should be exposing other innocent\nmen to danger. But there are many cases in which men are greatly\nwronged in ways which do not come within the cognisance of human law,\nand when no benefit to anyone would arise from their punishment by\nany human instrumentality. In such cases, the sure remedy for any\nvindictive feelings in our own breasts is to lay the matter before\nHim whose judgment must be impartial, and who will render to every\nman according to his works. Waiting upon the Lord, too, will remind\nus so forcibly of our own shortcomings and wrongdoings that we shall\nbe more ready to forget those of our brother.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is to be observed that it is not said, Wait on the Lord and He\nwill avenge thee, but, He will save thee. By this kind of speech, the\nHoly Ghost would warn every one that is injured, not to think of the\nrevenge or hurt of his adversary, but of his own defence and\nsalvation.--_Muffet._\n\nThe question is clearly this: Is your safety and protection best\nlodged in God's hand or your own? By indulging your revengeful\nspirit, you do yourself a greater hurt than your greatest enemy can\ndo you, for you gratify his ill-nature, when you suffer it to make a\ndeep impression on your spirit, without which it could do you little\nor no hurt; but by committing your cause to God, you turn his ill\nwill to your great advantage, making it an occasion for the exercise\nof the noblest graces, which are attended with the sweetest fruits,\nand with the rich blessing of God.--_Lawson._\n\nWhile Moses is dumb, God speaks; deaf, God sees and stirs. Make God\nyour chancellor, in case no law will relieve, and you shall do\nyourself no disservice. If compelled to go a mile, rather than\nrevenge, go two, yea, as far as the gospel of peace will carry you,\nand God will bring you back \"with everlasting joy\" (Isa. xxxv. 10).\nThis is the way to be even with him, that wrongs you, nay, to be\nabove him.--_Trapp._\n\nSo far should the desire of revenge be from man's heart, so far the\nexecution of revenge be from man's hand, that his _tongue should not\nsay it._ Shall any say, I will revenge, when God says, revenge is\n_mine._ Neither let any say, I will revenge because I have been\nwronged. For, as Tertullian says, what difference is there between\nbeing the provoker and the provoked; but that he is first found in\nwickedness, and the other afterward? Do not therefore provoke God to\nanger, by seeking revenge in thy anger. Let God have his\nright.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 23, see on chap. xi. 1, page 190.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nGOD OVER ALL.\n\nA reference to the Critical Notes will show that in this verse there\nis an argument from the greater to the less, for the first clause\ncontains an affirmation of a truth, and the second an argument drawn\ntherefrom.\n\n+I. The truth affirmed,+ viz.--That the actions of the most mighty\nmen, and the purposes of the wisest, are directly and absolutely\nunder the control of God. This is self-evident if we admit that God\nis an Eternal, Omniscient, and Almighty Being, who concerns Himself\nwith the government of the world. Having existed throughout the\nEternal past and possessing absolute knowledge of the Eternal future,\nand being the Author of every man's being--determining the date of\nhis entrance into the world and the period of his continuance in it,\nand during all that time _\"encompassing his path and his lying\ndown,\"_ and even _\"understanding his thought afar off\"_ (Psa.\ncxxxix. 2, 3)--how can even the mightiest of men boast of his\nindependence of God and foretell what shall be the issue of his most\nsagacious counsels, or be confident that he shall be allowed to carry\nout even the most matured of his purposes. While he is perfectly\nconscious of his power to will and to do within limits, he must be\nalso conscious that his ability to do both are dependent upon the\nwill of Him in whom we all live and move and have our being.\n\n+II. The inference drawn.+ If God is thus above and behind the goings\nof the mighty of the earth, it is man's wisdom to trust the mysteries\nof the present and the contingencies of the future into His hands.\nEvery night throughout the year travellers from one part of our\nisland to the other commit their bodily life unreservedly into the\nhands of one or two of their fellow-creatures. They are either\nimpelled by inclination, or compelled by necessity, to undertake a\ncertain journey, and to do this they must take their places in a\nrailway train, and for a time surrender their power to take care of\ntheir own lives into the hands of others. Darkness is all around them\nas they travel on, and darkness is before them--they cannot discern\nthe road by which they are travelling, or be absolutely certain that\nthey will reach the place which they desire. Yet their confidence in\nthe skill and fidelity of a few of their fellow-creatures is strong\nenough to make them generally at ease. Each human life resembles such\na journey. The path from the cradle to the grave must be traversed,\nbut insoluble mysteries lie all around, and the future is entirely\nhidden from view. There is but One who knoweth the way that we take,\nto whom both past, and present, and future are alike visible and\ncomprehensible. His infinite wisdom and love ought to make us willing\nto leave Him to _\"direct our paths,\"_ while a sense of our individual\nresponsibility ought to keep us from presumptuous rashness on the one\nhand, and from indolent inertness on the other. The truth set forth\nin this proverb ought to be set beside that in verse 18.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAs the first clause attributes to the Lord exclusively _the ordering_\nof great men's goings, in order to attain success, so the second\nattributes to Him the _prescient understanding_ of men's course. God\ndirects natural actions by His ordinary providence, spiritual actions\nby His special providence, which foreordains from eternity, awakens\nthe sinner, removes obstacles, suggests that state of life wherein He\nsees that the man will not fall away, but attain to glory. However a\nman may understand his life with respect to its beginning and aim,\nyet he understands not the best _means_ in doubtful cases, nor can he\nensure the issue.--_Fausset._\n\nLittle did Israel _understand_ the reason of their circuitous _way_\nto Canaan. Yet did it prove in the end to be \"the right way.\" As\nlittle did Ahasuerus _understand_ the profound reason why \"on that\nnight could not the king sleep;\" a minute incident, seemingly\nscarcely worthy to be recorded, yet a necessary link in the chain of\nthe Lord's everlasting purposes of grace to His Church (Esth. vi. 1).\nLittle did Philip _understand his own way_ when he was moved from the\nwide sphere of preaching the Gospel in Samaria to go into the desert,\nwhich ultimately proved a wider extension of the Gospel. As little\ndid the great Apostle understand that his \"_prosperous_ journey\" to\nsee his beloved flock at Rome would be a narrow escape from\nshipwreck, and to be conducted a prisoner in chains. Little do we\nknow what we pray for. \"By terrible things wilt Thou answer us in\nrighteousness, O God of our salvation\" (Ps. lxv. 5). We go out in the\nmorning _not understanding our way;_ \"not knowing what an hour may\nbring forth\" (chap. xxvii. 1). Some turn connected with our happiness\nor misery for life meets us before night (John iv. 7). Joseph, in\ntaking his walk to search for his brethren, never anticipated a more\nthan twenty years' separation from his father (Gen. xxxvii. 14). And\nwhat ought those cross ways or dark ways to teach us? Not constant,\ntrembling anxiety, but daily dependence. \"I will bring the blind by a\nway that they know not: I will lead them in paths that they have not\nknown.\" But shall they be left in the dark perplexity? \"I will make\ndarkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things\nwill I do unto them, and not forsake them\" (Isa.\nxlii. 16).--_Bridges._\n\nThe cross ways that thwart man's goings are of God's laying out, the\nshort ways which some make are of His finding out, the long ways that\nsome go about are of His leading. . . . He doth but tumble down the\nhill of his own audacious rashness that thinketh to climb up unto\nGod's way. What God hath revealed of Himself in moderating man's ways\nis true wisdom to observe, and happy is he who maketh use of it. But\nas ignorance here is an idle carelessness, so knowledge there is a\nprying boldness.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nFor the correct rendering of this verse see Critical Notes.\n\nRELIGIOUS VOWS.\n\n+I. A man is under no obligation to vow.+ While the Scriptures\ncontain many references to vows, whereby certain persons consecrated\nthemselves or their property to God and give laws concerning their\nfulfilment (Num. xxx.), there is no command which requires men to\nenter into such a solemn engagement. The text refers solely to\n_religious_ vows--to an act of special consecration to God, such as\nthat of Jacob at Bethel when he dedicated the tenth of all his gains\nto the service of Jehovah (Gen. xxviii. 22), or that of Hannah when\nshe promised that, if God would give her a man-child, she would give\nhim unto the Lord all the days of his life (1 Sam. i. 11). It is\nobvious that such special acknowledgements of particular and\nexceptional blessings must be pleasing to God, but He lays upon men\nno obligation to render them, seeing that their value consists in\ntheir being spontaneous--the overflow of a grateful heart, or the\nresult of a deep conviction of the claims of God, or of the need of\nDivine help in extraordinary circumstances.\n\n+II. A man is bound by the most solemn considerations not to vow\nthoughtlessly.+ As an intelligent and moral being he is bound to\nenter upon no course and to make no engagement without first\ninquiring whether the motive which prompts him at the outset is\nstrong enough to carry him to the end. It is a snare and a sin to\npromise to a fellow-man and afterwards, in the words of the proverb,\n\"to make inquiry,\" _i.e.,_ to ask ourselves whether we are prepared\nto abide by our promise. The inquiry must even in such a case be made\nbeforehand, or we must be branded with unfaithfulness to our plighted\nword. (These remarks of course do not apply to vows and promises\nwhich are in themselves sinful or unlawful. The proverb does not deal\nwith such.) If, then, a man is bound to consider well before he\npromises to man, how much more so before he vows to God! What must be\nthe harm done to conscience and to character, and how great the\ninsult offered to the Divine Majesty, when vows are made and\nobligations entered into, and afterwards he who thus bound himself\nfinds that he is not morally prepared for the sacrifice. To such an\none we might say, as Peter said to Ananias--_\"Whiles it remained, was\nit not thine own? . . . Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God\"_\n(Acts v. 4, 5). _\"Better it is that thou shouldst not vow,\"_ says the\nPreacher, _\"than that thou shouldest vow and not pay\"_ (Eccles. v. 5).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is questionable whether vows, properly so called, are consistent\nwith the genius of the New Testament dispensation. At any rate, of\nsuch vows as were common under the Old, we have no recorded examples\nunder the New. Resolutions to serve God we may, nay we _must_ make;\nthere is no getting on in the Divine life and in the zealous\npromotion of the Divine glory, without them. But the binding of the\nsoul by particular bonds and oaths, whether verbal or\nwritten--obligations superinduced upon those of the Divine law--have\nbeen \"a snare\" to many. Weak minds have often felt the obligation of\ntheir vow more stringent than that of the Divine\nauthority.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 26 _and_ 28.\n\nPILLARS OF GOVERNMENT.\n\n+I. A human ruler will have rebellious subjects in his kingdom.+ This\nwill be the case however wise the laws, and with whatever care and\ndiscrimination they are administered. In the most cultivated and\ncarefully kept ground some weeds are always found among the\nflowers--some tares among the wheat; and since the King who can do no\nwrong numbers among his subjects those who are lawless and\ndisobedient, the best and wisest of human rulers must expect to do\nthe same.\n\n+II. It is the duty and wisdom of a human ruler to make a distinction\nbetween his good and bad subjects, and to punish the latter.+ Even if\nthe wheel mentioned in the proverb be regarded as simply an\ninstrument of separation, as the threshing instrument separates the\nchaff from the wheat, the idea of punishment is retained. In a\nwell-governed kingdom the laws which govern it are such a separating\npower between the evil and the good, so far as external conduct is\nconcerned, and it is indispensable for the stability of peace and\norder that they should be strictly enforced. It would be most unjust,\nas well as unwise--it would be tempting men to transgression--if the\nlawless citizens in a community were allowed to go unpunished; and it\nis contrary to our innate sense of justice that in any kingdom \"the\nrighteous should be as the wicked\" (Gen. xviii. 25)--that the thief\nshould have all the privileges of an honest man, and the murderer the\nliberty of an innocent person. The punishment of transgressors not\nonly defends the good man, but it may prevent the bad man from\nincreasing his guilt by adding crime to crime. The king of Solomon's\nproverbs is a typical word for all who are called upon to rule,\nwhether in the family or the State, and the very word ruler, or\ngovernor, implies a discrimination between the evil and the good and\na difference in their treatment.\n\n+III. The preservation of the throne depends more upon moral than\nupon physical power.+ We take the word \"throne\" in the widest sense\nas signifying any place or position which raises one man to be in any\nsense the ruler of another, from the throne of the father in his\nfamily and the master among his servants, to that of the king amidst\nhis subjects. In each and every one of the kingdoms, although\nexternal and physical coercion and punishment are sometimes\nindispensable, yet there is no permanent stability unless there is\nmercy and truth in the ruler, and unless it is manifest in his\ngovernment. Many a throne has been erected on other\nfoundations,--physical strength has established many kingdoms, and\nmaterial wealth has set many men upon thrones. But if they have\nraised a superstructure its foundation has been in the sand, and when\nthe rain and wind of adversity have descended upon it it has fallen,\nand great has been the fall of it. There must be some truth and\nmercy--some righteousness and justice, and withal some exercise of\ngrace towards the wrongdoer--if the throne or the kingdom is to be\nupholden, and the wisdom of the ruler will be shown in his so\nmingling sternness with severity as to make both contribute to one\nend. Truth must here be taken as synonymous with righteousness--as\nthat observance of the just claims of every man which he has a right\nto expect and demand from those who rule him. This will include that\npunishment of the lawless which is the subject of verse 26, but is\nhere implied that even punishment is to be tempered with mercy. Pity\nfor the offender ought always to be mingled with indignation at the\noffence, and if any ruler desires to sit firmly upon his seat of\njustice he must consider not only the greatness of the crime but the\nstrength of the temptation--not how severely he can punish the\ncriminal but whether he can reform him. And this is rarely if ever\ndone by the exercise of justice merely. The frost and cold are\nnecessary to kill the weeds and vermin and to break up the soil, but\nthere will never be flowers or fruit without summer rain and\nsunshine. And mercy is that \"gentle rain from heaven\" without which\nno sinful creature will ever bring forth fruits of righteousness.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nThe necessity of mingling mercy with justice is strikingly\nexemplified in the great success which attended the efforts of the\nlate Captain Maconochie to benefit the convicts in our penal\nsettlement in Norfolk Island. Having, in his capacity as Secretary to\nthe Governor of Tasmania, seen most terrible and hardening effects\nfrom unmixed severity, he desired earnestly to try what could be done\nby combining mercy with discipline and punishment. For this purpose\nhe was placed in command of Norfolk Island, and remained there four\nyears, having under his care from 1500 to 2000 doubly-convicted\nprisoners, _i.e.,_ convicts who, after being transported from England\nto New South Wales, had been for other crimes _again_ transported to\nNorfolk Island. Previous to his arrival they worked in chains, and it\nwas considered dangerous for even armed officers to approach within\nthree yards of them. It was considered unsafe to trust them with\nknives, and they therefore tore their food with their hands and\nteeth. They were accustomed to inflict dreadful injuries upon\nthemselves in order to evade labour, and were described at the time\nas a demoniacal assemblage. But under more humane treatment the\nentire colony became changed, and one of his colleagues testifies\nthat he and another superintendent \"resided at one of the settlements\nin a cottage without lock and key, with simply a latch to the door,\nand close to the convict barracks, where over 2000 were lodged every\nnight, also without locks.\" \"Not a single serious offence,\" says he,\n\"was ever committed in that time by any of those men, and the only\nbodyguard was another free superintendent and myself, together with a\nfew trustworthy men selected from among themselves.\" This gentleman\n(Mr. J. Simms, since Governor of Plymouth Prison) goes on to say, \"I\nshall ever remember this year as the most remarkable of all my prison\nexperience, because it . . . was a fair result of what might be\nrealised from any body of men generally, thus treated, not by force,\niron force, but by moral means.\" One remarkable example is given. At\nSydney there had been a most desperate and unmanageable convict,\nnamed Anderson. He was flogged time after time for various offences,\nbut to no good effect. He became more outrageous than ever. At last,\nthe authorities, in despair, put him on a little island in Sydney\nHarbour, where he was kept chained to a rock, and in the hollow of\nwhich rock he slept. After some weeks the Governor went to see him,\nand urged him to submit to authority, but he refused. He was then\nsent for life to Port Macquarie Convict Station, where he was again\nand again flogged. He made his escape, and lived among the natives\nfor some time, but, ultimately, being recaptured, he was sent to\nNorfolk Island for the crime of murder. Under Maconochie's humane\ntreatment he became a changed man, and when the Governor of New South\nWales visited the settlement he particularly noticed Anderson, and\ninquired, \"What smart fellow may that be?\" (See _Leisure Hour_ for\nOctober, 1878.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAll dynasties have been kind. If they are cruel now, it must be like\nthe weight of a clock, running down. There _was_ kindness. \"Mercy and\ntruth\" must at some time or other have builded the\n\"throne.\"--_Miller._\n\nGodly Asa removed wickedness from the high place nearest his own\nthrone and heart. Amaziah justly punished it with death.\nNehemiah--that true reformer--rebuked it even in the family of the\nhigh priest. Our own Alfred appeared to maintain this standard as a\nwitness for God in an age of darkness. But it is the King of kings\nalone that can make this separation complete. Often does He sift His\nChurch by trial, for her greater purity and complete preservation\n(Amos ix. 9). But what will it be, when He shall come \"with His fan\nin His hand, and shall thoroughly purge His floor?\" (Matt. iii. 12).\nWhat a scattering of chaff will there be! Not an atom will go into\nthe garner. Not a grain of wheat will be cast away. O my soul! what\nwilt thou be found at this great sifting day! \"Who may abide the day\nof His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth?\" (Mal.\niii. 2).--_Bridges._\n\nThere goes more to preserve a king than to preserve a kingdom; and\nthough the preservation of a kingdom be a weighty matter, yet the\npreservation of a king is much more weighty--though much care and\npains be required for the one, much more is required for the other.\nHalf of that will serve for the one which is needful for the other.\nMercy will support the throne, but mercy and truth must preserve the\nking.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nTHE CANDLE OF THE LORD.\n\nWe understand by the spirit of a man the self-conscious _ego_--that\nwhich takes cognizance of the inner life, and which reasons and\npasses judgment upon all a man's perceptions, emotions, and volitions.\n\n+I. Man's spirit is a candle, because it is not self-originating.+\nWhen we speak of a candle, the idea of a _borrowed_ light comes\nbefore us; with us there is but one source and fountain of material\nlight, and that is the sun, which, although it is but a candle of the\nLord placed in the midst of our solar system so far transcends all\nour artificial lights in its glory and permanence, that in comparison\nwith them it seems self-existent and eternal. As a matter of fact, we\nknow that all the artificial light stored up for us in combustible\nmaterials around us had its origin in that great father of lights,\nthe sun, and that these lesser lights require kindling before they\ngive forth brightness. So with the spirit of man--it is not\nself-existent and eternal, nor did it kindle itself, it owes its\nexistence to that God who is the intellectual and moral light of the\nuniverse, because He is the source of all knowledge and goodness.\nThat same Divine Creator, who said _\"Let there be light and there was\nlight,\"_ who set the sun in the heavens to rule the day, made man in\nHis own image by breathing into the human body that spiritual life\nwhich makes man a living soul, and distinguishes him from the animal\ncreation around him. We can no more claim to be the author of our own\nspirits than the sun can claim to have called itself into existence.\n\n+II. Man's spirit is a candle, because it is a revealing power.+ All\nlight is revealing; it first makes evident its own existence and then\nreveals the existence of objects outside itself. When the sun comes\nforth above the eastern horizon like a bridegroom from his chamber,\nit reveals its own glory, and it makes manifest all things upon which\nits rays fall, and nothing is hidden from the light thereof. So in a\nless degree is it with every flame of light, and so it is with the\nmysterious spirit of man. It is self-revealing and self-evidencing,\nand in and by its light we become conscious of the existence of\nmaterial forms and spiritual beings, and moral and physical influence\noutside ourselves.\n\n+III. Man's spirit is a candle which is intended to prevent\nself-deception.+ Knowledge of any description is good and desirable,\nbut there are two beings of whom it is moral death to remain in\nignorance--ourself and God. The spirit of a man is the power by which\nhe apprehends both, and this proverb deals exclusively with man's\npower to know himself, and especially with his power to take\ncognizance of himself as a moral and responsible being. As the sun,\nwhen it darts forth its rays upon the earth, does not leave us in\ntwilight, and in uncertainty as to what is around us, and as the\ncandle brought into a dark chamber shows us, maybe, the dust and the\ncobwebs, as well as the costly drapery on the walls, so this\nGod-kindled light searches into the innermost thoughts, and feelings,\nand motives, and shows to every man who does not wilfully turn away\nfrom the sight, both the good and the evil that is in him. True it is\nthat, as a moral light, it does not shine so brightly as it did when\nman came forth from his Maker's hand, and that he who _\"hateth\nlight\"_ because it is a reprover of his sin (John iii. 20) may to\nsome extent obscure its brightness, yet every man possesses light\nenough within to show him his need of a light outside and above\nhim--even of that _\"true Light which lighteth every man that cometh\ninto the world\"_ (John i. 9).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe candle which God has kindled in man has, as the nearest sphere of\nillumination which goes forth from it, the condition of the man\nhimself--the spirit comprehends all that belongs to the nature of man\nin the unity of self-consciousness, but yet more, it makes it the\nobject of reflection; it penetrates, searching it through, and seeks\nto take it up into its knowledge, and recognises the problem proposed\nto it, to rule it by its power. The proverb is thus to be ethically\nunderstood.--_Delitzsch._\n\nThe essential connection between the life of God and the life of men\nis the great truth of the world, and that is the truth which Solomon\nsets forth in the striking words of my text. The picture which the\nwords include is one of the most simple. A candle stands upon a table\nin a dark room, itself unlighted. Fire is brought into the room; a\nblazing bit of paper holds the fire, but it is blown and flutters,\nand any moment may go out; but the blaze touches the candle and the\ncandle catches fire, and at once you have a steady flame which burns\nbright and pure and constant. The candle gives forth its\nmanifestation to all the neighbourhood which is illuminated by it.\nThe candle is glorified by the fire, and the two bear witness that\nthey are made for one another by the way in which they fulfil each\nother's life. That fulfilment comes by the way in which the inferior\nsubstance renders obedience to the superior. The wax acknowledges the\nsubtle flame as its master and yields to its power, and so, like\nevery faithful servant of a noble master, it gives itself most\nunreservedly up, and its own substance is clothed with a glory that\ndoes not belong to itself. The granite, if you try to burn it, gives\nno fire; it only opposes a sullen resistance, and as the heat\nincreases splits and breaks but will not burn. But the candle obeys,\nand so in it the scattered fire finds a point of permanent and clear\nexpression. \"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,\" says\nSolomon. God is the fire of this world. It is a vital principle, a\nwarm pervading presence everywhere. What thing in outward nature can\nso picture to us the mysterious, subtle, quick, productive, and\ndestructive principle; that which has always elevated men's hearts\nand solemnized their voices when they have said the word \"God,\" as\nthis strange thing, so heavenly, so unearthly, so terrible, and so\ngracious, so full of creativeness, and yet so quick and fierce to\nsweep whatever opposes it out of its path? The glory, the beauty, the\nmarvel, the mystery of fire! Men have always felt the fitness of fire\nas being the closest of all the elements around the throne on which\ntheir conception of Deity is sitting. Men and all other beings, if\nsuch beings there are capable of watching our humanity, see what God\nis in gazing at the manhood God has kindled. The universe is full of\nthe fire of divinity; men feel it in the air as they feel an intense\nheat which has not yet broken out into a blaze. There is meaning in a\ngreat deal of the unexplained, mysterious awfulness of life--the\nsense of God felt, unseen. The atmosphere is burdened with heat that\ndoes not burst out into fire, and in the midst of this solemn burning\nworld there stands up a man, pure and God-like. In an instant it is\nas if a heated room had found some sensitive inflammable point where\nit would kindle into a blaze, and prospects of God's felt presence\nbecome clear and definite. The fitfulness of the impression of\ndivinity is steadied into permanence. The mystery changes its\ncharacter, and is a mystery of light and not of darkness. _The fire\nof the Lord has found the candle of the Lord,_ and burns clear and\nsteady, guiding and cheering instead of bewildering and frightening\nus, just as a man obedient to God has begun to catch and manifest His\nnature. I hope you will find this truth comes very close to your\nseparate lives, but let me remind you first _what essential dignity\nclothes the life of man in this world._ Such philosophy as belongs to\nour time would deprecate the importance of man in the world, and rob\nhim of his centralness. His position in such philosophies is this:\nthat the world was not made for man. With us the old story that the\nBible told, the book of Genesis with its Garden of Eden, and its\nobedient beasts waiting until man should tell them what they should\nbe called, stands firmly at the beginning of the world's history. The\ngreat notion of the centralness of man in the Garden of Eden\nre-asserts itself in every cabin of the western forests, or the\nsouthern jungles, where a solitary settler and his wife begin as it\nwere the human history anew. There once again the note of Genesis is\nstruck, and man asserts his centralness, and the beasts hesitate in\nfear till he shall tame them to his service, or bid them depart. The\nearth under his feet holds its fertility at his command, and what he\ndoes upon the earth is echoed in the storms. This is the great\nimpressive idea which over the simplest life of man is ever growing,\nand with which the philosophies that would make little of the\nsacredness and centralness of man must always have to fight. This is\nthe impression which is taken up, and steadied, and made clear, and\nturned from a petty pride to a lofty dignity and a solemn\nresponsibility, when there comes such a message as this of Solomon.\nHe says that the true sacredness, and superiority, and centralness of\nman is in the likeness of his nature to God's, and that capacity of\nspiritual obedience to Him, in virtue of which man may be the earthly\ndeclaration and manifestation of God to all the world. So long as\nthat truth stands, the centralness of man is sure. \"The spirit of man\nis the candle of the Lord.\" This is the truth of which I wish to\nspeak to you--the perpetual revelation of God by and through human\nlife. I. You must ask yourself, first, _what God is._ See how at the\nvery bottom of His existence, as you conceive of it, there lie these\ntwo thoughts--purpose and righteousness; how impossible it is to give\nGod any personality, except as the embodiment of these two qualities,\nthe intelligence that plans, and the righteousness that lives in\nduty. How could any knowledge of these qualities, of what they are,\nof what sort of being they will make, exist upon the earth, if there\nwere not a human heart in which they could exist, and from which they\ncould be shown? Only a person can truly utter a person; only from a\ncharacter can character be echoed. You might write it over the skies\nthat God was just, but it would be at best only a bit of\nknowledge--never a Gospel--never something which it would gladden the\nhearts of men to know. That comes only when a human life is capable\nof a justice like God's justice, and is clothed with His justice in\nthe eyes of men. I have just intimated one thing that we need to\nobserve: man's utterance of God is purely the utterance of a quality;\nit can tell me nothing of the quantities that make up His life. That\nGod is just, and what it is to be just, I can learn from the just\nlives of the just men about me; but how just God is, to what\nunconceived perfection, to what unexplained developments that\nmajestic quality of justice may extend in Him--of that I can form no\njudgment that is worth anything from the justice I see in my\nfellow-men. II. This seems to me to widen at once the range of the\ntruth I am stating. If it be a quality of God, which man is capable\nof uttering, then it must be the simple quality of manhood that is\nnecessary for the utterance, and not any specific quantity, nor any\nassignable degree of human greatness. Whoever has the spirit of man\nmay be the candle of the Lord. A larger measure of that spirit may\nmake a brighter light; but there must be a light wherever any human\nbeing, in virtue of his essential humanness, by obedience becomes\nluminous with God. There are the men of manhood, spiritually the\nleaders of the race; how they stand out! how all men feel their power\nas they come into their presence, and feel that they are passing into\nthe light of God! They are puzzled when they try to explain it. There\nis nothing more instructive and suggestive than the bewilderment men\nfeel when they try to tell what inspiration is. He who goes into the\npresence of any powerful nature, feels sure in some way he is coming\ninto the presence of God; but it would be melancholy if only the\ngreat men could give you this conviction. The world would be darker\nthan it is if any human spirit, as soon as it became obedient, did\nnot become the Lord's candle. A poor, bruised life, if only it keeps\nthat human quality, and does not become inhuman, but is obedient to\nGod, in its blind way, becomes a light. A mere child with his pure\nhumanity, and with his turning of his life towards God from Whom he\ncame--how often he may burn with some suggestion of divinity, and\ncast illumination upon problems and mysteries so difficult that he\nhimself has never felt them! Little lamps burning everywhere. III. We\nhave here the key to another mystery that often puzzles us. _What\nshall we make of some men rich in attainments and well educated, who\nstand in the midst of their fellow-men dark and helpless?_ . . . Let\nus let the light of Solomon's figure upon it. Simply this: they are\nunlighted candles; they are the spirit of man furnished to its very\nfinest, but lacking the last touch of God; like silver lamps all\nchaste and wrought with wondrous skill, all filled with choicest oil,\nbut all untouched by fire. IV. _There are multitudes of men whose\nlamps are certainly not dark, and yet who certainly are not the\ncandles of the Lord,_--with a nature richly furnished, yet profane,\nimpure, worldly. . . . Such a man is not another unlighted candle. He\nburns so bright and lurid that often the pure light grows dim within\nits glare. But if it be possible for the human candle, when the\nsubtle components of a human nature are all mingled carefully in it;\nif it be possible that, instead of being lifted up to heaven, and\nkindled at the pure beam of Him who is eternally and absolutely good,\nit should be plunged down into hell, and lighted at the cruel flames\nthat burn out of the dreadful brimstone pit, then we can understand\nthe sight of a man who is rich in every energy of manhood cursing the\nworld with the exhibition of the devilish instead of the Godlike in\nhis life. . . . V. There is still one other way, more subtle and\nsometimes more dangerous than this, in which the spirit of man may\nfail of its functions as the candle of the Lord. The man may be\nlighted, and the fire at which he is lighted may be, indeed, the fire\nof God, and yet it may not be God alone he shows forth upon the\nearth. I can picture to myself a candle which should in some way\nmingle the peculiarity of its own substance with the light it sheds.\nSo it is, I think, with the way in which a great many men manifest\nGod. They have really kindled their lives at Him. It is His fire that\nburns in them. They are obedient, and so He can make them His points\nof exhibition, but they are always mixed with the God whom they show.\nThey show themselves as well as Him; just as a mirror mingles its own\nreflection with the things that are reflected from it and gives them\na curious convexity because it is itself convex. This is the secret\nof pious bigotry, of holy prejudices; it is the candle putting its\nown colour into the flame it has borrowed from the fire of God. The\nfeeble man makes God seem feeble, the speculative man makes God look\nlike a doubtful dream, the legal man makes God seem as hard and\nsteel-like as law. VI. I have tried to depict some difficulties which\nbeset the full exhibition in the world of the great truth of\nSolomon. . . . Man is selfish and disobedient, and will not let his\nlight burn at all; man is wilful and passionate, and kindles his\nlight with ungodly fire; man is narrow and bigoted, and makes the\nlight to shine in his own peculiar colour; but all these are\naccident--distortions of the true idea of man. How can we know that?\n_Here is the perfect man,_ CHRIST! . . . I bring a man of my\nexperience and the man of my imagination into the presence of Jesus,\nbut they fall short of Him, and my human consciousness assures me\nthey all fall short of the best ideal of what it is to be a man. \"I\nam come a light into the world,\" said Jesus; \"he that hath seen me\nhath seen the Father.\" \"In Him was light, and the life was the light\nof men.\" So wrote the man who of all men know Him best. I think I\nneed only bid you look at Him and you will see what it is to which\nour feeble lights are struggling. There is the true spiritual man who\nis the candle of the Lord, \"the Light that lighteth every man.\" It is\nentirely a new idea of life, new to the standards of our ordinary\nliving, which is there revealed. All ordinary appeals to men to be up\nand doing, and to make themselves shining lights, fade away and\nbecome insignificant before this higher message which comes in the\nwords of Solomon in the life of Jesus. What does that higher message\nsay to you and me? That your full relationship to God can only be\nrealised by obedience to Him, when you will shine by His light; then\nyou cannot be dark, for He shall kindle you; then you shall be as\nincapable of burning with false passion, as you shall be quick to\nanswer the true; then the devil may hold his torch to you, as he held\nit to the heart of Jesus in the desert, and your heart shall be as\nuninflammable as His. As soon as God touches you, you shall burn with\na light so truly your own that you shall reverence your own\nmysterious life, and yet be so truly His that pride shall be\nimpossible. In certain lands, for the most holy ceremonies they\nprepare the candles with the most precious care. The very bees that\ndistil the wax are sacred. They range in gardens planted with sweet\nflowers for their use alone. The wax is gathered by consecrated\nhands, and the shaping of the candles is a holy task performed in\nholy places, with the singing of hymns, and in an atmosphere of\nprayer. All this is done because the candles, when they are made, are\nto burn in the most elevated ceremonies and on the most sacred days.\nWith what care must the man be made whose spirit is to be the candle\nof the Almighty Lord! It is his spirit that the Lord is to kindle for\nHimself; therefore the spirit must be the precious part of him. The\nbody must be valued only for the protection and education that the\nspirit may gain by it. The power by which his spirit shall become a\ncandle is obedience; therefore obedience must be the struggle and\ndesire of his life; obedience, not hard and forced, but ready,\nloving, and spontaneous; obedience in heart, the obedience of the\nchild to the father, the obedience of the candle to the flame; the\ndoing of duty not merely that the duty may be done, but that the soul\nin doing it may become capable of receiving and uttering God; the\nbearing of pain not merely because the pain must be borne, but that\nthe bearing of it may make the soul able to burn with the Divine fire\nthat found it in the furnace; the repentance of sin and the\nacceptance of forgiveness not merely that the soul may be saved from\nthe fire of hell but that it may be touched with the fire of Heaven,\nand shine with the light of God as the stars, for ever.--_Philips\nBrooks._\n\nThis \"candle of the Lord\" is a _slight_ and _diminutive_ light. A\nlamp is no such dazzling object. A candle has no such goodly light as\nthat it should pride and glory in it; it is but a brief and\ncompendious flame, shut up and imprisoned in a narrow compass. How\nfar distant is it from the beauty of a star! how far from the\nbrightness of a sun! This candle of the Lord, when it was first\nlighted up, before there was any thief in it, even then it had but a\nlimited and restrained light. God said unto it: \"Thus far shall thy\nlight go; hither shalt thou shine and no further.\" Adam, in his\ninnocency, was not to crown himself with his own sparks. God never\nintended a creature should rest satisfied with his own candle-light,\nbut that it should run to the fountain of light, and sun itself in\nthe presence of God. What a poor happiness had it been for a man only\nto have enjoyed his own lamp. . . . The \"candle of the Lord\" is a\nlight _discovering present,_ not _future_ things, for did you ever\nhear of such a lamp as would discover an object not yet born? Would\nyou not smile at him that should light a candle to search for a\nfuturity? . . . Let, then, this candle content itself with its proper\nobject. It finds work enough, and difficulty enough, in the discovery\nof present things, and has not such a copious light as can search out\nthe future. . . . The light of reason is a _certain_ light.\nLamplight, as it is not glorious, so it is not deceitful--though it\nbe but limited, it will discover such things as are within its own\nsphere with a sufficient certainty. The letters of nature's law are\nso fairly printed, they are so visible and capital, that you may read\nthem by this candlelight. . . . Although there is not vigour enough\nin any created eye to pierce into the pith and marrow, the depth and\nsecrecy of being. . . . It is a _directive_ light. The will looks\nupon that, as Leander in Mus\u00e6us looked up to the tower for Hero's\ncandle, and calls it, as he doth there: \"Lamp which to me, on my way\nthrough this life, is a brilliant director.\". . . The will doth but\necho the understanding, and doth practically repeat the last syllable\nof the final decision; which makes the moralist well determine that\n\"moral virtues cannot exist without intellectual powers.\". . . Other\ncreatures, indeed, are shot more violently into their ends; but man\nhath the skill and faculty of directing himself, and is, as you may\nso imagine, a rational kind of arrow, that moves knowingly and\nvoluntarily to the mark of its own accord. . . . It is an _aspiring_\nlight. I mean no more by this than what that known saying of\nAugustine imports: \"Thou hast made us, O Lord, for Thyself: our heart\nwill be restless till it return to Thee.\" The candle of the Lord--it\ncame from Him and it would fain return to Him. For an intellectual\nlamp to aspire to be a sun is a lofty strain of that intolerable\npride which was in Lucifer and Adam; but for it to desire the favour,\nand presence, and enjoyment of a beautiful sun, is but a just and\nnoble desire of that end which God created it for. . . . If you look\nbut upon a candle, what an aspiring and ambitious light it is! . . .\nIt puts on the form of a pyramid, occasionally and accidentally by\nreason that the air extenuates it into that form: otherwise it would\nascend upward in one greatness, in a rounder and completer manner. It\nis just thus in \"the candle of the Lord;\" reason would move more\nfully according to the sphere of its activity, it would flame up to\nheaven in a more vigorous and uniform way; but that it is much\nquenched by sin . . . therefore it is fain to aspire and climb as\nwell as it can. The bottom and base of it borders upon the body, and\nis therefore more impure and feculent; but the _apex_ and _cuspis_ of\nit catches toward heaven. . . . Every spark of reason flies upward.\nThis Divine flame fell down from heaven and halted with its fall--as\nthe poets tell us of the limping of Vulcan--but it would fain ascend\nthither again by some steps and gradations of its own\nframing.--_Culverwell._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 28, see verse 26.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nTHE GLORY OF YOUTH AND AGE.\n\n+I. Each period of life has a value and a glory of its own.+ There is\na beauty in spring to which no other season of the year can approach.\nThe vivid green of the opening leaves, and the meadows and\nhedge-banks carpeted with early flowers, give to spring a glory all\nits own. But the other seasons have their peculiar charms. It is no\nless pleasant to look upon the landscape at midsummer, when the woods\nare in their full dress, and the valleys are covered over with corn,\nor in the autumn, when the harvest is being gathered in, and flowers\nhave given place to fruit. If spring is the time of hope and promise,\nautumn is the season of realisation and fulfilment, and we are all\ncontent that the one should be lost in the other. So it is with the\ndifferent periods of our human life--each has its special charm and\nits special advantages. We love to dwell upon the loveliness of\nchildhood, but we should not like to see our sons and daughters\nremain children for ever, and it is pleasant to look upon and to\nexperience the energy and hope of youth, but there are good things\nwhich cannot be ours until we reach to mature life, and even to grey\nhairs. We have before considered the glory of the hoary head (see on\nchap. xvi. 31, page 493); we have only to consider--\n\n+II. The peculiar gift and glory of young men.+ It is, says Solomon,\ntheir _\"strength\"_--their power to do and to endure in a physical\nsense, what the aged cannot, by reason of the failure of their bodily\npowers. When men have passed middle life, they become more and more\npainfully conscious that if the _\"inward man is renewed day by day,\nthe outward man is perishing\"_ at the same rate (2 Cor. iv. 16), and\nalthough their experience is richer, and their wisdom greater, their\nphysical ability and energy is not what it once was. Their ship is\nladen, it may be, with a far more precious cargo, but the tide is not\nso strong, and the breeze is not so powerful to waft it on its way as\nit was in the years that are gone. It is the glory of the young man\nthat his strength is often more than enough for himself, he is able\nto bestow some upon the weak and needy. But the aged man is often\npainfully conscious that he has none to spare, that instead he is\ndependent upon the strength of others. The consideration of the\nspecial advantage of each season of human life ought to cheer the\naged man and prevent him from regretting the days of youth, and at\nthe same time it ought to make the young man respectful to the old,\nand willing to listen to their counsel, and so far as it is possible\ncombine the wisdom of grey hairs with the vigour of youth. It also\nwarns the young man against any abuse of his physical powers--against\nany unlawful indulgence of bodily appetites, and against the\nformation of unhealthy or indolent habits--which make so many of our\nyouths prematurely old, bringing upon them the frosts of autumn,\nbefore they have brought forth its fruits.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.\n\nPAIN AS A PREVENTIVE OF PAIN.\n\nFor the different renderings of this verse, see the Critical Notes.\nHowever we translate it the thoughts suggested are the same, viz.:--\n\n+I. That pain in the present may prevent greater pain in the future.+\nWhen the surgeon is called in to examine a wounded man, the\nexamination of the wound may give him more pain than he would have\nsuffered if he had been let alone; it may bring far more present\nsuffering to extract the ball, or to insert the probe, than it would\nhave done simply to bandage the wound. But the pain of to-day is to\nensure days of healthful rest by and by; if the present suffering was\nnot inflicted, months and years of pain in the future might be the\nresult. The pain of mind or body inflicted upon a child of five or\nten years old, is intended by its parent to prevent greater moral or\nphysical pain when he is fifty or seventy. There is no human creature\nwho can afford to do without the pruning-knife at some period of its\nlife; and if the pruning is not administered, the penalty will be\npaid either in this world or the next. The wise and loving parent\ngives pain in youth to prevent pain to his child in manhood, and the\nAll-wise and Loving Father, God, subjects His children to pain in the\npresent life to prevent a deeper and more lasting pain in the life to\ncome. He pricks the conscience by His word to bring men to\nrepentance, and so to salvation from the \"wrath to come\" and He sees\neven in His own children so much \"evil\" remaining that He is\ncompelled to visit _\"their transgressions with the rod, and their\niniquity with stripes\"_ (Psa. lxxxix. 32), in order to _\"cleanse\"_\ntheir characters.\n\n+II. Pain of body may be beneficial to the human spirit.+ This is a\nsubject to which our attention has been before directed. See on chap.\nxiii. 24, page 334, and on chap. xvii. 10, page 510.\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Rivers of water.+ Rather _streams,_ the allusion\nbeing to the watercourses, which in hot countries intersect fields\nand gardens for the purpose of irrigation, in which the water is\nentirely under the control of the husbandman. +2. Pondereth,+ rather\n_weigheth,_ as in chap. xvi. 2. It is the same verb as that used in\n1 Sam. ii. 3 and Isa. xl. 12, 13. +4. The ploughing.+ This word is by\nmost modern commentators translated, as in the marginal references,\n_light._ It is likewise so rendered in the Septuagint, the Vulgate,\nand in Luther's version. Ewald, Elster, Wordsworth, and others,\ntranslate as in the English version. The Hebrew words are very\nsimilar. Those who adopt the former rendering understand the word to\nstand in apposition to the _high look_ and the _proud heart_ of the\nfirst clause (literally, _\"To be lofty of eyes, and to be swollen of\nheart\"_), and regard it as a figurative representation of the spirit\nof the wicked man. Ewald and others refer the _ploughing of the\nwicked_ to the \"very first-fruits of a man's activity.\"\n+5. Thoughts,+ rather the _counsels,_ the _calculatings._ +6. Vanity\ntossed to and fro.+ Rather _a fleeting breath._ The Hebrew word\n_hebel,_ here translated vanity, means _vapour._ +7. Robbery,+ or\n_violence, rapacity._ +8.+ Z\u00f6ckler translates the first clause of\nthis verse, _\"Crooked is the way of the guilty man.\"_ Fausset remarks\nthat the Hebrew word _ish_ (man) expresses a man once _good;_ froward\nimplies his perversity, by having left the good way. +Right,+ _i.e.,\ndirect, straightforward._ +9. Wide house.+ Literally _house of\ncompanionship, i.e.,_ to share the house with her. +11. Instructed.+\nZ\u00f6ckler translates this _\"prospereth,\"_ and understands the simple to\nbe the subject of both clauses of the verse. +12.+ The words _man_\nand _God_ are both supplied by the translators. The verse should be\n_\"The righteous considereth the house of the wicked_ (and)\n_overthroweth,\"_ etc. Some understand it, therefore, to mean \"The\nrighteous man gives instruction to the house of the wicked to turn\nthem away from evil.\" But Stuart remarks that the verb of the second\nclause is a very strong word, _to precipitate, to cast down\nheadlong,_ and refers the righteous (one) of the first clause to God.\nThis is Z\u00f6ckler's rendering also. +15. Shall be.+ These words are not\nin the original, and destroy the sense, which is that justice is joy\nto the good, and destruction to the bad. Luther renders, \"It is a joy\nto the just to do what is right; but to the wicked a terror.\"\n+24. Proud wrath,+ literally _\"wrath of pride\"_ or _overflowings of\nhaughtiness._ +27. With a wicked mind,+ literally, _\"for iniquity,\"_\nand may refer to a desire to cloak a sinful purpose by an outward\nshow of piety, or an attempt to expiate a sinful act by an outward\natonement. Miller reads for +\"how much more\"+ _\"because also.\"_\n+28. Constantly,+ rather _for ever._ Stuart understands the verse to\nmean \"that the sincere listener to the Divine commands will ever be\nat liberty to speak, and find confidence put in what he says.\"\n+29. Hardeneth his face,+ or \"putteth on a bold countenance.\"\n+Directeth,+ or _\"considereth,\"_ or _\"establisheth.\"_\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nTHE KING OF KINGS.\n\n+I. Kings are more entirely in the hand of God than subjects are in\nthe hands of kings.+ The king of the days of Solomon was, as some\nOriental rulers are now, an absolute monarch. In the case of Solomon\nhimself, his will was law, and in his hand was the power of life and\ndeath (see 1 Kings iii. 24, 25). Of Nebuchadnezzar it is said, _\"Whom\nhe would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; whom he would he\nset up, and whom he would he put down\"_ (Dan. v. 19). It is to such a\nking that the proverb refers--to one who called no man or any number\nof men master, but upon whose single will apparently depended the\ndestiny of millions. Yet he was not the independent being that he\nappeared, neither were his subjects so dependent upon his will as\nthey appeared to be. The most abject slave in his dominions was less\nunder his control than he was under the control of Him by whom\n_\"kings reign\"_ and _\"princes rule\"_ (chap. viii. 15, 16). The\ngardener whose ground is intersected by water-channels finds it a\nvery easy task to turn the stream in the direction he desires; the\nsoil yields to his touch, and forthwith the water flows whithersoever\nhe wills. But the moist earth is not so easily moulded by the hand of\nman, as the heart of the proudest monarch is subdued to obedience by\nhis Maker; and the water is not more entirely subject to the will of\nthe husbandman than is the will of the most stubborn despot to the\nwill of Jehovah.\n\n+II. The power which God exercises over kings extends into a region\nwhere no earthly ruler can penetrate.+ The _heart_ of the king is in\nthe hand of Jehovah. This is more than the most absolute monarch can\nboast concerning his meanest subject. Nebuchadnezzar could issue his\ndecree, but whoso did not fall down before his golden image should be\ncast into the fiery furnace, but he could not move the steadfast\ndetermination of the Hebrew youths to acknowledge no god but the God\nof Israel. His will could determine what should be done to their\nbodies, but all his threatenings could not reach their hearts. But\nGod rules the spirit of a man in that He has access to his innermost\nthoughts and feelings, and can thus touch the spring of all his\nactions, and thus bring him to do His will, even when he seems to be\ndoing only his own.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nCould anything be more bold? Mark the compass--first, of _subject,_\nthe whole _stream_ as the gardener turns it; second, of object,\n_\"whithersoever\"_ or anything He pleases; and third, of\n_sovereignty;_ its pleasing Him, that being the only test. The\n_\"king\"_ may be C\u00e6sar. His lip may make new geographies (ch.\nxvi. 10). His _\"heart\"_ may change the history of all things. And\nyet, like a vineyard's channels diverted by a child, the Pharaoh's\nheart is in the fingers of the Most High. . . . _Upon_ whatsoever.\nNot toward anything. A stream may be turned in a new direction to get\nrid of it. God has no such streams. It is turned on something. For\nGod has an end to answer when He rules even the vilest of\nfiends.--_Miller._\n\nWhether, in the second line, the pleasant refreshing influence of the\nrivulets, dispensing blessing and increase, comes into account as a\npoint of the comparison, is uncertain (comp. Isa. xxxii. 2); this,\nhowever, is not improbable, inasmuch as the heart of a king may in\nfact become in an eminent degree a fountain of blessing for many\nthousands, and, according to God's design, ought to be so. See chap.\nxvi. 15.--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 2 see on chap. xvi. 2, page 454.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nTHE MORE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE.\n\n+I. The sacrifices of the Mosaic law were acceptable to God as\nceremonial signs.+ They were instituted by God, and therefore He\nexpected them to be offered, and was displeased when His commands\nconcerning them were disregarded. But they were but the means to an\nend, and if they did not lead to that end they were worthless in His\nsight. They were intended to awaken a sense of sin, and to be\naccompanied by observance of higher precepts and by obedience to more\nenduring laws. It availed nothing for a man to offer his bullock or\nhis goat unless he laid his will upon the altar at the same time--no\nsin-offering could be acceptable to God unless the sin was put away,\nand no meat-offering could be regarded with favour if the heart of\nthe offeror was without love to his neighbour and his life was marked\nby acts of injustice to him. It was of no avail to come before the\nLord with _\"thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil,\"_\nunless the higher requirement was fulfilled--_to do justly, and to\nlove mercy, and to walk humbly with God_ (Micah vi. 7, 8).\n\n+II. The doing of justice and judgment is more acceptable to God\nbecause it is a moral reality.+ To love our neighbour as ourself is\nin itself good,--it is a moral attribute, an element of character, a\npart of the man himself. It is an expression of love to God and\nobedience to His commands which can be made anywhere and at all\ntimes, for to do justice and judgment is the law of the moral\nuniverse, and belongs to heaven as much as to earth. It is to do what\nGod has been doing from all eternity, for it is written that they\n_\"are the habitation of His throne\"_ (Psa. lxxxix. 14). All other\nofferings without these are _\"vain oblations,\"_ and even _\"an\nabomination\"_ (Isa. i. 13) unto Him who owns _\"every beast of the\nforest and the cattle upon a thousand hills\"_ (Psa. l. 10). To expect\na holy and spiritual Being to accept anything less than a moral\nreality is to expect Him to be satisfied with less than would often\ncontent a fellow-creature.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Sacrifice;_ literally, _slaughter._ But with slender exceptions, the\nslaughter is a slaughter for sacrifice. . . . He did not love the\nslaughtering of His Son upon the cross. He did not love the\nslaughtering of beasts year by year continually. On the contrary, He\ndoes love righteousness, and, therefore, He does love, in the\nseverities that men impugn, that very element of right which is the\nattribute that they would bring into the question. Doing\nrighteousness Himself, He prefers the right-doing of His creatures to\nany form of sacrifice or possible service they can ever\nrender.--_Miller._\n\n\"Sacrifice\" at best is only circumstantially good--rectitude is\nessentially so. Sacrifice, at best, is only the means and expression\nof good; rectitude is goodness itself. God accepts the moral without\nthe ceremonial, but never the ceremonial without the moral. The\nuniverse can exist without the ceremonial, but not without the\nmoral.--_David Thomas._\n\nThis maxim of the Proverbs was a bold saying then--it is a bold\nsaying still; but it well unites the wisdom of Solomon with that of\nhis father in the 51st Psalm, and with the inspiration of the later\nprophets.--_Stanley._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.\n\nTHE PLOUGHING OF THE WICKED.\n\n+I. The high look and the proud heart indicate a man wrong at the\nfoundation of his character.+ They show that he has not yet learned\nthe alphabet of true godliness--that he has not yet begin to know his\nguilt and his weakness. He is ignorant of the depravity of his moral\nnature--of the capabilities of wrong that lie hidden within him,\nundeveloped now, it may be, but ready to assert their presence when\nthe temptation presents itself. The man who has been born blind is\nentirely ignorant of the outline even of his own features, but he\ndoes not form a conception which is farther removed from the reality\nthan a spiritually unenlightened man does of the real features of his\nmoral character. The proud man by his pride proclaims his moral\nblindness--his high look is a sure indication that the light within\nhim is darkness--that he has never seen himself as he really is.\nHence it follows that he is wrong at the very core and centre of his\nmoral being; where pride holds her throne there is no room for God,\nthere is no confession of sin, and no yielding to Divine guidance.\n\n+II. While the heart is wrong the whole life will be wrong.+ This\ntruth is expressed in the proverb, however we translate the verb in\nthe second clause (See Critical Notes). Things that are not wrong in\nthemselves become wrong if done from a sinful motive. A man may\nplough a field, and in itself the action may be neither good nor bad,\nbut if he plough in order to sow a crop of thistles the action is a\ncriminal one. A man may be diligent and painstaking in his business,\nand his diligence may in itself seem commendable, but if he exercises\nit only to gain money for sinful ends his very buying and selling\nbecomes sin. And if we translate the word _\"light,\"_ and understand\nit to signify _prosperity,_ the truth taught is very much the same.\nWhile a man's pride keeps him at a moral distance from God, no matter\nhow successful he may be, the taint and curse of unpardoned sin is\nupon all his gains and possessions.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHoly intention is to the actions of a man that which the soul is to\nthe body, or form to its matter, or the root to the tree, or the sun\nto the world, or the fountain to the river, or the base to a pillar.\nWithout these the body is a dead trunk, the matter is sluggish, the\ntree is a block, the world is darkness, the river is quickly dry, the\npillar rushes into flatness and ruin, and the action is sinful, or\nunprofitable and vain.--_Jeremy Taylor._\n\nThe evil spirit called sin may be trained up to politeness, and made\nto be genteel sin; it may be elegant, cultivated sin; it may be very\nexclusive and fashionable sin; it may be industrious, thrifty sin; it\nmay be a great political manager, a great inventor; it may be\nlearned, scientific, eloquent, highly-poetic sin! Still it is sin,\nand, being that, has in fact the same radical and fundamental quality\nthat, in its ranker and less restrained conditions, produces all the\nmost hideous and revolting crimes of the world.--_Bushnell._\n\nAll thine actions while unregenerate--whether inward or outward,\nwhether worldly or religious--are all sinful and cursed. Like the\nleper under the law, thou taintest whatever thou touchest, and makest\nit unclean. . . . Thy calling is not without its corruption . . .\nnay, thy very religious exercises are sinful. . . . Thine incense\nstinks of the hand that offered it. . . . The vessel of thy heart is\nnot clean, and God will not taste of the liquor which cometh out of\nit. Because thy person is not accepted, thy performances are all\nrejected. \"Thou art in the flesh, and therefore canst not please God\"\n(Rom. viii. 8).--_Swinnock._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5, 7, _and_ 17.\n\nTHE ROADS TO WEALTH.\n\n+I. The most likely road to lead to wealth.+ 1. _Thoughtful diligence\nas opposed to thoughtless haste._ We have before considered the\nnecessity of thought before action (see on chap. xx. 18), and the\nsame idea is conveyed in the use of the first noun here (see Critical\nNotes). But although it is wise and necessary to think before we act,\nthinking must only be preparatory to action, and must not take its\nplace. It is good for a man to make a good plan of his house before\nhe begins to build; but a house on paper only will not shelter him\nfrom the winter storms. It is advisable for the captain to study his\nchart well before he embarks upon his voyage, but if he does no more\nhe will never reach the desired port. So it is good for a man to take\ncounsel with himself and others before he sets out upon the voyage of\ncommercial life--before he begins to build for a competency or a\nfortune; but after the thought and with the thought there must be\naction, and there must be painstaking and persevering action. He must\nnot be all eagerness to-day and indifference to-morrow--he must not\nwork hard this week and neglect his business next week;--such a man\nmay get rich by a mere chance speculation or by a dishonest act, but,\napart from all higher considerations, it is not the best road,\nbecause it is not the most likely road. No doubt there are men who\nhave made their fortune by short cuts--by what is called luck, or by\ncraft and robbery--but these are the exceptions, and the way of\ndiligent perseverance is the one by which riches are generally\ngotten. 2. _Self-denial as opposed to self-indulgence._ \"He that\nloveth pleasure shall be a poor man; he that loveth wine and oil\nshall not be rich\" (ver. 17). He who spends in self-indulgence as\nfast as he earns will be always poor. The lover of pleasure and\nluxury will not be a lover of hard work, and as we have just seen, it\nis that alone by which most men grow rich. And the extravagant and\nidle man will not be very likely to keep within his means, and to\nconfine himself to honest ways of making money. And both these roads\nare roads which lead in the end to ruin. It is not likely that\nSolomon here refers to any poverty except material poverty. But it is\nalso true that no man whose heart is set upon the gratification of\nhis own selfish desires--whose life is one of self-indulgent\nease--can ever be rich in the only true and lasting riches. He must\nalways be in poverty as to character, as to intellectual wealth, and\nas to the gratitude and respect of those whom he might bless with his\nriches. _\"If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous\nmammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have\nnot been faithful in that which is another man's_ (or another's),\n_who shall give you that which is your own?\"_ (Luke xvi. 11, 12). He\nis a poor man who has nothing but what he must leave behind him when\nhe leaves the world. The greatest millionaire has nothing he can call\nhis own if he has not a godly character.\n\n+II. The only blessed road to wealth, viz., the way of truth as\nopposed to lying, the way of honesty as opposed to dishonesty.+ We\nneed not consider these sins separately, for they are inseparable in\nhuman character and conduct. The liar is a thief, for by his tongue\nhe cheats men of their rights, and the thief lies in action as well\nas in word. Solomon does not say that thieves and liars shall not\ngrow rich. As a matter of fact they often do, and leave far behind\nthem in their race those who are plodding slowly on in the path of\nhonest diligence. But he looks to the end of such a way of making\nmoney, and of these who so make it. It often vanishes like a vapour\n(see Critical Notes), while the man who made it still lives. One\nfalsehood leads to another, and a little dishonesty bringing success\nleads to another and another, each one on a larger scale, until the\nbubble becomes too thin, and it bursts and all is gone. But if the\nrogue keeps his fortune till the last--if he meets death a rich man,\nand is buried with all the pomp of wealth,--retribution awaits him\nbefore the tribunal of a righteous God. He sought death and\ndestruction while he lived, and he found it ever here;--destruction\nof character and spiritual death, and he who here \"refused to do\njudgment\" goes to meet his judge a morally self-ruined man--one whose\nspiritual deathblow has been dealt by his own hand. (On this subject\nsee also Homiletics on chap. xiii. 11, page 306.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 5. Haste may have much of diligence in the temperament. But as\nindolence is its defect, this is its excess, its undisciplined\nimpulse. The hand too often goes before, and acts without the\njudgment. Hence our English philosopher wisely counsels us--\"not to\nmeasure dispatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement of\nthe business.\" A wise man had it for a bye-word, when he saw men\nhasten to a conclusion--\"Stay a little that we may make an end the\nsooner.\" To choose time is to save time, and an unreasonable motion\nis but \"beating the air.\" The heavenly race is not to be run by so\nmany heats, but by a steady course. \"Run,\" not with haste or speed,\nbut \"with patience the race set before us\" (Heb. xii. 1). The seed\nspringing up in haste withered (Matt. xiii. 20, 21).--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 6. They _seek_ death because they not only walk in the way of\nit, but run and fly with post haste as if they were afraid they\nshould come too late or that hell would be full before they got\nthither. Thus Balaam's ass never carries him fast enough after the\nwages of wickedness. Set but a wedge of gold before Achan, and Joshua\nthat could stop the sun in his course, cannot stay him from fingering\nof it. Judas, in selling his Master, what he doth, doth\nquickly.--_Trapp._\n\n_Treasures;_ literally stores; from a root to shut up. _\"Tongue;\"_\nstanding for all instruments of labour (see comment on chap. xii. 6).\n_\"Lying;\"_ not telling lies in the worldly sense, for, so put, decent\nsinners would miss the signification, but _lying_ in that high sense\nin which the most honest worldling may fill the portrait. _\"Tongue;\"_\njust coincident with fact, is of the haste of the last verse; that\nuntrue uttering of thought against conviction in one's self, and,\ntherefore, hardly to be dreamed of and spared by the Most High.\nStores got by this lying career of business may seem solid, because\nthey may be whole blocks of granite in some fire-proof square mile of\nstreet; and yet as to their possession the wise man employs a\nsingularly intensive figure. They are _driven breath!_ Surely he will\npause at that! But no! They are driven breath as of man chasing after\ndeath! . . . The meaning is, that the hot breath of a man rushing to\nhis doom is like the money made by the deceived impenitent. First, it\nis utterly perishable; second, it betokens the speed; and third, the\nvoluntary rush to get himself to ruin.--_Miller._\n\nAnd forget not what the \"lying tongue\" includes--that he is\nchargeable with the evil who pretends, in any way, to be what he is\nnot, to have what he has not, not to have what he has, to have said\nwhat he has not said, or to have done what he has not done, or not to\nhave said and done what he has said and done; who tries to gain an\nend by any word, or act, or look, or even by silence and concealment\ndesigned to convey a false impression--by any means whatever not in\nharmony with honest truth--with \"simplicity and godly sincerity.\"\nThis, says Solomon, \"is vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek\ndeath.\" It is a \"vanity;\" inasmuch as it involves both folly and\nsin--the folly being made evident in ultimate detection, exposure,\nshame, and loss--loss of character, loss of confidence, and many a\ntime loss of even what the falsehood had acquired. It is \"tossed to\nand fro.\" Men learn it from one another. The man who has been imposed\nupon retaliates--he has no satisfaction until he has succeeded in\nduping him by whom he has himself been taken in, in practising on him\nan equal or a better trick. It is practised with little thought--with\nthe vanity of a light and inconsiderate mind--and laughed at, in many\ninstances, when it proves successful, instead of engendering remorse.\nSuccess produces a hundred imitators: and the cheats and the dupes\nare successively reversed, the dupe becoming in his turn the cheat,\nand the cheat the dupe.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 17. Self-indulgence is not human happiness; it is a delirium,\nnot a delight. It is a mere titillation of the dying nerves, not a\nDivine thrill of our imperishable sensibilities and powers. Its music\nis the notes of a maniac, not the strains of a seraph.--_David\nThomas._\n\nHe may be rich secularly. For here is a proverb that on earth has but\na partial verity. But now, spiritually it is as settled as the\nheavens. \"He that loveth his life shall lose it\" (John xii. 25). A\nman cannot scale heaven for its \"wine.\" Unless a man gets higher\nobjects than himself, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And,\ntherefore, it is literally true that the wealth that the soul attains\nis never made by the very most feverish desire to escape, or by the\nvery most impassioned thirst for the mere joy of heaven. \"Man;\" the\nhigher name for man. He may be ever so skilful. . . . \"Loving;\" not,\nif it loves, but because it loves. It is no harm to love happiness;\nbut it cannot be in loving it, or because we love it, that we can\ncreate everlasting riches.--_Miller._\n\nStrange as it may seem, the way to enjoy pleasure is not to love it;\nto live above it; to \"rejoice as though we rejoiced not; to use the\nworld, as not abusing it\" (1 Cor. vii. 30, 31); never pursuing it as\nour portion, or as making the happiness of an immortal being. The man\nwho gives his whole heart and time to the love of pleasure, and\nsacrifices to it all his prudence and foresight, is surely on the\nhighroad to poverty. On the same road is he that loveth wine, under\nthe power of a \"mocking delusion.\" He that loveth oil--one of the\nmost precious fruits of Canaan--may find, that \"those who could not\nlive without dainties came to want necessaries.\"--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nTWO WAYS.\n\n+I. The way of fallen man.+ It is a froward or refractory way in\nrelation to God. When we look at man's ways and compare them with the\nways of all the creatures below him and inferior to him, we note a\nremarkable contrast. The sun, which was created to give him light and\nheat, never turns aside from its ordained path, and the moon never\nforsakes her orbit, with the rest of the heavenly bodies, continue in\nthe way ordained for them at the creation, and impress us with a\nsense of order, and regularity, and obedience. And the living\ncreatures beneath man remain true to their instincts, and manifestly\nfulfil their destinies in ministering to the wants of the human race.\nBut when we come to man we come to a law-breaking, perverse\ncreature--to a being who resists the law of God as written in his\nconscience, and the commands of God as given in revelation, and the\nvery pleadings of _self-love_ which often urge him to submission. The\nway of the Hebrew people under special Divine tuition is a specimen\nof the frowardness of all men in their natural condition, which is\nindeed a most _unnatural_ condition, seeing that it is out of harmony\nwith all the rest of creation. Delivered from bondage by miracle and\nfed and guided by the same miraculous love and power for nearly half\na century, and again and again after their settlement in Canaan\ndelivered from the consequences of their disobedience by the same\nmighty hand, the testimony against them was, _\"Ephraim is joined unto\nidols, let him alone\"_ (Hosea iv. 15). Neither appeals to their\nconscience or their reason, or even to their own self-interest, nor\npromises nor threatenings, could induce them to choose God's way in\npreference to their own, and when He appeared among them in flesh,\nand after He had risen from the grave and the full meaning of His\nincarnation and death was unfolded to them by His apostles, they\nstill perversely chose to go about _\"to establish their own\nrighteousness\"_ rather than _\"submit themselves unto the\nrighteousness of God\"_ (Rom. x. 3). And man in general is as froward,\nas perverse, as was this froward people. Though their reason, and\nconscience, and self-love are all on the side of God's way they\npersist in walking in their own.\n\n+II. The way of renewed man.+ It is a _direct_ or _straight_ way (see\nCritical Notes), because it is an obedient way. No man but a godly\nman keeps in one undeviating course, for none but he has but one aim\nand goal. The unrenewed man may be swayed by passion to-day, and by\nworldly interest to-morrow; but with him who has been born to a new\nand higher life one principle lies behind all his actions; and\nwhatever his secondary plans and purposes, they are all subordinated\nto the one ruling law--the Will of God. His work--whatever it may\nbe--whether that of the judge upon the bench, the minister in the\npulpit, the tradesman behind the counter, or the sailor at the\nmast-head, has one end and aim above all others, viz., to glorify\nGod; and this gives to it a directness and straightforwardness which\nis not an element in the walk and work of the ungodly. See also on\nchap. x. 9, 10, page 153, and on chap. xi. 3, page 195.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNo one is such a stranger in any land as man is in the land of\nrighteousness; neither is any stranger so ignorant of his way, as man\nis of the way of virtue. Wherefore, man and purity are rightly\nopposed in our translation. For what is more froward, more impure,\nthan man's way is? And he that is pure, how little _man_ must he have\nin him. How must he put off _man_ to put on purity. Wherefore, if in\nthe whole way of man there be a right work, it is not the work of\nman, as he is man, but the grace of God.--_Jermin._\n\nIt is too natural for us to think that, if we are no worse than the\ngenerality of our neighbours, we are safe. But Solomon and Paul teach\nus, that, to walk as man, is not to walk like saints (1 Cor. iii. 3).\nWhilst we are following the course of this world, we are walking in\nthe broad road that leadeth to destruction, and not in the narrow way\nthat leadeth unto life.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 9 _and_ 19.\n\nAN ANGRY WOMAN.\n\n+I. No social discomfort is to be compared to that of an ill-tempered\nwife.+ A corner of the housetop would be exposed to the rain and to\nthe storm, both of which, in Eastern countries, are generally of a\nviolent character; and although it is not uncommon for Orientals\nsometimes to pass the night there, it would be most undesirable to be\nobligated at all seasons, and under all circumstances, to have no\nother place of refuge. He who had to dwell there would at one time be\nsubjected to the intense heat of the mid-day sun, and at another\nwould be chilled by the midnight air. Neither is the wilderness a\npleasant place of abode. In addition to all the drawbacks of the\nhousetop arising from exposure to the weather, a wilderness is a\nplace of dreary solitude, and often of danger from wild beasts and\nlawless men. But it is better to dwell in either of these places than\nwith a brawling or even with an angry woman. 1. _Because one might\nenjoy intervals of repose._ The rain would not always descend,\nneither would the storm-wind be always blowing; the sun would\nsometimes give forth only an agreeable warmth, and the night-wind\nbring only a refreshing coolness. Even in the wilderness the solitude\nwould sometimes be enjoyable, and life there would not always be in\nperil. But the woman pictured here is one whose ill-temper is always\nruling her and casting gloom over the home, and when there is no\nstorm of passion actually raging there is one brewing and ready to\nburst forth. The unhappy partner of her life can never look forward\nto an hour of ease, for the lulls in the storm are but momentary, and\nthe rifts in the clouds obscured again immediately. 2. _Because,\nwhatever may be the discomforts of a housetop or wilderness dwelling,\nthey may leave the soul at rest._ They can but reach the body, and\nthe mind may be so absolutely calm or absorbed in thought as to be\nalmost unconscious of what is passing without. To some men solitude\nhas such charms that they are willing to forego many bodily comforts\nin order to obtain it. There have been and are those whose own\nthoughts are the only company they desire, and who would gladly brave\nthe drawbacks of the housetop or the wilderness, if by so doing they\ncould be left undisturbed to indulge their own speculations, or\npursue their meditations. But the sharp tongue of a contentious woman\nleaves no corner of the soul undisturbed. It is vain for the subject\nof it to seek refuge in reflection upon more agreeable topics, to\nendeavour to banish the actual present by calling up images of the\nfuture, or of unseen though distant realities. All the powers of the\nmind are paralyzed by such an incubus, and the soul cannot wing its\nflight into pleasant regions, as it can do sometimes when the\nsuffering only touches the outer man.\n\n+II. External good fortune is no proof against this domestic curse.+\nThe _\"wide house\"_ or the _\"house of companionship,\"_ suggests a\ngoodly mansion--a dwelling which might be the centre of social\ngatherings, and whose owner is able to indulge in hospitality on a\nlarge scale. It calls up before us not the top-story garret of the\nvery poor, or even the narrow dwelling of a struggling man, where the\nfight for bread, and the effort to make both ends meet, may have\nsomething to do with spoiling the temper of the housewife. But the\nangry and contentious woman is not confined to these abodes--Solomon\nalmost seems to speak here from experience, but even if he did not,\nwe know that even palace walls cannot keep out the curse, and that\nthere is often such a skeleton at the must sumptuous feast.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe family is sometimes a fierce fire. It comprehends the greatest\nportion of our world. It is to us the most interesting, and therefore\nis capable of becoming the most trying portion.--_Cecil._\n\nEveryone has known some pair chained together by human laws where the\nheart's union has either never existed or been rent asunder. Two\nships at sea are bound together by strong, short chains. As long as\nthe sea remains perfectly calm all may be well with both; though they\ndo each other no good, they may not inflict much evil. But the sea\nnever rests long, and seldom rests at all. Woe to these two ships\nwhen the waves begin to roll. There are two conditions in which they\nmight be safe. If they were either brought more closely together, or\nmore widely separated, it might yet be well with them. If they were\nfrom stern to stern riveted into one, or if the chain were broken and\nthe two left to follow independently their several courses, there\nwould be no further cause of anxiety on their account. If they are so\nunited that they shall move as one body, they are safe; if they move\nfar apart, they are safe. The worst possible position is to be\nchained together, and yet have separate and independent motion in the\nwaves. They will rasp each other's sides off, and tear open each\nother's heart, and go down together.--_Arnot._\n\nBetter to retire into a corner of the housetop than to quit the house\nand go into bad company for diversion, as many who, like Adam, make\ntheir wife's sin the excuse of their own.--_Henry._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nTHE DESIRE OF THE WICKED.\n\nOn \"the desire of the wicked\" see on chap. xi. 5, 6, page 199.\nConcerning that desire it is here affirmed--\n\n+That it overmasters and destroys all natural feelings of\ncompassion.+ The Bible teaches us that in the estimation of God he is\nour neighbour who, as one of the same great human family, stands upon\nthe same level with us,--the child of the same God and heir to the\nsame inheritance of sorrow and death. As such he has a claim upon our\nconsideration and goodwill at all times, and sometimes he stands in\nneed of our sympathy and help. Now there are spiritual desires and\ninclinations to which we are bound to subordinate some claims of\nhuman kinship. The relation of a disciple of Christ to his Master is\nso far above all human ties that they sink into apparent\ninsignificance beside it, but this relationship has not the effect of\nlessening man's concern for the welfare of his brother, but of\nincreasing it tenfold. But here is subjection to a principle as much\nbelow nature as the other is above it--evil instead of good is the\naim of the life, and in proportion as it rules and reigns it drags a\nman below the level of even ordinary human nature and leads him to so\nearnest a pursuit of his own wicked devices that he has no time to\npause to consider the claims of others.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Evil.\"_ All kinds of it. He rejoices in iniquity (1 Cor. xiii. 6);\nhe rejoices in calamity (chap. xvii. 5); he desires nothing but evil\n(chap. xvii. 11). Blessed be God, if a soul desires anything but\n_evil, i.e.,_ desires it truly (see James iv. 2), that soul is saved.\nAs to the second clause, there may be a bending over earthly\ndistress, but real _favour_ to his _neighbour_ the lost man never\nshows. \"The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel\" (chap.\nxii. 10).--_Miller._\n\nAnd here lies the difference between the godly and the wicked; not\nthat the one is pure from evil and the other commits it, but that the\none does it from constraint, the other from delight. The one\ntestifies--\"What I hate\"--the other--What my soul desireth--\"that do\nI.\" As the fruit of this native cherished principle, self to the\nwicked is both his god and his object.--_Bridges._\n\nHe views \"his neighbour\" in no other light than as, on the one hand,\nthe means of thwarting, or, on the other, the instrument of promoting\nhis own ends. Can he gain anything by him? he will flatter and cajole\nhim and do everything to win his favour, and secure his services.\nDoes his \"neighbour's\" interest, reputation, personal and family\ncomforts, connections, or even life itself, stand in the way of the\nattainment of his wishes?--he is ready to sacrifice all to his\nidol.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt is the common maxim of the schools, that, seeing the nature of the\ngood is the nature of that which is desirable, it is impossible that\nevil, as it is so, should be desired. But then the schools do add\nalso, that the will may desire anything, it is not required that it\nbe good in the truth of the thing, but that it be apprehended as if\nit were good. And thus it is that the soul of the wicked desireth\nevil, because that he apprehendeth the good, either of some pleasure\nof profit, or some contentment in it.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.\n\nINSTRUCTION FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT.\n\n+I. An inevitable event in the history of the scorner.+ It is here\ntaken for granted that he will be punished--that he who sets at\nnought the _\"counsel,\"_ and will have none of the _\"reproof\"_ of\nwisdom, will have his day of reckoning. The _\"day of his calamity\"_\nand _\"fear\"_ will come (chap. i. 27). Throughout this book, as\nthroughout all the inspired writings, sin and punishment are linked\nas cause and effect. There is punishment in the constantly increasing\ndominion of evil in the soul, and there is punishment in the stings\nof conscience; but there is also punishment by the direct\ninterposition of God, and it is to this that the proverb evidently\npoints.\n\n+II. One of the fruits of wisdom.+ He who is wise will be instructed.\nHaving used what he has, he will in accordance with the Divine law\nreceive more. To _\"him that hath shall be given\"_ (Mark iv. 25). He\nwho by a wise use of five talents has gained other five, shall have\nhis store increased still more. This is likewise a foundation\nprinciple of this book, that the wise are those who are willing to be\ninstructed, and that to those who desire instruction it will not be\nwanting. The special point of the verse is in the fact--\n\n+III. That the punishment of evil men, and the soul-advancement of\nthe good, have a work to do outside the men themselves.+ When the\nscorner receives punishment others receive instruction. This is one\nof its objects. A good ruler, as we have before seen (chap. xx. 26),\nis bound to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked for many\nreasons, and for this reason among others, that the punishment of one\noffender may prevent others from committing a like offence. Men often\nlearn by example what they would not learn by precept--the\ninexperienced are often more deeply impressed by one instance of\nretributive justice than they would be by many admonitions in word.\nThis is, as we know from God's Word, one end of His visitations.\n_\"For this cause,\"_ said God to Pharaoh, _\"have I raised thee up, for\nto show in thee My power, and that My name may be declared throughout\nall the earth\"_ (Exod. ix. 16). There are vessels belonging to our\nnavy which are past repair, and are therefore unfit for sea. Yet they\nare retained as light-ships along the coast, and are useful in\npreventing better ships from going to pieces on the rocks. Pharaoh\nhad long scorned the commands and the judgments of Jehovah, and his\nown doom was fast hastening on. But he would still serve as a\nbeacon-light to save others--by his punishment the simple would be\nmade wise. But there is the other and brighter side of the picture.\nThe inexperienced are allured to goodness by the advancement of the\ngood, as well as deterred from evil by the downfall of the wicked.\nWhen the simple sees the wise man in the attitude of a learner--when\nhe finds that the wiser he is the more he desires instruction; and\nwhen he marks the effect of his humility and earnestness in his\ngrowth in all that is calculated to win him respect and to afford him\nreal satisfaction, he \"receives knowledge\" by \"the instruction of the\nwise\" as well as by the \"punishment of the scorner.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA respectful sinner; how is he a scorner? The Holy Ghost plainly\nintends just the shock that such words occasion. If a man hears that\nhe should repent, and knows the reasons, and among the reasons are\nfacts like hell, and calls like Christ's, and scenes like death, with\nall the realities of an eternal judgment, is there any spoken scorn\nthat can be thought of as more scornful than the acted scorn of not\nrepenting? \"The simple becomes wise,\" _i.e.,_ the subject or the\nwitness of the punishment, just as it may happen. . . . Punishment\nnever wastes. The wicked may be thrust lower by his evil (chap.\nxiv. 32), but some saint receives the lesson. This principle reaches\nthrough the system. The philosophy of hell is its good-doing through\nall the universe.--_Miller._\n\nIt is a stroke easily taken which another feels, the receiver only\nfears, and it is a blow haply given which, striking one, reacheth\ntwo; the scorner to his reward, the simple to his amendment. . . .\nLet it therefore be a sharp punishment which is inflicted; _smite a\nscorner,_ for such it is that the scorner deserveth, and it will work\nupon the simple, though not by the touch of the punishment yet by the\nvirtue of it. And when wisdom hath once subdued him by fear, then\nwill it lead him on to hear the wise, and by attention to receive\nknowledge.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nGOD'S SURVEILLANCE OF THE WICKED.\n\nWe follow here the rendering now generally given of this verse. (See\nCritical Notes.)\n\n+I. We have a reference to a mystery in the government of God.+ It is\nmysterious that the wicked are permitted to live _at large_--to\npursue their plans and carry on their iniquitous work. Under human\ngovernors, men who break the laws of the State and endanger life and\nproperty are not allowed to have liberty. If they are permitted to\nlive, they live under restraint--their activities are confined within\nnarrow limits, and so their power to do mischief is taken from them.\nThe prisons scattered throughout our land declare that our rulers\nonly permit those who break our laws to have a very narrow sphere of\naction; they live where all their freedom is taken from them, and\nwhere their rule of life is not their own but that of others. But God\nallows those who break His laws a larger amount of freedom--He\npermits them to mingle freely with righteous men, and to exercise\ntheir influence upon the world, and to carry out designs which are\noften in defiance of His commands. This has often perplexed the good\nin the world, and they have again and again asked the question,\n_\"Wherefore do the wicked live--become old; yea, are mighty in\npower?\"_ (Job xxi. 7).\n\n+II. The wicked living thus at large have God for a sentinel.+ There\nare many men living at large who are known to be dangerous\ncharacters--who, although they do not come within the reach of the\nlaw, are known to cherish feelings and intentions which are\nantagonistic to it. Such people need a more vigilant supervision than\nthose in the prison cells, just because their freedom is greater. An\nordinary man can watch a criminal who is secure in a prison, but much\ngreater watchfulness and skill is needed to supervise the actions of\none at liberty. Every house of the wicked contains a lawbreaker at\nliberty, and often one house contains many such who have a large\namount of freedom in the execution of their wicked designs. God is\nthe only Being capable of being the sentinel over such a house. They\nneed one who knows the heart as only God knows it--one who sees all\ntheir plans before they become actions. They need a sleepless\nsentinel--one who can be awake at all hours, and so can never be\ntaken by surprise. And this they have in God. None enters or departs\nfrom the house of the wicked, and no plot is concocted within it that\nis not marked by this ever-wakeful sentinel. The wicked have what it\nis indispensable they should have--an omniscient and omnipresent eye\never upon them.\n\n+III. After the watch has been kept for a given time, the house is\nmarked for falling.+ We know why God gives such men freedom, for He\nhas told us. It is that they shall have opportunities of\nrepentance--that _they \"shall turn from their way and live\"_ (Ezek.\nxxxiii. 11). He spares the house of the godless, for the same reason\nthat the vine-dresser desired that the fruitless fig-tree should be\nspared (Luke xii. 6-9). He gives men time to bring forth fruits of\nholiness, to their own profit and to His glory. So He considered the\nhouse of the sinners, before the flood. His _\"longsuffering waited\nwhile the ark was a preparing\"_ (1 Pet. iii. 20) for some tokens of a\nchange of disposition towards Himself, and consequently towards His\nlaws. But none came, and so the day came when the flood came, and\nswept away both the houses and their inhabitants. So He considered\nthe house of the Jewish nation, after the death of Christ. In the\ndays of John the Baptist, the _\"axe was laid unto the root of the\ntree\"_ (Matt. iii. 10), but the hand was not lifted to strike, until\nthe rejection of the Messiah, and of the ministry of His apostles,\nhad proved that there was no hope of a moral change. The wicked shall\nbe overthrown, but God _considereth their house_ long before He gives\nthe final blow.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n(It will be seen that these read the verse as in our version.)\n\nThe punishment of the wicked reads a lesson not only of love and\ntrembling, but of wise consideration. Yet many are the perplexing\nmysteries of Providence. The righteous man does not always see with\nhis right eyes. The prosperity of the wicked staggers his faith,\nexcites his envy, and induces hard thoughts of God (Ps.\nlxxiii. 2-14). But when he looks with the eye of faith, he sees far\nbeyond the dazzling glory of the present moment. He wisely\nconsidereth their house; not its external splendour and\nappurtenances, but how it will end. He justifies God, and puts\nhimself to shame (_Ib._ verses 16-22). \"Shall not the Judge of all\nthe earth do right?\" (Gen. xviii. 25). Here we rest, until He shall\n\"arise, and plead His own cause,\" and \"with the breath of His mouth,\nand the brightness of His coming, destroy\" the very existence of\nevil. Meanwhile, where the superficial eye sees nothing but\nconfusion, let the righteous man wisely consider lessons of deep and\npractical profit. The shortness of the prosperity, and the certainty\nof the overthrow, of the wicked; the assurance of a day of\nrecompense; the contrast of the substance of the godly for time and\nfor eternity--these are the apprehensions of faith. Do they not\nmarvellously set out the perfections of God, and call to each of His\nchildren--\"My son, give glory to God?\"--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nTHE CRY OF THE POOR.\n\n+I. The cry of the poor may always be heard.+ _\"The poor,\"_ said the\nSaviour, _\"ye have always with you\"_ (John xii. 8), and so long as\nsin is in the world it must be so. There are many who sickness and\nbereavement makes poor, and many who are in need because of the sin\nof others, besides those who have been brought to poverty by their\nown wrong-doings. And from all these creatures of need there comes a\ncry--a direct appeal, it may be, for help, or the voice of\nlamentation because of their distress. This cry may be around us even\nwhen no appeal comes from the lip, and when no word of complaint is\nuttered. The wrongs of the oppressed and the miseries of the needy\ncry still when there is no speech nor language, and when no voice is\nheard.\n\n+II. No human creature can afford to stop his ears to this cry.+ Not\none of the millions who walk the earth can reckon upon being always\nindependent of the pity and help of his fellow-creatures. He may be\nalmost certain that he will not be so. He is not sure, however rich\nhe is now, that he may not have to cry for bread, or he may have to\ncry for help in sickness or for sympathy in sorrow. It is quite\ncertain that he will at some period of his existence cry to God for\nmercy. If, therefore, he is deaf to the cry of those whose distress\nhe can relieve, he is as unwise as the servant of whom our Lord\nspeaks in His parable, who refused to have compassion on his\nfellow-servant to the amount of a hundred pence, while he himself\nstood in need of the forgiveness of a far heavier debt (Matt.\nxvii. 23, 35). He who stops his own ears at the cry of the poor stops\nthe ears of God against His own, for in the day when the favour of\nthe King of the universe will be more precious than the wealth of ten\nthousand worlds, the charge will be brought against him, _\"I was an\nhungered and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty and ye gave Me no\ndrink,\"_ etc. (Matt. xxv. 42).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWhen we have reason to complain that we cry and shout, but God\nshutteth our prayer, let us consider our ways; perhaps we have shut\nour ears on some occasions against the cries of the poor. This was\none reason why God accepted not the prayers and fasts of those people\nwhom Isaiah speaks of in the fiftieth chapter of his book.--_Lawson._\n\nDid a rich man know for certain, that himself should be a beggar\nbefore he died, it would make him give to the poor when they cried,\nthat others might give to him when he cried. Now the wise man here\nassureth every hard churl, that although now he be never so rich, yet\nshall he be a beggar. . . . The cries of the poor are but God's\nproclamation, whereby He publisheth His pleasure for the relieving of\nthem. It is God therefore Himself that is not heard when they are\ndenied; it is God that is not heard in His command, as well as the\npoor in his necessity. And, therefore, being made deaf as it were\nwith the loudness of His own crying, He doth not hear the\nuncharitable when they cry unto him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nTHE PACIFICATION OF ANGER.\n\n+I. Human anger is an evil to be avoided.+ Even the anger of a\nrighteous man exposes the object of it to danger. David had good\nreason to be angry with Nabal, but his anger, though it was the anger\nof a man just in the main, so nearly overmastered him for the time as\nto lead him to meditate a very bitter revenge. For even righteous\nindignation has a tendency to run into unrighteous action, as in the\ncase of Esau and Jacob. The elder brother had just cause to be angry\nwith the younger for his meanness and deceit, but lawful displeasure\nsoon degenerated into an unlawful purpose, and Jacob had to flee for\nhis life. If, then, even the anger of the righteous man is to feared\nbecause it may lead him to visit the offender with justice without\nmercy, much more is the anger of the unrighteous man likely to lead\nhim to extreme measures, and the anger of either is an evil to be\navoided when it can be done without sin.\n\n+II. Gifts may appease human anger.+ This proverb does not, we think,\nrefer to bribery but to lawful tokens of goodwill, and of a desire to\nbe reconciled--to gifts by which we seek to make some atonement for a\nwrong done. Such were the presents which Jacob offered to Esau, and\nAbigail to David. A bribe is a gift offered to a third person who is\nto judge between the parties at strife, but the gift here is from the\noffender to the person offended.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA gift in itself is gracious, but if it be secretly given it is yet\nmore acceptable; for privy bestowing taketh away the blush of open\nreceiving. When as then a present shall even so closely be conveyed\nunto the receiver as that it shall covertly be put into his bosom,\nthen it will be most welcome and even forcible.--_Muffet._\n\n\"Have gifts,\" says a judicious writer, \"such a powerful influence to\ndisarm resentment? Then let no man plead, in apology for the fury of\nhis passions, that he is not able to conquer them. If money can\nconquer them, shall reason, and the fear of God, and the command of\nChrist, be too weak to bridle them? Surely the commandments of God\nour Saviour have too little authority with us, if they have less\ninfluence upon our spirits than gold and jewels have upon the spirits\nof almost all men.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nTHE JOY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.\n\n+I. The just man's own character and actions give him joy.+ It is a\nmatter of experience with all the righteous beings in the universe\nthat joy comes to them from uprightness of character. The blessedness\nand joy of God Himself comes from His supreme and absolute\nrighteousness, and in proportion as His creatures are conscious of\npartaking of His rectitude of character they feel real joy. But this\nrighteousness of character is made manifest in righteous deeds. We\nknow that God is a righteous God by what He has done, and by what He\nhas promised to do, and the character of righteous men is likewise\nmanifested in their acts. From these deeds come joy to the doer.\nWhenever a good man is able to redress some injury, or to make right\nsome moral wrong--to put into exercise the love of right which is\nalways latent within him--he feels joy.\n\n+II. The just man derives joy from the justice and righteousness of\nothers.+ His great desire is to see the world freed from the rule of\nsin, with all its consequent miseries, and he hails every act of\njustice done as one more step towards that end. He sympathises with\nall those who struggle for right against might, whether with human or\nSatanic powers, and every victory gained by them gladdens his heart.\nAs he is on the side of justice he has nothing to fear, but\neverything to gain, from the advance of justice in the world, and in\nthe universe, and therefore he not only rejoices in the doings of\nother righteous men, but especially in the righteous acts of God.\nKnowing that every one of them tends to bring in the rule of\neverlasting righteousness, and knowing that this rule will be the\nbest possible for both the just and the unjust, and having a glad\nconsciousness that to him it can bring nothing but good, the just\ndealings of God are the constant theme of his glad meditations. With\nthe Psalmist he can sing, _\"Seven times a day do I praise Thee,\nbecause of Thy righteous judgments\"_ (Psalm cxix. 164).\n\n+III. The workers of iniquity have no such source of personal joy.+\nThe name given implies their character. It is iniquitous, unequal,\ncrooked. Their path lies quite apart from the straight road of\nobedience to God and justice to men, and therefore none of the\nflowers and fruits which grow only in the one path can be gathered\nupon the other. But they not only miss the joy of the just, but are\nactive agents in creating their own misery. Sin is a destructive\npower. Destruction is used in two senses. A thing is destroyed when\nthe elements which compound it cease to be, but it is also destroyed\nwhen the form which made it precious and beautiful is lost. The\npalace is destroyed when the earthquake lays it level with the\nground, although all the stones and timbers are still there. The\ngarment is destroyed when the fire blackens and scorches it, although\nthe warp and woof of the fabric is still in existence. So a man's\ndestruction is, as we understand the Word of God, not the cessation\nof his existence, but the loss of all that makes existence of worth\nto himself and others.\n\n+IV. The workers of iniquity cannot rejoice in the righteous dealings\nof others.+ The rectitude of the just man condemns them. It makes\ntheir ways look more crooked by the force of contrast, and it rebukes\ntheir consciences. It necessarily sometimes takes a more active form\nagainst them. The thief cannot joy in the law that condemns him to\npunishment, and is not likely to take pleasure in the character of\nthe judge who passes sentence upon him. No godless man can rejoice in\nreflecting on the righteousness of God, for that righteousness fills\nhim with terror in the present, and apprehensions concerning the\nfuture.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNot the saint's _\"judgment;\"_ that is \"joy,\" of course: but all\n\"judgment,\" even the judgment of the lost. Sad doctrine that! and to\nman's feeling a very shameful one. But to man's reason there may be a\nglimpse of light. The highest _\"joy\"_ is to be holiness; the highest\nholiness, the holiness of God. All judgment is built upon that. God's\nholiness, therefore, being the basis upon which He condemns the lost,\nis that _\"judgment\"_ which is part of the trait may be part of the\n_\"joy\"_ which springs to the glorified believer.--_Miller._\n\n\"It is joy to the just to do right; but vexation\" (distress, trouble)\n\"to the workers of iniquity.\" Such is Boothroyd's rendering; and it\nagrees with the French. The righteous find their happiness in the\nways of God,--in doing the thing that is right. So far from true\nreligion--practical godliness--being a source to them of irksome\nmelancholy, it is their \"joy.\" But to the wicked it is irksome. The\nprinciple of goodness or of godliness being absent from the heart,\nall conformity to precept is against the grain with them. They may do\nwhat is right from compulsion, from considerations of interest, or\nfrom the constraint of conscience and fear; but pleasure in it they\nhave none--no \"joy.\" And hence it is that amongst ungodly, worldly\nmen, the impression and saying are so prevalent, that religion is\nmelancholy. While the heart continues at enmity with God, all outward\nconformity to the will and worship of God can be nothing better than\nvexation,--harassing and fretting to the spirit and drawing forth the\nexclamation, What a weariness is it! The joy of religious and\nvirtuous practice can only be felt where there is the inward power of\nreligious and virtuous principle. It is a joy that can only be known\nby the experience of the new heart; and by the new heart it is felt\nto be the only joy worthy of the name. But the heart that is still a\nstranger to the love must be still a stranger to the joy; and the\nwhole life of the good man must appear a life of bondage. The man who\nhas no ear for music would regard the ecstasies of a Handel as\nridiculous; but such ecstasies are not on that account the less\nreal.--_Wardlaw._\n\nGravity is nowhere so seemly, as where it is the robe of the judgment\nseat; and though justice be done, yet if wantonly or lightly done, it\nis divested of the honour of it. Wherefore the _joy_ which the wise\nman here commendeth is not the _vanity,_ but the _alacrity_ of the\nmind. That detracteth from the worth of it even in the sight of men,\nthis addeth to it in the sight of God. Now, that which breedeth this\njoy is the habit of it. He that doth judgment now and then is not\nrighteous, though he do that which is righteous. It is the constant\ndoer of judgment that is made righteous by it, and findeth joy in the\ndoing of it.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nLIKE TO LIKE.\n\n+I. The way of understanding.+ What is this way? In other parts of\nthis book it is called the \"path of the just\" (chap. iv. 18, see page\n58), \"a way of righteousness\" (chap. xii. 28, page 291), and a \"way\nof life\" (chap xv. 24, page 430). It is a way of understanding,\nbecause it is the path or method of life which is followed by those\nwho have well considered their way--who regard both their present and\nfuture welfare in the highest sense of the word. The way of\nrighteousness is a way of understanding, because it leads to\nspiritual life and blessedness, both here and hereafter; therefore\nthose who walk in it give a proof of their wisdom. If we count a man\nto have no understanding who persists in walking on a road which\nthose who know tell him leads to a precipice over which he must fall,\nand if the truth of what they say is confirmed by his own knowledge,\nhow much more shall we count those of no understanding who persist in\nfollowing the path of moral ruin? And by contrast the way of present\nmoral light and life which is ever leading on to more light and life\nis well named \"the way of understanding.\"\n\n+II. The doom of the wanderer from it.+ He becomes one of an assembly\nwith whom it is most undesirable to be numbered--the congregation of\nthe dead. The graveyard is a place in which living men never take up\ntheir abode. Those who are there are there because they can no longer\nremain in the dwellings of the living and healthy. They would pollute\nthe homes of those who are in life, and must therefore be separated\nfrom them. There is a spiritual graveyard--a place to which those who\nare destitute of moral life must be banished, because they are unfit\nfor any other dwelling. And there they must _remain,_ for it is the\nonly place suited to their character and disposition. Judas, when he\nleft this world, went to his _\"own place\"_ (Acts i. 25)--to the place\nto which he belonged, because it was the abode of those like-minded\nwith himself. From the parable of the rich man and Lazarus we infer\nthat those who become numbered with that congregation will remain\nthere until the _great gulf fixed_ between them and the living is\nremoved (Luke xvi. 26).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe original word here translated _remains,_ signifieth to rest and\nbe quiet. It is rest that giveth understanding, and it is\nunderstanding that giveth rest. A disquieted mind doth not readily\nunderstand things, and it is the understanding of things that\nquieteth the mind. In the way, therefore, of understanding, here be\nmany resting-places. He that is wearied with the cares of the world,\nwhen he understandeth that man is born to cares, resteth himself\ntherein. He that is toiled in getting the things of this world, when\nhe understandeth how little sufficeth nature, and that when he dieth\nall shall be taken from him, resteth himself there. He that tireth\nhis brains to search out knowledge, when he understandeth that the\ngreatest part of men's knowledge is the least of his ignorance, and\nthat to know Jesus Christ is life everlasting, resteth himself there.\nBut he that wandereth from the way of understanding meeteth with no\nrest in all the ways he goes--his thoughts are in no quietness, his\nheart hath no contentment, his mind no peace. It is the grave alone\nthat is the bed of his rest; and when he cometh to the congregation\nof the dead, to the general assembly of all mankind, then he shall be\nquiet. Or else, to consider the verse as our translation hath it:\neveryone that understandeth his way is not in the way of\nunderstanding. The crafty politician understands his way well enough,\nand goes on readily in it; the covetous worldling understandeth his\nway well enough, and goes and gets apace in it; the cunning cheater\nunderstandeth his way well enough, and passeth through with it. But\nnone of these are in the way of understanding: that is but one, and\nis the enlightening of the understanding by the Word and Grace of\nGod. That is the way of understanding, because thereby we understand\nourselves to be in the right way indeed. The man, therefore, that\nwandereth out of this way, when he hath wandered all his ways, shall\nend them at last in the congregation of the dead--that is the\nrendezvous to which all are gathered--and being once there, he shall\n_remain_ for ever amongst them. For when that change is come, they\nthat have passed the way of understanding shall pass from death to\nlife, but they that have gone out of the way shall only go from one\ndeath to another.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 17 has been treated with verses 5 and 7.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nTHE RANSOM OF THE RIGHTEOUS.\n\nThis verse must be understood to express the same truth as that in\nIsaiah xliii. 3, in which Jehovah, speaking to the Hebrew people,\nsays, _\"I gave Egypt for thy ransom--Ethiopia and Seba for thee,\"_\nreferring doubtless to the deliverance by the overthrow of the\nEgyptians and other nations. Here the Divine interposition is not on\nbehalf of an elect nation, but on behalf of a special character; not\nfor the deliverance of Israel according to the flesh, but of the true\nIsraelite--the righteous and upright man wherever he is found, for\n_\"in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is\naccepted with Him\"_ (Acts x. 35).\n\n+I. When the wicked man stands in the way of the true advancement of\nthe good he shall be removed out of the way.+ It is a law of the\nuniverse, and the end to which all God's government tends, that\ngoodness shall finally have the ascendency over evil--that right\nshall triumph over wrong. Now, although we speak of goodness and of\nevil in the abstract, they have no abstract existence; they can only\nexist in connection with free personalities; with beings who have the\nchoice of their actions. Hence, if evil is to be put down, it must be\nput down in the person of evil men or devils, and if good is to rule\nit must rule in the person of the good. Therefore, when the\ntransgressor in any way opposes the real and true advancement of the\nrighteous man he opposes the advance of righteousness, and he must be\nsacrificed. This is not always apparent to human eyes; things often\nseem to tend in quite the contrary direction; but this is because we\ndo not know what is really most conducive to the coming of the\nkingdom of righteousness, nor how the overthrow of evil can be best\naccomplished.\n\n+II. Every man must either be ransomed from sin or become a ransom\nfor righteousness.+ The righteous and the upright on the earth have\nonly become so by submission to the righteous will of God--by taking\nHis yoke and choosing His service. This has delivered them from the\npower of evil--this has redeemed them from the slavery of sin. It was\nquite open to Pharaoh to fall in with God's will concerning\nIsrael--to obey the demand which was made upon him. It was only after\nrepeated refusal that he and his were made a ransom for God's people.\nIt is in every case where God's will is made known, and it is only\nwhen men persist in transgression that they are made a ransom for the\nupright. But there is no neutral ground. Every man who is not upright\nis a transgressor, and as such will be subject to this law.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn the time of some strange visitation for sin, the notorious\noffender, who is guilty of heinous crimes, by his suffering and death\nshall free the innocent person from the stroke of God's vengeance,\nwho should not be spared, but plagued, if the evildoer were winked\nat. Moreover, some one that hath, by breaking the Lord's covenant or\nprecept, caused trouble to fall both on himself and many others, who\nin like manner have not sinned as he hath done, shall, suffering\nalone for the sin which he hath committed, deliver by his misery the\nrest that are in the same adversity, but not for the same cause. The\nexecuting of Saul's sons (2 Sam. xxi.), the stoning of Achan (Josh.\nvii. 20), and casting of Jonah into the sea (Jonah i. 12), may more\nplainly declare and more fully prove the truth of this matter. It may\nbe here objected, if the Lord punish the righteous for the wicked\nman's offence, how is he then righteous? To answer hereunto\nbriefly--First, though the Lord afflict the innocent with the sinners\noftentimes, yet He doth not correct them for the faults of\ntransgressors, but for their own faults, there being none so just but\nthat he sinneth sometimes. Secondly, when the just, having authority\nto punish sin, wink at the known offences of the ungodly, by letting\nthem go scot-free, they make their transgressions their own, so that\nin such cases no marvel if the Lord scourge the just with the unjust;\nfor even the just do in such cases appertain to the family of the\nunjust.--_Muffet._\n\nIt is the hatred of the wicked against the righteous that bringeth\nthem into captivity, but it is the favour of God towards them that He\nmaketh those who have made them captives to be themselves the\n_redemption_ of them. Or else, if the condition of this world by\nGod's permission and providence hath cast the righteous into\nthraldom, it is the sport of the wicked to insult over them; but it\nis the compassion of God towards them that He maketh those who make\nsport at them to be themselves the sacrifice of their deliverance.\nAnd, seeing misery, being man's master, requireth the right of\ncommand over him, according as many are the general calamities of\nmankind, God maketh the wicked to serve it, and the transgressor to\npay bondage unto it instead of the righteous.--_Jermin._\n\n\nThe subjects of verses 19 and 20 have been already treated in this\nchapter. See on verses 5 and 7, and on verse 9.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nA NOBLE PURSUIT AND A RICH PRIZE.\n\n+I. A noble pursuit.+ Following after righteousness and mercy. These\nwords may be taken as referring both to a state of judicial\nrighteousness before God and to mercy received from him, and also to\nthe attainment of a righteous and merciful character. The teaching of\nthe Scriptures is that the latter is the result of the former;--that\nall true righteousness and mercifulness among men flows from having\nobtained mercy from God, and having come into right relations with\nHim. If a pursuit of any kind is to be successful it must be\nconducted according to certain known laws, and must recognise certain\nindisputable facts. If a man sets out to seek a distant shore where\nhe knows the land is fertile enough to afford him abundant means of\nliving, he must regulate his pursuit of the land and of its riches in\naccordance with the laws which govern the natural world. During his\nvoyage he must observe the laws of navigation--he must steer his\nvessel with a due regard to the winds and tides, or he will never\nreach the shore, and when he lands he must still seek to obtain what\nhe desires by working in harmony with natural laws. If he ploughs in\nthe autumn and expects to gather in the winter, or sows weeds and\nexpects to reap corn, he will be utterly disappointed. God is willing\nto bless his endeavours if they are made in subjection to known and\nestablished conditions, but not otherwise. So in every pursuit,\nwhether in the world of matter or of mind. _\"If a man also strive for\nmasteries,\"_ says Paul, _\"yet is he not crowned except he strive\nlawfully\"_ (2 Tim. ii. 5), that is, unless he conform to the rules of\nthe course. The _Grecian runner_ might reach the goal without having\na regard to the conditions of the contest, but he would not even then\nreceive the crown. But in the pursuit of many things--and especially\nin the following after a righteous and godly character--it is\nimpossible to reach the desired end without observance of the\nconditions laid down by God Himself. There is one way only to become\na truly righteous and merciful man, and that is by accepting the\nmercy of God and His method of justification, called in the New\nTestament _\"the righteousness of God\"_ (Rom. iii. 21, etc.). The\nhistory of the Church combines with the testimony of Scripture to\nconfirm this truth. The Jewish nation, as a nation, refused to accept\nit, _\"going about to establish their own righteousness they have not\nsubmitted unto the righteousness of God\"_ (Rom. x. 3). Their history\nsince has been a moral failure, and it is the history of all who have\nunited with them in the rejection of the way of righteousness through\nthe atonement of the Son of God. On the contrary, the acceptance of\nthat righteousness and mercy has been the first step in the formation\nof the most righteous and merciful characters that have ever lighted\nup our world. The apostle who was the great expounder of the doctrine\nof imputed righteousness through the mercy of God could appeal to his\nspiritual children in such words as these: _\"For our exhortation was\nnot of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; . . . neither at any\ntime used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of\ncovetousness . . . but we were gentle among you, even as a nurse\ncheriseth her children; so being affectionately desirous of you, we\nwere willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only,\nbut also our own souls, because ye were so dear unto us\"_ (1 Thess.\nii. 3-8). This was Paul's disposition and character after he became a\npartaker of Divine mercy and a justified man through faith in the\nLord Jesus Christ, and all those who sincerely accept God's method of\nbeing made righteous bring forth the same kind of fruit in their\nlife, although not always in such abundant measure.\n\n+II. A rich reward.+ He who seeks mercy and righteousness from God by\nfaith becomes, as we have seen, a righteous and merciful man. This in\nitself is moral life--a quickening of the spiritual capabilities--an\nawakening to spiritual realities and joys which were before\nunknown--an entrance into the possession of all that makes existence\nworth having. Such a man gets honour of a real and lasting\nnature--the goodwill of all the good in all worlds and the favour of\nGod Himself. He follows after righteousness for its own sake--out of\nthe pure love of holiness and purity, and not for any reward that it\nmay bring either now or hereafter, and he finds as he follows it that\nmany things are added unto it.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Follows after,\" chases eagerly._ How absorbed the chase of some\npoor partridge on the hills. Even let that be our picture.\n_\"Righteousness and mercy, or kindness,\"_ the two tables of the law;\na genial picture of all holiness. Now let a man chase holiness with\nthe absorbed forgetfulness of self that such game would imply, and\nall else will come in at the death. \"Seek ye first the kingdom of God\nand His righteousness, and all things else will be added thereto\"\n(Matt. vi. 33). _\"Life,\"_ all sorts of life. _\"Righteousness,\"_ but\none sort of righteousness in place of that personal righteousness\nwhich (in the first clause) we are still called to chase. _\"Glory,\"_\nall sorts of glory. The list is not an illogical one. \"Life,\" all\nthat is personally good and happy, \"righteousness;\" all that buys\nthat and keeps a title to it, \"glory,\" that which is above happiness,\nand is always to be counted higher--viz., the honour and excellency\nof absolute purity of being.--_Miller._\n\nThere is nothing which a man hath that is not going from him; there\nis nothing that a man seeketh that doth not seek to keep itself from\nhim. It is therefore _following_ that bringeth a man both to finding\nand possessing. Both are spiritual things, not the things of this\nworld, that are worthy either of a man's following, or finding, or\npossessing. They are _righteousness_ and _mercy_ that are worthy of\nour seeking, they are _life, righteousness,_ and _mercy_ that are\nworthy of our finding. . . . Gregory, comparing spiritual and\ntemporal riches together, showeth their differences to be great,\nbecause spiritual riches do even then increase, when they that are\nlaid out, earthly riches are either laid out and so consumed, or else\nare kept and are not profitable. And in the following after them\nthere is also this difference, that he who followeth after the things\nof this world always findeth less than he looked for; but he that\nfolloweth after spiritual things shall be sure to find more than he\ndid or could look for--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.\n\nA WISE MAN AND A MIGHTY CITY.\n\n+I. The city of the mighty will not easily yield to conquerors.+ When\na fortress encloses within its walls many strong arms and stout\nhearts, it will not be captured by child's play. The confidence that\nthe defenders have, not only in the strength of their position but in\ntheir own individual power and prowess, will certainly prevent them\nfrom giving up without a struggle. Such a city must be \"scaled\" or\ncaptured either by stratagem or by a mightier force than that which\ndefends it. There are various ways in which this may be done. When\nthe height and thickness of the walls prevent their overthrow from\nwithout they may be assailed from beneath, and when brave men cannot\nbe subdued by the sword they may be by hunger.\n\n+II. In whatever way the city is taken wisdom is the mightiest force\nemployed.+ Military strength--indeed physical force of any kind--is\nof little or no avail without wisdom to direct it. Under the guidance\nof a wise commander an undisciplined and almost powerless mob becomes\na powerful army, and a very small amount of mere strength can be made\nvery effective if it is wisely directed. Belshazzar had strong walls\naround his city, and a mighty army within it, but Cyrus possessed the\nwisdom which the Babylonians lacked, and therefore the \"wise man\"\noverthrew the confidence of the mighty.\n\n+III. Wisdom is a power that is needed to take other strongholds\nbesides those built of brick or stone.+ Any obstruction or difficulty\nwhich a man encounters in life may be a \"city of the mighty\" to\noverthrow which _wisdom_ will be an indispensable ally. _Poverty_ is\nsuch a city, and it cannot be scaled by activity and industry\nalone--the industrious effort must be guided by wisdom. _Ignorance_\nmay be compared to such a stronghold, and wisdom is needed to guide\nthe pursuit after knowledge. _Sinful habits_ are walls around a man,\nand they are so defended and strengthened by invisible powers of evil\nthat they cannot be cast down by strength of will alone--wisdom must\nbe sought from above to turn the struggle into a victory. But we have\nnot only to contend with personal evils but with relative ones, with\nthe misery and sin around us if not within is, and here again nothing\ncan be done without wisdom. Muscular force can do a little to put\ndown their outward manifestations, but wisdom only can do anything\ntowards lessening their real and terrible hold upon man. The _human\nsoul,_ also, is a \"city\" which can be \"scaled\" only by \"the wise\nman.\" In Eden the city of _Man-soul_ was taken by the subtlety and\ncraft of the devil, and a wisdom more than human is needed to regain\nit. The undertaking is especially difficult, because there are\ninhabitants within the city who are averse to a change of\nmasters--there are evil tendencies within which make men unwilling to\nleave the yoke of Satan for the service of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ\nhas, however, scaled this city of the mighty; all the wisdom of God\nhas been brought to bear upon the work of reconciling men to Himself,\nand the Cross has accomplished what physical force of Omnipotence\nitself could not have achieved.\n\n What is strength without a double share\n Of wisdom? Vast, unwieldy, burdensome;\n Proudly secure, yet liable to fall\n By weakest subtleties; strength's not made to rule,\n But to subserve where wisdom bears command.--_Milton._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe Israelites never crushed the Philistines. The Jebusites long\ndwelt in Jerusalem's stronghold (Josh. xv. 63). The sinner (at\nconversion) in his feeblest state enters Canaan, and \"scales the city\nof the mighty.\" But when his foot has touched that eternal\ntramping-ground, alas for him! there is still the _citadel!_ \"A wise\nman,\" not only as being _a wise man,_ but in _becoming a wise man,_\nhas scaled the city of the mighty, and evermore afterwards, in\nbecoming wiser, he is \"casting down the strength of its place of\nconfidence.\" . . . Not to print mistake upon his emblems, Solomon\nqualifies the last by those that immediately follow. Conversion is\nnot a warfare. It is not the glow of camps or the shout of armed men,\nbut a drowsy and forlorn awakening. Arrayed against it may be the\n_strength of the mighty,_ but it is a strength absurd and miserable,\nas against a droning and depressing inanition. \"We wrestle not\nagainst flesh and blood,\" and when we come to understand the venture,\nthe climb over the gates is not a bound of strength, but a torpid\ncrawl out of mortal infirmity of feeling. Hence the patient prosing\nof the Preacher, as he next approaches us (in verse 23). Christian\nobedience is the way to triumph.--_Miller._\n\nThe art of war has already shewn the pre-eminence of wisdom above\nstrength. Prudent tactics, or a wise application of courage, triumphs\nover mere personal prowess. Joshua's strategy in taking Ai was a\nproof of military wisdom. Solomon seems to have known of a wise man\nsingly delivering his city from the power of a mighty king; a proof\nof wisdom quite tantamount to the strength of an aggressor scaling\nthe walls, and thus casting down its confidence (Eccles ix. 13-18).\nMuch more therefore will spiritual wisdom, the immediate gift of God,\novercome difficulties as formidable as the scaling of the city of the\nmighty. A wise calculation of the cost is eminently serviceable in\nachieving most important triumphs (Luke xiv. 31, 32). For does not\nconscious weakness lead to a single dependence upon God? And what\ndifficulties are too great for an Almighty arm? \"By thee\"--said a\nvaliant soldier in the army of faith--\"I have run through a troop;\nand by my God have I leaped over a wall.\" \"Weapons of a spiritual,\nnot a carnal,\" temper, \"are mighty through God to the pulling down of\nstrongholds\" (2 Cor. x. 4), impregnable to the power of man. All the\npromises are \"to him that overcometh.\" Let the soldier go to the\nconflict \"strong in the Lord,\" and \"putting on his whole armour\"\n(Eph. vi. 10). The triumph is sure. The heavenly city will be scaled.\n\"The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by\nforce\" (Matt. xi. 12).--_Bridges._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 23 see on chap. xiii. 3, page 294.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nA NAME OF DEGREES.\n\n+I. Many terms are needed to set forth the complete character of the\nwicked man.+ A complicated machine has many parts, each of which has\na different action and performs a different work, and each of which\nhas its distinctive name. But the whole make up one machine, the name\nof which includes all the parts. So it is with a wicked man. He is\nlike a complicated and destructive piece of machinery--all that he\ndoes and is may be comprehended in the general term, godless, or\nwicked; but the various vices which go to make up his character have\ntheir distinctive name. In this proverb three degrees of wickedness\nseem to be set forth under different names, each one being an\nintensified form of the vice that has gone before. First there is\n_pride;_ the man overrates his own worth, and by so doing underrates\nthe worth of others. From pride of heart comes _haughtiness of\nconduct_--he is overbearing and insolent in his bearing towards those\nwhom he looks upon as his inferiors. Then he becomes a _scorner_--he\ndespises all, whether good or bad, and so fills up the measure of\nwickedness. For when all feelings of respect and reverence for even\nhuman worth have died out of a man he cannot fall much lower.\n\n+II. Such a man is a constant vendor of what is within him.+ He\n_dealeth_ in it; he cannot keep his pride and scorn to himself, it\noverflows in his contemptuous carriage, in his haughty look, in his\nangry words, and in his oppressive deeds. He may deny the fidelity of\nthe portrait which Solomon here draws of him, but he whose dealings\nwith his fellow-creatures are marked by these characteristics must\nsubmit to be called by the odious names here given.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn the course of different proverbs this teacher will be found to\nhave explained all his own use of terms. Piety as _wisdom,_ and\nwickedness as _folly_--terms very characteristic of his books--he\nexplains at the very first. _Scorner_ is his favourite name for the\nimpenitent. We were giving reasons for this under the eleventh\nverse. . . . The demurest sinner, who seems thoroughly respectful to\nthe truth, would not push along so into the very jaws of death if he\nwere not arrogantly trusting to himself, and if he felt not\nscornfully free from the necessities of the Gospel.--_Miller._\n\nIt is the nature of pride to show itself as losing the contentment of\nthose things upon which it is placed, unless by showing of them it\nshow itself in them. And yet so odious a vice is pride, and so\nshameful, as that it would fain hide itself also. But there is\nnothing that doth so manifest and make known the pride of anyone as\nhis wrath doth; wherefore as the name of a man telleth who he is, so\nhe who dealeth in wrath telleth his name.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 25 _and_ 26.\n\nTHE SWORD OF THE SLUGGARD.\n\n+I. A sluggard cannot help desiring the results of toil.+ It is\nnatural and lawful for men to value bodily health and comfort, and\nall those blessings which are the ordinary fruits of industry--they\nare good things which God gives His creatures to enjoy, but they are\nnot His only gifts nor His best gifts. But they are the main objects\nof the sluggard's desire, for an inordinate and exclusive love of\nthem has made him a slothful man. If he had put his reputation and\nhis duty before his love of ease--if he had listened to the voice of\nconscience rather than to the pleadings of self-indulgence, he would\nbe a worker instead of a mere wisher. The text suggests that mere\ndesire to possess is not a power strong enough to turn an indolent\nman into an industrious one, although it is strong enough to make him\nmiserable and wicked. For--\n\n+II. A sluggard is an unrighteous man.+ This is both implied and\nexpressed in the proverb. He is placed in contrast with the righteous\nman as one of an opposite character, and he is declared to be an\nhabitual breaker of the tenth commandment. Covetousness is a sin\nnearly allied to envy, and both are in themselves transgressions of\nthe moral law, and often lead to more heinous crimes. Let no man,\nthen, say that his refusal to take his part in the work of the world\nis a matter which concerns himself alone, for even if a man were not\nresponsible for a negative existence, such a course is certain to\nlead to positive sin.\n\n+III. He is a self-destroyer.+ This is a phase of sloth which has not\nbeen placed before us in former proverbs on the subject. The sluggard\nnot only makes wretched the existence which it his great aim to\npamper, but he shortens it. His covetous and unsatisfied state of\nmind is a canker-worm at the root of all that he does possess, and,\ndeprived of the healthful influence of labour, he becomes an easy\nprey to disease and death. It is probable that nothing undermines the\nbodily constitution more surely than unsatisfied desire. Men who have\nbeen great workers, but who have not seen the desire of their hearts\nfulfilled, have often died in consequence. How much more likely will\nthe slothful man be to die under such a disappointment! If the rust\neats into the sword which is in constant use, how much more certainly\nwill it destroy that which is never drawn from the scabbard!\n\n+IV. The righteous man is a worker and a giver.+ He is in all\nrespects the exact opposite of the sluggard. He works not so much\nbecause of the gain of labour as because he loves to work, and\nbecause it is wrong to be idle. This he shows by the use he makes of\nmuch that he gains--he gives with an unsparing hand. In both he is an\nimitator of the righteous God, who is the Greatest Worker and the\nGreatest Giver in the universe. The righteousness of God prompts Him\nto bountiful acts towards needy creatures, and the righteousness of\nHis righteous servants prompts them to do like deeds, according to\ntheir ability. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. xiii. 4,\npage 296.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe _desire kills him._ Why? Because he will not gratify it. The way\nto gratify it is to get it accomplished. . . . Say not, It is the\nrefusal that kills and not the desire. That is not altogether the\ncase. The spark that is too weak to grow puts itself out by its\nattempts. The desire that is too dull to act has treasured in it the\nlast remainders of the heart, and in its languid throbs makes itself\nthe instrument of its own growing dissolution.--_Miller._\n\nIn the Paris French translation the words stand thus--\"All the day\nlong he does nothing but wish.\" How very expressive at once of the\nunconquerable indolence and the fretful, envious, pining unhappiness\nof the sluggard! And in his wishing, he may at times, by the power of\na sanguine imagination, work himself into hope; and then,\ndisappointment only embitters the cup of his own\nmingling,--aggravates the misery, which he is painfully conscious is\nself-inflicted.--Further: he appears before us a stranger to all the\npositive and exquisite pleasures of charity and beneficence; but \"the\nrighteous _giveth and spareth not._\" It is not said, you will\nobserve--\"the _diligent_ giveth and spareth not;\" because there are\nnot a few who are sufficiently exemplary in diligence, to whom the\nBible would not give the designation of _\"the righteous,\"_ and who\nare far from being distinguished for benevolence. But the antithesis,\nas it stands here, implies these three things: _First,_ that\n_diligence_ is one of the features in the character of the\n_righteous_:--_Secondly,_ that the natural tendency, and ordinary\nresult of this is, through the Divine blessing, abundance to\nspare:--_Thirdly,_ that another distinguishing feature of the\ncharacter of the _righteous_ man, is _readiness to part_ with what\nhis industry acquires--\"giving, and _not sparing;_\" that is, giving\ncheerfully, and giving liberally; not assenting merely to the truth\nof the maxim, as being the word of the Lord, but _feeling_ the truth\nof their own heart's experience--\"It is more blessed to give than to\nreceive.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt is not said by Paul, \"If any man _do_ not work, neither let him\neat,\" for some would work and cannot get it, others would work and\nare not able, but \"If any man _will_ not work,\" if any have work to\ndo, and will not, let him not eat. In the same manner the wise man\nspeaketh; he doth not say, his hands _do not_ labour, but his hands\n_refuse_ to labour. . . . But he sheweth that though a sluggard be\nidle himself, yet his desire be so hard a labourer, that it is a\n_daily_ labourer, and such a daily labourer painfully worketh _all\nthe day long._ So that although he have no hands to work, his desire\nhath hands to beg and crave of him; which being not satisfied, is a\njust punishment of his careless sluggishness. But the righteous man,\nbeing as earnest in his labour as the other in his desire, getteth\nenough, not only to satisfy his own desire, but to supply the wants\nof others.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nTHE SACRIFICE OF THE WICKED.\n\n+I. A Divine institution may become an abomination to the Divine\nBeing.+ The right use of the gifts of God makes them blessings to\nmen, but the abuse of them turns them into curses. So with the\nordinances of worship, both under the Old Testament dispensation and\nin the New--that which is designed to bless men may by misuse add to\ntheir guilt before God, and that which, done in a right spirit, is\nmost acceptable to Him, will, when joined to a sinful motive, be most\nabhorrent to His holy nature. The sacrifice of the Levitical\ndispensation was an ordinance of Divine appointment, but even those\nwho lived before the days of the prophets were not left to suppose\nthat the merely ceremonial act was of any value in the sight of God\nif a correspondent state of heart was wanting, The offering of Cain\nwas unacceptable, because he lacked the faith of his brother Abel\n(Heb. xi. 4). Samuel taught the truth that _\"to obey is better than\nsacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams\"_ (1 Sam. xv. 22), and\nthe father of our preacher was deeply conscious that _\"sacrifice and\nburnt offering\"_ would not be acceptable to God unless they were the\noutcome of a _\"broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart\"_ (Psalm\nli. 16, 17). The doctrine that _\"God is a spirit, and they who\nworship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth\"_ (John iv. 24),\nis taught in the Old Testament as well as in the New. It is the\nteaching of this proverb.\n\n+II. A Divine institution may be used by men to cloak their\niniquity.+ The absence of a right motive is enough to turn the\nsacrifice into an abomination, as we have seen (see also on chapter\nxv. 9, page 408), but this comparatively negative wrong seems to lose\nsome of its guilt beside the actual crime of the second clause of the\nverse, when men actually put on the outward semblance of religion,\nnot from inadequate ideas of the requirements of God's law, or from\nthe force of habit, or in a thoughtless spirit, but with the\ndeliberate intention of deceiving their fellow-creatures. For it is\ninconceivable that any reasonable being can for a moment suppose that\nhe can blind Him before whom all things must be _\"naked and opened\"_\n(Heb. iv. 13). If he believes in a God he cannot think that He is a\nBeing who can be imposed upon by such a miserable deception, and,\nthis being granted, it is most astonishing that any creature can\npresume to offer so great an insult to his Creator. And yet we know\nthat sacrifices have been and are even now being offered to God for\nno other purpose than to cloak sin.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis is a New Testament idea:--\"Ye ask and receive not,\" saith the\nApostle James, \"because ye ask amiss.\" How? Why, precisely in the way\nthat the proverb points out, because ye do it for an interested\npurpose; as the Apostle expresses it, \"that ye may consume it upon\nyour desires.\" The wicked man asks for heaven that he may consume it\nin keeping comfortable through a long eternity. The proverb in verse\n17 postulates the opposite. _In merely loving happiness a man cannot\ncreate wealth._ The mass of hypocrites, therefore, are those\neternal-happiness _hypocrites._. . . There may be other reasons, but\nthat additional and fundamental among them all is this deepest one,\nthat religious acts cannot be accepted if they are built upon nothing\ntenderer than _\"a calculated purpose.\"_ (So Miller translates the\nlast two words. See also Critical Notes.) \"Ye seek Me,\" says our\nblessed Redeemer, \"not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye\ndid eat of the loaves and were filled\" (John vi. 26).--_Miller._\n\n\nFor Homiletics of verse 28, see on chap. xii. 19, page 275. _\"The man\nthat heareth\"_ is evidently the man who is teachable and open to\nconviction, and therefore qualified to bear witness of the truth.\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe last clause of the proverb seems to fix and restrict the first.\n_A false witness_ often becomes so by the culpable habit of\nthoughtlessly repeating, without examination or certain knowledge. A\nman may thus do very serious injury to his neighbour's character or\nproperty. It proves a very loose conscience, and an utter want of\nthat \"charity which covers\" instead of exposing faults. It is\n\"rejoicing in iniquity\" rather than \"rejoicing in truth.\" This _false\nwitness_ will certainly be punished by God; and even by man he will\nbe confounded and silenced. No one for the future will regard or\nreceive his testimony. _But the man that heareth_--the true witness\nwho speaketh only what _he heareth,_ and is fully acquainted\nwith--_he speaketh constantly_--to conviction. He holds to his\ntestimony and never contradicts himself. He \"speaks the truth, the\nwhole truth, and nothing but the truth.\" His word, even if it had\nbeen slighted at first, gains more and more credit and authority when\n_the false witness shall have perished_ (chap. xii. 19).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nTHE FACE AND THE WAY.\n\nThe last verb in the text is better translated--_establisheth,_ or\n_maketh firm._\n\n+I. What is intended to reveal may be used to conceal.+ The human\ncountenance is intended to express the feelings of the mind, and when\na man is not afraid for another to read his thoughts and intentions,\nhis face is to a great extent the index of his heart. But a bad man\nis unwilling that his neighbour should know what is passing within\nhim--his thoughts and purposes will not bear the light--they are so\nselfish or impure that he is ashamed of them, or they are occupied\nwith some malicious plan which must be concealed if it is to be\nsuccessful. He therefore hardens his face--puts on an appearance of\ninnocence and frankness as a cloak of the evil underneath. But this\nmethod of life is not an easy or a pleasant one--the contrast in the\nsecond clause seems to imply that such a man walks in an uneven or a\nmiry road--it is hard to be always acting a part and to be obliged at\nall times to look what we do not feel, and there may come unguarded\nmoments and unlooked-for surprises when the mask will fall and the\ntruth come to light.\n\n+II. The godly man has no need to practise hypocrisy.+ His thoughts\nand desires, and aims, are toward the true and the good--his heart is\nfilled with goodwill towards his fellow-men, and he has, therefore,\nnothing to fear or to be ashamed of when his face reveals his inner\nself. This way of the upright is, in comparison with the way of the\nwicked, as a firm and level road--he who walks on it finds solid\nground beneath his feet, and has no need to be ever on the look-out\nfor bogs and pitfalls.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA hardened heart and a hardened face,--a face that has learned to\nbrave accusation and to look innocent under conscious guilt, are the\nmost undesirable of all attainments. The confusion of innocence, when\nevil is imputed, is far preferable. Better far to be innocent and\nthought guilty, than to be guilty and thought innocent. Better far to\nhave the sentence of acquittal in our own bosoms, though condemned by\nmen, than to succeed in getting acquittal from men, and carry within\nus the sentence of guilt. How painful soever the former, we can still\nlook up to God, and forward to His tribunal, as that of unerring\nrectitude,--where He will \"bring forth our righteousness as the\nlight, and our judgment as the noon-day.\" O! there will be no\n\"hardening of the face\" then. Conscience will do its duty. The eyes\nwhich are as a flame of fire will search the inmost soul. Every eye\nwill quail, and every countenance, even the most hardened, sink,\nbefore the look of Him that sitteth upon the throne. He will then at\nonce \"wipe off the reproach of his people,\" and \"bring to light the\nhidden things of darkness.\" And then they who, under the influence of\nfaith, and fear, and love, have \"considered their way,\" shall lift up\ntheir faces without dread, and meet the smiles of their gracious\nJudge!--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 30 _and_ 31.\n\nCOUNSEL AGAINST THE LORD.\n\n+I. Only those plans succeed which harmonise with the will of God.+\nThis is of course true only in regard to the ultimate and final issue\nof men's plans and purposes. Sometimes, and indeed oftentimes,\ncounsel against the Lord is very successful for a season, and for a\nvery long season, but it is only for a season. 1. This is obvious if\nwe consider _God's knowledge of the future._ It is inseparable from\nHis Divine nature that He shall be able to _\"declare the end from the\nbeginning,\"_ and therefore He says _\"My counsel shall stand, and I\nwill do all my pleasure:\" \"yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring\nit to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it\"_ (Isaiah xlvi. 10,\n11). Imagine the general of a vast army being confronted with a\nhandful of blind men, would there be any room to doubt who would have\nthe victory? If a traveller whose eyesight is so dim that he can only\nsee a step or two before he has to travel an unknown road, will he\nnot do well to take the arm and avail himself of the guidance of a\nman whose sight is perfect? The plan or purpose of our life is the\nroad we desire to walk upon, and as we _\"know not what shall be on\nthe morrow\"_ (James v. 14) we can only hope to attain our desire if\nwe enlist the All-seeing God on our side, and in order to do this our\ncounsel must be in harmony with His. 2. _God's Almighty power,_ also,\nensures the success of His counsel. _\"The horse is prepared against\nthe day of battle,\"_ but what is the united force of a world compared\nwith the might of Him _\"who hath comprehended the dust in a measure,\nand weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a\nbalance?\"_ . . . The prophet answers the question, _\"The nations are\nas a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of a\nbalance\"_ (Isaiah xl. 12, 15). The knowledge that our guide has of a\ndangerous path--the fact that he is acquainted with it from the\nbeginning to the end--may not ensure our arrival at the desired goal.\nHe and we may together be attacked by powerful foes, and power to\nprotect is as needful as knowledge to guide. When we commit our way\nto God we have omnipotence as well as omniscience on our side.\n\n+II. Yet men are ever opposing their finite wisdom and strength to\nthe almightiness and infinite knowledge of God.+ The proverb embodies\na truth so palpable to any who will look facts plainly in the\nface--it contains an inference so obvious to an unprejudiced mind\nthat it would seem unnecessary to write it if we did not know that\nsin has so distorted men's mental vision--so biassed their\nreason--that they are ever imagining a _\"vain thing\"_ and taking\n_\"counsel against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us\nbreak their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us\"_ (Psa.\nii. 2, 3). The world is full of confirmations of the fact, and it\nalso contains abundant evidence of the truth of the inspired word.\n_\"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, and the Lord shall have\nthem in derision.\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt would be a strong sentence if he declared that counsel against the\nLord could never amount to anything. . . . But he does something more\nclear than that. _There is no_ (such thing as) _wisdom,_ etc.,\nagainst the Most High. They could do nothing if they were; but wisdom\nnever could be enticed to that side. The sentence embodies both\nideas. There is no wisdom that could avail against God; but secondly,\nthere is none that would ever attempt it. The expressions are\npeculiar. _There is nothing of wisdom._ The word is repeated:\n_\"Nothing, nothing, nothing.\"--Miller._\n\nWe may, perhaps, consider the wise man as pointing out _three modes_\nof covering and effecting evil purposes: in the twenty-seventh verse,\nthe _mask of religion;_ in the twenty-eighth, _false testimony;_ in\nthe twenty-ninth, the _assumed boldness and look of innocence._ But\n(verse 30) \"there is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel,\nagainst the Lord.\" There may be against _men._ In one, or other, or\nall of these ways they may be deceived. There may, in many cases, be\n\"wisdom, and understanding, and counsel\" more than sufficient to\nimpose upon and outwit them. But God _knows all._ His eye cannot be\neluded; His designs cannot be thwarted; neither His promises nor His\nthreatenings can be falsified, by any artifice, or policy, or might\nof the children of men--no, nor of any created being.--_Wardlaw._\n\nWisdom is that which is gotten by experience, understanding that\nwhich is gotten by study, counsel that which is gotten by\nadvice . . . but let all be put in the scales against the Lord, they\nare but the dust of the balance unto Him. . . . For if wisdom be\ngotten by experience, He is the Ancient of days; He was ancient when\ndays began. If understanding come by study, He hath all understanding\nof Himself at once. . . . And the whole world is His common council,\nand that not to give at all, but to receive counsel from\n_Him.--Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. A good name.+ Literally _\"a name.\"_ +Loving\nfavour,+ or _\"grace,\" \"goodwill.\"_ +3. Are punished,+ rather _\"must\nsuffer injury.\"_ +4. By humility,+ rather _\"The end or reward of\nhumility,\"_ etc. Delitzsch reads _\"The reward of humility_ IS _the\nfear of the Lord,\"_ etc. +5. Shall be,+ etc. or +Let him keep,+ etc.\n+6. Train up a child,+ etc. Miller reads _\"Hedge in a child upon the\nmouth of his way;\"_ Delitzsch, _\"Give to a child instruction\naccording to his way,\" i.e.,_ conformably to the nature of youth.\n+8. The rod of his anger,+ or as Z\u00f6ckler, the _\"staff of his\nhaughtiness.\"_ +16.+ Z\u00f6ckler reads this verse _\"One oppresseth the\npoor only to make him rich,\" i.e.,_ \"the oppression which one\npractises on a poor man rouses his moral energy, and thus, by means\nof his tireless industry and his productive labour in his vocation,\nhe works himself out of needy circumstances into actual prosperity.\"\n\nHere begins the third main division of the book of Proverbs. (See\nIntroduction.) Its contents are styled in verse 17 \"The words of wise\nmen,\" and they differ from the second division in consisting for the\nmost part of much longer sentences, comprising, as a general rule,\ntwo verses, but sometimes many more. Z\u00f6ckler remarks that \"there is\nprevalent everywhere the minutely hortatory, or, in turn, admonitory\nstyle, rather than that which is descriptive and announces facts.\"\nDelitzsch and other modern Bible students infer from verse 17 that\nthis portion of the book contains \"no inconsiderable number of\nutterances of wise men of Solomon's time.\" (See Introduction to the\nBook of Proverbs, Lange's Commentary.)\n\n+21. Them that send unto thee,+ rather _\"them that send thee.\"_ \"The\nsenders here,\" says Z\u00f6ckler, \"are naturally the parents, who have\nsent their son to the teacher of wisdom, that he may bring back\nthence to them real culture of spirit and heart.\" +29. Diligent,+\nrather _\"expert,\" \"apt.\"_\n\nAdditional CRITICAL NOTES for Chapter 22 (after verse 16).\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nBETTER THAN GOLD.\n\nThe second clause of the proverb explains the meaning of the _name_\nin the first clause--it is evidently a good reputation that is gained\nby uprightness and unselfishness--that loving esteem of others which\nis the fruit of _\"looking not only upon their own things, but also\nupon the things of others\"_ (Phil. ii. 4). Such a name is better than\nwealth.\n\n+I. Because the one may come by inheritance, and the other must be\nthe result of personal character.+ The man who is born to wealth\ndeserves no credit for being rich--he may be destitute of all\npersonal excellence--he may, indeed, be a morally bad man, and may\nneither possess nor deserve the goodwill of his fellow creatures. But\nif a man does possess the confidence and love of others it is because\nthere is that belonging to him that wins men to trust in him and to\nlove him--if he has a _\"good name\"_ and deserves it he is in some\nrespects a _good man._\n\n+II. Wealth is often a transitory possession, but \"loving favour\"\noften outlives the present life.+ Many mere temporal gifts belong\nmore truly to a man than his riches--his good looks or his handsome\nfigure may long outlive his wealth, for they are more truly his. The\nuncertainty of riches is the subject of many a proverb, and therefore\nany possession which is more certain to last is better than they. A\n_\"good name\"_--the well-deserved reputation which is the result of\nloving our neighbour as ourself--is quite independent of the changes\nand chances of mortal life--it goes with a man to his grave, and\nembalms his memory long after he has passed away.\n\n+III. A good name belongs to a higher region of life than wealth.+\nEven when wealth has been honestly earned, and is the reward of moral\nexcellence, and even if its possession could be assured to its owner,\na good name is a more precious gift. Much skill and industry are\nrequired to build up a fortune, but skill and industry are not\nqualities of so high an order as those which are needed to acquire\nthe loving favour of our fellow-creatures. He who possesses the\nlatter must be a more excellent man than the merely honest and\nskilful seeker after riches, and the possession is itself of a far\nmore precious nature. The gold and the silver are of the earth,\nearthy, but love and trustful confidence are good things which belong\nto the soul, and which are in consequence far more truly satisfying\nto man's higher nature. When one man possesses both these good things\nhe is able to compare their power to bless, and none who has\nexperimental knowledge of the worth of both would sacrifice his good\nname to retain his riches. They must bring him much outward\ndeference, but he knows full well that this would cease if he became\na poor man--that there are many who love not the man but only his\nmoney. But if he is so blest as to have won men's hearts he is fully\nassured that adversity will not deprive him of this good gift. To\npossess a \"good name\" is to be rich with the riches which constitute\nthe most precious wealth of God. He is rich in material riches, for\n_\"all the beasts of the forest are his and the cattle upon a thousand\nhills,\"_ yea, _\"the world and the fulness thereof\"_ (Psa. l. 10, 12).\nBut this wealth is inferior to the mental power which produced it.\nGod is great in intellectual wealth. _\"With whom took He counsel, and\nwho instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught\nHim knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding?\"_ (Isa.\nxl. 14). But His real wealth is His _name_--that name which He\nproclaimed to Moses--_\"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,\nlong-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth\"_ (Exod. xxxiv. 5,\n6), which makes Him the object of the reverential love of all the\ngood in the universe. And so it is with His creatures--in proportion\nas they have those spiritual characteristics which are possessed in\nperfection only by God Himself, their reputation for mercy, and\ngoodness, and truth becomes their most precious and prized possession.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe are not good judges of value in the public markets of life. We\nmake grievous mistakes, both in choosing and refusing. We often throw\naway the pearl and carefully keep the shell. Besides the great\ndisparity in value between the things of heaven and earth, some even\nof these earthly things are of greater worth than others. The\nvaluables in both ends of the balance belong to time, and yet there\nis room for choice between them. There is the greater and the less\nwhere neither is the greatest. A trader at his counter has a certain\nset of weights which he uses every day and all day, and for all sorts\nof commodities. Whatever may be in the one scale, the same invariable\nleaden weight is always in the other. This lump of metal is his\nstandard, and all things are tried by it. Riches practically serve\nnearly the same purpose in the markets of human life. . . . This is a\nmistake. Many things are better than gold, and one of these is a good\nname. A good conscience indeed is better than both, and must be kept\nat all hazards; but in cases where matters from a higher region do\nnot come into competition, reputation should rank higher than riches\nin the practical estimation of men. . . . The shadows are not the\npicture, but the picture is a naked ungainly thing without them. Thus\nthe atmosphere of a good name imparts to real worth additional body\nand breadth. As a substitute for a good conscience a good name is a\nsecret torment at the time, and in the end a cheat, but as a graceful\nouter garment with which a good conscience is clothed it should be\nhighly valued and carefully preserved by the children of the\nkingdom.--_Arnot._\n\nOne is more valuable than the other as a means of usefulness. Riches,\nin themselves, can only enable a man to promote the temporal comfort\nand well-being of those around him. But character gives him weight of\ninfluence in matters of higher moment,--in all descriptions of\nsalutary advice and direction,--in kingly instruction and\nconsolation,--in counsel for eternity. It not only fits its possessor\nfor such employments, but it imparts energy and effect to whatever he\nsays and does. His character carries a recommendation with it,--gives\nauthority and force to every lesson and every admonition; and\naffords, by the confidence it inspires, many opportunities and means\nof doing good, which, without it, could not be enjoyed. Riches,\nagain, bring with them many temptations to sinful and worldly\nindulgences, such as are injurious to the possessor himself and to\nhis family--both temporally and spiritually. Character, on the\ncontrary, acts as a salutary restraint,--keeping a man back from many\nimproprieties and follies, and even outward sins, by which it would\nbe impaired and forfeited. And this restraint is felt, and properly\nfelt, not for his own sake merely, but for the sake of all those\nobjects with which his name stands associated; and especially from a\nregard to usefulness in connection with the truth, and cause, and\nchurch of Christ.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nLEVELLING DOWN AND LEVELLING UP.\n\n+I. The rich and the poor have much in common.+ They have, in fact,\neverything in common which is independent of silver and gold. At\nfirst sight this seems to include almost everything worth having, and\nit does include the best and most lasting good, and often much\nbeside. We rejoice in the thought that many a poor man has as large a\nshare of God's blessed air and sunshine as his richer neighbour--that\nhis bodily frame is as healthful and his house as full as love. But\nalas! we cannot forget that poverty in many cases shuts out men and\nwomen from the gladdening and healthful influences of pure air and\nsunlight, and consequently shuts them up to bodily disease, and tends\nto produce moral unhealthfulness. As civilisation advances, and\ncountries become more populous, the gulf between poverty and wealth\nin this respect seems to widen, and when we consider how many\nadvantages, not only material but intellectual and moral, the very\nmoderately rich possess over the very poor, we do not find so much in\ncommon between them as appears upon a slight view of the case. It is\nindeed true that all the blessings of life that money cannot buy are\nas much within the reach of the poor as of the rich; but how many\ngood things--not only for the body, but also for the mind and\nheart--are not to be gotten without gold and silver. There is,\nhowever, one platform upon which they all meet, even in this\nlife--one levelling force which brings them into an absolute\nequality. In the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, and in all\nthe blessed effects which flow from it, the rich man has no advantage\nover the poor man--the brother of low degree is shut out from nothing\nthat his rich brother enjoys. In this sense, as in many others, we\nmay use the prophet's words: _\"every valley shall be exalted, and\nevery mountain and hill made low\"_ (Isa. xl. 4). It does this: 1. _By\ndeclaring their common and universal sinfulness._ Disease of body is\na levelling power--fever makes no distinction between king and\nsubject--between master and servant; while they are under its\ndominion the one has no immunity from the weakness and pain of the\nother. So the Gospel plan declares concerning sin what experience\ntestifies--that _\"there is no difference,\"_ that _\"all have sinned\"_\n(Rom. iii. 22-23), and that its debasing and destroying power is\nalike in prince and peasant. 2. _By offering the same conditions of\nredemption to all._ A physician, when he visits his patients with the\nintention of doing his best to heal them, does not prescribe one kind\nof treatment to the rich and another to the poor. The conditions of\nrecovery are not regulated by their rank, but by their disease. So\nwith the Gospel Remedy for the sickness of the soul. It is the same\nfor every man. The strait road is not made wider for the man with\nmoney bags, the gate is opened as wide for the pauper as for the\nemperor. 3. _By providing the same inheritance for all who accept the\nconditions._ Every man who accepts the way of salvation has an equal\nright to claim God as his Father--has an equal liberty of access to\nHim (Ephes. iii. 12), at all times--is sealed with the same Spirit of\npromise, and his the same hope of blessedness beyond the grave. To\neach and to all it is said, _\"All are yours, and ye are Christ's\"_\n(1 Cor. iii. 22-23).\n\n+II. To God must be referred the lot to which each man is born.+ He,\nas the Creator, calls each man into being, and determines the sphere\nin which he finds himself when he awakens to consciousness and to a\nsense of responsibility. Man, as a free agent, has much to do with\ndetermining his lot in life when he arrives at mature years, but the\ncircumstances surrounding his birth and earlier years, and the mental\ngifts with which he is endowed, have much also to do with it, and\nthese are determined for him by God. So that He is not only the Maker\nof the man's personality, but largely also of his position in the\nworld.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn the distinction between the rich and the poor there is something\nnot altogether pleasant to the human mind. We are apt to recoil from\nit. Without much thought, by the mere spontaneous promptings of our\nfeelings, we are apt to have some dissatisfaction as we behold the\nadvantages of riches so unequally distributed among men. And\nfrequently the dissatisfaction increases, as we can discover no just\n_rule_ of this distribution; and as we behold more and more of the\ncontrasted advantages and disadvantages of this distinction between\nrich and poor. Something like this was, in my opinion, the feeling of\nthe writer of this text. He saw the distinction between rich and\npoor; he felt amazed; he had a disliking for it which set his mind at\nwork. He thought the matter over patiently and religiously. And when\nhe had done he gathers up the whole substance into this single\naphorism and writes it down. That was his satisfaction. There he left\nthe matter. . . . He had studied it as he studied botany: _From the\ncedar-tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the\nwall._ He had contemplated the loftiness of the rich and the\nlowliness of the poor, wherein they differed, and wherein they\nagreed, and especially _who made them to differ._ . . . His faith in\nGod and constant recognition of Him would lead him to take along with\nhim in all his contemplations the idea of the one Great Maker of all;\nand then, when he found things strange, dark, or revolting to him\ngrowing out of the distinctions between rich and poor, he leaves all\nthat with God. But _before_ he comes to this, and while he is engaged\namid things which he _can_ understand, he finds another side of the\nquestion which at first disquieted him. . . . Coming to examine the\nmatter, he finds that _distinction_ is not the real affair after all;\nthat there are more _agreements_ than _distinctions_--more\n_resemblances_ than _differences_: the Maker of all has made the all\nmore alike than unlike. . . . They meet together in their _origin and\ntheir situation_ as they enter the world. They are equally dependent,\nhelpless, miserable. . . . The two classes are very much alike in\ntheir _amount of happiness._ . . . The rich man is not necessarily\nhappy nor the poor unhappy. . . . The passions which make men\nmiserable are exercised by both classes without any visible\ndifference in their effects. . . . There is a substantial agreement\nin all the organs of perception and enjoyment, and much of our\nfelicity here depends upon the organic constitution that makes us\nmen. . . . In intellectual faculties there is the same strong\nresemblance. The perception, memory, imagination, reason, which God\nhas given, He has been pleased to give with an impartial hand. . . .\nThere is _one common end_ to our humanity; . . . among dead men's\nbones you can find nothing to minister to human vanity. The rich and\npoor meet together in the tomb and at the _final bar of God.--Dr.\nSpencer._\n\nThey _meet often;_ yea, often is the rich forced to send for the\npoor, needing as much the help of his labour as the other doth the\nhelp of his money. But this maketh them to meet nearer yet, by\ncausing the same who was rich to become poor, and he that was poor to\nbecome rich. . . . And they meet _everywhere_--there is no place that\nhath not both of them, and as there are many of the one, so there are\nmany of the other.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 3 see on chap. xiv. 15-18, page 363; on\nverse 4 see on chap. iii. 1-18, pages 29, 34, 39.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 6.\n\nA HEDGED-UP WAY.\n\n+I. God will hedge in the way of the froward man.+ As we have seen in\nconsidering former proverbs, men in a fallen condition have a\ntendency to break loose from restraint--especially from Divine\nrestraint--and to mark out a path for themselves of their own\ndevising. (See on chap. xxi. 8.) Every human creature shows more or\nless wilfulness in regard to their relations to God and His\nlaw--choosing rather to fashion his life according to his own ideas\nthan accounting to the Divine idea and desire concerning him. And\nthis wilfulness, if unchecked, grows with a man's growth and\nstrengthens with his years, until his frowardness becomes the\ndistinctive feature of his life. But he will not have it all his own\nway. He will not find the crooked path which he has chosen altogether\npleasant and safe. Thorns will prick his feet and pitfalls will\nendanger his life. He will find himself confronted and fenced-in by\nlaws of retribution which God has set about him to admonish him to\nforsake his rebellious way. For all the pain of body or mind which\nmen suffer, and all the obstacles they meet with in the way of\nfrowardness are intended to keep them from a deeper pain and a\nheavier punishment. A thorn-hedge is set by the side of the highway\nto admonish the traveller to keep the path, and so avoid, may be, the\nprecipice or the bog on the other side. If he attempts to climb the\nhedge he will be wounded, and if he is a wise man the thorn-pricks\nwill lead him to abandon his intention, and so to escape more serious\nharm. If the hedge does this if fulfils the end for which it was\nplanted. So with the pains and penalties with which God hedges in the\npresent way of the wicked man--they are intended to lead him into a\nbetter and safer way.\n\n+II. It is a parent's duty to hedge in the way of his child.+ The\nfather stands in the place of God to his young children in this\nrespect, for his discipline in their early years is the best possible\npreparation for the discipline of God later on in life. Indeed the\nwiser the training of the earthly father the less are his children\nlikely to need the corrective discipline of their Heavenly Parent.\nThe child that accustomed to bend its will to the will of a good\nfather will not find it so hard to yield obedience to the Will of God\nas he who has had no such training. He will grow upon the practice of\nsinking his will in that of a wiser will, and it will not be irksome\nfor him so to do. Having found his father's yoke an easy one, and\nhaving in the path of filial obedience tasted pleasures unknown to\nthe rebellious child, he will the more readily accept the yoke of\nGod, and find in His service perfect freedom. But this blessed result\nwill not be attained without much anxious and sometimes painful\neffort on the part of the parent. For the natural waywardness of man\nin general manifests itself in very early life. A child would like to\nbe trained in the way it _would_ go, rather than in the way that it\n_should_ go. But this would in effect be no training at all. For the\ntraining of anything implies a crossing of the natural tendency--a\nrepression in one direction, and an effort towards development in\nanother. The training of the vine does not mean a letting it put\nforth its branches just where it wills or a twining of its tendrils\naround any object it chooses--it implies a free use of the\npruning-knife and of the vine-dresser's other implements and methods\nof restraint and guidance. Every child, like every unwise man, would\nlike to set up its own hedge, and put up its own fences, and\nprescribe the limits and bounds of its own conduct. But as we have\nalready seen, God lets no man do this beyond certain limits, for He\nHimself sets \"thorns and snares in the way of the froward.\" It is,\ntherefore, cruel neglect in a parent to allow a child to do it, for\nthus the tendency to go in the wrong say is strengthened by\nindulgence, and every year the path of obedience to God becomes more\ndifficult, and looks less inviting. If the parent does not set a\nhedge about his son's path, he is only making it certain that he will\nencounter thorns and shares further on in life. As to the promise\nattached to the command in this proverb, it can hardly be said to be\nof universal application. Solomon himself seems to have been an\nexception to the rule. We have every reason to believe that his\nfather, after his birth, would train his son most carefully and\nenforce his precepts by example. We must believe that David's own\nbitter experience of the thorns and snares in the path of sin made\nhim very anxious to preserve his son from wandering as he had done,\nand led him to train him most carefully. It is also said of the sons\nof a man whose life was outwardly stainless--of Samuel--that his sons\n\"walked not in his ways\" (1 Sam. viii. 3). Yet we cannot suppose that\nSamuel, who had seen in Eli's family the miserable fruits of\nnon-restraint, had neglected to train his sons. Yet the exceptions\nare doubtless very few in number compared with the rule,--that a\nrightly-trained child does not depart from the right way in his riper\nyears, though, in Bishop Hall's words, \"God will let us find that\ngrace is by gift, not by inheritance.\"\n\n \"Lord, with what care hast Thou begirt us round!\n Parents first season us: then schoolmasters\n Deliver us to laws; they send us bound\n To rules of reason, holy messengers.\n\n Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin,\n Afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes,\n Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in\n Bibles laid open, millions of surprises.\n\n Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness,\n The sound of glory ringing in our ears;\n Without our shame, within our consciences,\n Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears.\n\n Yet all these fences and their whole array,\n One cunning bosom--sin blows quite away.\"--_Herbert._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 5. A forcible image to show that nothing stands so much in a\nman's way as the indulgence of his own unbridled will. The man who is\nmost perversely bent on his purposes is most likely to be thwarted in\nthem.--_Bridges._\n\nThe ungodly finds nothing in his path to hell but thorns and snares,\nand yet he presses on in it! A sign of the greatness and fearfulness\nof the ruin of man's sin.--_Lange._\n\n\nVerse 6. Three different meanings have been found of the\ninterpretation, \"according to his way.\" (See Critical Notes.) It may\nbe--1. His way in the sense of his own natural characteristics of\nstyle and manner,--and then his training will have reference to that\nfor which he is naturally fitted; or--2. The way of life which he is\nintended by parents or guardians to pursue; or, 3. The way in which\nhe ought to go. The last is moral, and relates to the general Divine\nintention concerning man's earthly course; the second is human and\neconomical; the first is individual, and to some extent even\nphysical. Yet although the third presents the highest standard and\nhas been generally adopted, it has the least support from the Hebrew\nidiom.--_Tr. of Lange's Commentary._\n\nHe learneth best any way that knoweth no other, and he best keepeth\nany way that groweth in it. Two children that are bred and grow up\ntogether, are settled in affection the one to the other. Now, it can\nbe but a childish goodness that is in a child; but if the childhood\nof goodness shall be bred and grow up with the childhood of man, it\nwill settle the stronger union between them. Aristotle saith, it is a\nmatter of chiefest moment for a man _to be accustomed_ this way or\nthat.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.\n\nAN ANALOGY AFFIRMED AND A CONTRAST SUGGESTED.\n\n+I. The contrast between the poor man and the borrower.+ The proverb\nat least _suggests_ that the poor man and the borrower are not\nnecessarily convertible terms--that a poor man may owe no man\nanything, and that a man may be in debt without being a poor man in\nthe common acceptation of the word. 1. The poor man and the borrower\nmay occupy different social relations; indeed, as a rule this is the\ncase. The poor man may have been born to poverty, and consequently\nmay be inured to its hardships, one of which is its subjection to the\nwill of the rich. But the borrower may have been born to wealth, and\nhimself accustomed to rule over the poor. The one may be so ignorant\nand degraded by reason of his poverty as scarcely to be conscious of\nthe yoke he wears; whereas the servitude of the other will be galling\nin proportion as his education renders him sensitive to his position.\n2. They may be unlike in the fact that the poor man may have had no\nchoice but poverty--he may have been born in it, and may have had no\nopportunity of altering his condition; but the borrower may not have\nbeen absolutely obliged to borrow--he may have borrowed merely to\nspeculate or to waste.\n\n+II. The point of resemblance between them.+ They are alike in being\nboth dependent upon the same person--upon the rich man. This rich man\nmay be unlike his poor brother in nothing save in his possession of\ngold; he may be as uneducated as he is, and morally, far beneath him.\nHe may be much less polished and refined than the man who borrows of\nhim, but, whatever he is or is not does not alter the case, his money\nmakes him the master--both the poor man and the debtor must submit to\nhis dictation, must acknowledge their dependence on him. Both often\nhave the painful consciousness that he holds in his hand all that\nmakes their existence of any value to them--both often alike feel\nthat he could at any time deprive them of their very bread.\n\n+III. The lesson of the proverb.+ The wise man, by thus showing how\ntwo men who are unlike in almost every other respect may be reduced\nto the same level in this, is probably reading a lesson against\nborrowing. The poor man's subjection to the rich is a matter which it\nis not in his power to alter, but a man goes into debt generally of\nhis own free will. He may often be very hardly pressed by necessity\nto do so, or as a matter of business it may be advisable, but the\nproverb at least suggests that the step should not be taken without\nwell weighing the consequences. It is doubtless mainly directed\nagainst borrowing when a man has not resources to repay, and is not\nlikely to have them.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n1. _The responsibility of the rich._ How great the power of wealth.\nIn this world it is a talent often more influential for good than\nintellect or genius. . . . 2. _The temptation of the poor._ . . . To\nbecome servile, cringing in spirit. Flunkeyism is the greatest curse\nof the people. . . . 3. _The wisdom of the diligent._ The industrious\nman is a wise man. Why? Because the more industrious he is, the more\nindependent he becomes of wealthy men.--_Dr. D. Thomas._\n\nVery important it is to maintain an independence of mind, quite\ndistinct from pride, which elevates the mind far above doing or\nconniving at evil, for the sake of pleasing a patron. Many have been\nforced to great entanglement of conscience, perhaps to vote contrary\nto their conscience, rather than lose the great man's smile. Often\nalso the influence of capital is an iron rule of the rich over the\npoor. Many, who profess to resist conscientiously state-interference,\nhave little regard for the conscience of their dependants. The monied\nmaster exercises a control over his workmen, which shows too plainly\nhis purpose to make them the creatures of his own will. This gigantic\ntyranny should be denounced with the most solemn protest. The true\nChristian line is to shun that proud independence, which scorns the\nkindly offer of needful help; but at the same time to avoid all\nneedless obligations. \"Sell not your liberty to gratify your luxury.\"\nIf possible, \"owe no man anything but love\" (Rom. xiii. 8). \"Guard\nagainst that poverty, which is the result of carelessness or\nextravagance. Pray earnestly, labour diligently. Should you come to\npoverty by the misfortune of the times, submit to your lot humbly;\nbear it patiently; cast yourself in child-like dependence upon your\nGod.\"--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nA WORTHLESS SEED AND A ROTTEN STAFF.\n\n+I. The seed sown.+ It is iniquity. All kinds of deeds and every\nmanner of dealing that are out of harmony with the principles of\njustice are acts of iniquity. The least deviation from the path of\nmoral right is in its measure an iniquitous step. Sowing iniquity is\nan expression that covers very much ground, and includes many degrees\nof moral wrong, from the withholding of the smallest act of justice\nto the inflicting of the greatest act of injustice. Now, whenever a\nman deliberately and knowingly does either the one or the other he\ndoes it with a purpose. He has an end in view as much as the farmer\nhas when he sows seed in the field. Men do not generally act unjustly\nand commit crime out of mere love of sin--they generally expect and\ndesire to gain something by it that they think worth having. Solomon\nhere declares that they will be disappointed. He has before dwelt\nupon the retribution that will follow sin, he is here speaking of its\ndeceptive character. Men do not get from it what they expect--they\nare disappointed either _of_ the harvest or _in_ it. This has been\nthe experience of all sowers of iniquity in the world since Eve cast\nin the first seed. In a certain sense she got what she was promised,\nbut how different the crop from what she hoped for. She _\"reaped\nvanity.\"_\n\n+II. The staff depended upon.+ Haughtiness or pride. (See Critical\nNotes.) This pride of heart and haughtiness of demeanour is born of a\nman's imagining that he has gained for himself a position and a name\nthat will defy the changes and vicissitudes of life. This idea bears\nhim up; he leans upon it, as men lean upon a rod or staff. The rich\nman often makes a staff of his riches, and uses it to \"rule over the\npoor,\" as in verse 7. The man of talent sometimes makes his talent a\nstaff, and walks among his intellectual inferiors with a proud and\nhaughty step. The great conqueror says in his heart, _\"I will ascend\nunto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . . . I\nwill be like the Most High\"_ (Isa. xiv. 13-14), and with the rod of\nhis power he smites the nations and tramples upon the rights of his\nfellow-creatures. But all these rods of haughtiness shall be broken,\nand those who lean upon them shall find they have been trusting to a\nbroken reed, and the objects of their oppression shall say unto them,\n_\"Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe proverb takes two terms for iniquity, one meaning _crookedness,_\nthe other meaning _nothingness._ It paints one as only breeding the\nother. It intends a positive law. Wheat breeds wheat. So iniquity\nbreeds only worthlessness. A man may live a thousand years and yet\nthe harvest will be unvarying. And then to meet the fact that the\ndominion that his ambition gives does make him ruler over the saints\nthemselves, he employs a verb which expresses high action, but action\nthat _exhausts itself._ Its literal sense is to _consume._ The idea\nis as of a fever which wears down the patient and itself\ntogether. . . . The impenitent seem to have the whole _\"rod,\"_ or\n_sceptre,_ of our planet, the true solution is this, that the _\"rod\"_\nis just budding out its strength.--_Miller._\n\nOften may oppressors prosper for a time. God may use them as his\nchastening rod. But the _seed-time of iniquity_ will end in the\nharvest of _vanity;_ and when they have done their work, _the rod of\ntheir anger shall fail._ Such was Sennacherib in olden time, such was\nNapoleon in our own day. Never has the world seen so extensive _a\nsower of iniquity,_ never a more abundant harvest of _vanity._ The\nrod of anger was he to the nations of the earth. But how utterly was\nthe rod suffered to _fail,_ when the purpose was accomplished!\ndespoiled of empire, shorn of greatness--an exiled\ncaptive.--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nTHE BOUNTIFUL EYE.\n\n+I. The eye is an index of the soul.+ This is true, not only of the\n_expression_ of the eye but of its _direction._ What is in the mind\ncan often be read in the eye; both evil passions and Divine\naffections reveal themselves through it, but sometimes both depend\nvery much upon where the eye looks--upon the objects towards which\nthe glance is directed. Perhaps the text refers both to the eye that\nsoftens at the sight of another's woe, and to the eye which makes it\nits business to look around and search for objects which the hand can\nhelp. For if the expression of the eye reveals the character so does\nthe direction which it habitually takes. There is many an eye that\nreadily moistens with sympathy at the tale or the spectacle of sorrow\nwhich can hardly be called a _\"bountiful eye,\"_ for it is only by\naccident that it ever encounters anything to call forth its sympathy.\nBut the eye that is ever on the watch for opportunities of doing\ngood, of feeding the hungry and raising the fallen, is a much surer\nindex of a godlike disposition. For such an eye has something in\ncommon with the eye of Him who looked upon the bond slaves of Egypt\nand said, _\"I have seen the affliction of My people and am come down\nto deliver them,\"_ and who, manifest in a human body, _\"was moved\nwith compassion\"_ at the sight of _\"people who were as sheep not\nhaving a shepherd\"_ (Mark vi. 34). He whose bountiful eye brings down\na blessing upon him is not one who now and then meets a needy brother\nand relieves him; still less is he one whose sympathy is shown only\nby the look. His is evidently one whose glance of pity is followed by\na deed of kindness and whose habit it is to look out for\nopportunities of succouring the needy.\n\n+II. The soul is blest by the ministry of the hand.+ He who gives of\nhis bread to the needy will have the gratitude of the needy, and\nthere is not a more exquisite joy perhaps on the earth. But the\nblessing of God will be his in an especial manner. Upon both kinds of\nblessing see Homiletics on chap. xi. 25, page 234, and on chap.\nxix. 17, page 576.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nPerhaps the expression--\"he giveth _of his bread_ to the poor,\" may\nmean, that he is ready even to share his own provision with them; not\nmerely to give a small portion of his superfluities, but to stint\nhimself for their supply. And this is the spirit of true\ncharity.--_Wardlaw._\n\nSome that have a bountiful eye have no bread to give, but they will\ngive what will turn to as good an account to the donor, and sometimes\nwill be as pleasing to the receiver; tears and attention, and offices\nof tenderness and prayers to Him that is able to help.--_Lawson._\n\nThis _bountifulness_ is a privilege, which earth possesses above\nheaven. Many a rich _blessing_ is sealed to it. \"Beneficence is the\nmost exquisite luxury; and the good man is the genuine epicure.\" He\n\"hath a continual feast,\" because his objects are always before\nhim.--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nA MAN WHO OUGHT TO DWELL ALONE.\n\n+I. The scorner should be dismissed from social bodies for his own\nsake.+ It is better for the man himself that his power to do evil\nshould be as limited as possible. If we could know beforehand that a\nman intends to commit a great crime, and so render himself liable to\nheavy punishment, and bring guilt upon his conscience, the kindest\nthing that we could do for him would be to deprive him of the power\nof doing as he intends. We should thereby save him from the misery of\nbecoming a greater transgressor. If the other disciples of Our Lord\ncould have foreseen what was passing in the mind of Judas, and could\nhave prevented his becoming the betrayer of his Master, how great a\nblessing would they have conferred upon that unhappy man! Whatever\nmight have been his other sins, he would not have been stung with\nthat agony of remorse at having betrayed innocent blood. But many\nsins are of such a nature that it is impossible to hinder men from\ntheir committal--the steps which lead to them are hidden from those\naround, and no one suspects that the guilty one has any such\nintention. The scoffer, however, is not a sinner of this kind--his\ntransgression is not a single act, but a habit of life; it is not a\nsecret purpose hidden in his heart until the moment of its\naccomplishment, but is manifested in his words. Men can therefore, to\nsome extent, hinder him from increasing his own guilt by depriving\nhim of the opportunities of indulging in his sin--if they \"cast him\nout\"--if they shun his society, and dismiss him from their midst, he\nwill have fewer opportunities and temptations to indulge in scoffing,\nand so will be kept from going to such great lengths in sinning. A\nman who loves to turn into ridicule all pure and holy things, uses to\nhis own condemnation and degradation influences which were intended\nto bless and elevate him, and it is better for himself that they\nshould be placed beyond his reach than that he should so abuse them\nand increase his own guilt.\n\n+II. He should be cast out for the sake of his fellow-creatures.+\nThere are certain diseases of the human body which are not only most\ndangerous for the patient himself, but expose to a like danger all\nwho come in contact with him. The leper is not only a great sufferer\nhimself, but he is a centre of a deadly disease which will spread\nitself to those with whom he dwells. It is therefore necessary to\nremove him from the society of other men--so long as he is a leper he\nmust dwell alone, must be denied the privilege of citizenship and the\njoys of social life. So it ought to be with the scorner--the habit of\nscoffing is one which is very infectious--very easily communicated by\none man to another; and seeing that it is so soul-destructive, those\nwho indulge in it ought not to have the opportunity of communicating\nthe moral pestilence. But there is another aspect of leprosy which\nrenders it necessary to isolate as far as possible those who are\nsuffering from it from the abodes of other men. Even if it were not\nso infectious, it is most loathsome; and this alone would render some\nseparation necessary. Now, there are societies of men in which the\nwords of the scoffer would be quite powerless to do harm--there are\nthose whose love of that which is true and holy is strong enough to\nwithstand all such evil influence. But to such men a scorner is a\nmost repugnant character--they loathe his irreverent treatment of\nthat which is to them most sacred. It is not required that they\nexpose themselves to the pain of his society--they are at liberty to\ncast him out of their midst.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is no cure but _\"casting out.\"_ Such men are the Jonahs of\nchurches, and of the coteries of social life. As long as they are\nthere, there will be nothing but the bluster and commotion of the\nstorm--\"toiling in rowing,\" incessant distress, vain exertion, and no\nprogress. The sea cannot \"cease from its raging,\" till they are\nthrown overboard.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThis _thought_ occurs also in the Psalms (Ps. lxviii. 6). Only the\nrebellious, says the Psalmist, shall come to mischief. There are, it\nis true, great mountains of wickedness; but take away this one\nelement of scorn--that is, make a man submissive and the causes of\nstrife have flown. Christ manages afterwards. Take away the\nrebelliousness of the heart, and great monstrous sins will slowly be\ncorrected and disappear. . . . Scorning is not itself the cause of\nthe quarrel, and therefore ceasing to scorn does not remove it\ndirectly. Christ must remove the _cause._ Scorning expels Christ.\nCeasing to scorn admits Christ. And, therefore, it is literally\ntrue--\"Cast out the _scorner_ (it may be thine own scornful heart),\nand the cause of quarrel passes away, and strife and shame\ncease.\"--_Miller._\n\nIt is always the disposition of the scorner, that wheresoever he is,\nhe scorneth to stay, and it is always the best usage towards a\nscorner to cast him out, and not suffer him to stay. For whosoever\nkeepeth him shall be sure to keep strife and contention with him, and\nwhere they are, reproach and shame are the attendants of them. If any\ngood be done a scorner he disdains that it is so little; if any wrong\nbe done him he complains that it is very great. If he be used in\nanything, he disdains to be a servant; if he is not used he complains\nthat he is neglected. Still he is discontented, and still his\ndiscontent breeds quarrelling and debate. But cast out the firebrand\nand the fire goes out; cast out Jonah and the storm shall cease. Cast\nout the scorner from thy house, and then there shalt be quiet. For\nwhence are all suits of contention. Whence is all strife, but because\nthe heart scorns to bear this, scorns to take that, scorns to let it\ngo?--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.\n\nA ROAD TO ROYAL FRIENDSHIP.\n\n+I. The pure in heart deserve to be honoured with the friendship of\nthe king.+ Where there is purity of heart, the springs of moral life\nare healthy--the whole man is an embodiment of truth and goodness.\nSuch a man is worthy of the honour and confidence of those who stand\nin the highest positions, inasmuch as purity of heart belongs to the\nman himself, and is a possession that is counted precious by the best\nbeings in the universe, whereas power and rank are often but\naccidents of birth, and in themselves alone are valueless in the\nsight of God, and in the eyes of the greatest and noblest of His\ncreatures.\n\n+II. The king consults his own interest when he shows favour to such\nmen.+ A man of pure heart is a great blessing to any community. His\nvery life is in itself a light which scatters moral darkness--a well\nwhich makes a fertile spot wherever it springs forth. And it is in\nproportion to the number of such men in a kingdom that the realm\nenjoys peace and prosperity. If we could find any earthly\ncommonwealth composed entirely of such citizens, we should find a\nplace where the kingdom of God had \"come\"--a heaven upon earth. But\nwhere there is purity of heart there is grace of lips--there is\nactive effort to spread truth and righteousness. The well does not\nconfine itself to the spot where it first issues from the earth, but\nsends forth health-giving streams far and near. Seeing, then, that\nsuch men are the real pillars of a state, he only is a wise king who\nseeks them out and delights to do them honour.\n\n+III. Some kings have recognised their obligations and interest in\nthis matter.+ Pharaoh discerned the purity of Joseph's heart by the\ngrace of his lips, and made him the second ruler in the kingdom, and\nDarius promoted Daniel to the highest office in the realm. David's\nresolution was--_\"Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land,\nthat they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he\nshall serve me\"_ (Psalm ci. 6).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_Pureness of heart_ describes not the natural, but the renewed man.\nIt is no external varnish, no affectation of holiness; but sincerity,\nhumility, shrinking from sin, conformity to the image of God. He who\nhath fully attained this _pureness_ is before the throne of God. _He\nwho loveth it_ is the child of God on earth. His desire is\nperfection, constant progress, pressing towards the mark (Philip.\niii. 12-15).--_Bridges._\n\nWhat Solomon says is rather an encouragement to love and cultivate\n\"pureness of heart,\" than a motive to be directly regarded, and\nallowed to influence us to this duty. It is only one of those\nindirect results which may be enjoyed as a testimony of the higher\napprobation of God. . . . While we thank God for the favour He may\ngive us in the sight of men,--we must see that we seek no\nfriendships, whether among the greatest or the least, the highest or\nthe lowest, by any other means whatever than the \"pureness of heart,\"\nand the consistency of life here recommended.--_Wardlaw._\n\nGrace in the lips is necessary to recommend pureness of heart. We\nought always to speak the words of truth, but we ought to speak it in\nthe most pleasing manner possible, that we may not render it\nunacceptable by our manner of representing it. Daniel showed his\nintegrity and politeness at once, by the manner of his address to\nNebuchadnezzar, when he was called to give him very disagreeable\ninformation.--_Lawson._\n\nHe that _hath_ pureness of heart cannot choose but _love_ it, such is\nthe exceeding beauty and amiableness of it; and he that _loveth_\npureness of heart cannot choose but _have_ it, for that it is which\npurifieth and cleanseth the heart. Many there be who love a\ncleanness, and neatness, and pureness of apparel; many there are who\nlove a clearness and pureness of countenance and complexion. No\nwashing or purifying is thought to be enough to make this appear, so\nthat often the heart is defiled by it. And with such puritans the\ncourts of princes are much attended, wooing with this bravery the\nfavour of the court and prince. But it is to the pure in heart that\nGod inclineth in favour the heart of the king. And because the heart\nis not discernible by the king, God therefore giveth grace unto the\nlips, in which the purity of the heart shining, tieth the heart of\nthe king as a friend unto him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nTHE PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE.\n\n+I. God preserves knowledge by preserving the man who possesses the\nknowledge.+ The preservation of the life of the man of science who\nhas discovered some secret of nature is a preservation of the\nknowledge that he has gained. If the discovery has been made by him\nalone, and he dies before he has revealed it, the knowledge is lost\nto the world. When a physician is acquainted with a special remedy or\nmethod of treatment for a certain disease which is known only to\nhimself, the preservation of his life is the preservation of this\nspecial knowledge. If he leaves the world without imparting what he\nknows to another man, his secret dies with him--the abstract\nknowledge is not left behind when the man who possessed it is gone.\nAll knowledge is preserved to us from age to age by its being\ncommunicated from one human being to another, as one generation\nsucceeds the other, and the hand of God is to be recognised in its\npreservation. But this is especially true of the knowledge of God. In\nthe days of old, God long preserved a knowledge of Himself in the\nworld by preserving the life of Noah, of Abraham, of Isaac and of\nJacob. They stood almost alone in the world in this respect, and were\nlike lighthouses on a dark and stormy ocean, sheltering and\npreserving a moral light in the moral darkness. If the lighthouse is\ndestroyed the light goes out; and if these men had died without\ntransmitting to others the light which they possessed, the world\nwould have been left in ignorance of God. As the ages have rolled on,\nthere have been more of these spiritual lighthouses, and God has\nalways preserved a sufficient number upon the earth to bear witness\nof Himself.\n\n+II. God has preserved knowledge by causing special care to be taken\nof His written Word.+ Holy men of old wrote as they were moved by the\nHoly Ghost, and the record of the truths which were revealed to them\nis with us until this day. The knowledge of the way of salvation\nthrough Jesus Christ has thus been preserved for nearly nineteen\ncenturies, and to-day we can become as familiar with the events of\nthe Incarnation, and with the teachings of the Apostles, as if we had\nlived in the first century of the Christian era. Although many\nefforts have been made to destroy the Scriptures of truth, they are\nwith us still, preserved by the providence of their Divine author, in\norder that men may not be without the means of becoming wise unto\nsalvation through believing the truths which they contain. There have\nbeen dark days when the living guardians of Divine truth were hardly\nto be found; but if they had quite died out after the Bible was\nwritten we should still have had this source of spiritual knowledge\nwith us, like a seed-corn, preserving within its husk the living\ngerm, ready to burst forth and grow when it found a congenial soil.\nGod, as the preserver of the knowledge of Himself, has made its\nsafety doubly sure by not only committing it to the living man, but\nby causing it to be communicated to the written page.\n\n+III. The preservation of knowledge by the Lord counteracts the evil\nand false words of wicked men.+ Acquaintance with truth concerning\nanything overthrows all false ideas and teachings concerning it. The\ncoming of the morning light scatters all the darkness of night, and\nwith it many false conceptions as to what is around a traveller on an\nunknown road. So a knowledge of Divine truth scatters error, and\noverthrows false conceptions concerning God and godliness, and\nconvicts their enemies of falsehood, thus rendering them powerless to\ndo harm. Our Lord, by His knowledge, thus overthrew the words of a\ngreat transgressor in His temptation in the wilderness, and it is by\nthe spread of this knowledge of God which He has Himself preserved to\nus that the final overthrow of evil will be accomplished.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is still another sense of the words,--which they _may_ bear;\nthough by some, perhaps, it may be regarded as fanciful:--\"The eyes\nof the Lord _keep_ knowledge:\"--they _retain_ it. What He sees, be it\nbut for a moment, does not, as with _our_ vision, pass away. It\nremains. _We_ see, and having seen, what passes from the eye passes\nalso from the memory. Not so is it with God's vision. The sight of\nHis eye is no uncertain or forgetful glance. It is unerring and\npermanent. All that His eyes have ever seen is known as perfectly now\nas when it passed before them,--as when it existed or happened!--And\nin the exercise of this permanent and perfect knowledge, \"He\noverthroweth the words of the transgressors.\" All their evil desert\nremains before Him. They can neither elude His knowledge, nor bribe\nHis justice, nor resist His power. They shall be made to learn by\nfearful experience, \"whose words shall stand, _His,_ or\n_theirs!_\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhen _knowledge_ seemed on the eve of perishing, a single copy of the\nScriptures, found as it were accidentally, _preserved_ it from utter\nextinction (2 Chron. xxxiv. 14-18). For successive generations the\nBook was in the custody of faithful librarians, handed down in\nsubstantial integrity (Rom. iii. 2). When the church herself was on\nthe side of the Arian heresy, the same watchful _eyes_ raised up a\nchampion (_Athanasius_) to _preserve_ the testimony. Often has the\ninfidel _transgressor_ laboured with all the might of man for its\ndestruction. Often has Rome partially suppressed it, or committed it\nto the flames, or circulated perverted copies and false\ninterpretations. Yet all these _words_ and deeds of _the\ntransgressors have been overthrown._--_Bridges._\n\nThe eyes of the Lord are His knowledge, and it is in Him, in His\nknowledge that knowledge is preserved. That is the bottomless\ntreasure of it; from thence issue out all the veins of knowledge,\nwherewith the world is enriched. It is He that preserveth knowledge\nfor the seekers of it, it is He that preserveth knowledge in the\nteachers of it. . . . His eyes shall watch over it, and though\nblindness put out the eyes of many, yet in Goshen it shall shine and\nbring comfort to His people.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nAN ACTIVE IMAGINATION.\n\n+I. Inactivity of will may cause a too great activity of the\nimagination.+ Man is made for action, and if he refuses to employ his\npowers in doing some useful and real work, it is probable that he\nwill put forth some morbid effort in another direction. If his limbs\nare not at work, his mind will probably be active, and if he does not\noccupy it with objects which are worthy, it will be filled with\nthoughts that are sinful, and imaginations that are false. It will be\nespecially apt to invent excuses for sloth, by magnifying the\ndifficulties which stand in the way of effort. Every obstacle will be\nmagnified into an insurmountable hindrance, and little risks will be\nlooked at through a medium which will make them look like dangers to\nbe avoided at any sacrifice of duty. The wish is often father to the\nthought, and the slothful man welcomes and nurses the deception which\nis born of his own indolence. And the sluggard is an easy prey also\nto the suggestions of the tempter, who will not be slow to do what he\ncan to inflame the imagination and distort the judgment.\n\n+II. The sluggard rightly apprehends danger, but mistakes the source\nwhence it will come.+ There is a devouring enemy which will slay him\nif he do not take care, but it is not without him, but within him. He\nhas a foe who endangers his life, but that foe is his own sloth; or,\nas we say on chap. xxi. 25, his own unsatisfied desire. While his\neyes are turned on the highway, and he is seeking to avoid the lion\nwhich he fancies is there, he is nursing in his bosom the indolence\nwhich will be his ruin. He has more to fear from himself than from\nthe most terrible manslayer that ever crossed the path of any human\nbeing. But it is with him as with slaves to other forms of sin--he is\nready to lay the blame of his disobedience to God's commands\nanywhere, rather than upon his own unwillingness to comply with them.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"Saith,\"_ really a preterite. These proverbs have usually the\nfuture. The future is a present continuing forward. Here we have a\nfuture tracing itself backward. The impenitent have always been\nsaying the same thing. Age has not changed. Men have stuck to it for\nnear a century. . . . \"There is a lion\" at the mercy-seat. So that\nthe minister quits answering the sluggard's cavils, and tells each\nman plainly--\"These cries are symptomatic.\" There is no lion in the\ncase. And a heart that will shape these phantoms would shape others,\nif these were laid. The difficulty is sloth. In truth, there is a\n\"lion,\" but it is a bad heart, crouching against itself, and lurking\nto destroy the poor unwary sinner.--_Miller._\n\nThis is a very odd excuse for his laziness. Lions are seldom found in\nthe fields in the day time, and it is a very extraordinary thing if\nthey be found in the streets. Does the sluggard himself believe there\nis any truth in it? If he does, why does he sleep in his house, since\nit is possible that it may be set on fire by some accident in the\nnight? Why does he ever take a meal, for some have been choked by the\nbread which they put into their mouths? When we are employed in the\nduties of our calling, we need not vex ourselves with the\napprehension of lions. \"I will give mine angels charge over thee,\"\nsays God, \"and they shall keep thee in all thy ways.\" Thou shalt\ntread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt\nthou trample under thy feet. But let the sluggard remember that there\nis a lion in that bed where he dozes away his time, and in that\nchamber where he sits folding his arms together. The devil goes about\nlike a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and he rejoices\ngreatly when he lights upon a sluggard for he looks upon him to be a\nsure prey. We are safe from the lions in the way of duty, and never\nsafe when we avoid it. Lions, when they met David feeding his sheep,\nwere torn in pieces by him like kids. A lion unexpectedly came upon\nthat young man of the sons of prophets, who declined his duty when he\nwas commanded to smite his neighbour, and rent him in\npieces.--_Lawson._\n\nHere is no talk of Satan, \"that roaring lion\" that lies couchant in\nthe sluggard's bed with him, and prompts him to these senseless\nexcuses. Nor yet of the \"Lion of the tribe of Judah,\" who will one\nday send out summonses for sleepers, and tearing the very caul of\ntheir hearts asunder send them packing to their place in hell. But to\nhell never came any as yet that had not some pretence for their\ncoming hither. The flesh never wants excuses, and needs not to be\ntaught to tell her own tale. Sin and shifting came into the world\ntogether; and as there is no wool so coarse but will take some\ncolour, so no sin so gross that admits of a defence. Sin and Satan\nare alike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own\nlikeness.--_Trapp._\n\nThe tongue is seldom slothful, even in the slothful man himself. That\nwill bestir itself to find excuses, and to plead pretences for the\ndefence of sloth. That will be diligent to allege reasons that the\nsluggard may be negligent. . . . If the lion had been within, if the\ncourage and nobleness of the lion had been in the sluggard's heart,\nhe would never have talked of a lion without. No, it was the cold\nsnail that was within; and unless the slothful man's house may be\nremoved with him, he will not stir to go out of it. Thus he that\nfeareth to be slain, without cause, delighteth to be slain by his own\nlaziness.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nA DEEP PIT.\n\nThis verse treats of two classes of character, both of which have\nbeen depicted before. (See on chaps. ii. 16-19, page 24, vi. 24, page\n89, vii. 5-27, page 95.)\n\n+I. The tempter.+ The _strange_ woman--the woman who has been so deaf\nto the voice of all that is womanly as no longer to be worthy of the\nname, who instead of being man's helpmeet and endeavouring to win him\nto tread the path to heaven, is his curse and makes it her aim to\ndrag him down to hell. Notice the main instrument of her destructive\npower--the _mouth._ It is by her words of flattery and deception and\npersuasion that she ensnares her victim and compasses his ruin.\nHistory and experience confirm Solomon's words, for, although\nexternal beauty is often a powerful ingredient in the temptation, it\nis not always so, and counts for very little if it is unaccompanied\nby that fascination of manner and of speech which have been used by\nso many bad women with such fatal effect. If we look at the portraits\nof some of those women who have exerted so mighty a power for evil in\nthe world, we can seldom see sufficient beauty to account for the\nspell which they seemed to cast around their victims, and we must\nconclude therefore that it was rather to be found where Solomon puts\nit,--who may be hear speaking from bitter personal experience--viz.,\nin the tongue. This proverb adds one more testimony to the many that\nhave gone before of the immense power for evil or for good that is\nexerted by that \"little member\" of our bodily organism.\n\n+II. The tempted.+ He is here depicted as an unwary traveller along\nlife's highway easily deceived by the appearance of things, and, too\ncareless or too unsuspecting to look beneath the surface, following\nthe bent of his inclination and yielding to the voice of the charmer\nuntil he finds the ground giving way beneath his feet, and darkness\nand hopelessness all around him. Notice the fearful _name_ here given\nto such an one--to one who is led away by such a tempter. He is\n_abhorred of the Lord._ Here is full evidence that God does not look\nupon human creatures with indifference as to their moral\ncharacter--that merciful Father though He is, He does not extend to\nmen that indiscriminating and therefore worthless tenderness which\nsome would have us believe is His main attribute--that if _men_ look\nupon sin as mere obedience to the dictates of nature, and therefore\nblameless, He does not so regard it. And if men will not attach any\nweight to the words of Scripture--not believing them to be\ninfallible--they can read the same truth in their every-day\nexperience. The terrible retribution which comes upon those who\nlisten to the words of the \"strange woman\" is a sufficient testimony\nto the abhorrence in which the Creator of men holds the sin to which\nshe allures the unwary and the licentious man.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nTo what do the fearful words amount? To this: that in His righteous\ndispleasure, there is not a heavier curse which an offended God can\nallow to fall upon the object of His wrath, than leaving him to be a\nprey to the seductive blandishments of an unprincipled woman:--that\nif God held any one in abhorrence, _this_ would be the severest\nvengeance He could take on him.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe mouth of a strange woman is but the mouth of a far deeper pit,\nthe pit of hell into which it openeth. The one is digged by the\nwickedness of men, the other by the justice of God.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nA FACT STATED AND A DUTY INFERRED.\n\n+I. Human nature in its most attractive form contains latent\ndepravity.+ The flower of the thistle is beautiful to look upon, and\nits downy seed is an apparently harmless object, and one worthy of\nadmiration, as it rears its head among the corn. But how much power\nof mischief is wrapped up in that ball of soft down, if it is allowed\nto scatter its seed unchecked. A young lion is as pretty and harmless\na creature as a kitten, but what ferocious instincts lie dormant\nthere. A child is the most attractive and innocent of human\ncreatures. As we look upon its guileless face we can hardly connect\nthe idea of sin with its nature, and hardly believe it possible that\nthe most depraved man or woman in the world was once as pure and\nstainless. But the Book of God tells us that even that young soul is\ntainted with the disease that infects all our race, and what the Book\nsays is confirmed by the experience of all who have had anything to\ndo with training children. The foolishness of self-will very soon\nshows itself, and the little one early gives proof that he or she is\na true child of Adam by rebelling against the restraints with which\nit is lovingly surrounded, and desiring at all risks to eat forbidden\nfruit. In the fairest child-form now living upon the globe there may\nbe hidden seeds which, when fully developed, will fill the world with\nterror and misery.\n\n+II. That this depraved tendency is deeply rooted in the child's\nnature.+ It is \"bound\" in or \"fettered\" to it by a cable of many\nstrands, or a chain of heavy links--it is not a slight preference for\nthe wrong which can easily be overruled--not a garment put on which\nthe wearer can easily be persuaded to put off again, but a part of\nthe very nature--a bent of all the faculties of the soul.\n\n+III. The disease is one which will yield to proper treatment.+ We do\nnot suppose that Solomon's words teach that any corrective rod will\nbe potent enough to drive out all tendency to do wrong, inasmuch as\nexperience and observation contradict it, but the same experience and\nobservation confirm the truth that wise correction in youth is mighty\nin its moral power, and may so bring the child round to the love of\nthe true and the good, that its own efforts will second the efforts\nof the parent, and it will itself turn upon the enemies within, being\nfully convinced that the self-will that is bound up in its own heart\nis the greatest folly to which it is liable. There are many who,\nlooking back upon the wise and loving chastisement of a tender\nparent, can bear testimony to the truth of this proverb. On this\nsubject see also on chap. xiii. 24, page 334.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe rod of correction is proper to drive away no other foolishness\nthan that which is of a moral nature. But how comes wickedness to be\nso firmly bound, and so strongly fixed, in the hearts of children, if\nit be not there naturally.--_Jonathan Edwards._\n\n_Bound,_ or _fettered. . . . Firmly knit, closely settled; well tied\nin;_ that is, fixed in the childish spirit; this is the sense of\nnearly all the commentators. Of course, there are great difficulties\nat once. The fact theologically is just the opposite. \"Folly\" is not\nfixed in the childish heart; but stronger and stronger in periods\nafterwards. Why not, _pro vero,_ \"bound?\" In much the majority of\ntexts it means simply \"tied down,\" or \"fettered.\" _\"Folly is fettered\nin the heart of a child,\"_ that is, _tied down,_ and, in many ways,\n_repressed._ This is literally the case. It is weak, and hemmed in,\nand easier to grapple with and drag out of the soul in youth than at\nany other period.--_Miller._\n\nObserve--it is _foolishness,_ not childishness. _That_ might belong\nto an unfallen child. No moral guilt attaches to the\nrecollection--\"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood\nas a child, I thought as a child\" (1 Cor. xiii. 11). \"A child is to\nbe punished\"--as Mr. Scott wisely observed--\"not for being _a child,_\nbur for being _a wicked_ child.\" Comparative ignorance, the imperfect\nand gradual opening of the faculties, constitute the nature, not the\nsinfulness of the child. The holy \"child increased in wisdom\" (Luke\nii. 52). But _foolishness_ is the mighty propensity to evil--imbibing\nwrong principles, forming bad habits, entering into an ungodly\ncourse. It means the very root and essence of sin in a fallen\nnature--the _folly_ of being revolted from a God of love.--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nOPPRESSION AND SERVILITY.\n\n+I. Opposite actions proceeding from the same motive.+ This proverb\nseems to be directed against a man whose mastering passion is the\nunworthy one of amassing material gain and ministering exclusively to\nhis own enjoyment. This is the commonest source of oppression.\n\"Covetousness,\" says Dreyden, \"is itself so monstrous that nothing\nelse is like it except it be death and the grave, the only things I\nknow which are always carrying off the spoils of the world and never\nmaking restitution.\" This is a true picture of the avaricious man who\nregards none of the needs and rights of his fellow-creatures, but\nonly asks himself with regard to them how they can best be made to\nserve his interests. This leads him to grind down those who are\npoorer than himself, and use them as so many stepping-stones, by\nmeans of which he can mount higher in the social scale, forgetting\nthat though their poverty makes them weaker than himself, they have a\nFriend who is far stronger than he is. But the same man who thus\noppresses his needy brother will make it his business to propitiate\nthe rich, and for the same end, viz., to advance his own interests.\n\"Tyranny and flunkeyism,\" says Dr. Thomas, in his comment on this\nverse, \"generally go together. Both are the children of avarice. He\nthat proudly domineers over the poor will servilely bow his knee to\nthe rich.\"\n\n+II. Opposite actions meeting with the same retribution.+ Although\nthese actions are so different, they can both be traced to one\nfountain-head, and therefore one sentence is passed upon both. The\nman who lives for himself shall not get anything worth having; or if\nhe do, things will be mixed with the cup of his prosperity, which\nwill make it an unpalatable one after all. He may get wealth, and may\ncome to want health; he may be rich and healthy, and yet suffer in\nhis family relationships. He will certainly come to want peace of\nconscience, the goodwill of his fellows, and the favour of God, and\nno gain can balance such a loss.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSin pays its servants very bad wages, for it gives them the very\nreverse of what it promised. Whilst the sin of oppression or\ninjustice promises mountains of gold, it brings them poverty and\nruin. \"Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar?\" said\nthe prophet to Jehoiakim. It could not be, for he used his\nneighbour's services without wages, and gave him nought for his\nwork. . . . We are not proprietors but stewards of the gifts of\nProvidence, and must distribute that which He has entrusted to our\ncare according to His will. And it is His pleasure that we should\nmake to ourselves friends by the mammon of unrighteousness, not of\nthe rich but the poor.--_Lawson._\n\nThe covetous wretch and the vain prodigal are of quite contrary\ndispositions, and take quite contrary courses, and yet they both meet\nat last, for both come to want. . . . He that being rich taketh a\nlittle from the poor (for how little must it needs be that is taken\nfrom them) shall surely find that he taketh a great deal from\nhimself, even all that he hath. And he that giveth much to the rich\n(for it must be much, or else it is not regarded by them) will wish\nhe had given it to the poor, when being made poor, he will give\nhimself little thanks for it, and find as little help from them to\nwhom he has given his riches.--_Jermin._\n\n\nA reference to the Critical Notes at the beginning of this chapter\nwill show that we have entered the third division of this book. One\nor two additional notes are subjoined.\n\n+17.+ Miller reads the second clause, _\"And thou shalt incline thine\nheart,\"_ etc. +18. They shall withal be fitted in thy lips,+ rather\n_\"let them abide together upon thy lips.\"_ +20. Excellent things.+\nSome here render _\"thrice repeated things,\"_ the French translation\nis _\"things relating to rulers or governors,\"_ and Stuart reads \"Have\nI not written to thee _heretofore,_\" understanding Solomon to refer\nto the previous portions of the Book. Upon the first two Wardlaw\nremarks that they both contain the idea of superiority or excellence,\nfor \"why are things repeated but for their excellence? and _princely_\nor _royal_ things\"--which the French translation may yield when\nanalysed--is but a figurative way of expressing transcendent\nsuperiority.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-21.\n\nTRUST FROM KNOWLEDGE, AND BLESSEDNESS FROM TRUST.\n\n+I. Knowledge of God must go before faith in God.+ There must be a\nknowledge of the existence, character, and power of any person before\nthere can be any trust in him. God is not so unreasonable as to\nexpect men to put trust in Him unless they have some grounds for\ntheir trust. Hence the Bible especially aims to make men acquainted\nwith the Being upon whom they are called to exercise faith, by\ndeclarations concerning His character, and by a history of His doings\nin the past, and reminders of what He is doing in the present.\nSometimes God points to the _visible creation_ as a source whence man\nmay obtain knowledge concerning Him, and come to exercise trust in\nHim. This is the drift of the sublime passage in Isaiah xl., in which\nJehovah seeks to bring Israel, by a consideration of His creative\npower and wisdom, to confide in His Almighty strength. (Verses\n27-31.) Sometimes He appeals to _His dealings in the past_ as a\nground of faith in His character and purposes in the present. _What\niniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone from me?_\n(Jer. ii. 5.) The Son of God appeals to His Father's love as a basis\nof faith in Himself (John iii. 16). Paul speaks of the way of\nsalvation as a _\"knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus\nChrist\"_ (2 Cor. iv. 6), because without knowledge there can be no\nfaith, and an enlightened knowledge will certainly lead to faith. The\npreacher here points to the necessity of gaining this true wisdom,\nthe knowledge of Jehovah, as the means of begetting trust in Him.\n\n+II. Real blessedness will follow faith in God.+ A child can have no\nlasting and real joy in its life, unless it has faith in his father's\nlove and wisdom. He feels instinctively that he is dependent upon\nthat father, that much of his future well-being depends upon what\nthat father is and does, and if he cannot be sure that he has his\nreal welfare at heart, it will throw a dark shadow over his young\nlife, which will deepen as he becomes more and more capable of\nrealising his position. It is a worm at the root of all our peace of\nmind to distrust where we must depend. All men must feel that they\nare dependent upon God, and yet most men live, and perhaps most die,\nwithout giving Him that trust which alone can give them peace, and\nwhich those who know Him will testify that He fully deserves. The\ntestimony of those who knew is _\"blessed is the man that trusteth in\nthe Lord, and whose hope the Lord is\"_ (Jer. xvii. 8). And it is\nbecause of its trust-begetting character that Solomon here declares\nthat true knowledge--knowledge concerning Jehovah--is _\"pleasant\"_ to\nthe soul.\n\n+III. Faith in the heart will manifest itself in the lip.+ A perfume\nmay be hidden in the casket, but whenever the lid is lifted it will\nmake its presence known. The tongue will speak sometimes of that\nwhich fills the heart, and when it does not do this in a direct\nmanner there will be a tone in the conversation which will tell men\nwhat the soul prizes most. Knowledge in the heart will bring wise\nwords to the lips--the love of truth will result in the _answer_ of\ntruth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 17. This sounds like the opening of the earlier Proverbs, chap.\nv. 1; viii. 1. The repetition is significant. The life of the soul is\nattention. If that be persevered in, all things follow. God only can\ngive saving light. And yet by laws like the planetary system, He will\ngive it on the bending of the ear. Alas for us! we will not even do\nthis much without His influence. Nevertheless He urges the promise.\n(See Miller's rendering in the additional notes at the beginning of\nthis paragraph.) It is a law, though it be a law of grace. God has\nframed it. Hear outwardly, and thou shalt feel within. Such is our\nnature (chap. ii. 1-5), and it is shrewd to use it. The _inclining_\nis from Him; but the _advice_ also is from Him! Shrink not from the\nadvice because His strength is needed to make it His chosen\ninstrument.--_Miller._\n\nWe may mark that, whereas in the beginning of Proverbs the Wise Man\nhad often called on his son to fasten attention on him, saying, \"My\nson, my son;\" now, after so much said, he supposeth that he needeth\nnot to be called upon, and therefore speaketh unto him, without his\nusual compellation. And surely when much hath been said, to need\nstill much calling on, sheweth much neglect of what hath been said,\nand much unworthiness to have been an hearer of it. And yet because\nin the best some rousing of attention is requisite, the Wise Man here\nlifteth up his voice, to cause a careful bowing down of the ear to\nhis words. He would therefore have attention so to bow down the ear,\nas to make it as it were a bed, wherein the words of the wise might\nrest; because that is it which will bring true rest unto the\nheart. . . . But we may further note, that whereas he would have him\nto _hear the words of the wise,_ it is to _his knowledge_ that he\nwould have him _apply his heart._ For we may hear the words of the\nwise men of this world, we may hear the words of human learning and\nunderstanding, and much good is to be gotten from them; but we must\napply our hearts unto the knowledge of God's Word, and so far receive\nthe other as they agree with that, or are not repugnant unto it. Or\nelse _hear the words of the wise,_ whosoever they be, if they be the\nwords of wisdom which they deliver. But if their actions teach\notherwise than their words do, apply not thine heart to follow their\nexample. Let rather _my knowledge_ instruct thee, that the heart may\nbe as well applied to doing, as the ears to hearing.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 18. It will last when we get it. This is the wonder to others.\nHere one has been trying to be a better man, and begins to be one\nfrom a sudden epoch. Others wrestle with their faults, and fall back\ninto them again. Nothing can be more fitful than all moral\nreformations. But here, in spiritual life, a flash shoots up, and we\nnever return to darkness. Why is this? Because it is _pleasant,_ says\nthe proverb. It becomes fixed because of its principle as of a sound\nnature. . . . When we _watch over right words,_ which\n(_Orientaliter_) stands for all right actions, God rewards us by\nmaking them _\"pleasant,\"_ and so, even as in heaven itself, they\nbecome fixed as the very habit of our lips.--_Miller._\n\nMany there are whose lips do speak the words of wisdom, but they are\nnot fitted upon their lips. . . . The reason whereof is, because the\nwords of wisdom are not seated in the heart. For though the lips may\ngive themselves motion and the head may furnish them with matter, it\nis the heart that fitteth the lips.--_Jermin._\n\nIt will give thee most high satisfaction if thou dost so heartily\nentertain them, and thoroughly digest them, and faithfully preserve\nthem in mind, that thou art able withal to produce any of them as\nthere is occasion, and aptly communicate for other men's\ninstruction.--_Bp. Patrick._\n\n\nVerse 19.--1. The _particularity of address--\"to thee, even to\nthee.\"_ In the days of prophetic inspiration, it was no unusual thing\nfor the servants of God to receive express commissions to\nindividuals, in which they alone were concerned. But the whole Book\nof God--the entire \"word of His testimony\"--should be considered by\n_every one_ as addressed _to him;_ as much so as if there were no\nother human being besides himself, and as if it had been \"given by\ninspiration\" to himself alone. There is no room for any saying, as\nJehu did of old--_\"To which_ of all us?\" The answer would, in every\ncase, be--To _each of you all_--to thee--to thee--to thee. Not that\nthere is no such thing as, \"rightly dividing the Word of Truth;\" not\nthat there are no portions of it that have a special appropriateness\nof application to the characters and circumstances of individuals.\nStill, the great truths of the Word are alike to _each_ and to _all._\nAnd speedily a man may be placed in one or other of the peculiar\nsituations to which the different portions of it are adapted! I know\nof nothing more important than for every individual to bring Divine\nlessons _home to himself._ Too often, alas! we forget _personal_\namidst _general_ application of particular truths. We think of them\nas intended _for men,_ and forget that they are designed _for us._\nWould you then profit by what you hear?--keep in mind that what is\naddressed to all is addressed to each--_\"to thee, even to\nthee.\"_--2. Mark the emphasis on the time--_\"this day.\"_ We set a\nmark, in our minds, on days that have been rendered memorable by\nevents of special interest. Would Noah, think you, ever forget the\nday of the year on which he and his family entered the ark, and when\n\"the Lord shut him in?\" or the day on which he again stepped out of\nit upon the green earth, to be the second father of mankind? Would\nthe shepherds ever forget on what night of the year the angelic\nmessengers, amidst the light of the glory of the Lord, announced to\nthem the Divine Saviour's birth, and when \"the multitude of the\nheavenly host,\" bursting on their sight, \"ascended jubilant,\" saying\n\"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward\nmen?\" Or would Cornelius ever forget the day and the hour when the\nangelic visitant directed him to that instruction whereby he and all\nhis house should be saved? _You,_ it is true, have many times heard\nthe words of truth. Let me, however, remind any of you who _have_\nthus often heard, and who still neglect them, of the importance to\nyou of _each day_ that you enjoy the privilege. Every time you thus\nhear them, your eternal all depends on the reception you give to the\nmessage of God. _This day_ may be important indeed, for it may be the\nlast on which Divine truth shall sound in your ears. O that it may be\na day to be sacredly and joyfully remembered by every sinner now\npresent, as the day on which he first felt its inestimable\npreciousness to his soul! If you thus hear, and thus improve the\nopportunity, the day will not be obliterated from your memory by the\nlapse of eternity. There is one thing of which with emphasis it may\nbe said to each individual sinner, It is _\"to thee,_ even _to\nthee:\"_--I mean the message of the Gospel--the message of free mercy\nthrough the Divine Mediator. There is no exception; there is no\ndifference. The law speaks to each, \"to thee, even to thee\"--its\nsentence of condemnation. The Gospel speaks to each--\"to thee, even\nto thee\"--its offer of free, full, immediate, irrevocable pardon on\nthe ground of the universal atonement. To every fellow creature we\ncan say--An adequate atonement has been made for all; therefore _for\nthee_--\"for thee, even for thee;\" and on the ground of that atonement\ndoes Divine mercy come near to thee--\"to thee, even to thee\"--with\nthe offer of forgiveness, acceptance, and life. _\"This day\"_ is the\nmessage of life again \"made known\" unto thee, O sinner; and there is\nno obstacle to thine acceptance and enjoyment of it, but what is _in\nthyself;_--none in God; none in Christ; none in the atonement; none\nin the Divine offer of its virtue to mankind. _\"To thee_ is the word\nof this salvation sent;\" and \"now is the accepted time, now is the\nday of salvation.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nOnly a Divine Word can beget a Divine faith, and herein the Scripture\nexcels all human writings, none of which can bring our hearts to the\nobedience of faith. \"I can speak it by experience,\" says Erasmus,\n\"that there is little good to be got by the Scripture, if a man read\nit cursorily and carelessly; but if he exercise himself therein\nconstantly and conscionably he shall feel such a force in it, as is\nnot to be found in any other book whatsoever.\" \"I know,\" saith Peter\nMartyr, \"that there are many who will never believe what we say of\nthe power of God's Word hidden in the heart; and not a few that will\njeer us, and think we are mad for saying so. But oh that they would\nbe pleased to make trial! Let it never go well with me--for I am bold\nto swear in so weighty a business--if they find not themselves\nstrangely taken and transformed into the same image.\" The Ephesians\n\"trusted in God\" so soon as they heard the word of truth. They\n\"believed\" and were \"sealed\" (Ephes. i. 13). And the Thessalonians'\nfaith was famous all the world over, when once the Gospel \"came to\nthem in power\" (1 Thess. i. 5-8).--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerses 20 and 21. How the preacher labours! Let us begin at his most\nexpressive terminus. We are to be _sent for!_ some certain day.\n_\"Those that send\"_ is but the proverbial cast. _\"Him that sends\"_ is\nthe more perfect meaning. As sure as the stars we shall be _sent for_\none day; and one thing will be exacted from us, and one only in the\ncreation, and that is _light._ The man without light perishes.\nSolomon says, his whole aim has been to press light on the\nsinner. . . . \"Have I not done,\" he says, \"and that under Scriptural\npromises, the very best things to secure my object? and is not that\nobject, now _that I might make thee to know the verity of the words\nof truth!\"_ This Hebrew is very peculiar. _\"Words of truth\"_ are\neasily uttered. _\"Counsels and knowledge\"_ of the deepest sort may be\nin the minds of infidels. We may teach a child the very intricacies\nof faith. But there is a _\"verity\"_ at its deepest root that the\nnatural man cannot perceive (1 Cor. ii. 14). To express this, Solomon\nuses a very infrequent word. It means (_in radice_) _to weigh out so\nas to be exact._ That I might make thee to know the _exactness_ of\nthe words of truth. The meaning is that _verity_ which is seen by a\nChristian eye.--_Miller._\n\nSurely if anything be worthy of sending for, worthy of going for,\nthen are the words of knowledge and truth. If they may be had for\ngoing or sending, who should not go, who should not send, whither\nshould we not go, whither should we not send? They are they which\nmust bring us to heaven and to happiness. Or else to take the sense\nanother way, and in a spiritual application of the words: Who are\nthey that send unto us? What are the words of truth that we must\nanswer unto them? They that send unto us are God the Father, God the\nSon, and God the Holy Ghost. God the Father sendeth His blessings,\nGod the Son His merits, and God the Holy Ghost His graces. The words\nof truth that we must answer are the words of thankful\nobedience.--_Jermin._\n\n_The certainty of the words of truth._ The evidence of the divinity\nof the Bible, instead of ever being shaken by all the efforts of\ninfidelity, has been augmenting from the beginning hitherto. Its\n_external_ evidence has grown in the fulfilment of its predictions.\nIts _internal_ evidence, though in one sense ever the same, has, in\nanother, been increasing also; inasmuch as it has stood its ground\namidst all the advances of human knowledge, and men have never been\nable to improve upon it or to get before it:--and it is the _one only\nbook_ of which this can be affirmed. And its _experimental_\nevidence,--the manifestation of its truth in its saving\ninfluence,--in its power to dislodge and change the evil passions and\nhabits of the worst of men,--has multiplied by thousands and tens of\nthousands of dead and living witnesses. In our own days, we have but\nto point, not only to cases of revival in our own land, in which the\nGospel has proved itself \"mighty through God\" to the pulling down of\nthe strongholds of worldliness and corruption, and turning hearts\nlong alienated to God,--but to the lands of heathen idolatry and\ncruelty and vileness, wherever Gospel truth has found its way and has\nbeen embraced. _There,_ in the marvellous changes that have been\neffected,--in the contrast between previous stupidity and pollution,\nand heartless and murderous ferocity, to intelligence and purity and\nvirtue, and peace, and harmony, and happiness, we have the triumphs\nof the Cross, and the manifestation of the _\"certainty\"_--the Divine\ncertainty--\"of the words of truth.\" They have thus shown themselves\nto be indeed \"excellent things\" by the excellence of their effects.\nWe call upon all to examine for themselves. The Bible _courts\nexamination._ It is the unwillingness and refusal to examine, that is\nmost to be deplored. The genuineness of its writings, the\nauthenticity of its histories, the reality of its recorded miracles,\nthe fulfilment of its prophecies, the sublimity and consistent\nharmony of its doctrines, the purity of its precepts, the origin of\nits commemorative ordinances, and its tendency to personal and social\nvirtue and happiness,--_all_ court examination. The testimony of the\ncelebrated Earl of Rochester, when converted from infidelity and\nprofligacy to Christianity and virtue, will be found the truth.\nLaying his hand on the Bible, he would say--\"_This_ is true\nphilosophy. _This_ is the wisdom that speaks to the heart. A bad life\nis the only grand objection to this Book.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 22 _and_ 23.\n\nGOD THE SPOILER OF THE SPOILER.\n\n+I. Robbery is of three kinds.+ 1. _There is the open and unlegalised\nthief._ There are men who do not pretend to respect the rights of\nothers and who openly live in violation of Divine and human laws.\nThey differ somewhat in their methods and in the description of their\nplunder--some seeking to gain an entrance in to the mansion and lay\nhands on the jewels of the wealthy, and others being content with\nwhat they can find in the cottage or on the wayside--but they are\nalike in pursuing their profession without any pretence that they\nfear God or regard men. But these are not the robbers against whom\nthe sentence is passed which is contained in this proverb. 2. _There\nis the legalised thief._ There are governments under which iniquity\nis established by law--kingdoms in which wholesale robbery is carried\non in the name of justice. There were many such in the days of\nSolomon and there is not a few in this nineteenth century. Perhaps,\nhowever, the Preacher was not referring so much to a government as a\nwhole as to individuals who, sitting in the seats of justice, were\nregardless of the rights of those over whom their position gave them\nauthority. The _\"oppressor in the gate\"_ is probably a judge who\ndisregards the rights of the poor man if he conceives it will further\nhis own interest so to do, while he all the time pretends to be an\nadministrator of justice and does all in the name of the law of the\nland. Under this class may be placed those who hold in trust property\nwhich has been given for the use of the poor and who disregard the\nclaims of the really needy and so defeat the good intention of the\ndonor. There is an immense amount of this misappropriation of money\neven in England, and although those who are guilty of it distribute\ntheir favours with a pretence of impartiality, and in the name of law\nthey are as truly robbers in the sight of God as the burglar or the\npickpocket. 3. _There is the negative robber._ A man may be a thief\nwithout taking anything from his fellow-man or without holding any\nofficial position and abusing his power and privileges. If a man or\nwoman who is brought in contact with others poorer than himself or\nherself withholds from these poorer brethren anything simply because\nthey cannot retaliate or enforce their rights, such a man or woman is\na robber of the poor. And this may and is often done unconsciously--a\nman who would be indignant at being branded as unjust withholds from\nthose whom poverty has placed in his power rights which belong to\nevery rank and station but which are not always looked upon as the\nequal heritage of the poor and the rich. For it is quite possible to\nrob the poor without taking or withholding money from them. Some, who\nwould not do this, rob them of their rest and leisure and withhold\nfrom them consideration and sympathy.\n\n+II. Defenceless though the poor may seem, Almighty power is on their\nside.+ Although the robbery may be legalised on earth, it is contrary\nto the law of heaven, and although the judge who oppresses can be\nbrought before no human tribunal, he will one day stand before the\nbar of God. The Judge of all the earth was Himself once a poor man,\nand can sympathise with the oppressed poor as well as avenge their\nwrongs. He will spoil the oppressor of his soul's comfort, and cause\nhim to faint, and be afflicted for want of spiritual sustenance. Many\na poor man's soul is made sad by legalised injustice, and Christ as\nman's judge will bring legalised justice to bear upon him who offends\nin this matter (Matt. xxv. 41-46). See also Homiletics on Verse 16,\nand on Chap. xiv. 30, page 389.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAfter so promising a preface, and such wooing of attention, we looked\nfor some fresh matter, and that of best note, too. But, behold, here\nis nothing but what we had before. \"It is truth,\" saith the wise man,\nand yet I must tell you that \"to write the same things to me indeed\nis not grievous, but for you it is safe\" (Phil. iii. 1).--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 24 _and_ 25.\n\nAN INFECTIOUS AND DANGEROUS DISEASE.\n\n+I. Friendship influences habit and thus moulds character.+ The\nreason given here for avoiding the companionship of an angry man is,\n_\"lest thou learn his ways.\"_ This subject has been treated at length\nin chap. xiii. 20, page 326. There is great need when pestilence is\nabroad to avoid needless contact with infected persons and things. In\nevery man there is more or less liability to disease which sometimes\nonly needs a slight exposure to unhealthy influences to develop into\na fatal activity. We are always living and moving amidst unhealthy\nand infectious moral influences which are hurtful to us, because of\nthe tendency there is within us to go wrong; and it is therefore the\nmark of a wise man to avoid as much as possible all intimate contact\nwith those who are manifestly under the dominion of sin. This proverb\ndoes not of course forbid such intercourse as is sought for the\npurpose of benefitting the vicious man.\n\n+II. A man's anger hurts himself more than those whom it leads him to\ninjure.+ We should have expected that Solomon would advise us to\navoid the angry man because of the injury he might do us when under\nthe dominion of his passion, but instead of that he commands us to\nshun him because of the injury we shall do ourselves if we become\nlike him. The wise man loses sight of the lesser danger in looking at\nthe greater, and counts as nothing the harm an angry man can do to\nthe body of a fellow-creature, in comparison with the grievous hurt\nhe inflicts upon his own soul. And this is manifestly a correct view,\nwhether we look at the present influence of passion or its remoter\nconsequences. The man who receives an unmerited insult or injury may\nsustain no loss of dignity, nor suffer in any way in his spirit. But\nhe who inflicts the injury becomes a meaner man in the very act, and\ncreates a tempest of unrest within his own breast. And a blow which\ndeals even death to an innocent man does not necessarily deprive him\nof any real good, but it creates a very hell of remorse for him whose\nanger prompted the deed. While Abel exchanged a blighted home here\nfor an Eden in a brighter world, Cain wandered a fugitive and a\nvagabond upon the earth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nLest thou be infected by his example, or provoked by his passion to\nreturn the like to him. Either (1) a mischief which is often the\neffect of unbridled rage, or (2) an occasion of sin, either by\ndrawing thee to an imitation or requital of his rage, or by tempting\nthee to unfaithfulness in performing the great office of a friend--to\nwit, admonition or reproof, which, by reason of his furious temper,\nthou either canst not or wilt not do.--_Matthew Poole._\n\nIt may seem strange that we should be supposed in danger of learning\nwhat we feel to be so very disagreeable. And yet we may. As already\nhinted, a passionate man may have interesting and attractive\nqualities otherwise. Now, in proportion as we either admire or love\nhim for these, will be the hazard of our thinking the less evil of\nhis one defect, and trying to palliate and to smile at it. And there\nis no little truth in the saying, that we either _are_ like our\nfriends and intimates, or _will soon be._ But more than this. The\nsudden and often unreasonable heats of the passionate man are ever\napt to fret and irritate our spirits, and thus to form a habit of\nresemblance by the very reaction upon ourselves of his hot and hasty\ntemper.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 26 _and_ 27.\n\nSURETYSHIP AND ITS DANGERS.\n\n+I. A command to avoid a perilous habit.+ We cannot, in the light of\nthe spirit of Bible teaching--especially that of the New\nTestament--regard this proverb as forbidding all suretyship. It\ncannot mean that one honest man when he has ample means at his\ncommand is never to become security for another man of honesty. We\nknow that there are cases in which it is the greatest kindness that\none friend can do another, and that it is often the means of giving a\npoor or unfortunate brother a fair start in life. We are commanded to\n_\"bear one another's burdens\"_ (Gal. vi. 2), and _\"to do good unto\nall men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith\"_\n(Gal. vi. 10), and this is sometimes the most effectual way of\ncarrying out these precepts. But Solomon here warns men against the\nunwisdom of choosing for companions those men whose habit it is\nlightly to become a surety for another--who lend their name and\ncredit without considering the responsibility they undertake or\nasking themselves whether they are doing any real good to the person\nthey oblige. Although it may be a man's duty sometimes to become a\nsurety for another it is perilous and wrong to make it a habit of\nlife, and thereby encourage thriftlessness and perhaps dishonesty.\n\n+II. A warning as to the probable consequences of such a habit.+\nSolomon regards it as certain that a man who habitually becomes a\n\"surety for debt\" will come to ruin. This is obvious if we reflect\nthat for one honest man who asks such a favour there are twenty who\nhave little or no moral sense in such a matter; that although a good\nand true man is often found in circumstances of such need, the great\nmajority who are so found are rogues.\n\nFor an illustration and comments on this subject see on Chap. vi. 1,\npage 76, and on page 216. Also Homiletics on Chap. xx. 16, page 589.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe are commanded to \"love our neighbour _as_ ourselves;\" but to do\nfor him what might expose us to having our very bed sold from under\nus, is to love him _better_ than ourselves, which is a step beyond\nthe Divine injunction.--_Wardlaw._\n\nSeeing by taking suretyship upon him, he put himself under the\ncreditor, and made himself to be, as it were, the bed on which the\ntrust of others did rest, and seeing by not paying he hath taken away\nthe creditor from the bed of his rest, it is but like for like if the\ncreditor take away his bed from under him. And yet the wise man\nasking the question seemeth to me to imply in some sort that he\nshould not do it. For though the other doth justly deserve it, yet in\nso much need let mercy spare.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 28 see on chap. xxiii. 10, page 666.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.\n\nTHE DESTINY OF THE DILIGENT.\n\n+I. The diligent man meets with Divine approval.+ The repeated\ncommendations of diligence and condemnations of slothfulness which we\nmeet with in this book show the estimate which God sets upon\nrightly-directed industry. 1. _The diligent man is in harmony with\nGod._ The Divine Father is ever working for the good of His\ncreatures, and no being who ever trod this earth laboured so\ncontinuously and earnestly as the Divine Son. With Him during His\npublic ministry the completion of one work was the beginning of\nanother. He was ever about His Father's business, diligently carrying\non and seeking to finish the work which His Father had given Him to\ndo. The man who is diligent in business is in this respect a follower\nof his Lord and Master. 2. _He is in harmony with creatures both\nabove Him and beneath Him._ Angels are doing the will of their King\nwith promptitude and despatch--Gabriel _\"flies swiftly\"_ (Dan.\nix. 21) when sent on a message to the earth. Heaven is a world of\nactivity, the cherubim around the throne _\"rest not day nor night\"_\n(Rev. iv. 8). Many of the creatures below man set him an example of\nindustry. (See on chap. vi. 6-11, page 78.) Even inanimate nature\nseems to rebuke the idle man. (See a comment by Dr. Perry on page\n425.) 3. _He is in harmony with the needs of humanity._ The world\ncalls for diligent workers, and without them all civilisation would\nsoon cease and men sink to the condition of the savage. We have\naround us many proofs of this. The home of the indolent husband or\nwife is destitute of all refining influences and is often a nursery\nof crime. The land where the people are all thriftless is a land of\ndegradation and poverty. We can well understand, therefore, that\nGod's approval rests upon those who make the best use of the time and\nopportunities which He gives them.\n\n+II. The diligent man will reap some reward for his diligence.+ It is\nnot, of course, possible to take this proverb in an absolutely\nliteral sense, because many diligent men never saw the face of a\nking. But without diligence it is hardly possible for any man to\nobtain any position of honour, or if he do he is not likely to retain\nit. But there is another sense in which diligence may bring a man\nbefore kings. Caxton was a diligent man, and by his diligence came\nliterally to stand before the King of England. But he has, by his\ninvention of the printing-press, stood before kings and princes from\nthat hour to this, for they have all learned to honour his name, and\nto acknowledge their obligation to him. Every time a royal traveller\ntakes his seat in a locomotive James Watt stands before him, for his\nability to move with ease and speed from place to place is the result\nof that man's diligence, and his name is held in honour in\nconsequence. And instances might be multiplied indefinitely, in which\ndiligence has caused a man to stand before not only the kings of his\nown time, but of succeeding generations.\n\nOn this subject see also Homiletics on chap. xii. 24, page 285.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nOf all the qualities which kings especially look to and require in\nthe choice of their servants, that of despatch and energy in the\ntransaction of business is the most acceptable. . . . There is no\nother virtue which does not present some shadow of offence to the\nminds of kings. Expedition in the execution of their commands is the\nonly one which contains nothing that is not acceptable.--_Bacon._\n\nGod loves nimbleness; \"What thou doest, do quickly,\" said Christ to\nJudas, though it were so ill a business that he were about.--_Trapp._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. When thou sittest,+ etc. Miller here translates\n_\"Forasmuch as thou sittest,\"_ and applying the word _ruler_ to God\ngives to the proverb a meaning entirely different from that generally\nattached to it. See his remarks in the Suggestive Comments. +What is\nbefore thee?+ Rather _\"Who is before,\"_ etc. +2. Put a knife,+ etc.\nZ\u00f6ckler, Ewald, and others translate, _\"Thou hast put,\"_ or _\"thou\nputtest.\"_ The meaning may then be \"Thou hast virtually destroyed\nthyself if thou art a self-indulgent man.\" Delitzsch, however, gives\nthe verb the imperative form, as in the English version.\n+3. Deceitful meat.+ Literally \"Bread of lies.\" Many commentators\nunderstand this to mean a deceptive meal, which is not given from\nmotives of hospitality. +5. Wilt thou set thine eyes?+ etc. Rather\n_\"Wilt thou look eagerly after it, and it is gone?\"_ +6. Him that\nhath an evil eye+--_i.e.,_ the jealous man. +11. Their Redeemer.+\nTheir _Goel,_ or Avenger. In the Hebrew law this word is applied to\nthe nearest kinsman. (See Ruth iii. 12.) +17. Let not thine heart\nenvy,+ etc. The verb translated _envy_ refers to both objects in the\nverse, and is better translated _\"strive after.\"_ Miller renders it\n_\"be aglow.\"_ \"It is,\" he says, \"a verb expressive of all emotion.\"\n(See Numb. xxv. 11-13.) +18. Surely there is an end.+ Delitzsch here\nreads, _\"Truly there is a future.\"_ \"The root of the Hebrew,\" says\nMiller, signifies _afterward._ +20. Eaters of flesh.+ This may be\ntranslated _\"Devourers of their own flesh\"--i.e._, those who destroy\ntheir bodies by sensual indulgence. +23.+ The word _also_ should be\nomitted in this verse. The three nouns in the second clause stand in\napposition to the one in the first. +Instruction,+ rather\n_\"discipline.\"_ +25.+ This verse should be, _\"Let thy father and thy\nmother be glad, and her that have thee rejoice.\"_ +26. Observe,+\nrather _delight._ +28. As for a prey,+ Delitzsch and Z\u00f6ckler here\ntranslate _\"like a robber.\"_ +Transgressors,+ rather _\"the\nfaithless.\"_ +30. Mixed wine--+_i.e.,_ wine mixed with strong spices.\n+31. When it giveth his colour,+ etc., literally, \"When it showeth\nits eye.\" This may refer to its _brightness,_ or to the _head,_ or\n_pearl_ of the wine. +\"When it moveth itself,\"+ etc., rather _\"when\nit glideth down with ease.\"_ +33. Strange women,+ rather _\"strange\nthings.\"_\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.\n\nTHE TEMPTATIONS OF THE TABLE.\n\n+I. The table of a wealthy man is a place of temptation to the sin of\noverindulgence.+ At such a table there is a great variety of dishes,\nand the human appetite, in common with every bodily sense and mental\nfaculty, delights in variety. The eye is best pleased with a\ndiversified landscape, the ear with a diversity of sound, and the\nmind when it can vary the objects of its contemplation. So man's\nappetite is most gratified by a variety of food, and there is much\nmore temptation to excess under such circumstances than when his\nhunger has to be satisfied from a single dish. Then, again, the food\nat such a repast is generally of the most tempting kind--all the\ncountries of the world are put under contribution to supply it with\ndainties, and much skill and time is expended upon the preparation of\nthe food. There is little danger of eating too much when bread is the\nonly fare, but it begins and increases in proportion to the palatable\nnature of the viands. And the proverb seems to be addressed to those\nto whom a seat at the rich man's or ruler's table was not an\nevery-day occurrence--to those to whom it was not given to feast so\nsumptuously every day--and this would increase the force of the\ntemptation. The variety and the rarity of the dishes is much more\ntempting to one unaccustomed to such feasts.\n\n+II. It is most degrading and injurious to yield to such a\ntemptation.+ This is implied in the strong metaphor which Solomon\nuses. An undue indulgence in the pleasures of the table, even when it\ndoes not amount to positive gluttony, is a most fruitful source of\ndisease, and for this cause, if for no other, dainty food well\ndeserves the name which is here given to it. But it is also most\ninjurious to man's better nature; it is often the first step to\nhabits of intemperance and licentiousness, but if it does not lead to\nthem it is altogether incompatible with intellectual and moral\nexcellence. A man who is not master of his appetite is below the\nbrute and can be neither great nor good. It is well to remember that\nan _appeal to the appetite_ was one of the elements in the first\ntemptation. An Eastern fable runs thus: \"A king once permitted the\ndevil to kiss him on either shoulder. Immediately two serpents grew\nfrom his shoulders, which, furious with hunger, attacked his head and\nattempted to get at his brain. The king tore them away. But he soon\nsaw with horror that they had become part of himself, and that, in\nwounding them he was lacerating his own flesh.\" Such is the\ndeplorable condition of every victim of appetite and lust.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFirst, thy duty is to be temperate as to the _quantity_ of thy\ndiet. . . . God gave man food to further, not to hinder him in his\ngeneral and particular calling, and surely they sin who feed till,\nlike fatted horses, they are unfit for service. . . . Christians may\ncheer nature, but they must not clog it. It is a great privilege in\nthe charter granted us by the King of Kings, that we should have\ndominion over the creatures; but it will be a sordid bondage if we\nsuffer them to have dominion over us. Socrates was wont to say, that\nevil men live that they may eat and drink, but good men eat and drink\nthat they may live. . . . Secondly, thy duty is to be temperate as to\nthe _quality_ of thy diet. Though no certain quality of food can be\nset down, yet in general this must be observed, that we make not\nprovision for the flesh (Rom. xiii. 12). We may preserve the flesh,\nbut we must not provide for the flesh. Our enemy is strong enough\nalready, we need not put more weapons into his hands. . . . The\nChristian may take his food, but his food must not take him. . . . It\nis not unlawful to eat dainties, but it is unlawful to set the mind\nupon them. . . . We may eat and digest dainties, but we may not crave\nand desire dainties. God made man not for fleshly dainties, but for\nspiritual delights. . . . Elijah could be content with a raven for\nhis cook. Daniel fed and thrived upon pulse: he looked fairer by it\nthan those that did eat the king's fare. Brown bread and the gospel\nare good cheer, said the martyr. John the Baptist could live upon\nlocusts and wild honey. The apostles had some ears of corn for a\nSabbath-day's dinner. Though God is pleased out of mercy to afford us\nbetter provision, yet our work must be to mind\nmoderation.--_Swinnock._\n\nIt is of the Lord that hunger is painful and food gives pleasure;\nbetween these two lines of defence the Creator has placed life with a\nview to its preservation. The due sustenance of the body is the\nCreator's end; the pleasantness of food is the means of obtaining it.\nWhen men prosecute and cultivate that pleasure as an end, they thwart\nthe very purpose of Providence.--_Arnot._\n\n(It will be seen that the following comment is based on Miller's\nrendering. See Critical Notes.) Kings like to see their guests eat.\nAt the very utmost, this part of our behaviour is a matter of\nindifference. But of God nothing could be more exact. We see all\neating with Him; in fact, feeding upon Him, as though He were Himself\nbread. _\"Forasmuch,\"_ therefore is just in place. _\"Discerning well\nwho is before thee,\"_ that also, is perfectly consistent. And then\nour sin, what is that? Why, fleshly appetite! What is innocent at\ncourts is idolatry in the banquet to the skies. . . . Serving the\ncreature more than the Creator, Paul expresses it; and gives us ample\nanalogy after a New Testament kind (Rom. i. 25, see also James\niv. 3), for understanding, how we _have put a knife to our throat, if\nwe be men given to appetite.--Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 4 _and_ 5.\n\nTHE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES.\n\nIn order to get the true meaning of this proverb it is necessary to\ndefine what Solomon understands by labouring to be rich. We call the\npossessor of vast estates or a large account at the bank a rich man,\nand so he is, if he lives within his income, paying his way and\nhaving a surplus to bestow upon the needy. But so is the village\nsmith, who with less than a hundredth part of the income of the\nnobleman or merchant prince \"looks the whole world in the face and\nowes not any man.\" Riches and poverty are but relative terms, and\nwhen we consider how indispensable it is that some men should possess\nmore than a mere sufficiency for their personal needs, we may be sure\nthat the wise man did not mean to discourage all effort to gain even\nmore than enough for our daily needs. But the _labour_ which is here\nforbidden is evidently that all-absorbing pursuit of wealth which\nengrosses the entire man to the exclusion of higher claims. When men\nmake gold their god instead of their servant it is obvious that the\nboundary line of lawful pursuit is passed, and that deprecated in the\nproverb is entered upon. The text--\n\n+I. Condemns all following after wealth under the inspiration of the\nnatural heart.+ Man's _\"own wisdom\"_ is an insufficient and dangerous\nguide in this matter as in all others. The unrenewed heart of man is\nselfish and sordid, prone to think only of its own desires and to set\nup a false standard of happiness. Only the wisdom that cometh from\nabove can show men what is worth striving after, what will really\nbless the present and afford satisfaction in the future. If a man\nbuys and sells and gets gain with a constant reference to the will of\nGod, and in dependence upon Him, he will not _labour_ to be rich--in\nother words, he will, with Paul, _learn in whatever state he is to be\ncontent,_ and will know how to fulfil the duties which come with\nabundance and how to exhibit the graces which can only be manifested\nin poverty.\n\n+II. Teaches that only those who do not trust in riches can really\nenjoy their possession, or escape bitter sorrow in their loss.+ Every\nrich man knows that it is possible that his wealth may leave him, and\nthat it is certain that he must leave his wealth. The uncertainty of\nretaining them through life, and the certainty of losing them at\ndeath, are two thorns which must be found in the pillow of everyone\nwho makes riches the chief good of his existence, and must surely\ndeprive him of any heartfelt satisfaction from their possession. The\nsoul of man is made for something higher and more lasting than any\nearthly good, and of all that men call good, and esteem precious,\nthere is nothing which has less to satisfy the cravings of the soul\nthan mere material wealth, or that is more easily and quickly lost.\nThe only way, therefore, to get any present satisfaction in it, and\nto ensure oneself against future disappointment from it, is to follow\nthe Apostolic injunction, and _\"trust not in uncertain riches, but in\nthe living God\"_ (1 Tim. vi. 17).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nNot like a tame bird, that returns; nor like a hawk, that will show\nwhere she is by her bells; but like an eagle, whose wings thou canst\nneither clip nor pinion. All their certainty is in their uncertainty,\nand they are only stable in this, that they cannot be stable. . . .\nWealth is like a bird; it hops all day from man to man, as that doth\nfrom tree to tree; and none can say where it will roost or rest at\nnight. It is like a vagrant fellow, which, because he is big-boned,\nand able to work, a man taketh in a-doors, and cherisheth; and\nperhaps for a while he takes pains; but when he espies opportunity\nthe fugitive servant is gone, and takes away more with him than all\nhis service came to.--_T. Adams._\n\nWhat a startling interdict this! What an immense proportion of the\nworld's toil, and especially in such a community as our own, does it\nbring under condemnation and proscription! Were all the labour\ndirected to this forbidden end to cease,--How little would be\nleft!--what a sudden stagnation would there be of the turmoil of busy\nactivity with which we are daily surrounded! What are the great\nmajority of men about,--in our city and in our country? What keeps\nthem all astir? What is the prevailing impulse of all the incessant\nbustle and eager competition of our teeming population? Are not\nall,--with a wider or narrower estimate of what riches\nmean,--\"labouring to be _rich?_\"--The love of fame has been called\nthe universal passion. Is not the love of money quite as much, if not\nmore, entitled to the designation? Yes; and many a time does the\n_wisdom_ of the world set itself to the defence of the world's toil\nand the world's aim--alleging many plausible, and some more than\nplausible, things in its pleadings. \"Riches,\" say they, \"keep a man\nand his family from dependence. Riches enable a man to enjoy many\ncomforts that are in themselves lawful and desirable. Riches procure\na man distinction and influence in society. By this and other means,\nriches put it in a man's power to do good:--why should we not 'labour\nto be rich?'\" It is all true; and the plea is in part quite\nlegitimate. Yet Solomon, by the Spirit, with the authority, and in\nthe kindness of God, enjoins--\"labour _not_ to be rich.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt were a most strange folly to fall passionately in love with a bird\nupon the wing. . . . How much better were it, since riches will fly,\nfor thyself to direct their flight towards heaven, by relieving the\nnecessitous servants and members of Jesus Christ.--_Bishop Hopkins._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-8.\n\nFEIGNED GENEROSITY.\n\n+I. Men's inward life and feelings are often directly opposed to\ntheir outward life and actions.+ A man is here pictured as\nmanifesting a large hospitality. His board is laden with dainty meats\nand surrounded with guests whom he presses to eat and drink with such\nan appearance of goodwill that it seems ungenerous to suspect him of\ninsincerity. But words and even deeds do not always proclaim the man.\n\"As he thinketh in his heart, so is he;\" and this man's thoughts give\nthe lie to his actions. He gives of his good things from no desire to\ncheer and relieve those who are poorer than himself, or to cement the\nbonds of friendship with his equals, but for some unworthy, and, it\nmay be, from some base motive. He puts on for the time the garment of\nbenevolence, but he is a \"wolf in sheep's clothing,\" and will not\nhesitate to throw off his disguise, if the selfish ends which he has\nin view demand it. It is painful for us to be obliged to admit the\ntruthfulness of the portrait here sketched by the Wise Man, but we\nknow that it is not an exaggerated one.\n\n+II. Those who encourage such hypocrisy will meet with a\nwell-deserved punishment.+ It is taken for granted, and it is\nundoubtedly true, that there is a false gloss upon such feigned\ngenerosity which makes it easy to distinguish from the real thing.\nAnd, if we accept the hospitality of such a man knowing it to be a\ndeception, we too practise hypocrisy, and thus become a partaker of\nhis evil deeds. Such a man is guilty of two heinous sins, he is first\na covetous and self-seeking sinner and then he is a gross hypocrite.\nThe covetous man is according to the Inspired Book an idolator (Col.\niii. 5), and our Lord when on earth could endure without anger all\ncontradiction of sinners against Himself (Heb. xii. 3) except\nhypocrisy. This always set His holy nature on fire with indignation\nand called forth the only Woes that ever passed His lips. It was\nforbidden to the apostolic churches to sit at the table of any man\nwho, \"calling himself a _brother,_\" was yet _\"covetous or an\nidolator\"_ (1 Cor. v. 11). For such a man was under a far deeper\ncondemnation than one who openly manifested his real character,\nseeing that he added to his other sins that of professing to be what\nhe was not, and to _eat_ with such a man was not only to countenance\nhis covetousness and idolatry but to share his hypocrisy. The Old\nTestament preacher here issues the same prohibition and obviously for\nthe same reasons, and if men disregard them they fully deserve the\nnegative and the positive punishment with which they are here\nthreatened. All the friendly words which they utter to save\nappearances and to further selfish interests, and which convict\n_them_ in _their_ turn of hypocrisy, will be _\"lost,\"_ and bitter\nregret and self-condemnation will be their final portion.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe injunction, or dissuasion, I need not surely say, is by no means\nintended to give any license or encouragement to a spirit of pride or\ndisdain. No. It is only a salutary warning to be cautious of bringing\nyourselves under obligation to any selfish and hypocritical\ndissembler of kindness, who only wishes to lay you under such\nobligation to serve purposes of his own. The man who has thus\nentertained you will boast of his hospitality; tell others of it,\nmaking the most of it for his own behoof; set it down against you,\ndebiting you on account of it with certain expected good turns at\nyour hand, when he comes to need them. He will throw it up _to_ you,\nshould you not do all he looks for; or rail _at_ you to others for\ningratitude and meanness in forgetting his kindness. He will remind\nyou of it again and again, with vexatious importunity,--teazing you\nfor your favour and influence in some object he has in view for\nhimself or his family. It is amazing what an amount of expectation a\nman of this sordid and selfish disposition will found upon _a\ndinner!_ Your having sat at _his_ table, eaten of _his_ dainties, and\ndrunk of _his_ wines, is price enough even for your conscience\nitself. Beware of him. Keep yourself free.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.\n\nTHE MORALLY INCURABLE.\n\n+I. A man may become morally incurable by human instructors.+ There\nare cases of bodily disease which it would be quite useless for the\nmost skilful physician to attempt to cure; such an attempt would only\nbe a throwing away of time and energy on his part which might be\nusefully employed upon another patient. And so there is at least one\nform of moral disease which is beyond the reach of human effort. It\nis that of the man who scoffs at everything, and upon whom,\ntherefore, the most affectionate entreaties and the most solemn\nwarnings are thrown away.\n\n+II. To offer to such an incurable fool the wisdom of God is to break\na Divine commandment.+ The Redeemer Himself, under the Gospel\ndispensation, issued such a prohibition. Even among the beneficent\nutterances of the Sermon on the Mount comes the command, _\"Give not\nthat which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before\nswine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and\nrend you\"_ (Matt. vii. 6). Although Christ and His disciples were\nsent forth to proclaim the Gospel message among men who, on account\nof their bitter animosity to Him and to His teachings were compared\nto _\"wolves\"_ (Luke x. 3), there were others in a far more hopeless\ncondition before whom they were forbidden to place the great truths\nof the kingdom of God, and they were such characters as the fool of\nthis proverb, who would have _\"despised the wisdom of their words.\"_\nThe deep import of the words of Solomon are fully seen when we\nconsider the even more startling utterance of Him who loved and died\nfor all men.\n\n+III. There is a Divine compassion for the sinner in this\ncommandment.+ To offer to such a man what he would scoff at, would be\nto give him an occasion of increasing his own guilt by a new refusal\nof Divine truth. Mercy, therefore, is mingled with the stern judgment\nof the prohibition.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe often speak of retribution as if it always lay beyond the grave,\nand the day of grace as extending through the whole life of man; but\nsuch is not the fact. Retribution begins with many men here. The day\nof grace terminates with many men before the day of death. There are\nthose who reach an unconvertible state, their characters are\nstereotyped and fixed as eternity. The things that belong to their\npeace are hid from their eyes. They are incorrigible. Such is the\ncharacter referred to in the text.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\nThose that are reproved by ministers, and Christian friends may learn\nfrom this verse that they have no reason to take it amiss, or to\nthink that they are treated with contempt. They are considered as\noffenders, but at the same time as offending brethren, who are not\nincurably perverse. They would be treated in a very different way,\nand might reckon themselves with more justice to be considered in the\nlight of scorners, and dogs, and swine if there were no means used to\nrecover them to repentance.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 10 _and_ 11.\n\nTHE RIGHTS OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.\n\n+I. In the community formed under Divine direction there was a\npossession of personal and private property.+ When the land of Canaan\nwas first divided among the tribes, it was evident that each family\nhad its respective allotment, the boundaries of which were clearly\ndefined (See Duet. xix. 14, etc.) Each head of a family became,\ntherefore, a possessor of property, to which no other person, not\neven the king in the days of the monarchy, had a right. (See 1 Kings\nxxi. 1-3.) The kingdom, therefore, formed under direct Divine\nsupervision, was not governed on communistic principles; each man had\nhis own inheritance, which became more or less valuable according to\nthe industry and skill expended upon it. Social inequalities must\nhave resulted from this arrangement, which were prevented from\nbecoming too great by the arrangements connected with the year of\njubilee, but which within certain limits were evidently not regarded\nby God as opposed to the welfare of His chosen people. We may infer,\nthen, that the idea that it would be better for mankind if all things\nwere possessed in common--if no man had anything which he could call\nhis own--is not a Divine idea, and is a mistaken one.\n\n+II. Those who are too helpless to protect their own rights are\nespecially under the protection of God.+ The depravity of human\nnature is seen in the almost universal tendency displayed by the\nstrong to forget the claims of the weak; but when this tendency is\ncarried to the length of wronging the widow and the fatherless, it\nseems as if a man had sunk to the lowest depths of moral degradation.\nYet there were such specimens of fallen humanity in the commonwealth\nestablished and governed by God Himself, as there are in nominally\nChristian England. But, from the earliest days of Jewish history, God\ndeclared Himself to be the Guardian of the widow and the fatherless,\nand the field which was their inheritance might have been well called\n_God's Acre,_ from which all intruders were warned off by Divine\ncommand and threatening. This is a truth which it may be well for all\nthose to lay to heart which hold property in trust for such dependent\nones, or who have any other responsibility in relation to them. It is\nsurely a comforting thought for the fatherless themselves that the\nplace of the earthly parent is taken by One whose power as much\nexceeds all human power as His love goes beyond all human love.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nThe state of Palestine with regard to enclosures is very much the\nsame now as it has always been. Though gardens and vineyards are\nsurrounded by dry stone walls or hedges of prickly pear, the\nboundaries of arable fields are marked by nothing but a little\ntrench, a small cairn, or a single erect stone placed at certain\nintervals. It is manifest that a dishonest person could easily fill\nthe gutter with earth, or remove these stones a few feet without much\nrisk of detection and thus enlarge his own field by a stealthy\nencroachment on his neighbour's.--_Dr. Jamieson._\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe words in the first clause of the verse have been sometimes\napplied in a very different department--even to the danger and the\ncriminality of intermeddling with old and long established articles\nof doctrine in religion, and principles and statutes of civil\npolity. . . . It is clear, however, that there can be no period of\nprescription for truth,--or rather for falsehood,--no length of time,\nthat is, by which error that has passed for truth can become anything\nelse than error. No time can transmute wrong into right. Changes, no\ndoubt, should be made with caution. The longer anything has been\nreceived as a truth, the improbability of its being found an error\nbecomes ever the greater. But if any dogma in any human system of\nChristian doctrine is proved, from a full and careful investigation\nof the Word of God, to have been set down and held as a truth by\nmistake,--it would be a most strange and mischievous attachment to\nantiquity for its own sake, that would resist its being expunged and\nthe truth discovered substituted in its room. Never must we forget,\nthat the most ancient landmarks of truth and duty are those which\nhave been fixed _here_--in the Bible--by the hands of prophets,\napostles, and evangelists, under the immediate direction of the\n\"Spirit of the Lord.\" There are none so old as these. From the Bible\nhuman standards have been formed. _Their_ landmarks profess to be in\nagreement, in the bounding lines of truth and error marked out by\nthem, with those which are set down there. But when, on a careful\nsurvey, any of them are found to have been misplaced, and to bring\nany part of the region of error within the boundary of the territory\nof truth,--their removal becomes a duty of imperative\nobligation.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe word for _redeemer_ signifies the man who was _\"next of kin,\"_\nthe _kinsman_ on whom, by the law of Moses, it was incumbent as a\nmatter of duty, and with whom too it was a matter of interest, to\nlook after the concerns of his poor relations; with whom lay indeed\nthe avenging of their blood, if in any case, their life should, in\ncruel selfishness, be taken away. It was on the principle of that\nstatute that Boaz called upon the next of kin to come forward and\nredeem the inheritance of Elimelech at the hand of Naomi, and that,\nupon his hearing the conditions and declining, he did it himself. Now\nhe who happened to be the _redeeming kinsman_ might himself be poor,\nand powerless, and without either means or influence. But they should\nnot, on that account, be unprotected and unbefriended. Jehovah\nHimself would take the place of their kinsman--would _\"plead their\ncause,\"_ would maintain their rights, would redress their wrongs,\nwould bring His power to bear against their oppressors. _He_ would\nfulfill for them the part of their near relation: and he is\n_\"mighty.\"_ Hear His words:--\"Ye shall not afflict any widow, or\nfatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, I will surely\nhear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with\nthe sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children\nfatherless\" (Exod. xxii. 22-24). These, you may think, are Old\nTestament threatenings, belonging to a judicial law that has passed\naway; or, more properly, they belong to the special _theocracy,_\ninasmuch as they do not prescribe any punishment to be inflicted by\nthe hand of man, but announce what Jehovah himself would, by his own\ninterposition, execute. Be it so. But think you that the character of\nGod has changed? Such assurances and threatenings are not mere\nwarnings of punishment; they are _expressions of character.--Wardlaw._\n\nAdored be the unsearchable pity, grace, and condescension of\nEmmanuel! When He could not redeem us as God, He became our kinsman,\nthat He might be our Redeemer! (Heb. ii. 14-16).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-28.\n\nPARENTAL DUTIES AND PARENTAL JOYS.\n\nThis paragraph contains no subject upon which Solomon has not dwelt\nbefore, but their repetition shows the great importance which he\nattached to them.\n\n+I. He repeats the truth that corporal punishment is a necessary and\nsalutary element of parental training.+ (see Homiletics on chap.\nxiii. 24, page 234, and on chap. xix. 18, page 573.)\n\n+II. He shows by example that appeals are also to be made to the\nhigher and better nature of the child.+ Although the rod is to have\nits place, it is not to be the only force employed--a child is a\nreasoning and loving creature, and that training will miserably fail\nwhich does not take this fact into account. And in proportion as the\nchild grows in years will the rod become less needful and effectual,\nand wise warning and loving entreaty will take its place. He is here\nbesought to \"give his heart to wisdom\" and to live \"in the fear of\nJehovah\"--1. _Because of the exceeding joy that he will bring to his\nparents._ (See verses 15, 24, and 25.) This is a thought that cannot\nfail to have weight with any son or daughter of good parents who is\ncapable of grateful emotion. The consideration of the tender love and\nthe unwearying patience that have surrounded them from their birth,\nand of the power that now lies in their hand to requite that long\nministry of tenderness and long suffering, ought to be a powerful\nmotive to dissuade from the evil path and allure into the good way.\nAnd it has been and ever will be, for many a child of godly parents\nhas been kept in the hour of temptation by the remembrance of his\nfather or his mother, even when he has not thought upon his God. (See\nalso Homiletics on chap. x. 1, page 137.) 2. _Because of the temporal\nruin of an opposite course._ (See verses 21, 27, and 28.) All these\nsubjects have been considered before. (See Homiletics on chap.\nxxi. 17, page 609, and on chap. vi. 6-11, page 79, and on chap.\nvi. 24, page 89.) 3. _Because of the rewards and punishments of the\nlife to come._ (See verse 18.) This verse (see Critical Notes)\nundoubtedly refers to the day of death and to the life beyond it, as\ndo also chaps. xi. 7, and xiv. 32. (See Homiletics on pages 201 and\n391.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 13. The command is framed upon a supposition that parents often\nfail on the side of tenderness; the word is given to nerve them for a\ndifficult duty. There is no ambiguity in the precept; both the need\nof correction, and the tremendous issues that depend on it, are\nexpressed with thrilling precision of language.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerses 15, 16. Now the proverb personates the father, and, instead of\na roundabout speech, utters the temper that should inspire the\nbeating. There will be no good unless the father shows the son that\nit will be his highest joy, if the son learns wisdom. If thou be\nreally _\"wise.\"_ That is the caution of the first clause. If it be no\nsham thing, but an affair of the _\"heart;\"_ then _\"my heart shall\nrejoice,\"_ down in the same depths. And then, as men are great\nactors, and may _look_ virtue as they whip a child, when they do not\nfeel it much, Solomon protests that it must be real. Each part of\nthis sentence must be meant. Not,--Thou must be a good citizen, or a\nclever worker, or a moral actor, or a good gratifying son; but the\nboy must see, (and he surely will see it, if it is felt), that the\nyearning is that he become _wise in heart, i.e.,_ a good earnest\nChristian, and then on the other hand, that down in the same depths,\nnot with outward expressions of pleasure, but in your very heart--not\nin your made-up heart, which you keep to show to others, but _in your\nvery self_--the proverb echoes your feeling, _\"My heart shall\nrejoice, even mine.\"_ The reduplication intensifies the sense. And\nthen, unwilling to shake loose from the thought, he pushes it\nfurther. _\"Yea my reins shall rejoice.\"_ That deepest, firmest,\nlastingest receptacle of joy, the patient _reins_ shall rejoice or\n_\"exult\"_--the very highest feeling coming from the deepest depths.\n_\"When thy lips,\"_ which are the best expounders of the heart,\n_\"speak right things.\"_ The doctrine therefore is that a man will\nsave his child if he disciplines him with these witnessed tokens of\nhis manifest affection.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 17. This habitual _fear of the Lord_ is nothing separate from\ncommon life. It gives to it a holy character. It makes all its minute\ndetails not only consistent with, but component parts of, godliness.\nActs of kindliness are \"done after a godly sort\" (John iii. 5, 6).\nInstead of one duty thrusting out another, all are \"done heartily, as\nto the Lord, and not unto man\" (Eph. vi. 6, Col. iii. 23). Some\nprofessors confine their religion to extraordinary occasions. But\nElijah seems to have been content to await his translation in his\nordinary course of work (2 Kings ii. 1-12). An example that may teach\nus to lay the greater stress upon the daily and habitual, not the\nextraordinary service. Others are satisfied with a periodical\nreligion; as if it were rather a rapture or an occasional impulse,\nthan a habit. But if we are to engage in morning and evening\ndevotions, we are also to \"wait upon the Lord _all the day_\" (Ps.\nxxv. 5). If we are to enjoy our Sabbath privileges, we are also to\n\"abide in our weekly calling with God.\" Thus the character of a\nservant of God is maintained--\"devoted to His fear\" (Ps.\ncxix. 38).--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 18. _\"Cut off,\"_ as the worldling's is. The worldling expects\nto be _cut off._ He toils with a hope, and that so vivid that he\nbecomes aglow (see Miller's rendering, in verse 17) in worldly\nearnestness of purpose; and yet, _ab imo,_ he knows that it will be\n_cut off._ . . . How can any intellect stand against such appeals?\nWork for something that will pay, for . . . there is something that\nshall never be _\"cut off.\"--Miller._\n\n\nVerse 19. The hinging pivot of this verse is the pronoun _thou._\nFriends may do ever so much, but in the end it must be _thyself._\nThere is an eternal _\"way.\"_ It is a way not for the feet but for the\n_heart._ The _heart_ has some day to rise up and enter it. Once in,\nit will never wander any more out. _My son,_ take that critical step.\nA man has a certain amount of strength, a certain amount of\nsusceptibility let us call it, in matters of conversion. . . . Now\nthe father, in his more immediate entreaties to his child, is to\nremember this.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 20. A man grows old by the common use of his faculties; but if\nhe pleases he can travel faster. He can make drafts upon his flesh\nwith wine, and burn faster. . . . A man can seek death by the most\nmoral impenitence. But he can also travel faster. He can do it by\ndrunkenness. He can do it by trains of trespasses, of which common\ndrunkenness may stand as chief.--_Miller._\n\nWe are forbidden not only to be drunkards or gluttons, but to be\nfound in the company of such persons; for bad company is the common\ntemptation which the devil uses to draw men to these sins. Those who\nhave been long inured to a temperate course of life must not think\nthat they are at liberty to infringe this precept, and to mingle\nthemselves with the sons of riot, because they are strong enough in\ntheir own eye to overcome all the temptations of sensuality. Christ\ncharges His own disciples, who had been practised in every virtue\nunder his own eye, and who had less temptations to this vice than any\nother men, to take heed to themselves that their hearts might not be\novercharged with surfeiting and drunkenness.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 23. Solomon bids us buy the truth, but does not tell us what it\nmust cost, because we must get it though it be ever so dear. We must\nlove it both shining and scorching. Every parcel of truth is precious\nas filings of gold; we must either live with it or die for it. . . .\nA man may lawfully sell his house, land, or jewels, but truth is a\njewel that excels all prices, and must not be sold; it is our\nheritage: \"Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever\"\n(Psa. cxix. 111). It is a legacy that our forefathers have bought\nwith their bloods, which should make us willing to lay down anything\nor lay out anything to purchase it.--_Brooks._\n\nA merchant buys for the very purpose of selling; and he will not buy\nunless he has a pretty good assurance that he will sell _at a\nprofit;_ that he can _get_ for his article more than he has _given._\nThe case here, then, is quite peculiar. It is _all buying._ The\narticle is one which is to be _bought_ but never _sold._ And why? For\nthe best possible reason, that _it can never_ be sold at a profit,\nthere is nothing _too valuable_ to be _given_ for it, there is\nnothing _valuable enough_ to be _taken_ for it. . . . 1. The buyer\ntests his article. He uses means to ascertain its\n_genuineness._ . . . The cautious purchaser makes sure of his\nbargain, and all the surer, the higher the price. . . . Now, all that\nis presented to us as _truth_ must be thus tested. In _physical\nscience_ scientific men will not take upon trust what professes to be\na new discovery without examining thoroughly the experiments by which\nit is said to have been ascertained. . . . Thus, too, does the\nmetaphysician in regard to every new theory in _mental_ science; and\nthe moral philosopher in the department of ethics. . . . Now, we are\nas far as possible from wishing it to be otherwise in the department\nof _religion._ In proportion to the importance of the case,--to the\nheight of the authority on which the claims to acceptance are\nrested,--the magnitude at once of the benefits promised, and of the\nrisks incurred,--ought to be the solicitude and care with which the\ntesting process is conducted. This then is the last department of\nall, in which what professes to be truth should be taken upon trust;\nin which inquiry should be careless, and faith easy. The obligation\nto examine is imperative and solemn; and marvellous, indeed, is the\nindisposition of men to enter on the investigation. Men who, with the\nutmost earnestness and perseverance, will test every alleged truth in\nscience, in history, or in politics, cannot be persuaded to apply\ntheir powers to an inquiry more important, by infinite degrees, than\nany other that can engage the attention of the human mind! They\neither decline it altogether, or they set about it with a levity and\na superficiality utterly at variance with what such a question\ndemands, and from which no just appreciation or correct conclusion\ncan be anticipated. 2. It is not enough for the buyer to ascertain\nthe _genuineness_ of his article. He sets about estimating its real\nworth; its worth _intrinsically,_ and its worth _adventitiously;_ its\nworth _in itself,_ and its worth _to him._ The two may be widely\ndifferent. The diamond is of incomparably more intrinsic worth than\nthe grain of barley; but the cock in the fable spurned away the\nformer and picked up the latter. In the present case,--having once\nascertained the Divine authority of the record,--there can be no\nhesitation about either the _intrinsic_ or the _relative_ value of\nwhat it makes known. _All truth_ is precious; but its preciousness\nis, of course, endlessly varied in degree. Two things may be\nconsidered as combining to constitute its value. They are--its\n_subject,_ and its _utility._ In natural science some truths present\na union of both. The discoveries of astronomy for example, are, many\nof them, full of intrinsic interest from their vastness and\nsublimity, and the impressions they give of the transcendent majesty\nof God; while, in some of their practical bearings, they are of\npre-eminent advantage to men. But in a peculiar sense may this be\naffirmed of the discoveries of Divine revelation. These discoveries\npresent views of God's moral government, in its great essential\nprinciples and in their practical application, such as have in them a\nweight of moral grandeur, and a consequent depth of absorbing\ninterest surpassing all that nature can disclose. And, while they\npossess intrinsic preciousness above all other truths,--think of\ntheir value when estimated by the blessings which are unfolded in\nthem, and to which the faith of them introduces the believer, in time\nand in eternity! The purchaser values the article he is about to\npurchase, by the amount of benefit the possession of it will bring\nhim. In like manner must you estimate the value of \"the truth\" you\nare here counselled to buy. The value of it, in this view, is summed\nup by our Lord himself, when he says, \"THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL.\" What\nthen, the real worth to you, of any other compared with this? 3. The\nbuyer, when he has estimated the value of his article, _makes\nproportional sacrifices_ to obtain possession of it. Foolish\nestimates there may be; and these foolish estimates may be the\noccasion of foolish bargains; and these may be the grounds of regret\nand self-dissatisfaction. But supposing the certainty of all the\nbenefits, for time and eternity, which in the Bible are promised and\nguaranteed in connection with _\"the truth,\"_ O! what is there, in the\nwhole compass of what this world can confer, that should not, without\none moment's hesitation, be sacrificed for its attainment? 4. In\nproportion to the buyer's estimate of his article, and the cost at\nwhich he has obtained it, will be the jealousy with which he retains\nand guards it. _\"Sell it not.\"_ Selling the truth, is not simply\nletting slip from the mind the remembrance of mere abstractions; it\nis to give up the profession and faith of it for the sake of the very\nthings which we sacrificed for it. But _\"sell it not.\"_ Sell it not\nfor the _pleasures of sin._ Sell it not for the _riches and honours\nof the world._ O part not with the pearl of great price for the husks\nwhich the swine do eat. . . . And _be prompt with your bargain._\nThose who are much set upon an article will not delay their purchase,\nlest perchance it should pass from their hands. Blessed be God there\nis no danger here, so far as others coming forward before you is\nconcerned. . . . But if not now prompt and decided you may be\nthwarted in another way. Death may decide the matter for\nyou.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 26. A supplication is come, as it were, from God to man, that\nman would send God his heart; penned by Solomon under the name of\nwisdom (chap. ix. 1), and directed to her sons. . . . He which always\ngave, now craves; and he which craves always, now gives. Christ\nstands at the door like a poor man, and asks not bread, nor clothes,\nnor lodgings, which we should give to His members, but our\nheart--that is, even the continent of all, and governor of man's\nhouse. . . . Should God be a suppliant unto thee and me, but that our\nunthankfulness condemns us, that for all the things which He hath\ngiven unto us, we never considered yet what we should give unto Him\nbefore He asketh. . . . Mark what God hath chosen for Himself: not\nthat which any other should lose by, like the demands of them which\ncare for none but themselves, but that which, being given to God,\nmoves us to give every man his due. . . . Give God thy heart, that He\nmay keep it; not a piece of thy heart, not a room in thy heart, but\nthy heart. The heart divided, dieth. God is not like the mother which\nwould have the child divided, but like the natural mother which said,\nRather than it should be divided, let her take it all. Let the devil\nhave all, if He which gave it be not worthy of it. . . . As a man\nconsiders what he does when he gives, so God licenseth us to consider\nof that which we do for Him, whether He deserves it, whether we owe\nit, whether He can require it, lest it come against our will;\ntherefore _give_ Me, saith God, as though He would not strain upon\nus, or take it from us. . . . Is God so desirous of my heart? What\ngood can my heart do to God? It is not worthy to come under His roof.\nI would I had a better gift to send unto my Lord; go, my heart, to\nthy Maker; the Bridegroom hath sent for thee, put on thy wedding\ngarment, for the King Himself will marry thee. Who is not sorry now\nthat he did not give his heart before? Is he not worthy to die that\nwill take his heart from Him that made it, from Him that redeemed it,\nfrom Him which preserves it, from Him that will glorify it, and gives\nit to him that will infect it, torment it, condemn it? Will a servant\nreach the cup to a stranger when his master calls for it? Or will a\nman sell his coat if he have no more? What dost thou reserve for God,\nwhen thou hast given Satan thine heart? Christ hath promised to come\nand dwell with thee (Rev. iii. 20); where shall He stay, where shall\nHe dine, if the chamber be taken up, and the heart let forth to\nanother? Thou art but a tenant, and yet thou takest His house over\nHis head, and placest in it whom thou wilt, as if thou wert\nlandlord.--_Henry Smith._\n\nI. Man has _nothing higher_ to dispose of. His heart is given when he\nsets his strongest affections upon an object. Wherever he centres his\nstrongest love his heart is, and wherever his heart is _he_ is. . . .\nII. Man _is compelled_ to dispose of it. He is forced, not by any\noutward coercion, but by an inward pressure. It is as necessary for\nthe soul to love as it is to the body to breathe. The deepest of all\nthe deep hungers of humanity is the hunger of the soul to love.\nSometimes so ravenous does man's animal appetite for food become,\nthat he will devour with a kind of relish the most loathsome things;\nand so voracious is the heart for some object to love, that it will\nsettle down upon the lowest and most contemptible creatures rather\nthan not love at all. III. Man _alone can dispose_ of it. No one can\ntake it from him by force. He is the only priest who can present\nit.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\n\nVerse 28. Uncleanness leads to faithlessness of manifold kinds; and\nit makes not only the husband unfaithful to the wife, but also the\nson to the parents, the scholar to the teacher and pastor, the\nservant to the master. The adulteress, inasmuch as she entices now\none and now another into her net, increases the number of those who\nare faithless towards men. But are they not, above all, faithless\ntowards God?--_Delitzsch._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 29-35.\n\nTHE DRUNKARD'S PICTURE.\n\n+I. The drunkard is an entire inversion of man as God intended him to\nbe.+ God made man's mind to rule his body, but the drunkard's bodily\nappetites rule his mind. God gave man an intellect to guide his\nactions; He intended the various limbs of his body to be the servants\nof his will, and to obey the dictates of his reason. But the drunkard\nnot only gives up all his spiritual and intellectual power to his\nbody, but all his other bodily powers to the rule of one sense--that\nof his palate. Men who are not awake to their spiritual and mental\nneeds might be expected to have as much regard for their animal\nwants, and to be as careful to avoid bodily suffering as the brute\ncreation. But it is not so with the drunkard--although nights and\ndays of privation and suffering are often the fruits of an hour's\ndrinking, he voluntarily undergoes the former in order to enjoy the\nlatter. Not only is conscience and reason and heart sacrificed to his\nmouth, but every other bodily sense is made to serve the one sense\nand every other part of the body to suffer, that one part may be\ngratified if but for a moment.\n\n+II. He is an entire inversion of what we might expect even a fallen\nman to be.+ Looking at man as he is when he lives for this world\nonly, he is generally alive to his own immediate temporal interests\nand careful to avoid in the future what has brought him suffering in\nthe past. But it is not so with the slave to drink. If only wife and\nchildren had to leave lives of misery and his own life was a constant\nround of even animal enjoyment, the drunkard's career would not be\nsuch an unaccountable infatuation. Human selfishness would be\nsufficient to account for it. But who suffers like the drunkard\nhimself? The wise man enumerates some of his miseries--_woe, grief,\ncontentions and wounds without cause, the stings of remorse, the\ndisordered brain, and entire loss of consciousness and of power to\ndefend one's own life and property_--this is the drunkard's heritage.\nAnd in the intervals between his madness he knows it and drinks to\nthe dregs the bitter cup of bodily and mental misery that must always\nfollow the immoderate use of the wine cup. And yet his language is\n_\"I will seek it yet again.\"_ The child that has been burnt dreads\nthe fire, but the poor drunkard scarred from head to foot with the\nmarks of the flames, seems with all his other losses to have lost\nalso the natural instinct of self-preservation and the power of\nlearning anything from the great teacher--experience.\n\n+III. A consideration of the strength and nature of the drunkard's\nchain should lead all to shun that which enslaved him.+ When we\nconsider what havoc intoxicating drink has wrought, it is marvellous\nthat men do not turn from it with loathing; that they are not afraid\nto play with so deadly, and yet so treacherous an enemy to mankind.\nWhen the sailor knows that there is a treacherous whirlpool in the\nocean, which has engulfed a thousand noble vessels, he is careful to\ngive it a wide berth, to keep far beyond the outermost ring of the\ncurrent. But the habit of men in general seems to be to try how near\nthey can come to his moral and social gulf of death, without being\ndrawn beneath the waters. The experiment is fraught with deadly\nperil, and is often a fatal one. Solomon's advice is to ensure\nsafety, by not even _\"looking upon the wine when it is red.\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is mention made of a monk at Prague, who having heard at shrift\nthe confessions of many drunkards, wondered at it, and for experiment\nwould try his brain with this sin, and accordingly stole himself\ndrunk. Now, after the vexation of three sick days, to all that\nconfessed that sin he enjoined no other penance than this: \"Go and be\ndrunk again.\" Surely his meaning was like that of Seneca, that\ndrunkenness was a torment and affliction to itself.--_Spencer._\n\nDrunkenness is a special water at the devil's banquet. This sin is a\nhorrible self-theft. . . . Thieves cannot steal lands, unless they be\nWestminster Hall thieves, crafty contenders that eat out a true title\nwith false evidence; but the drunkard robs himself of his lands. Now\nhe dissolves an acre, and then an acre, into the pot, till he hath\nground all his ground at the malt quern, and run all his patrimony\nthrough his throat. Thus he makes himself the living tomb of his\nforefathers--of his posterity. He needs not trouble his sick mind\nwith a will, or distrust the fidelity of executors.--_T. Adams._\n\n\nVerse 29. The best that can come of drunkenness is repentance--that\nfairest daughter of so foul a mother--and that is not without its\nwoe, and alas! its sorrow and redness of eyes with weeping for\nsin.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 31. He that would avoid the commission of sin must avoid the\noccasion of sin. If we would not fall down the hill we must beware of\ncoming near the brow of it. Keep thee far from an evil matter. When\nthe wine laughs in thy face then shut thine eyes lest it steal into\nthine heart. A guest may easily be kept out of the house at first,\nbut if once entertained it is hard to turn him out of doors. When the\ngovernor of a fort once comes to parley with the enemy that besiegeth\nhim there is great fear that the place will be\nsurrendered.--_Swinnock._\n\n\nVerse 33. One remarkable peculiarity of this chapter is the junction\nand alternation of these two kindred sins. There they stand, like two\nplants of death, each growing on its own independent root, and\nnourished by the same soil, but cleaving close to each other by\ncongeniality of nature, and twisted round each other for mutual\nsupport. . . . The alliance, so generally formed and so firmly\nmaintained between drunkenness and licentiousness, is a master-stroke\nof Satan's policy. It is when men have looked upon this deceitful\ncup, and received into their blood the poison of its sting, that\ntheir eyes behold \"strange women;\" and when they have fallen into\nthat \"narrow pit,\" they run back to hide their shame, at least from\nthemselves, in the maddening draught.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 34. The passage is interesting, as showing what Ps. civ. 25,\n26, cvii. 23-30, also show, the increased familiarity of the\nIsraelites with a sea life.--_Plumptre._\n\nIt is very foul weather in which a drunkard saileth. For as St.\nAmbrose speaketh, the multitude of lusts in him do raise a great\ntempest, which toss his mind to and fro, sailing as it were in the\nnarrow sea of his body, so that he cannot be pilot to himself. . . .\nBut that which maketh the drunkard's case worst of all is this: it is\na shipwreck of the body only which in a tempest is feared, but he\nmaketh shipwreck of his soul if repentance be not a plank of safety\nto him.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+5. A man of knowledge,+ rather _\"a man of\nunderstanding,\"_ +increaseth strength,+ literally _\"maketh power\nstrong.\"_ Miller translates the entire verse thus:--_\"A strong man,\nif wise, is as a power indeed; and a man of knowledge makes strength\nreally strong.\"_ +7. Wisdom is too high,+ etc. Delitzsch here reads,\n_Wisdom seems to the fool to be an ornamental commodity,_ and thinks\n\"the comparison lies in the rarity, costliness, and unattainableness\nof wisdom.\" \"The word,\" says Miller, \"occurs but three times in the\nBible; once in Job xxviii. 18, translated _coral;_ once in Ezekiel\nxxvii. 16, translated _coral_ and agate; and once in this passage,\nwhere it ought to be translated _coral_ again.\" Some, from this\nrendering, understand the verse to signify that a fool uses wisdom\nlike a precious stone, only for ornament. +8. Mischievous person,+\nliterally _a master or lord of mischief._ +9. The thought,+ etc.,\nrather, \"the _device_ or _undertaking._\" +10. If thou faint,+ etc.,\nrather _\"If thou hast been straitened in the day of straitness,\nstrait is thy strength.\"_ +11.+ Literally, _\"Deliver them who are\ndragged forth_ unto _death, and them that totter to the slaughter,\noh, rescue them.\"_ +12. He that pondereth,+ literally, _the Weigher\nof hearts._ +He that keepeth,+ rather _\"watcheth.\"_ +14. There shall\nbe a reward,+ rather, _\"there is a future,\"_ as in chap. xxiii. 18.\n+16. The wicked shall fall.+ Delitzsch reads, _\"the wicked are\noverthrown when calamity falls on them,\" i.e.,_ they do not rise\nagain and again as the just man does. +20. Reward.+ The same word\nused in verse 14, and in chap. xxiii. 18. Its literal meaning is \"a\nhereafter.\" Z\u00f6ckler translates it _end_ in the first two instances,\nbut in this case he reads _future._ Delitzsch and Miller render it\n_hereafter_ or _future_ in every verse. +21. Given to change,+\nliterally _otherwise disposed,_ or, according to Miller, _repeaters,\nturners back._ +22. The ruin of them both,+ etc. This phrase is\nvariously rendered, and different meanings are also attached to the\nsame rendering. Delitzsch follows the Syriac version, and reads,\n_\"the end of their years, who knoweth it?\"_ But Z\u00f6ckler adapts the\nreading of the Authorised Version, which is supported by the Vulgate,\nby Luther, Ewald, Elster, and others. Some understand the word _both_\nto refer to those who rebel against God, and those who rebel against\nthe king (so Z\u00f6ckler), while others apply it to God and the king, and\nthe _ruin_ foretold as that proceeding from them. Here begins a short\nappendix to the third main division of the book of Proverbs, the\nfirst clause of verse 33 being its superscription, which is almost in\nthe same words as that which introduces the division itself. (See\nchap. xxii. 17.) It extends only to the end of the chapter, and\nconsists of maxims which have no apparent connection with each other.\n+23. These things also belong to the wise.+ Rather _\"These_ (the\nproverbs which follow) _are also from wise men.\"_ The word _also_\nconnects this introduction with that in chap. xxii. 17. +25. To them\nthat rebuke,+ etc. The word _him_ is not in the original, and spoils\nthe sense. If this rendering of the verb is accepted, _iniquity_ must\nbe understood to be the subject of rebuke. Delitzsch however reads,\n_\"To them who rightly decide,\"_ and Miller renders, _\"To them that\nset the thing right.\"_ +26. A right answer,+ _i.e._, a _faithful,\nstraightforward_ answer. \"The word comes,\" says Miller, \"from a verb\nmeaning _to be in front._\" \"The mention of the _lips,_\" Z\u00f6ckler\nremarks, \"is to be explained simply by the remembrance of the\n_question_ to which the upright and truthful answer corresponds.\"\n+27. House.+ This word may mean here as it does in Exod. i. 21, Ruth\niv. 11, 2 Sam. vii. 27, etc., the family--the household interests.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-6.\n\nHOUSE BUILDING.\n\n+I. An undertaking founded upon wickedness lacks the first element of\nstability.+ A house built upon a sandy foundation, we all know, does\nnot possess the first requisite of safety. It is useless to erect any\nbuilding for fine weather purposes only--if it is not able to stand a\nstorm all the labour expended upon it is lost. Those places are very\nfew where the tempest does not come sometimes, and even if we could\nfind so favoured a spot, a sandy foundation would not be a permanent\none. The ordinary play of the elements and the changes of the seasons\nwould be ever at work upon the loose and shifting soil, and in time\nthe house must fall. So it is with any work undertaken with an evil\npurpose or from wicked motives. There are laws at work in God's\nuniverse which will forbid such a building to remain long in\nexistence. It is very easy work to lay the stones in the sand--much\nmore easy than to hew out a place for them in the solid rock--and the\napparently rapid success of evil men and evil deeds tempts many an\nunwise builder to work after their method. But the experience of the\nPsalmist is repeated in every age and must be to the end of time: _\"I\nhave seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a\ngreen bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, I\nsought him, but he could not be found\"_ (Psalm xxxvii. 35, 36).\n\n+II. True wisdom consists in patient continuance in well-doing.+ In\nthis passage, as throughout the entire Book of Proverbs, wisdom is\nset up as the rival of evil, and sin is accounted as the height of\nfolly. The wise man accounts everything foolishness which is against\nthe moral law of the universe, and the _good_ man in his estimation\nthe only _wise_ man. That this is a just and true estimate is\napparent to all who look a little beneath the surface of things--to\nall who realise that it is one thing to _seem_ and another thing _to\nbe._ The mansion upon the sand-bank _appears_ to be a more desirable\ndwelling place than the cottage upon the rock, but time will prove\nwhich is the safer of the two. But permanence or safety are not the\nonly recommendations to the home of wisdom. There is a satisfaction\nand a positive joy to be found in doing the right to which the\nevil-doer is a stranger. To be on the right side of the good is to be\non the side of God and of conscience, to know from experience that\nall the moral powers of the soul grow stronger with use, and such\nexperimental knowledge fills the chambers of the soul \"with all\nprecious and pleasant riches\" (verse 4). These considerations ought\nto make it easy to obey Solomon's precept: \"Be not envious against\nevil men, neither desire to be with them.\" The mariner on even a\nstormy sea would not envy the dweller in the lighthouse if he knew\nthat the waves were rapidly undermining its foundation and rendering\nits speedy fall certain, and to envy a man a short-lived prosperity\nwhich must have a sad end is as contrary to the dictates of reason\nand self-love. A consideration of their \"end\" (Psalm lxxiii. 17) is a\ngood preservative against such an envy, and has been tried by many\nmen since the days of Asaph with the same success. But without\nbringing the future into the present, envy of the wicked may be\neffectually prevented if we can realise their present loss. The\ninhabitant of the dwelling filled with materials to satisfy his\nbodily and mental appetites and wants does not envy him whose house\nis destitute of such comforts. Yet that would be more reasonable than\nfor him who has the opportunity of rearing for himself a\nwell-furnished house of wisdom--of building a character which shall\nbe in itself a source of satisfaction and joy to his better\nnature--to desire the empty and unsatisfying portion of evil doers.\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 6 considered by itself see on chap. xi. 14,\npage 214, and on chap. xx. 18, page 590.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 1. Sin is like sound, and it finds the moral nature of fallen\nman, like the atmosphere, a good conducting medium. The word or deed\nof evil does not terminate where it is produced. It radiates all\nround; and beside the direct propagation from a centre by diverging\nlines, it further reduplicates itself by rebounding like an echo from\nevery object upon which it falls. Human beings may well stand in awe\nwhen they consider the self-propagating power of sin, and the\nfacilities which their own corruption affords it. Different persons\nare affected in different ways. One is shaken by the example of\nwickedness in its first out-go, another by its rebounding blow. One\nis carried away in the stream, another hurts himself by his violent\nefforts to resist it. Some imitate the sin. Others fret against the\nsinner. Both classes do evil and suffer injury. Whether you be\nimpatiently \"envious against evil men,\" or weakly \"desirous to be\nwith them,\" you have sustained damage by the contact.--_Arnot._\n\nTo be envious against evil men is plainly to confess ourselves to be\nworse than they are. For, as St. Gregory speaketh, we cannot envy\nexcept it be those who we think to be better than ourselves. Indeed,\nto envy against evil men is to make wickedness to be goodness, and to\nshow no goodness to be in his heart that is so envious. . . .\nWhosoever thou be that envieth evil men, I cannot tell who should\nenvy thee, except the devil, because thou strivest to be more wicked\nthan he is. For they are only the godly that he is envious\nagainst.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 4. The last virtue here spoken of is knowledge, whereby the\ninward rooms of the house are filled with all precious substance;\nunto the providing and treasuring up of food, of money, and all\nthings necessary and comfortable, the knowledge of times, the prices\nof things, and of the means whereby commodities may be obtained, is\nrequisite. . . . It is not to be marvelled at that many young married\nfolk and householders in these days have nothing in their families\nbut want of necessaries and bare walls, seeing they want both wisdom\nand understanding, and knowledge.--_Muffett._\n\nRiches imply (1) plenty of that which is precious and pleasant.\n(2) Propriety. They must be that which is their own; and hereunto\neconomical prudence much conducteth. God bestoweth abundance on the\nwicked _ex largitate,_ only out of a general providence; but upon his\npeople that are good husbands _ex promisso,_ by virtue of this and\nthe like promises.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 5. _A strong man._ (See Miller's rendering in the Critical\nNotes.) A _common_ man, a _better sort_ of man, are the four words\nfor man in the Bible. This is a _strong man._ It means _strong_ in a\nworldly sense. That man, _if wise, is a power indeed._ . . . The\nmeaning is that a _\"strong\"_ man, if not _\"wise,\"_ is not _\"strong\"_\nat all; that piety is itself strength; that the stronger a man\nwithout it, the weaker he is; that a strong man who is pious, not\nonly becomes strong in that, but strong really by his worldly\nstrength; because piety gives realness to every gift.--_Miller._\n\nI. Intelligence _apart from_ piety is power. A man who has great\nintelligence, and knows how to use it, possesses a power superior to\nany physical force. . . . II. Piety _apart from_ intelligence is a\n_higher kind_ of power. It is the patience of love, endurance,\npatience, compassion; it is a power which will touch men's hearts,\nmove the very arm of Omnipotence, \"take hold upon the strength of\nGod.\" III. Piety _associated with_ intelligence is the _highest\ncreature_ power. What power on earth is equal to that possessed by\nthe man of vast intelligence and consecrated affections, the man of\nsunny intellect and Heaven-inspired sympathies and aims?--_Dr. David\nThomas._\n\nA wise man is not only strong in having wisdom, but in getting\nstrength also. . . . For by wisdom knowing well the want and need of\nstrength, he is careful and diligent to procure it; whereas many\ntimes strength, being presumptuous upon its own might, seeks not for\nwisdom to support it, and falls for want of having it.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.\n\nA FALSE ESTIMATE AND A TRUE ONE.\n\n+I. The fool's estimate of wisdom.+ Solomon here gives the fool's own\nreason for remaining in his folly, viz., that wisdom is difficult to\nacquire--that neither intellectual or spiritual knowledge can be\ngained without pains and self-denial. This is of course saying in\neffect that they are worthless, and this false estimate lies at the\nroot of all ignorance, whether it be mental or moral. For if we can\nmake a man feel that a thing is good and will bring him good, he will\nnot be unwilling to seek to possess it, and his search and his\npursuit will be diligent, and eager, and continuous, in proportion to\nthe good which he believes the possession will bring him. The idle\nschoolboy complains of the difficulty of his tasks, and of the\nseverity of his teacher, because he does not rightly estimate the\nvalue of knowledge, and the moral fool finds fault with the methods\nof becoming spiritually wise, because he has no sense of the worth of\nsuch wisdom. But it must not be forgotten that the longer the fool\nmakes the excuse of the text, the more true it becomes. The powers of\nthe intellect, like those of the body, are less capable of use the\nlonger they remain idle. If a healthy man is so indolent as to refuse\nto walk, his legs by long disuse may become unable to perform their\noffice, and if the mental powers are left unexercised in youth, it is\nmore difficult to use them to purpose in middle life. And it is so,\ntoo, with the spiritual perceptions and capabilities. Although it is\nnever too late to acquire the highest wisdom, it certainly seems more\nout of the reach of the man who has neglected to seek it throughout a\nlong life, than of him who gives to its pursuit the vigour and\nfreshness of his youth.\n\n+II. The consequent estimate which wise men form of the fool.+ If men\nundervalue wisdom, they themselves are little valued, and their words\nand opinions have no weight with wise men. As it is a mark of folly\ngenerally to \"open the mouth,\" although nothing comes therefrom that\nis worth anything, the declaration that a fool \"openeth not his mouth\nin the gate\" must point, not to his own modesty or conscious\ninability to speak wisely, but to the estimation in which he is held\nby others.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn bodily things, the more weighty they are, the lower they fall; the\nlighter they are, the higher they go. Contrariwise is it in the\nthings of the soul, and the more weighty they are, the higher they\nare; the lighter they are, the lower they lie. It is therefore the\nlightness of a fool's brain that makes wisdom too high for him: the\ngiddiness of his head is not able to look up unto the height of\nit. . . . Therefore St. Gregory saith, If thou wilt find wisdom,\ntread upon the waves of this world, and walk upon the waters of this\nlife, as St. Peter did, and she will reach forth her right hand to\nthee, as she did to Peter.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerses 8 and 9 treat of subjects which have occurred more than once\nbefore. See on chap. vi. 12-19, page 81.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nTHE DAY OF ADVERSITY.\n\n+I. The inevitable in human experience.+ The day of adversity is an\nordination of God, as a necessary element in man's moral training.\nThe human rulers of a well-ordered State make certain provisions for\nthe education of the young, and these provisions necessarily include\nmany things that are distasteful, and even painful, to the pupils.\nBut if they were left to map out their own course, and to arrange for\nthemselves the plan of their education, we well know that the result\nin the end would be unsatisfactory to everybody, and most of all to\nthemselves when they were old enough to judge. Even so it is with\nmankind and the Ruler of the world. God has purposed that men shall\nbe subject to such a course of instruction and discipline as shall at\nleast give them an opportunity of becoming wiser and better, and the\nday of adversity is an indispensable element in such a training. It\ntherefore does not come to us by chance, nor is it always to be\nregarded in the light of a penalty for special sin, but is a token of\nDivine interest in our real welfare--an expression of Divine desire\nfor our moral growth. It is wise, then, for all to recognise the fact\nthat adversity in some form or other, at some period or other, is an\ninevitable event in their human life.\n\n+II. The test of human character.+ No man knows his moral strength\nuntil he comes face to face with trial. The chain that holds the\nvessel to the quay is only as strong as the weakest link, and if that\none gives way the vessel is loosed from her moorings as surely as if\nevery link was broken. So human character is only as strong as its\nweakest point, and if a severe strain is brought to bear upon a man,\nhe will break down there. In the day of adversity every virtue and\nexcellence that we possess will be subjected to a severe test, and if\nonly one of them is found unequal to the trial, the whole character\nsuffers, and we are in danger of losing our hold upon God, and so\ndrifting from the right course. A man may have a high opinion of his\nown physical strength, and fancy that he is well able to grapple with\nany foe who might attack him. But it is not till he is in the grip of\nhis antagonist that he knows how much or how little he is able to do\nand to bear. If he finds himself on the ground, stunned and bleeding,\nhe rises from the struggle with a lower estimate of his own muscular\nstrength than he had before. And so it is with the inner man when the\nday of adversity over takes it--we think that our faith and moral\ncourage are equal to any emergency, but we are sometimes stricken\ndown to the dust and \"faint\" from the weight of a blow which we\nthought beforehand we could withstand, and for the rest of our lives\nhave less confidence in our spiritual strength.\n\n+III. A strengthener of human character.+ Although men often \"faint\"\nin the day of adversity, or find their resources insufficient to meet\ntheir needs in the hour of trial, it is not necessarily the case, nor\nis it always so. Indeed, the intention of trial is not to take away\nour strength, but to _increase_ it. If the day of adversity proves\ntoo much for our strength, the encounter may leave us morally weaker\nthan we were before; but if we bear it courageously, and do not allow\nit to drive us to despair, or even to doubt, we come out of the\nordeal stronger than when we entered into it. If a tree has too firm\na hold upon the soil to be uprooted by the tempest, the shaking will\nbut make it firmer still, and if our confidence and hope in God are\nnot lessened by the blasts of adversity, they are rendered stronger\nand brighter, and more fitted to encounter the next storm. But\nfainting at the first blow of adversity leaves very little strength\nto meet the next trial, and this thought seems also to be in the\nproverb as it stands in the Hebrew.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIf you were to hear some men's experience you would think they grew\nas the white pine grows, with straight grain and easily split, for I\nnotice that all that grow easy split easy. But there are some that\ngrow as the mahogany grows, with veneering knots, with all the quirls\nand contortions of grain; that is the best timber of the forest which\nhas the most knots. . . . There are many who are content to grow\nstraight, like weeds on a dunghill; but there are many others who\nwant to be stalwart and strong like the monarchs of the forest, and\nyet when God sends the winds of adversity to sing a lullaby in their\nbranches, they do not like to grow in that way. They dread the\nculture that is really giving toughness to their soul and strength to\nits fibre.--_Beecher._\n\nThe times of man's distress, though it be a night of sorrow and\ntrouble, which it bringeth to the soul, yet is it a day also, because\nit showeth truly to the soul what a man is.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 11 _and_ 12.\n\nPOSITIVE PUNISHMENT FOR A NEGATIVE CRIME.\n\n+I. The negative crime.+ The question \"Am I my brother's keeper?\" is\nhere answered with an emphatic affirmative, for whatever may be the\nspecial reference of the words it is plain that they condemn as\ncriminal the non-interposition of the strong on behalf of the weak\nand distressed. This crime may be committed from various causes.\nThose who are guilty of it may be entirely indifferent to the\nsufferings of others. There are many men and women who, if they are\nat ease themselves, never concern themselves about the sufferings of\nothers--it matters not to them who is hungry so as they are well fed,\nand what privations others may be enduring while their needs are\nsupplied. But the crime is oftener chargeable to moral cowardice and\nunwillingness to practice self-denial. A man may be sufficiently\nconcerned for the danger of a drowning brother to throw him a rope,\nbut he may shrink from throwing himself into the water and risking a\nwatery grave on his behalf. So he may pity the ignorant and the\nerring and feel sad when he thinks of their sorrows and their sins,\nand yet be unwilling to sacrifice his money or his leisure or his\nsocial position in endeavours to save them. But the proverb seems to\ndeal especially with what seems at first sight to be a less\nblameworthy class of persons than either of these--with those who\nhave never considered the claims which others have upon them--who are\nreally ignorant how many hearts are breaking around them and how many\nare perishing for the want of a helping hand. But this ignorance is\nhere regarded as criminal. \"Evil is wrought for want of thought, as\nwell as want of heart,\" but it is as much evil in the one case as in\nthe other, and the want of thought is a sin in itself. And so is the\nwant of knowledge here. God will not admit the plea \"I knew it not,\"\nbut holds him who utters it guilty for his ignorance as well as for\nhis neglect.\n\n+II. The positive punishment.+ No truth is taught more plainly in the\nBible, than that men will not escape retribution of some kind because\nthey have simply abstained from doing ill. The possessor of the one\ntalent did not put it to a bad use, or throw it away. He kept it\ncarefully wrapped in a napkin. But the sentence passed upon him was\nnot merely that he should be deprived of his privilege, or that\nreward should be withheld, but:--_\"Cast ye the unprofitable servant\ninto outer darkness\"_ (Matt. xxv. 30). \"The tree that was only barren\nwas burned,\" says an old writer. The justice of this will be seen the\nmore we consider how much actual _wrong-doing_ on the part of some is\nchargeable to the _not-doing_ of others. How much sin might be\nprevented if those who have it in their power sought to deliver\nothers from bodily, or social, or moral death.\n\n\n _OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_\"He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it.\"_ This favour of God\nmay be here mentioned partly as a strong obligation upon Him to\npreserve him who was made after God's image, and whom God hath\ncommanded him to love and preserve; partly to an encouragement to the\nperformance of his duty herein from the consideration of God's\nspecial care and watchfulness over those who do their duty; and\npartly to intimate to them the danger of neglect of this duty whereby\nthey will forfeit God's protection over themselves.--_Poole._\n\nThe condition of _sinners_ may be regarded as here very aptly set\nforth. They are \"drawn unto death\"--_seized,_ or _apprehended_ for\ndeath, and \"ready to be slain:\"--and the death to which they are\ndoomed,--O how unutterably fearful! But you may naturally meet me\nwith an objection here. In _their_ condition there is _no_ injustice;\n_no_ unrighteous and cruel oppression. The sentence of death under\nwhich they lie is a _divine_ sentence--in perfect accordance with all\nthe principles of equity:--the sword with which they are \"ready to be\nslain\" is the sword of Divine justice itself. They deserve to die the\ndeath. To attempt to prevent it would be to arrest the hand of God.\nOught not divine, and therefore unimpeachable, justice too have its\ncourse? The objection--otherwise irresistible--God has Himself\nremoved. Justice, infinite justice, had all its claims acknowledged\nand fulfilled on Calvary. On the ground of the sacrifice there\noffered, the atonement there made, the God of justice and mercy has\ncalled on sinners to accept pardon, in the name and for the sake of\nHis Son. His call comes with authority. It is a command. It is in\nvirtue of the satisfaction of justice in the atonement of Christ,\nthat _we ourselves_ enjoy _our own_ deliverance from the death and\ndestruction to which, in common with all, we were devoted. And the\nvery same authority that commanded us to believe and be saved,\nenjoins on us to be agents in attempting the rescue of others. O!\nwhat should we not be ready to do, to sacrifice, to suffer for such\nan end!--to effect such a rescue!--_Wardlaw._\n\nWhile Samuel Romilly's Bill to abolish the punishment of death for a\ntheft amounting to the sum of five shillings passed the English House\nof Commons, it was thrown out by a majority in the House of Lords.\nAmong those who voted against the Bill were one archbishop and five\nbishops. Our poet here in the Proverbs is of a different mind. Even\nthe law of Sinai appoints the punishment of death only for\nman-stealing. . . . In expressions like the above a true Christian\nspirit rules the spirit which condemns all bloodthirstiness of\njustice, and calls forth to a crusade, not only against the\ninquisition, but against all unmerciful and cruel\nexecutions.--_Delitzsch._\n\nThe Hebrew midwives, and Esther in after ages, thus delivered their\nown _people drawn unto death._ Reuben _delivered_ Joseph from the\npit. Job was the _deliverer_ of the poor in the extremity. Jonathan\nsaved his friend at imminent risk to himself. Obadiah hid the Lord's\nprophets. Ahikam and Ebed-melech saved Jeremiah. Johanan attempted to\n_deliver_ the unsuspecting Gedaliah. Daniel preserved the wise men of\nBabylon. The Samaritan rescued his neighbour from death. Paul's\nnephew _delivered_ the great Apostle by informing him of the\nmurderous plot. The rule includes all oppression, which has more or\nless of the character of murder.--_Bridges._\n\n\"Who is lord over us?\" is the watchword of the life-long battle\nbetween an evil conscience and a righteous Judge. Here the\ncommandment is exceeding broad. Like Divine omniscience, it compasses\nthe transgressor before and behind. It checks his advance, and cuts\noff his retreat. Although a man should actually maintain in relation\nto every brother the neutrality he professes, it would avail him\nnothing. . . . What ails our brother, that he needs the compassion of\na tender heart and the help of a strong hand? He is \"drawn unto\ndeath,\" and \"ready to be slain.\" This is the very crisis which at\nonce needs help and admits it. If the danger were more distant, he\nmight not be sensible of his need; if it were nearer, he might be\nbeyond the hope of recovery. He is so low that help is necessary; yet\nnot so low as would render help vain. He is \"drawn unto death,\" and\ntherefore is an object of pity; but his life is yet in him, and\ntherefore he is a subject of hope.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 13 _and_ 14.\n\nHONEY AND WISDOM.\n\n+I. An analogy.+ 1. Honey is found by man ready prepared for his use;\nno human skill is needed to make it fit for food--nothing that man\ncan do can render it more palatable than it is as it flows from the\ncomb. So the revealed wisdom of God as it is found in the Scriptures\nneeds no intervention of man to make it suitable to human needs.\n2. As honey is evidently designed by God to furnish a wholesome and\npleasant food for the body, so has He designed that the revelation of\nHis mind and will by His inspired messengers shall provide wholesome\nand congenial food for the soul of man. The great abundance of honey\nin Palestine led to its forming a more prominent part of daily food\nthan in western countries, and its possessing these two qualities\nmade it very fit for general and constant use, and was a perpetual\ntestimony to the providence of God in relation to the needs and\nenjoyment of His creatures. So is the provision which God has made\nfor the spiritual wants of the children of men. On this point we must\ntake the testimony of those who have tasted this soul-food. We should\nnot ask a man whether honey was pleasant to the taste if he had never\neaten it, and those are not qualified to bear witness concerning the\nspiritual enjoyment and benefit to be derived from the \"wisdom of\nGod\" who have not tested it. All those who have done so, whatever\ntheir condition in life, in whatever age they have lived, or whatever\npart of the world they have called their home, have agreed with\nDavid's testimony that it is _\"more to be desired than gold, yea,\nthan much find gold: sweeter than honey and the honey-comb\"_ (Psa.\nxix. 10).\n\n+II. A contrast.+ 1. Honey may be eaten unto it cloys the appetite\nand injures the eater, but not so with the Word of God. Those who eat\nthe most of this spiritual food are the most spiritually healthy, and\nhave the keenest appetite for it. 2. Although this God-given bodily\nfood may do much to nourish and sustain a healthy man, it cannot cure\na diseased body, or prevent the inroads of sickness and decay. But\nthere is a soul-transforming power in the spiritual food of which it\nis here an emblem. Those who eat of it are by it healed of spiritual\ndisease, and are continually and unceasingly growing in moral health\nand vigour. 3. The blessings flowing from eating the spiritual food\nare only fully realised in the life beyond the present. To this the\nwise man refers in the last clause. (For Homiletics on this thought,\nsee on chaps. xi. 7, xiv. 32, pages 201 and 391.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 13. The wise man's feast which he makes his son is but one\ndish. And what need of more when that is both good and pleasant? The\nglutton provideth many dishes, and costly to make them luscious, but\nthey are not _good,_ not good for the health of the body. . . . On\nthe other side, the physician provideth divers meats, and they are\n_good_--good either for the preservation of heath or for the recovery\nof it, but they are not pleasant and grateful to the palate. That is\nthe best feeding when those are joined together. . . . Or else if\nthey are not joined together, notice that the wise man putteth good\nin the first place; as teaching thee rather to take that which is\ngood though not pleasant, than that which is pleasant but not\ngood.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. _When thou hast found it._ That is, when thou hast so found\nit that thou canst feed upon it and convert it into nourishment, then\nthy pains of seeking shall be rewarded. And though it be a late\nreward, for wisdom is not quickly found, yet there shall be a reward,\nand that so full, that in nothing thine expectation shall be cut off.\nFor though hardly yet it is well-gotten; and with pleasure will\nsweeten the pains, with good will satisfy the tarrying and recompense\nthe delay. The Chaldee rendereth the middle part of the verse, _\"If\nthou hast found, the last will come better than the first.\"_ As if\nthis were a mark whereby to know whether we have found wisdom or not,\nbecause then the further we go on the more sweetness we shall\nfind.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 15 _and_ 16.\n\nA SOCIAL AMBUSH.\n\n+I. A common practice of the wicked man in relation to the good.+\nWhen we think of an ambush of men lying in wait to spring upon their\nfoes at a fitting opportunity, two hostile parties are at once\nbrought before us, we feel that there must be deep enmity on one side\nat least, or men would not be at such pains to overthrow their\nfellow-men. And this is indeed the case in society as a whole. Men\nare divided into two great parties. On one side stand the lovers of\nrighteousness, and on the other the lovers of sin; and the latter\nmust ever be more or less actively opposed to the former. But their\nfavourite and most common method of attack is that indicated in the\ntext. Wrong-doers are naturally cowards, and in their endeavours to\ninjure better men than themselves they shrink from open attack. They\nare fully conscious that they could not stand their ground in a fair\nfight in the open field, and so they try to fall upon their foe in a\nmoment when he is off his guard and in a place where he least expects\nto meet them. In other words, evil men do not openly assail either\nthe character or the position of a good man, but by lying words\nspoken in his absence they try to blacken the first, and by secret\nschemes to overthrow the second.\n\n+II. An utterly useless attempt of the wicked man in relation to the\ngood.+ It is useless to try to kill a tree by lopping off the\nbranches. Such a process may for a time deprive it of its beauty and\nstop its growth, but while the root has its hold upon the soil and\ncan draw nourishment to itself from unseen sources beneath the\nsurface it will live, and as soon as the axe has ceased to strike it\nwill begin again to clothe itself in greenness and beauty. So it is\nwith a righteous man. His enemies may succeed in bringing about his\ntemporary overthrow and in depriving his outward life of much\ncomfort, but the springs of his existence are fed from an invisible\nand unfailing source, and his well-being is not dependent upon\nexternal circumstances. And so even if the malice of the wicked is\npermitted to strip him of some things which made his life more\napparently prosperous and secure, there is an inner life which they\ncannot touch, and which enables him in due time to recover from the\nwounds which they inflict either upon his character or his\ncircumstances. For _\"This is the heritage of the servants of the\nLord. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every\ntongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn\"_\n(Isa. liv. 17).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 15. Because it spites the wicked, that the godly dwell in\nsafety, therefore they lay wait against their dwelling, by affliction\nand miseries seeking to throw it down, and . . . because the virtues\nof the godly condemn the vices of the wicked, therefore they lay wait\nand search into their _dwelling houses_ to espy out their faults,\nbecause the goodness of the righteous shameth the naughtiness of the\nwicked, therefore they seek to break in even into their bedchambers\nand _places of rest,_ and there to discover their errors and\ninfirmities. Solomon forbidding them to do it, showeth it to be their\nmanner to do it.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. Perhaps you will say, had I fallen only once, I would not\nbe much afraid; but I have often fallen before the enemy, and one day\nI must perish. But hear what God says:--The righteous man falls not\nonce or twice, but many times, and still he rises. Your experience of\nformer deliverances should encourage your hopes of new deliverances,\nfor the salvations of the Lord are never exhausted. In six troubles\nHe will deliver, and in seven there shall no evil touch\nyou.--_Lawson._\n\nGod's saints are bound to \"rejoice when they fall into divers\ntemptations.\" What though they _fall_ into them? not go in step by\nstep, but be precipitated, plunged over head and ears. Say they fall\nnot into one, but into many crosses--as they seldom come single--yet\n\"be exceeding glad\" says the apostle, as the merchant is to see his\nships come laden in.--_Trapp._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 17 _and_ 18.\n\nTHE FALL OF AN ENEMY.\n\nJoy at the overthrow of an enemy is a feeling which is natural to an\nunspiritual man, but it is one which is here declared to be\ndispleasing to God. Three reasons suggest themselves why this should\nbe so.\n\n+I. Such an emotion is inconsistent with a man's own well-being and\nhappiness.+ The nature that can be indifferent to the calamities of\nanother, even although that other has been an enemy in the past, is a\nnature destitute of all generosity and nobility. But the heart that\ncan be _glad_ at such an event is altogether possessed with the\nspirit of the devil--the flames of exultation that burn upon such an\naltar have been set on fire of hell. And as God loves the creature\nwhom He at first created in His own image, it displeases Him to see\nhim give place to a feeling so unworthy of his origin, and at the\nsame time so productive of misery to himself. For the so-called joy\nthat arises from such a cause is not only very short-lived, but is\nlike a fire that blazes and burns brightly for a time, and then\nleaves nothing but a heap of ashes behind. The exultation over the\nfall of an enemy soon dies out, and leaves the heart scorched and\ndried by the heat of the unworthy passion.\n\n+II. It is inconsistent with the spirit of brotherhood that God\ndesires to exist among men.+ If there has been a break in the harmony\nof a family, and one member has been at enmity with another, the\noneness of the parentage ought to be sufficient to erase all memory\nof past wrongs when the offender is overtaken by misfortune. Such\nwould be the case where there was any real family affection. God\ndesires all His creatures to recognise a universal brotherhood in\nvirtue of their relation to Him, their common Father. He desires men\nto be ever ready to seek occasions to draw together in unity, and to\navoid all that deepens an opposite feeling. If a man retains his\nenmity against his offending brother when that brother by reason of\nmisfortune might be reconciled to him, he ignores entirely the law of\nbrotherly love which God desires to rule in His human family.\n\n+III. It is inconsistent with a right recognition of our need of\nDivine mercy.+ However much our offending brother may have wronged\nus, the amount of the debt of his trespass against us will bear no\ncomparison to the amount of our indebtedness to God. In sinning\nagainst us he has but wronged an erring human creature like himself,\nand one who has very possibly failed in his duty towards him. But\nwhen we sin against God, we sin against One whose character is\naltogether fitted to win us to obedience, and whose every action in\nrelation to us has been dictated by perfect love. It is only when we\nfail to recognise this truth that an unforgiving spirit can possess\nour hearts, and it is only when such a spirit has full sway that any\nman can exult in the downfall of his enemy.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nFor prevention hereof think thus with thyself: Either I am like mine\nenemy, or else I am better or worse than he. If like him, why may I\nnot look for the like misery? If better, who made me to differ? If\nworse, what reason have I to insult? (See Obadiah 12.)--_Trapp._\n\nSt. Gregory saith it is only the keeping of charity that doth prove\nus to be the disciples of God, and that we have charity is shewn in\ntwo ways, namely, if we love our friends in God, and if we love our\nenemies for God. . . . Because another is an enemy to thee, be not\nthou an enemy to goodness, an enemy to thyself. For he that rejoiceth\nwhen his enemy falleth, doth himself fall much worse, and hath more\ncause to be grieved for his own wretchedness; he that is glad in his\nheart when his enemy stumbleth, stumbleth more dangerously in his own\nheart.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subjects of verses 19 and 20 see verse 1 of\nthis chapter, page 676, and chap. xiii. 9, page 303.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 21 _and_ 22.\n\nRULE AND REVERENCE.\n\n TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Be very careful with the word\n \"niggardly\" because it can sound like a racial slur,\n especially to those who do not know the word or who are not\n paying attention. Consider substituting \"miserly,\"\n \"sparing,\" or \"parsimonious.\"\n\n+I. The rule of some men and the subjection of others is a Divine\nordination.+ God, by creating men with such different gifts and with\npowers of mind and body so unequal, evidently intends that society\nshould not be on a dead level, but that in all communities there\nshould be some recognised head. And the tendency of men in all ages\nto unite under some leader whom they deem worthy to be their head\npoints to an instinct in human nature which we must refer to a Divine\norigin. The law of subjection and dominion has its place in the\nnatural world. The entire solar system is held together by the\nsubjection of the lesser bodies to one which is greater than all, and\nas the planets move in their orbits around the sun they seem like so\nmany obedient subjects doing homage to their monarch, while their\nattendant satellites are in their turn subject to them. And the\nconstant operation of this material law is productive of the most\nbeneficial results. In like manner the observation of some such law\namong free and intelligent creatures is necessary to the order and\nconsequent peace of society.\n\n+II. But the deference of the subject to his earthly ruler must be\nalways subordinate to the will of the Divine ruler of both.+ There\nare cases in which to _\"fear the king,\"_ in the sense of obeying him,\nwould be to dishonour God, and times when he who demands obedience\nrefuses to comply with the Divine demands upon himself. It is obvious\ntherefore that the fear of the earthly king can only be carried so\nfar as is consistent with loyal obedience to the \"King of all the\nkings on the earth.\" The first precept of the wise man in this verse\nadmits of no limitation, but the second must be limited by the first.\nBut those who have been the most faithful servants of God have ever\nbeen most ready to render _\"honour to whom honour is due\"_ (Rom.\nxiii. 7); and when duty has compelled them to disobey their commands\nthey have done so with all due respect for their lawful authority.\nThat fear of God which compels them to disobey unrighteous laws makes\nthem obedient subjects to lawful rule, and constrains them, so far as\nis possible, to live as peaceable citizens.\n\n+III. Therefore the peace of a kingdom and the stability of a throne\nwill be in proportion to the reverence of king and people for the\nDivine Will.+ The fear of God is the great adjusting power in all\nrelations of life. When it governs in the family the parents are\nloved and honoured by the children, and the children's welfare is the\nconstant care of the parents. It is this fear of God alone that can\nsolve the vexed problem of the relations between masters and\nservants, between capital and labour, and between monarchs and\npeople. Where it is wanting there will be a weak rule on the one\nhand, and a niggardly service and a half-hearted obedience on the\nother, and both are responsible for those outbursts of disorder which\ninvolve both in a common calamity.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe connection of the two fears in the passage before us is evidently\nintended to impress the one by the other:--If you fear God, fear the\nking. God, whom you are bound supremely to fear, and whose fear\nshould produce obedience to His Will, has enjoined the fear of\nearthly rulers: so that a failure in the fear due to _them_ becomes a\nviolation of the fear due to _Him._\n\nI need hardly say, that by _the king_ we are to understand the\n_government of the country._ It may be monarchical, or it may not. We\nare by no means to look upon such expressions as this, in Scripture,\nas attaching the authority of inspiration to one form of government\nmore than to another. Respecting the comparative merits of different\nforms, the Word of God should not be regarded as giving any decision,\nwhether for the kingly, the aristocratical, the popular, or the\nmixed. The respect, or fear, is due to _the legislative and executive\npowers,_ of whichsoever description these may be.--_Wardlaw._\n\nSubmission of heart and life to the King Eternal overrides and\ncontrols, yet does not injure a citizen's allegiance to an earthly\nruler. . . . The fear of the Lord must go first, but the fear of the\nking may follow. The supreme does not crush, it protects the\nsubordinate. Although the heart is full of piety, there is plenty of\nroom for patriotism. Nay, more, patriotism nowhere gets full scope\nexcept in a heart that is already pervaded by piety. These elements\nare like the two chief constituent gases of the atmosphere. The space\nwhich envelopes the globe is full of one gas--it is also full of the\nother. To discharge the nitrogen would not make the space capable of\ncontaining more of the oxygen. The absence of the one constituent\ndestroys the quality but does not enlarge the quantity of the other.\nTake away godliness, and your loyalty, without being increased in\namount, is seriously deteriorated in kind. Take away loyalty, and you\nrun great risk of spoiling the purity of the remanent godliness.\nGod's works are all good--His combinations are all beneficial. If we\nattempt to mend, we shall certainly mar them. . . . Go forward in\nyour allegiance to \"the powers that be,\" not until you think you have\ngone far enough, but until you come upon the law of God, claiming the\nspace in front for Himself, and absolutely forbidding your advance.\nGo forward with the fear of the king, unless and until the fear of\nthe Lord cross your path like a wall. . . . No feasible rule can be\nlaid down except what the Scriptures contain. Let any man try to\nwrite down a scale showing when and where private persons may\nlawfully resist public authority, and he will soon be convinced that\nthe case is hopeless. Every attempt to define the liberty of\nrebellion will be found to open a door to anarchy. In point of fact,\nvery little of the liberty that now exists in the world has been\nachieved by violent resistance to governments because of oppression\nin temporal things.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 23-26.\n\nIMPARTIALITY OF TRUTH.\n\n+I. Two blessings to society.+ While there is nothing that more\ncertainly undermines the moral tone of any community than that\n\"respect of persons\" which the Bible so emphatically and constantly\ncondemns (Lev. xix. 15; Jas. ii. 1), there is no person who more\ncontributes to the welfare of society, and contributes more to its\nwell-being than the man who judges all men by the same standard,\nviz., their character. It is especially indispensable that those who\nare set apart to administer the laws of the land should be men above\nall suspicion of partiality. For, wherever there is a code of law, it\nis a testimony to that inborn sense of justice which is more or less\nactive in every human being; and although it may sometimes be but an\nimperfect attempt to render to every man his right, if it is\nadministered by men of integrity it is one of the greatest bulwarks\nof national prosperity and security. It may well be a matter of\nthankfulness to every Englishman that the judicial bench of this land\noccupies the high position that it does in this respect as in all\nothers, and that the days when men thought it possible to use\nunlawful influences with an English judge have passed away. But to\nwhat do we owe this blessing, if not to the greater hold which the\nprinciples of the Bible has upon our national life? But Solomon\nbrings before us another character which is as necessary to a\nnation's moral health, which is, perhaps, rarer than the first, but\nwhich might and ought to belong to every man. Those who are called to\nsit in judgment are the few, but those who in various ways are called\nto bear witness concerning persons and things, are the many. And some\nwho would deem it a crime to have respect of persons in judgment, do\nnot realise how much the cause of truth and righteousness would be\nfurthered if men, in their every-day intercourse, would give a \"right\nor straightforward answer\" (see rendering in Critical Notes) to the\nquestions put to them. If it was the habit of merchants and\nstatesmen, of masters and servants, in the market and in the social\ncircle, to speak the \"truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the\ntruth,\" how much purer would be the moral atmosphere which we\nbreathe, and how much more nearly would society on earth be like that\nof heaven.\n\n+II. The recognition which such characters receive from their\nfellow-men.+ In a world where the unrighteous far outnumber the\nrighteous, and where most men are but half loyal to truth, it is\nremarkable that it should be so. But history in general and\nindividual experience in particular bears witness that Solomon was\nright. Even unrighteous men cannot help admiring a just and truthful\nman, and their consciences and their experience combine to testify\nthat they themselves have more to hope from those who are morally\nabove them than from those who are on a level with themselves. It is\nprobable that both moral sense and self-interest combine to bring\npeople as a whole to bless him who rebukes the wicked and to \"kiss\nhis lips\" who giveth a right answer.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 26. The meaning of that ceremony of kissing him that was\nanointed to be king, St. Gregory giveth to be this, that it was to\nteach him that was so kissed that God hath brought him to that\ndignity to the end that he might make peace between God and his\npeople that were under him, whereof a kiss is a sign and pledge. For\nby sinning we procure the enmity of God, when therefore a ruler is\nset up for the correction of sinners, thereby is taken away that\nwhich made us enemies to God. If, therefore, we read this verse as\nthe English doth, we may understand it that everyone may acknowledge\nhim to be a peacemaker between God and them, who by _right_ judgment\npunisheth the wicked.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nPLAN AND PATIENCE.\n\n+I. Here is a lesson in working with method.+ In all undertakings it\nis necessary to consider what is the most important and indispensable\nelement of success, and to make sure of that first. In the building\nof a house in the literal sense, the first thing to be done is to\nhave a well-considered plan, and to gather and prepare suitable and\nsufficient materials. If, when the building is half finished, it is\nfound that some great difficulty has been overlooked, or that the\nmaterials and the means to procure them are inadequate, failure and\ndisgrace are the result, and all the time and money hitherto spent\nupon the work is thrown away. So in any other undertaking. If a man\ndesires a certain position in life for which special qualifications\nare needed, he must first endeavour to know exactly what the\nrequirements are, and then make sure that he is able to fulfil them.\nIf he makes a start without well considering these things he may\nwaste much precious time and energy, and ruin his prospects for life.\nThe same principle may be applied to any philanthropic enterprise.\nThese often fail, because they are entered upon without any just\nconception of the difficulties to be encountered, or of the resources\nwhich will be required to carry them on to a successful issue.\n\n+II. A lesson in working with patience.+ The proverb seems to warn\nmen not to be in too great a hurry to realise the fulfilment of their\ndesires; not to be impatient to reap the harvest before the crop has\nhad time to ripen. Men are sometimes so eager to obtain a certain\ngood which to them appears desirable that they make a desperate and\nreckless attempt to gain it by some other road than that of patient\nperseverance. A man makes up his mind that he must live in a certain\nstyle, and keep up a certain appearance before the world, and he sets\nout to build a stately mansion without waiting until he has acquired\nthe means whereby he can do it honestly. Men often desire to be at\nthe beginning of their career where they can be only after days and\nyears of toil, and if they act under the inspiration of this spirit\nof impatience they often most effectually shut themselves out\nentirely from the realisation of their desires.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis wisdom the very little bees do practise and show us, who first\nget honey and bring it into their hives, and afterwards make their\nseats and honeycombs. Against this rule here set down divers sorts of\npeople offend, yea, all that take a preposterous course, whether in\nthe matters of this life, or in those things that are spiritual. Some\nenter into the state of marriage before either they have wit, or have\nprovided and gotten by their labour sufficient food or wealth to\nmaintain them. Others lay out much on banquets, buildings, pastimes,\nor apparel, before they have a good stock or large comings in. Others\nmeddle with hard points of controversy before they have learned the\nplain principles of religion. Others first and especially seek after\nthe goods of this world, and, in the second place, at their leisure,\nand very slowly, they follow after the kingdom of God.--_Muffet._\n\nPossibly a spiritual meaning here, as elsewhere, lies beneath the\nprudential maxim. The \"field\" may be the man's outer common work, the\n\"house\" the dwelling-place of his higher life. He must do the former\nfaithfully in order to attain the latter.--_Plumptre._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 28 _and_ 29.\n\nAN UNCALLED-FOR TESTIMONY.\n\n+I. There are times and circumstances in which it is our duty to\nwitness against our neighbour.+ When the interests of right and truth\nare at stake, it is wrong for any man to be silent when by declaring\nwhat he knows, he could establish those interests, even although by\nso doing he brings punishment upon a fellow-man. It is often\nindispensable to the safety of innocent people that the wrong-doer\nshould be exposed and brought to justice, and every man in such a\ncase is not only blameless when he witnesses against such a\n_\"neighbour,\"_ but blameworthy when he does not do so. This is not\nwitnessing against him \"without cause,\" for there is a good and\nsufficient reason for the action.\n\n+II. Such witness-bearing is of quite a different character from that\nwhich springs from malice.+ There are men in society who seem to live\nlike beasts of prey. As the lion or the tiger is ever watching his\nopportunity to spring upon some defenceless creature at an unguarded\nmoment, so these men seem to make it their business to watch their\nfellow-creatures for opportunities to injure their reputation and\nmangle their character. And in a world of faulty human beings, it is\nnot difficult for such men to find food for their malicious\nappetites, without transgressing the limits of truth. In most men\nthere is enough imperfection, and in many of actual sin, to render it\neasy to make out a case against them. But if no actual good can come\nto anybody by exposing their failings, much harm will come to the man\nwho thus bears witness against them without a cause. The evil\ntendencies of his own evil nature will be strengthened by the act,\nand he will be exposing himself to the danger of having a causeless\ntestimony borne against himself in his turn.\n\n+III. There are circumstances in which there is a strong temptation\nto bear a causeless testimony.+ It is against this temptation that\nthe proverb is especially directed. When a man has spoken evil of us\nwithout cause, when he has made public some hidden infirmity, or some\nsecret fall, there is a great temptation to retaliate if opportunity\noffers--to tell what we know about him that will lower him in the\nestimation of his fellow-men. But this temptation must be resisted,\nboth for our own sake and for his, and for this reason among others,\nthat we are in the worst possible condition for bearing a truthful\ntestimony. A man under the influence of intoxicating drink would be\naltogether unfit to bear witness for or against another. But the\npassion of revenge is as intoxicating to the human soul as the most\npotent liquor is to the human brain. It distorts the judgment, and\ndethrones the reason, and tramples under foot all the noblest\nemotions of our nature. A man under its sway would be very unlikely\nto be just to the object to whom he sought to return evil for evil;\nnay, he would be unable to confine himself within the limits of\nstrict truth and pure justice. And, therefore, one who has wronged us\nis the man above all other men of whose faults we should never speak,\nunless there is an overwhelming moral necessity for it.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 28. _\"And mayhap, deceive with thy lips.\"_ This is expressed by\na little participle before the verb. It helps in the ancillary\nthought, that not only is speaking evil wicked if it can do no good,\nbut also it may prove actually unjust. All statement has a hazard of\nmistake. If it can do some good, we may risk something so as to\n_witness;_ but if there can be no good, we should risk\nnothing.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 29. It is a great wickedness, when God is made a pattern for\nwickedness; and it is a strong temptation to wickedness, when the\nexample of the Lord seemeth to countenance that which is proposed to\nbe done. It is therefore against this that the wise man adviseth in\nthis verse. For though God say, I will render to everyone according\nto his works, thou mayest not say, I will render to the man according\nto his works. God speaketh as a Judge to whom it belongeth to\nconsider the works of everyone, and accordingly to reward them; but\nno man may be a judge in his own cause, no particular man may do that\nfor himself which a judge may do for him. Wherefore it is a bad\nimitation thus to imitate the Lord, for we are not to do all things\nthat the Lord doth, but all things that the Lord commandeth us to\ndo.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 30-34.\n\nTHE SLUGGARD'S VINEYARD.\n\n+I. We have here a precious possession in the hands of an unworthy\nproprietor.+ A vineyard is not a heritage of little or no value--if\nrightly cared for and cultivated it will yield to its owners the\nmeans of obtaining an honest living, and, it may be, put him in\npossession of wealth. Many a toiling, struggling man without an inch\nof ground on God's earth to call his own would feel as if he had\nnothing left to desire if he had such a barrier between himself and\npoverty, and would joyfully toil from dawn to sunset to make the best\nof that which God's providence had entrusted to him. But here is\nproperty which would be prized and cultivated by many in the hands of\none who neglects and wastes it. The picture of our text is a\nparabolic representation of what is before our eyes every day. A\nvineyard of bodily strength is given to a man who by dissipation\nbreaks down its wall and invites disease to enter. A vineyard of\nopportunities is inherited by a slothful youth who is too indolent\nand careless to improve them. The vineyard of a vast fortune or of a\nposition of great influence is entrusted to one who is \"void of\nunderstanding\"--who does not realise his responsibility to God or to\nmen.\n\n+II. We have man, by neglecting to use God's gifts, limiting God's\npower to bless him.+ It was God's purpose that this vineyard should\nbring forth better things than thorns and nettles. He desired to see\nit covered with choice vines, whose branches should be loaded with\nclusters of refreshing fruit. But this could not be unless man would\nbe a co-worker with Him. God did His part. The rain watered the soil,\nthe sun shone upon it, but man refused to dig and plant, to weed and\ncultivate. And by withholding his power to labour he limited God's\npower to bless. Men do the same in other fields of labour, and in\nconnection with the other opportunities of receiving the Divine\nblessing. Many good gifts come alike to the slothful and to the\nindustrious man--to him who diligently \"keeps\" his vineyard and to\nhim who neglects it. God makes His sun to shine, and sends His rain\nupon the fields of both. But in the one case sun and rain find a soil\nprepared to receive the full benefit of the blessings they can give,\nand in the other they can only strengthen the hold of the weeds upon\nthe earth, and to increase the unfruitfulness of the vineyard. So men\noften limit God's power to bless them by His providence.\nOpportunities are given to them of bringing great blessings upon\nthemselves or upon others, but only on condition that they labour\nearnestly and diligently at some work which God gives them to do.\nThey may be called only to the special cultivation of their own\nintellectual and spiritual powers, or they may also be in a position\nto transform others from weeds in the social and moral vineyard into\nplants of beauty and trees yielding fruit. But whether the field open\nto them is a wide one, or comparatively narrow, all God's willingness\nto give the increase will be of no avail if they refuse to till the\nground and sow the seed.\n\n+III. We have a swift and sure-footed avenger advancing to awaken the\nslothful sleeper.+ That slumber, though long and deep, will not go on\nfor ever. It would indeed be unjust to the active and industrious man\nif the slothful never felt the consequences of his indolence. But\nthis would be contrary to the laws by which God governs the world.\nOne of these laws is, that bodily want, or intellectual or spiritual\nbeggary, will in due time overtake him who neglects to exercise the\nfaculties and capabilities which God has given him to enrich every\npart of his nature.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis is a picture of sloth. At the same time it is a picture of sloth\nunder attacks upon our faith. The world moves on, and, in our\nlaziness, our garden gets all choked with new dogmas against the\nGospel. The writer has already said that we are not to yield to\n\"them that are given to change\" (verse 21). He has also said that we\nare not to answer them with deceit (verse 28): and, now, what\nremains? Why, that we baffle them, that we work as hard as they do. I\nknow no proverb more useful for the men of our times. We lie upon our\nlees till we think philosophy a sort of wickedness; till we think\nquiet under its advances a sort of Christian faith. We let science\nwork on, till, by sap and mine, it is near our citadel. Great bodies\nof learned work are built up while the Church sleeps. If she fights,\nit is with a sort of chicane, with the gongs and bright paper, like a\nChinese troop; when duty plainly is, to work up abreast of science.\nIf the Church has more light, she must expect more contest. If she\nhas better arms, she must expect more battles; with more mind, of\ncourse more to oppose; otherwise she has less to do than less capable\nbelievers. The world's science must be met by the Church's science,\nand new, sturdy brambles in her prolific fields must be ploughed\nunder by improved implements. Otherwise, old-time arguments, and a\nsort of a chicane of a retort; responses like those of women, rather\nintended to say _No_ than to be an actual reply, become indicative of\na sluggard-Church, and of a garden cumbered like that before us.\n_Slothful,_ literally _sluggard man._ Man is here the better _sort of\nman_ (see Miller's comment of verse 5); in the last clause it is _\"a\ncommon man.\"_ The first has a _field,_ the second a _vineyard._ All\nclasses of men are bound to read up and get rid of occasions for\ncavil. . . . _\"The wall;\"_ necessary to keep a church at all. Let\nscientists trample in upon the vineyard with nothing but a few old\nclothes to scare them, and presently we will have no Church whatever.\nNot _\"stone wall\"_ (E. V.), but _\"the wall, as to its stones,\"\n\"pulled down.\"_ It will not slowly crumble, but interested parties\nwill help it when it begins to totter. _\"I saw, or looked.\"_ Seeing\nsuch things requires an effort. Not the slothful man's business\nalone! but mine! I am sufficiently like him. A vineyard with\nbrambles, like that of Geneva, or England, or that of the\ncis-Atlantic Socinian States, is a picture for all mankind. . . .\n_\"Come, etc.,\" \"sauntering along.\"_ Hithpael of walk. _\"Armed man.\"_\nBoth these descriptions mean (1) _slowness,_ and (2) _certainty;_\n(1) unobserved ease of gait; but (2) doomlike certainty in coming. A\nChurch that enjoys her ease may super-eminently prosper. Her foe may\nbe behind the hill, and her doom may be sauntering noiselessly up,\nbut their coming is as certain as the dawn. . . . A \"little sleep\"\nmore, and the thing has been actually achieved.--_Miller._\n\nLet _us_ learn from the scene described: 1. How _gradual_ may be the\napproaches of the evils of sloth, while, at the same time, they are\n_irresistible_ in the end. This is the lesson of the thirty-fourth\nverse. The traveller approaches by degrees. When comparatively at a\ndistance, he appears harmless; but, when he has advanced a certain\nlength, he is discovered to be _\"an armed man,\"_--all resistance to\nwhom is too late, and consequently vain. Famine, though gaunt, is\nirresistibly mighty. Who can stand before it? Not the man of habitual\nsloth. The very habit has the more thoroughly incapacitated him for\nplucking up any spirit to ward off the final ravages of the frightful\nenemy. He succumbs, sinks and dies.--2. Our souls are committed by\nGod to our own spiritual cultivation. This is no sinecure. They will\nnot thrive themselves. If we would have them \"as a watered garden,\nand as a field which the Lord hath blessed,\" we must apply spiritual\nactivity and labour, to stock them with the appropriate graces,\naffections, and virtues, and to promote the growth and productiveness\nof them all. We must sow the seed, and seek by prayer the showers of\nthe Divine blessing--the promised influences of the Divine Spirit. We\nmust watch over the germination, the springing, the growth, and the\nfructifying of the seed. Without this all will be stunted and\nsterile. The noxious and unsightly weeds of sin will spring and\nluxuriate, and overspread the soil; all growing that ought not to\ngrow, and nothing growing that should. Let parents apply the\nprinciple to the spiritual instruction of their children. Your\nfamilies are as vineyards committed to your care and culture. Imagine\nnot that, when left to themselves, they will spontaneously yield good\nfruit. The experience of all generations reads you an opposite\nlesson. You must enclose; you must dig, and sow, and water, and\nwatch, and protect the springing blade, till it comes to the ear, and\nthe full corn in the ear. You must train from their earliest germs\nyour tender plants, and guard, and support, and prune them, and clear\nand manure the soil around them. The incessant care of both parents\nmust be bestowed upon this; and all little enough. They must look for\nthe help and for the blessing of God. O see to it, that the verses\nbefore us be not a just description of any of your families--from\nyour parental negligence, indifference, and sloth. Let every family\nbe as a sacred enclosure for God; fenced in from the blasts and\nblights of the world, where the \"plants of his right hand's planting\"\nare reared from the seed, for future productiveness.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 32. The owner did nothing for the farm, and the farm did\nnothing for the owner. But even this neglected spot did something for\nthe passing wayfarer, who had an observant eye and a thoughtful mind.\nEven the sluggard's garden brought forth fruit, but not for the\nsluggard's benefit. The diligent man reaped, and carried off the only\nharvest that it bore--a warning. The owner received nothing from it;\nand the onlooker \"received instruction.\". . . People complain that\nthey have few opportunities and means of instruction. Here is one\nschool open to all. Here is a schoolmaster who charges no fee. If we\nare ourselves diligent, we may gather riches even in a sluggard's\ngarden. He who knows how to turn the folly of his neighbours into\nwisdom for himself, cannot excuse defective attainments by alleging a\nscarcity of the raw material.--_Arnot._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nWith this chapter begins the fourth main division of this book,\nconsisting, as its introductory words inform us, of sayings and\nperhaps writings of Solomon, which were placed together in their\npresent form by men appointed to the work by King Hezekiah. Z\u00f6ckler\nremarks that \"while the first and larger section of the book purports\nto be essentially a book for youth, this is evidently a book for the\npeople, a treasury of proverbial wisdom for kings and subjects--as is\nindicated by the first introductory proverb. . . . Whether as the\nsource from which the transfer or compilation of the following\nproverbs was made, we are to think simply of one book or of several\nbooks, so that the transfer would be the purely literary labour of\nexcerpting, a transcribing or collecting by copying; or whether we\nhave to consider as the source simply the oral transmission of\nancient proverbs of wise men by the mouth of the people, must remain\ndoubtful. It is, perhaps, most probable that both the written and the\noral tradition were alike sifted for the subjects of the collection.\"\n(_Z\u00f6ckler,_ in Lange's Commentary.)\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Copied out,+ rather _\"collected.\"_ See the\nremarks above. +2. Honour,+ rather _\"glory,\"_ as in the first clause.\n+3.+ The word _is_ should be omitted; unsearchable applies equally to\nthe three subjects of the sentence. +4. The finer,+ rather the\n_\"founder,\"_ or _\"goldsmith.\"_ +6. Put not forth,+ literally _\"bring\nnot thy glory to view, do not display thyself.\"_ +7. Whom thine eyes\nhave seen.+ There is some difference of opinion as to the person to\nwhom this sentence refers. Fleischer understands it as referring to\nthe king, and to the additional humiliation felt when it comes upon\none who has pressed so far forward that he can be perceived by the\nking. Delitzsch refers it not specially to the king, but to \"any\ndistinguished personage whose place he who has pressed forward has\ntaken up, and from which he must now withdraw when the right\npossessor of it comes and lays claim to his place. . . . Thine eyes\nhave seen him in the company, and thou canst say to thyself, this\nplace belongs to him, according to his rank, and not to thee; the\nhumiliation which thou endurest is thus well deserved, because, with\neyes to see, thou wert so blind.\" (Delitzsch.) +8. Lest thou know\nnot,+ etc. As will be seen from the Italics in the English version,\nthis sentence is very elliptical. Z\u00f6ckler reads, _\"lest_ (it be said\nto thee) _what wilt thou do,\"_ etc. Delitzsch, _\"That it may not be\nsaid,\"_ etc. Miller, _\"Lest what thou doest, in its after\nconsequence, by thy neighbour putting thee to shame.\"_ +9. A secret\nto another.+ Rather _\"The secret of another.\"_ +11. Pictures of\nsilver.+ Literally _\"sculpture,\"_ or _\"figures\"_ of silver. Delitzsch\ntranslates _\"salvers,\"_ Z\u00f6ckler _\"framework.\"_ Stuart says, _\"The\nidea is that of a garment of precious stuff, on which is embroidered\ngolden apples among picture-work of silver. Costly and precious was\nsuch a garment held to be; for, besides the ornaments upon it, the\nmaterial itself was of high value.\"_ +Fitly spoken.+ Literally,\n_\"in,_ or _upon its time.\"_ +12. An obedient ear.+ Literally _\"an ear\nthat heareth.\"_ +13. The cold of snow,+ etc. _\"The coolness of snow\nis not that of a fall of snow, which in the time of harvest would be\na calamity, but of drink cooled with snow, which was brought from\nLebanon, or elsewhere, from the clefts of the rocks; the peasants of\nDamascus store up the winter's snow in a cleft of the mountain, and\nconvey it in the warm months to Damascus and the coast towns.\"_\n(Delitzsch.) +14. A false gift.+ This gift is generally understood to\nbe one bestowed by the boaster, but which is worth nothing, or the\nmere promise of a gift which is never fulfilled. +15. Prince.+ Rather\n_\"Judge.\"_ +16. Filled.+ Rather _\"Surfeited.\"_ +17. Withdraw.+ Rather\n_\"Make rare.\"_ +18. A maul.+ An instrument or weapon shod with iron,\nprobably a war-club. +19. Foot out of joint.+ Rather _\"An unsteady\nfoot.\"_ +20. Nitre.+ _\"Not the substance we now understand by\nnitre--i.e., nitrate of potassa (saltpetre), but the natron or native\ncarbonate of soda of modern chemistry.\"_ (Smith's Dictionary.) The\ncombination of the acid and alkali would, of course, produce\neffervescence. +23. Driveth away.+ Rather _\"Brings forward the\nrain-clouds.\"_ Most modern commentators adopt this rendering of this\nverb, and read the latter phrase to suit the metaphor--_\"So a secret\nor slanderous tongue, a troubled countenance.\"_ +26. Falling\ndown+--_i.e., \"yielding\"_ or _\"wavering.\"_ +Corrupt.+ Rather\n_\"Ruined.\"_ +27.+ The last phrase in this verse is variously\nrendered. The words _is not_ are not in the Hebrew. Stuart reads,\n_\"Searching after one's own glory is burdensome\"--i.e.,_ Honour, like\nhoney, is good only when sought in moderation. Z\u00f6ckler renders _\"To\nsearch out the difficulty, brings difficulty\"--i.e.,_ \"Too strenuous\noccupation of the mind with difficult things is injurious.\" Delitzsch\ntranslates:--_\"But, as an inquirer, to enter on what is difficult is\nhonour\"--i.e.,_ To overdo oneself in eating honey is not good, but\nthe searching into difficult things is nothing less than an eating of\nhoney, but an honour. The word translated _glory_ is literally\n_weight,_ and is often used to mean excellence and honour. But it\nwill bear the opposite meaning of a burden or difficulty.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.\n\nGOD'S MYSTERIES AND MAN'S RESEARCH.\n\n+I. There is much connected with God's nature and with His government\nthat will never be revealed to man in his present state.+ This is in\naccordance with the greatness of God and the littleness of man in\ncomparison with Him. There are many things connected with God which\nman in his present state could not comprehend, and there are others\nwhich he might comprehend, but of which it is better he should remain\nin ignorance. The parent conceals many things from a child because\nthe concealment is more consistent with a wise training than the\nrevelation of them would be. Some of them the child could not\nunderstand, and others it is better that he should not know until he\nattain to riper years. When he has become a man he will adore the\nwisdom of his parent in thus withholding from him what he did. God,\nas the infinitely wise Parent and Trainer of human creatures, often\ndoubtless conceals much from us for similar reasons, and we shall one\nday see that the concealment was to the glory of His gracious\ncharacter. When a physician is called to treat a man whose life is\nhanging upon a thread, he is not expected to enter into an\nexplanation of the nature of the remedies he uses or to give a reason\nfor all the treatment he prescribes. Such an explanation would be\nunworthy of the dignity of his profession and hurtful to his patient.\nConcealment is often an essential and necessary part of his plan, and\nwhen the sick man is restored to health he acknowledges that it was\nto the glory of his healer that he kept him for a time in ignorance.\nGod is the great Physician and Healer of human souls, and it would\nneither befit His majesty nor further His purposes of mercy to reveal\nthe reasons of all He does to His fallen creatures. When they have\nattained to perfect moral health they will give glory to Him for all\nthat He concealed as well as for all that He revealed.\n\n+II. But there is much that is hidden that will be revealed to the\ndiligent seeker.+ If it is God's prerogative and a part of His Divine\nplan to conceal much from man, it is His purpose and desire to reveal\nmuch to him if he will only seek after it. How many of God's\noperations in nature are full of mystery to one who only looks upon\nthe surface of things, but how far diligent and earnest searchers\nhave penetrated into the secret workings of the Divine wisdom in this\ndirection. Although there is much hidden from them, still there is\nmuch that was once a mystery that is now made plain. And it is\ndoubtless the same also in relation to God's working in higher\nregions--in His dealings in providence and in His plan of redemption.\nAlthough there is much here that must remain a mystery to the human\nmind, he who diligently and reverently seeks to know the mind and\npurpose of God in relation to these things will not lose the reward.\n\n+III. While then, it is God's prerogative to determine what He will\nreveal to+ +man it is man's glory and duty to be ever seeking to know\nmore of God's ways and works.+ The third verse seems to institute a\ncomparison between the Divine and human rulers. These latter have\ntheir state secrets--sometimes for arbitrary purposes and in other\ncases from necessity they conceal their plans until their ends are\naccomplished. If the government is a despotic one this secrecy is to\nbe feared and deprecated; if, on the other hand, the ruler or rulers\nare merciful and just their subjects may safely trust them when their\nplans of action are for a time hidden. But however it may be with\nhuman kings, there is no questioning the right of the King of Kings\nto hide what He pleases from His creatures, and no reason for His\ncreatures to doubt either His wisdom or His love in so doing. But man\nhas a duty to perform in relation to this concealment. His Maker and\nhis Ruler does not desire to see him sit down in indolent\nindifference, making no effort to penetrate the secrets of the world\naround him, or to apprehend in some degree some of the deep things of\nGod's \"unsearchable dealings\" (Rom. xi. 33). The veil seems to have\nbeen cast over some of these problems for the very purpose of\nstimulating man to search and to test the depth of his interest in\nthem. While, then, the pursuit of knowledge of any kind is good,\nthere is none so elevating, none that brings so rich a reward, and\nnone that man is so bound to follow after, as the knowledge of God in\nHis works of creation, and providence, and redemption. Solomon, as\nthe greatest monarch of his day, counted this his first duty and his\nhighest glory, and there have been many uncrowned kings in all ages\nof the world who have set this before them as the aim and end of\ntheir life, and in so doing have set a diadem upon their own brows\nand have won the homage and love of multitudes of their race.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerses 1 and 2. It was a good saying of a pious divine, \"Lord\npreserve us from a comprehensible God.\" It is our duty to venerate\nand wonder, and not to pry with curious eyes into the secrets of God.\nThe history of the fall is an everlasting warning to the sons of Adam\nto prefer the tree of life to the tree of knowledge.--_Lawson._\n\n1. Taking it in contrast with the latter part of the verse--\"but the\nhonour of kings is to _search out a matter,\"_--there is implied the\nidea that the Divine knowledge is universal, perfect, and free from\neverything of the nature of inquiry, investigation, effort, in the\nacquisition. His acquaintance with all things is, in the strictest\nsense, _intuitive,_ and, in the strictest sense, _complete._ He\nrequires no _\"searching out\"_ in order to discover anything; nor is\nit possible to make any addition to His knowledge. The past, the\npresent, and the future are alike before His all-comprehensive mind.\nHe sees all the present. He remembers all the past. He _foresees_ all\nthe future. His knowledge is \"light without any darkness at all;\" and\nit is light that is equally clear through the immensity of the\nuniverse, and through all time and all eternity! 2. The language\nimplies God's entire _independence and supremacy,_ as a part of His\nglory. He \"giveth not account of any of his matters,\" further than,\nin sovereignty, He sees meet to do. He conceals when He\npleases:--\"Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His\ncounsellor?\" and who can demand the disclosure of any one of the\nsecrets of the infinite and independent Mind? 3. The _impenetrable\ndepth_ of His counsels is a part of God's glory. His \"judgments are a\ngreat deep.\" What line of created wisdom can fathom them?--\n\n \"Not angels, that stand round his throne,\n Can search His secret will!\"\n\n\"Canst thou, by searching, find out God? canst thou find out the\nAlmighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do?\ndeeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer\nthan the earth, and broader than the sea.\" \"O the depth of the\nriches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His\njudgments, and His ways past finding out!\" This is fitted to inspire\nus, His intelligent creatures, with \"reverence and godly fear.\" In\nthe sovereign secrecy, the unapproachable reservation, the\nunfathomable mysteriousness of the Divine counsels--in the very\nrequirement that we humbly bow, in adoring submission, where we\ncannot comprehend, without asking a question, or urging a further\ndisclosure:--in all this, there is something that gives the Creator\nHis proper place. There is in it a sacredness, and awfulness, that\nmakes us feel, as we ought to do, our infinite distance. This is\nGod's glory.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 3. There is no searching the height or the depth of the King's\nheart, any more than the height of heaven, or the depth of the earth,\n(which in those unastronomic days meant blankly not at all). Give God\na universe to rule; and what He must do in that great compass, as a\nKing, is quite unsearchable.--_Miller._\n\n\nFor Homiletics of verses 4 and 5 see on chap. xx. 26 and 28, page 596.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 6 _and_ 7.\n\nSELF-PROMOTION.\n\n+I. A wise man will let others judge of his qualifications for a high\nplace or position.+ Men who consult their happiness and reputation\nare not so anxious to rise in the world as they are to qualify\nthemselves for rising. A wise man knows well that it is not merely\nthe position he occupies which raises him in the estimation of\nothers, but the ability which he shows to fill the post, and the\nfitness which men recognise as existing between him and his high\nplace. He has no desire to step into a position which he could not\nfill with some credit to himself and advantage to others, knowing\nwell that he would then be like the jackdaw in the peacock's borrowed\nplumes, an object of derision to all beholders. He would rather\noccupy a low place with abilities to fill a higher, than be in one\nwhich was above his abilities, and he therefore gladly leaves the\nquestion of his social advancement in the hands of others.\n\n+II. Self-promotion is not likely to result in satisfaction to the\nonly actor in the transaction.+ 1. _It is generally short-lived._ If\na man is really fit for advancement, some one or some number of\npeople are generally to be found to say to him, \"Friend, go up\nhigher.\" The interests of men in general, are concerned in having the\nbest men in the foremost places; and such men, in the end, are\ngenerally placed in them by common consent. But when a man without\nthis call steps into a place of honour, it is very common for others\nto resent his self-conceit, and to call upon him to give place to a\nmore worthy person. And so his self-constituted triumph is soon over.\n2. _It often ends in humiliation._ It is hard to be obliged to take a\nlower place under any circumstances, but when we are thus retracing\nsteps which our self-esteem alone prompted us to take, the chagrin is\ngreat indeed. And as the ascent in such a case is generally made\nbefore the eyes of many onlookers, so the descent will be equally\npublic, and this adds much to the disappointment and the shame.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAmbition is to the mind what the cap is to the falcon, it first\nblinds us, and then compels us to lower by reason of our\nblindness.--_E. Cook._\n\nNow, it is not a little said in praise of him to whom it is said,\n\"Come up higher.\" For, first, it showeth his modest humility, which\nis the praise of all other virtues. Secondly, it showeth the worth of\nhis quality, which deserveth advancement. Thirdly, it showeth that to\nbe due unto him which is bestowed upon him. On the other side, it is\nnot a little reproach unto him that is put lower. For, first, his\npride is objected to him; the overthrow of all that is praiseworthy.\nSecondly, his unworthiness is rejected with an upbraiding of it.\nThirdly, the due punishment of being placed lower is justly\ninflicted. . . . And as if he were one unworthy for the prince to\nlook upon, it is not said, _by whom thou art seen,_ but _whom thine\neyes have seen,_ as noting also the proud presumption of the unworthy\nintruder.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 8-11.\n\nTWO WAYS OF TREATING AN ENEMY.\n\nIt us undoubtedly helpful, and sometimes indispensable, that a man\nwho has been wronged by another should seek redress from the\noffending person. These verses seem to refer to an injury done to\ncharacter and reputation, and seeing that these are a man's most\nprecious possessions, he has certainly as much right to seek\nrestitution from him who has sought to rob him of this wealth, as he\nhas to try and capture the thief who has stolen his money or his\nplate, and make him give back his unlawful gain. Solomon does not\ncondemn all interference with a neighbour who puts us _\"to shame,\"_\nbut sets before us two opposite courses of action, either of which\nmay be taken in such a case. He gives the consequences of both.\n\n+I. There is the way of inconsiderate passion.+ This is a bad way,\nbecause--1. _It may lead us to overstep the bounds of right and\njustice._ A man under the power of anger has no ear open to the\ncounsels of reason and prudence, and under such an influence he will\nvery likely become as great an offender against his neighbour as his\nneighbour was against him. He in his turn may become a slanderer and\na betrayer of secrets (verse 9), and so lose all hold on his\nopponent; and even be put to shame by the very person whom he\nintended to bring to shame. He is like a blindfolded man who rushes\nhastily down a steep path without considering what will be the end of\nso mad an act. 2. _It is the least likely way to convince the\noffender of his fault._ Words of angry recrimination, or deeds which\nsavour of the spirit of revenge, will almost certainly make an enemy\ntenfold more of an enemy. If he disliked us before without any\nreason, his dislike will now have some foundation to rest upon, and\nthe gulf of separation will be widened instead of bridged over. The\nend to be aimed at when a brother man has trespassed against us is\nclearly defined by Christ. We are to try to _\"gain our brother\"_\n(Matt. xviii. 15), that is, we are to try and win his esteem and\nlove. This can never be done if we \"go forth hastily to strive.\" But--\n\n+II. There is the way of personal and wise remonstrance.+ 1. _The\ncomplaint of our wrongs is to be made first to the person offending._\nHere the teaching of the wise man and the \"greater than Solomon\" are\nidentical. _\"If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him\nhis fault between thee and him alone\"_ (Matt xviii. 15). To speak of\nit to a third person is to expose our neighbour unnecessarily, and,\nperhaps, to blacken his character far beyond his deserts. For,\nalthough we may give a plain unvarnished tale of his offence, he to\nwhom we give it may colour it when he repeats it to another, and so\nwhat was but a molehill at the first may grow into a mountain before\nlong. But if we go directly to the transgressor himself, we make it\nplain to him that we have no desire to make him suffer for his\noffence, and only ask him to deal with us in the same spirit of\nbrotherly love in which we deal with him. Our willingness to cover\nhis fault will go a long way towards persuading him to confess and\nforsake it. 2. _We are to reason and persuade rather than to\nupbraid._ The discourse is to take the form of a calm debate. We are\nto ask for the grounds of his attack upon us, and not to be too proud\nto enter into explanations of any act that he may have misconstrued.\nWe are to try and convince him of the harm he will do to himself if\nhe persist in trying to injure another, and we are to seek to clothe\nall our arguments and entreaties in language which is the least\nlikely to offend and most calculated to win. Such words are compared\nby Solomon to a beautiful work of art which is precious and admirable\nnot only for the skill displayed in the workmanship, but for the\ncostly nature of the material out of which it is fashioned. (See\nCritical Notes on verse 11.) It may be a robe of costly material\nembroidered with gold and silver, or it may be a basket of wrought\nsilver holding fruits of gold, but whatever the exact form of the\nproduction, it reveals skilful design on the part of the artist, and\nbears witness to his painstaking skill. A carefully framed appeal to\nlay before an offending brother is a work of art in a higher\nsphere--it calls forth all the tact and wisdom that we possess to\nfashion such a garment--to carve such a piece of work, but it is\nworth all the labour and pains that can be spent upon it, and will\nbring to its author the goodwill of others and the approval of his\nown conscience.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 8. For the sake of illustration, to suppose two or three\nvarieties of this result:--1. The _hasty_ man meets his supposed\nadversary,--some word or act of whom has just reached him. He is all\nfull of the fuming pride of offended self-consequence; very big; very\nwrathful. In this spirit he makes his charge, and finds it is a mere\nidle unfounded rumour that has come to his ears; that there is\nactually nothing in it; that nothing of the kind has ever been either\nsaid or done; that there is no ground whatever for all his excitement\nand transport!--How foolish he looks, when his imagined enemy,\nagainst whom he has been breathing out the vehemence of passion, all\ncollected and cool, stands wondering at his agitation,--unable to\ndivine what has come over him!--And how is he laughed at for having\nstirred himself up to all this heat and hurry,--all this violence and\nemotion--_for nothing!_--2. It turns out that in the cause between\nhim and his neighbour, which he has so hastily taken up, _he is in\nthe wrong_--that, after all his froth and bluster, truth and justice\nare clearly on the other side, with all the solid and satisfactory\nargument; while on his there is little or nothing beyond the noisy\nand vehement protestations of self-sufficiency, and he is quite\nunable to withstand the proofs against him--the verdict of all\nimpartial persons being in favour of his opponent. In this case, he\nmust either, after having his pride keenly mortified, cool down, and\nown himself in the wrong--which is the best thing he can do, but far\nfrom easy to a man of his temper; or the more he is overpowered by\nthe evidence of facts and by sound argument, the more must the sense\nof conscious defeat, and consequent feeling of inferiority, inflame\nhim to rage; by which he will only render himself the more\nridiculous, and give cause of more lasting mortification and shame.\n3. The same things are true of a controversial dispute on any\nsubject. Generally speaking, the hastiest and most self-confident is\nthe most likely to fail. Such confidence very often accompanies\npartial information and superficial and one-sided views. The\npetulant, consequential disputant _\"goes forth hastily to strive,\"_\nin the full assurance that his arguments are such as cannot be\nresisted, and in the full flush of anticipated triumph--of victory\nbefore the battle. But objections meet him, of which he had never\nthought. Arguments are arrayed and urged on the opposite side, such\nas had never occurred to his own mind, and such, therefore, as he did\nnot at all expect, and cannot refute. . . . He is abashed,\nconfounded, stupefied.--_Wardlaw._\n\nIt is he that liveth in peace that doth enjoy himself. It is he that\nis at home, and findeth the comfort of what God hath bestowed upon\nhim. He that falleth into strife _goeth_ from his rest and\ncontentment, _goeth forth_ from himself, so that he is hardly himself\nwhile the strife continues. . . . Therefore let not strife be a thing\ninto which thou art carried of thine own accord; but either let thine\nadversary drive thee into it, or else let necessity or some good\nreason either draw thee or force thee.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 11. The beauty of the texture sets off the fruit with\nadditional charms. So does a lively medium enhance the attractiveness\nof truth. \"The preacher should strive to find out acceptable\nwords\"--_words fitly spoken_--giving to each their proper meat--and\n_that_ \"in due season\" suited to their ages and difference of\ntemperament. \"How forcible are right words!\" (Job vi. 25). Our Lord\nwitnessed of Himself, as \"gifted with the tongue of the learned, that\nHe might know how to speak the word in season\" (Isa. l. 4)--_a word\nupon the wheels_--not forced or dragged, but rolling smoothly along,\nlike the chariot-wheels. His discourses on the living water and the\nbread of life arose naturally out of the conversation, and therefore\nwere full of arresting application. Paul powerfully charged\nsuperstition on the Athenians and strengthened his reasoning by\nquoting from one of their own poets (Acts xvii. 22-28). To a corrupt\nand profligate judge he preached \"righteousness, temperance, and\njudgment to come\" (Acts xxiv. 25).--_Bridges._\n\nThat words may deserve this character, they must be the words of\ntruth; for falsehood and error are on no occasion fit to be spoken.\nAnd therefore Job reproves his friends for endeavouring, by false\ndoctrine, to comfort him, and direct his exercise in the time of his\ndistress. But words may be true and yet unfitly spoken, for although\nnothing is to be spoken but truth, yet truth is not always to be\nspoken. Doeg the Edomite was guilty of murder before he killed the\npriests of the Lord, by telling the enraged tyrant that David had\nreceived bread and a sword from Ahimelech. Jonathan was a man of a\nvery opposite spirit, and discovered it by the seasonable mention he\nmade to his father of David's exploit in slaying Goliath. By putting\nSaul in mind of this noble action, he disarmed for a time his angry\nresentments.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nGIVING AND TAKING.\n\n+I. To give reproof effectually needs--+1. _A character which\ndeserves respect._ An iron pin when cold may by the exercise of much\nstrength and the expenditure of much time be driven through a plate\nof iron, but if it be _red hot,_ it goes through it with speed and\nease. A blunt axe may fell a tree, but if it has a good edge the work\nis done far more quickly and effectually. So a very faulty man may\nobtain a hearing when he reproves, and his reproofs may do good, but\nthe same reproof from the lips of one who possesses a high moral\ncharacter will be far more likely to reach the conscience of the\nlistener and lead him to repentance. 2. _A knowledge of the character\nand disposition of him whom he reproves._ It is indispensable that\nthe physician who ministers a powerful drug to a patient, or who\nsubjects him to a critical operation, should first know something\nabout his bodily constitution, should ascertain if there is tendency\nto disease which his treatment might strengthen, or exceptional\nweakness of any organ which would make it unable to bear the strain\nhe is about to put upon it. If he does not make some preliminary\ninvestigation on these matters he may be developing an evil as great\nas the one he seeks to eradicate. A reprover should remember that all\nmen are not alike in their temperament and moral development, and\nthat consequently what would do real good to one transgressor would\nonly harden another, and that, therefore, there must be acquaintance\nwith the patient before the medicine is administered. 3. _A sincere\ndesire to benefit the offender._ He who reproves without a real\nfeeling of pity and a wish to help him whom he reproves will find\nthat his words will do almost as much good as water does to a rock\nwhen it falls upon it. It may drop day and night for years, but the\nrock is rock still--no moisture penetrates it and no verdure clothes\nit. So reproof that is not dictated by love will never reach the\nheart, and no fruits of repentance will result from fault-finding for\nits own sake. 4. _A due regard to a fitting time and place._ He must\nnot rebuke his child when he is suffering pain, or charge home a\nfault upon the father of a family before his children. We are not\nlikely to reform a drunkard by upbraiding him when he is under the\ninfluence of drink, or to convince a proud man that he is wrong by\nputting him to shame before others. A wise reprover will not only see\nto it that his medicine is suited to his patient, but will consider\nwhen it is most fitting to administer it.\n\n+II. To take reproof meekly--+1. _Reveals a man under the control of\nreason._ It is only the delirious patient or the child who angrily\nresists the surgeon's knife and looks no further than the present\npain. A reasonable man may cry out under the operation, but he knows\nthat his future health depends upon it, and he therefore submits\npatiently, although he suffers acutely. If a man looks at reproof in\nthe same light, he will receive it in the same spirit, and give a\nconvincing proof that he is not ruled by passion but by reason.\n2. _Reveals a man governed by true self-love._ Love for our own true\ninterests prompts us to welcome every hand stretched out to help us,\nand every means afforded us of becoming better and wiser. A wise\nreprover is a true friend, and he who does not recognise him as such\nshows that his own advancement is not the aim of his life and the\nobject of his desire. But no greater proof of a sincere regard for\nour own moral and spiritual growth can be given than that of lending\nan obedient ear to a wise reproof.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe wise reprover or instructor, who lovingly and seasonably telleth\nhis neighbour of his fault or duty, may fitly be likened unto a jewel\nof pearl; for he lighteneth and enricheth him that is instructed with\nknowledge and the gifts of God's Holy Spirit. The attentive and\nobedient hearer who desires to increase in learning, and who\nreceiveth the Word of God with meekness, may also be aptly resembled\nto a golden earring; for he is transformed from glory to glory, by\nthe ministry and instruction of the prudent and learned\nteacher.--_Muffet._\n\nWhen a reproof is both administered in wisdom and received in\nhumility and in good part,--then there is a union of two equal\nrarities. A reproof well-administered is rare; and not less so is a\nreproof well taken. We may remark, however, that the rareness of the\nlatter arises, to no small extent, out of the rareness of the former.\nIt is because reproof is so seldom well-_given,_ that it is so seldom\nwell-_taken.--Wardlaw._\n\nAn earring is fastened to the ear, and that it may be fastened, it\npierceth the ear, and being so fastened, it is an ornament to the\nwhole face; so likewise is a reproof upon an obedient ear. First, it\npierceth it, and is received willingly into it; secondly, it is\nfastened upon it, so that it stays with it; thirdly, it is an\nornament to his whole life, which is thereby reformed.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subject of verse 13, see on chap. xiii. 17,\npage 321.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.\n\nCLOUDS WITHOUT RAIN.\n\n+I. Those who promise and do not perform are wantonly cruel.+ To\nraise expectations without fulfilling them is one of the greatest\nunkindnesses of which men can be guilty. For however sorely the gift\nor the service desired may be needed, if the needy brother has never\nhad any hope of possessing it, his sense of loss is not nearly so\nkeen as it is if, depending on the word of another, he has felt as if\nthe coveted good was almost in his grasp. The thirsty traveller in\nthe desert feels his thirst more terribly after the deceitful mirage\nhas led him to believe that a refreshing lake is just within his\nreach. He thinks he sees the sparkling water but a few paces distant,\nand is already in fancy drinking his fill when all his hopes are\ndestroyed by the vanishing of the deception, and he is in a far worse\ncondition than he was before its appearance. There are many men who\nare as deceitful and as disappointing as the mirage of the desert.\nTheir large promises awaken bright hopes in the breast of some\nwayfarer on the journey of life, and he looks forward with confident\njoy to the time when he shall possess the promised gift. But his\nheart is gradually made sick by the deferred hope (chap. xiii. 12)\nuntil at last he becomes aware that he has been cruelly deceived, and\nfinds himself a far more wretched man than he was before the promise\nwas made to him.\n\n+II. As a rule he who promises most will perform the least.+ Those\nwho bestow most upon others are those who do not spend much time in\ntalking about what they will do. Sometimes a heavy cloud is seen in\nthe heavens, which seems as if it would every moment fall in\nrefreshing showers. But a few drops only fall on the parched earth,\nand while the husbandman is looking with confident expectancy it\nvanishes from his sight. On another day a cloud which seems to\npromise far less falls in abundance upon the thirsty land. This is\nnot the rule in nature, but it is in relation to the promises and\nperformances of men. The loud boaster is well-nigh certain to be a\ncloud without rain, and should therefore never be relied upon, and\nthe greatest givers are generally those who promise least.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThis verse may be understood, either of God's gift to man, or man's\ngift to God, or else of man to any other man. For many there are who\nboast of those gifts which God never bestowed on them; and though God\nbe infinite in His bounty, yet by their lying do make Him more\nbountiful than He is. Many there are who boast of their gifts to God,\neither in regard of the church or the poor, whereas His church or His\npoor have them as little as God Himself needs them. Many boast of\ntheir kind gifts to others, whereas their not performing them makes\nthem more unkind than if they never had promised. . . . Their false\ngifts are as the clouds, and their boasting as the winds. Their false\ngifts do lift them up, as the clouds are; their great boasting maketh\na great noise as the wind doth. The winds drive the clouds and\nscatter them; so doth their boasting spread abroad the fame of their\nfalse gifts; and as the clouds without rain darken the heavens\nwithout watering the earth; as the dry wind troubleth the air without\nrefreshing the ground; so these boasters even darken the heaven with\ntheir naughtiness, and trouble the earth with their brags, but\nsatisfy none with their deeds.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.\n\nFORBEARANCE AND PERSUASIVENESS.\n\n+I. Patience without speech is an overcoming power.+ The strongest\nsmith will find a piece of cold iron too much for him--if he attempt\nto bend or break it he will be met with a resistance which he cannot\novercome. But he places that apparently unconquerable bar upon the\ncoals, and by degrees it seems to assume altogether another nature,\nand is ready to be fashioned to any shape or form. He gets this\nvictory by _waiting,_ and he finds it a far more effectual method\nthan attempting to subdue the metal by physical force. Forbearance\nwill sometimes do as much for the stubborn human will as the fire\ndoes for the iron. Many men who cannot be threatened into compliance\nwith our wishes, may be overcome by patient kindness. A prince may be\nhere put by Solomon as a type of all men in authority and high\nposition, who by reason of their position are less under the power of\nothers and consequently are less likely to yield to any other force\nthan persuasion. With such men high-handed dealing and efforts to\nintimidate generally provoke a more stubborn resistance.\n\n+II. Patience seconded by gentle speech is doubly powerful.+ The\nsmith's work is not done when by waiting he has given time for the\niron to become soft and impressible; he must then bring his skill and\nactivity to bear upon it and so mould it to his will. So after long\nforbearance there must be wise and persuasive speech to finish the\nwork. The long-suffering patience, perhaps under trial and\nprovocation, has softened the hard heart or the stubborn will, and\nnow the gentle words are listened to and have their full weight. But\nthis would not have been the case if patience without speech had not\ngone first to make way for them.\n\n+III. Those who conquer by forbearance in deed and gentleness in word\nwalk in the Divine footsteps.+ In the dealings of God with the human\nrace, no attribute of His character is more manifest than _\"the\nriches of His forbearance and long suffering\"_ (Rom. ii. 4), and it\nis by this that He _\"leads men to repentance.\"_ \"Instead of coming\ndown upon man by storm,\" says Dr. Bushnell, \"in a manner of direct\nonset to carry his submission by storm, God lays gentle siege to him,\nwaiting for his willing assent and choice. . . . To redress an injury\nby gentleness, and tame his adversary's will by the circuitous\napproach of forbearance and a siege of true suggestion is not the\nmanner of men, only of God.\" It is not, alas! the manner of men in\ngeneral, but all those who call Him Master try to imitate Him in this\nas in all other of His perfections that can be imitated by finite and\nimperfect creatures.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe _soft_ member _breaking the hard bone_ may seem to be a paradox.\nBut it is a fine illustration of the power of gentleness above\nhardness and irritation. Apply it to those who are set against the\ntruth. Many a stout heart has been won by a _forbearing,_ yet\nuncompromising, accommodation to prejudice. In reproof Jehovah showed\nwhat He could do in \"the strong wind and the earthquake.\" But His\neffective rebuke was in the \"still small voice;\" without upbraiding;\nsharp, yet tender (1 Kings xix. 11-13). So powerful is the energy of\ngentleness! Indeed, \"among all the graces that adorn the Christian\nsoul, like so many jewels of various colours and lustres, against the\nday of her espousals to the Lamb of God, there is not one more\nbrilliant than that of patience.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nUSE AND ABUSE.\n\n+I. The good gifts of God are to be enjoyed by men.+ _\"Every creature\nof God is good,\"_ says the apostle, _\"and nothing to be refused, if\nit be received with thanksgiving\"_ (1 Tim. iv. 4). God has filled the\nworld with gifts to minister pleasure to the bodily senses as well as\nto the spiritual aspirations, and the first are given to use _\"richly\nto enjoy\"_ (1 Tim. vi. 17), as much as the last. Our Great and\nBeneficent Father, has not omitted to provide even for the\ngratification of our palate, but has furnished us with an almost\ninfinite variety of natural productions, pleasant to the taste. His\nkindness in this matter is not to be overlooked, and these good gifts\nare not to be treated as though they were beneath our grateful\nappreciation. The asceticism which refuses to partake of them is not\nin accordance with the spirit of either the Old or New Testament.\n\n+II. There is no material and temporal good which cannot be misused\nby man.+ Honey may here stand for any or all the lower sweets of\nlife--for every blessing which is not of a purely spiritual\nnature--and the greatest temptation to _misuse_ of these lies in the\ndirection of _over-use_--of indulging in them to the neglect of other\nand more precious good, and so to the injury of the higher nature.\nHoney is a delicious article of food, and wholesome and nutritious to\na certain extent, but if a man attempted to live upon it to the\nexclusion of plainer fair he would find that his bodily health would\nsuffer. In like manner is there danger to spiritual health from an\nundue indulgence of even the gifts of God, which minister only or\nchiefly to the senses, or which belong to this life alone.\n\n+III. The misuse of what is good in itself puts an end of all real\nenjoyment of it.+ If a man eats immoderately of honey it soon ceases\nto be pleasant to his taste, and the very sweetness that at first\nattracted him produces loathing. The same nausea of spirit follows\nimmoderate indulgence in any merely temporal or material good--that\nwhich, used lawfully, would always afford true and real enjoyment,\ncloys upon the man who abuses it by over-use.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe figure varies. In a former sentence we are commanded to eat honey\nbecause it is good (chap. xxiv. 13), and that was very carefully\nexplained. It meant that piety was itself good, and we were to taste\nand see (Psa. xxxiv. 8) that before we could be Christians. But now\nthe figure varies. There is a sweetness of eternal _hope,_ even when\nwe have not got down to the sweetness of a saving piety. We are to\nput on the helmet of hope. So the Apostle tells us (1 Thess. v. 8).\nBut Solomon cautions us that we are to put on no more than is\n_\"sufficient.\"_ We are eating more than enough honey when we have no\nright to eat any, and so we may be eating too much when we ought to\nbe getting more. There is such a thing as having more hope than\nevidence. And if a man has too much confident hope of heaven for the\namount he has of piety, there certainly is a case of eating more than\nis sufficient. . . . Blessed is the man that has _\"found honey.\"_ Let\nhim eat so much as is sufficient for him in this dismal pilgrimage.\nBut, when he is once refreshed like Jonathan, let him sound for an\nadvance.--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nOBTRUSIVENESS.\n\n+I. We may by indiscretion close a door which we have ourselves\nopened.+ There are many things which are pleasant and wholesome\noccasionally, which become not only unwelcome, but annoying, if we\nhave too much of them. We do not desire to hear the sweetest song\nevery day and all the day long--that which is refreshing and\ndelightful now and then become wearisome if constantly repeated. We\nmust apply this rule to ourselves in relation to our fellow-men.\nWhile we rejoice to feel that there are those who love us so well as\nto desire our presence upon all occasions, we must remember that most\nof our acquaintances will not set so high a value upon us, and that\nto be seen too often where we should be welcome if seen but seldom,\nis by our own act to shut our neighbour's door upon us.\n\n+II. Our neighbour's objection to our constant visits may rise from\nno unkindly feeling.+ Men who have work to do in the world cannot\ngive all their time, or much of it, to the entertainment of visitors.\nThere are those who, living to no purpose themselves, forget that\nothers feel themselves accountable to God for the use they make of\ntheir lives, and such idle people often sorely vex and hinder their\nbusy neighbours by their thoughtless and unseasonable visits. The man\nwho enters a house and takes from a diamond necklace one precious\nstone after another until he has taken the whole, is doubtless no\nfriend, but a thief and a robber, and is punishable by the law of the\nland; but the man who enters his neighbour's house and robs him of\nhour after hour, steals property which probably cannot be redeemed,\nor redeemed only by encroaching upon the hours which ought to be\ngiven to rest. So that such a thoughtless intruder steals not only\nhis neighbour's time, but indirectly his health and power to work.\nSurely such pests of society ought not to have the name of _friend_\nbestowed upon them, but deserve to be branded with a name more\nbefitting their character, and more in accordance with their actions.\n\n\nFor Homiletics of verse 18, see on chap xii. 18, page 274.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 19 _and_ 20.\n\nMISPLACED CONFIDENCE AND UNSEASONABLE SONGS.\n\nThe day of adversity is, as we saw on chap. xxiv. 10, a testing time\nfor the man who is the subject of the calamity, and it is also a\nseason in which he tests the worth of those who have called\nthemselves his friends in the time of his prosperity. These verses\ndeal with two varieties among many who intensify his affection and\ndeepen his grief, instead of bringing him help and comfort. There is--\n\n+I. The faithless friend.+ This phrase is a contradictory one, but it\nis used for want of a better. The word friend, in its highest and\nbest sense, denotes one who is worthy of trust and who never fails in\nthe hour of trial. But there are many who assume the name who are\nunworthy of it, and whose failure when they are most needed is one of\nthe most bitter drops in the cup of calamity. If the cable breaks in\na calm sea the vessel and the crew may escape serious injury; but if\nit gives way amid storm and tempest, the consequences are most\ndisastrous. It is hard to find a professed friend failing us when we\nare sailing in calm waters, but it may then be borne without entirely\ncrushing the spirit. But when such a discovery is first made in the\nday of trouble, it is enough to break the stoutest heart.\n\n+II. The undiscerning friend.+ There are many real friends who lack\nthe ability to discern how best to help the sorrowful and heavy\nhearted. They sing a song with the intention of giving cheer when\ntears, or at least silence, would be far more acceptable to the\nwounded spirit. Songs of gladness, such as are doubtless here\nintended, fit the spirit when it is walking in the sunlight, but they\naggravate the suffering of those who are in darkness of soul. He who\naspires to the name of friend must learn to rejoice with those who\nrejoice and to weep with those that weep.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 19. The greatest disaster, in proportion to the number of men\nengaged, that befel our arms in the Eastern insurrection, was the\ndirect result of confidence in an unfaithful man. At\nArrah-on-the-Ganges three or four hundred soldiers were sent to\nattack a body of the rebels, and relieve some British residents who\nwere in danger there. A native was employed to ascertain the position\nof the enemy. In consequence of his report, the man left the river\nand made a night march into the interior. The messenger was false.\nThe little army fell into an ambush prepared for them in the jungle.\nTwo-thirds of their number were shot down in the dark by unseen foes.\nThe remnant escaped to their ship when the day dawned. As they lay in\nthat fatal valley getting their wounds in the dark, and helplessly\nwishing for the day, how exquisitely bitter must have been the\nreflection that a too ready trust in a faithless man had wrought them\nall this woe.--_Arnot._\n\nThe God of nature hath placed the teeth in two jaws, that the one may\nbe helpful to the other; and he hath supported man with _two feet,_\nthat the one may be a succor to the other. From hence, to teach us\nthe help and support which one man ought to yield to another. It is\nby means of this mutual support in the feet that we pass over the\nblocks that lie in our way; for while the one foot is lifted up to\nstep over them, the other bears up the body. It is the mutual help of\nthe jaws, and by their meeting together, that we break hard things\nand make the fit nourishment for us. In like manner, therefore, when\na block lies in the way of anyone, another should be ready to support\nhim until he get over it. When a hard distress lieth upon anyone,\nanother should be ready to help him for the better breaking through\nit. But in this point too many are like a broken tooth, and he that\nlooketh to meet with them for help in his distress, findeth them not\nto answer his expectation . . . and too many are like a foot out of\njoint, and he that thinketh to rest upon them in time of need, is\nsure to fall by them.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 20. He that taketh away a garment from another may think to\nease his burden, but it being done in cold weather, it addeth to his\ncoldness; he that putteth vinegar upon nitre may think only to break\nthe hardness of it, but he dissolveth it. In like manner he that\nsingeth songs to a heavy heart may think to ease the burden of\nsorrow, may think to break the hardness of grief, but such is the\nforce of the sad contraposition, such is the power of the contrariety\nbetween singing and sorrow of heart, that the ease of one's heart\nbeing able to sing, increaseth the weight of the other's trouble that\nhe cannot do so.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 21 _and_ 22.\n\nA BLESSED RECOMPENSE.\n\n+I. A recompense which is difficult.+ No one can affirm that it is an\neasy thing to minister help and comfort to one who has done us an\ninjury, but it is more difficult in some cases than in others. Men\nare not bound to us by equal ties: some are merely related to us\nbecause they partake of the same common humanity; others are our\nkinsmen according to the flesh; while others stand in an equal nearer\nrelation, and are brothers in a spiritual sense, being partakers with\nus of what is called in Scripture language the new birth. According\nto Christ's teaching this is the nearest and closest bond which can\nunite men, and yet it cannot be denied that we sometimes have to\nexercise the grace of forgiveness even towards these brethren. But\nthe motive power which prompts us to return good for evil is\ncertainly stronger in this latter case than in the others, or at\nleast it ought to be so. For when we reflect that the brother who has\nwronged us stands in the same relation to Christ as we do ourselves,\nit ought not to be at all difficult for us to feed him when hungry,\nor in any other way in our power to minister to his needs. There will\nalso in most men be found more or less natural promptings to succour\nan enemy who is related to them by ties of blood--the nearer the\nnatural relationship the more easy will it be, as a rule, to comply\nwith the command given by the Wise Man. But the greatest difficulty\nwill be found in obeying it when the enemy is one who is altogether\nunlike us in character, and who is only related to us in the broad\nand universal sense of being human. To be active and earnest in our\nendeavours to relieve the necessities of such an one needs often much\nDivine help, but it is demanded of us by Him who dies for a world at\nenmity with Him.\n\n+II. A retaliation which is blessed in its results.+ We understand\nwith Z\u00f6ckler, the figure here used to \"describe the deep pangs of\nrepentance which one produces within his enemy by rewarding his\nhatred with benefits.\" This is a result most desirable and blessed\nfor him who has been the offender. For it is the only road by which\nhe can regain peace of mind and self-respect, as well as the esteem\nof all right-minded people. This restoration of an erring brother\nwould in itself be a great reward to the good man, but it is not,\naccording to Solomon, the only one which is accorded to him who thus\nrecompenses good for evil. A special reward for the special act is\npromised by Jehovah. There is one which is the outcome of the laws by\nwhich He governs men. If a traveller in a cold region finds a fellow\ntraveller lying benumbed and forsaken by the roadside, and does what\nhe can do to raise and restore him, the effort makes his own blood\ncirculate more quickly, and his own frame glow with warmth. This it\nthe outcome of a natural law of God, and there is the spiritual one\nakin to it. For whenever an effort is made to raise and restore one\nwho has morally fallen, he who makes the effort feels a reflex glow\nof moral life and health in his own spirit. This is the certain\neffect which must follow every act of goodwill towards an enemy, as\nsurely as the shadow follows the substance. But there are probably\nother rewards of an external nature--many blessings that come to a\ngood man's life may be direct and special gifts from His Father above\nfor deeds which, like the one now under consideration, are especially\npleasing to Him.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWe may profess our goodwill towards our enemy, that we forgive and\npray for him from our heart. But unless we are ready with the\npractical exercise of sympathy, we are only the victims of our own\nmoral delusion.--_Bridges._\n\nIt is action, not affection, that is here spoken of--not the\ndisposition of the heart, but the deeds of the hand; and if it be a\nmore practicable thing that we should compel ourselves to right\nbodily performances than call up right mental propensities, this may\nalleviate somewhat our dread of these precepts, as if they were\nwholly unmanageable or incompetent to humanity. Before, then, taking\ncognisance of what should be the inward temper of Christians towards\nthose who maltreat or oppress them, we would bid you remark that the\noutward conduct towards them is that which forms the literal\nsubject-matter of the commandments here given. The disciples are in\nthis place told that . . . hard as it may be under their cruel\nprovocations to keep unruffled minds and to _feel_ peaceably, they,\nas much as in them lies, are to _live_ peaceably . . . while it may\nnot be the tendency of nature so to _desire,_ our bidden obligation\nis so to _do,_ for in _so doing_ thou shalt heap coals of fire on his\nhead.--_Chalmers_ on Rom. xii. 20.\n\nNow, we know that if a coal or two of fire be laid on the hearth of\nthe chimney below, he that is cold cannot be wholly warmed, or\nreceive much good thereby; but if one basketful be poured on the fire\nafter another, so that the coals are heaped up to the mantel-tree, or\nare as high as his head that fain would warm him, then he waxeth\nthoroughly hot and beginneth even to burn. It seemeth then that by\nthis borrowed speech is meant, that if a man shall be very bountiful\neven unto his enemy, and heap upon him one good turn after another,\nthis will cause his affection, which before was cold, to burn within\nhim. Thus dealt David with Saul, who spared his life when he might\nhave slain him, and only cut off a piece of his coat when he might\nhave cut off his head.--_Muffett._\n\nI take for granted, that I believe to be the truth, that the words\n_\"for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,\"_ have reference,\nnot to the fires of Divine-vengeance, but to the influence of kindly\ntreatment melting down the enemy to conciliation, as fuel heaped on\nthe ore fuses it from the hardness, and sends it forth in liquid\nstreams, to take the features and impress of the mould.--A certain\nprince, on leading his generals and his army against an advancing\nhost of invaders, declared his resolution not to leave a single enemy\nalive. He sent an embassy to treat with them. He made proposals such\nas subdued and attached them, and rendered them valuable allies. On\nastonishment being expressed that he should have thus failed in his\ndetermination and promise, his ready reply was--\"I have not failed: I\nhave kept my word. I engaged not to leave a _living enemy;_ nor have\nI. They are enemies no longer--they are _friends._\" He had \"heaped\ncoals of fire on their head.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nFor hunger and thirst are common enemies, both to thee and him. And\ntherefore, as where a common enemy invadeth, particular enmity is\nlaid aside, and all join there to help and withstand him; so here\nlend a hand to resist these common enemies, which though now have\nseized on thine enemy may quickly seize on thee. Besides he is hungry\nas a man, he thirsteth as a man--not as an enemy--and therefore as a\nman give him bread to eat, give him water to drink. This may also\nquench the hunger of his enmity, and satisfy also the hunger of his\nhatred.--_Jermin._\n\nIf anyone desires to try this work, he must bring to it at least\nthese two qualifications, modesty and patience. If he proceed\nostentatiously, with an air of superiority and a consciousness of his\nown virtue, he will never make one step of progress. The subject will\nday by day grow harder in his hands. But even though the successive\nacts of kindness should be genuine, the operator must lay his account\nwith a tedious process and many disappointments. . . . The miner does\nnot think that his coals of fire are wasted, although he has been\nthrowing them on for several successive hours, and the stones show no\nsymptoms of dissolving. He knows that each portion of the burning\nfuel is contributing to the result, and that the flow will be sudden\nand complete at last. Let him go and do likewise who aspires to win a\nbrother by the subduing power of self-sacrificing love.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.\n\nTHE WAY TO TREAT A BACKBITER.\n\nIt will be seen from a reference to the Critical Notes, that nearly\nall modern commentators render this verse quite differently from the\ncommon version, and so reverse the meaning. It will, however, bear\nthe common rendering, \"I confess,\" says Wardlaw, \"that if the word\nwill bear it at all, our version seems decidedly preferable. There is\nsomething tame, commonplace, and of little practical\nconsequence--hardly worth forming the subject of a proverb--in saying\nthat as the north wind brings rain, 'a backbiting tongue' brings\nanger. But the verse as it stands in our translation inculcates a\nmost important lesson.\" We therefore take the proverb as we find it\nin our Bible, as setting forth--\n\n+I. An unrighteous action producing a righteous emotion.+ We have\nbefore had brought before us in this book the peculiar iniquity of\nbackbiting and its evil results (see ch. xii. 17-19, 22, page 274).\nThe special unrighteousness of the act lies, of course, in the fact\nthat the person who is the subject of it, being absent and ignorant\nof the charge brought against him, has no opportunity of defending\nhimself. A feeling of indignation against such an act, and an\nexpression of it in the countenance, is therefore demanded from every\nlover of truth and justice. He who will calmly listen to a tale of\nslander and show no token of disapproval, makes himself a partaker of\nthe sin. But it is impossible for a righteous man to act thus. When a\nputrid body is presented to our bodily senses, if we are healthy men\nwe experience a feeling of revulsion which we cannot conceal. And so\nif a man is morally healthy he must experience and reveal a strong\ndislike to the backbiting tongue.\n\n+II. The unrighteous action overpowered by the righteous emotion.+\nWhen the heavy rain-clouds which overspread the sky are dispersed and\ndriven away by the wind, they show themselves to be the weaker of the\ntwo contending forces. And so when the backbiting tongue is silenced\nby the look of righteous indignation, it gives proof that, however\nstrong the workings of evil are, the power of goodness is stronger.\nThose who set their faces against this or any other vice, may always\ndraw encouragement from the fact that there is a reprover within the\nbreast of the wrong-doer, which in spite of all efforts to stifle it,\nseconds the reprover from without--wherever the conscience is at all\nawake, it says \"Amen\" to a faithful rebuke, whether administered by\nword or look. And so it is that a countenance upon which is written\nrighteous anger is so potent a check to a backbiting tongue.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is a great encouragement to tale-bearers, to observe their wicked\nstories are heard with attention. If a man looks upon them with a\ncheerful countenance, and listens to their tales, and makes them\nwelcome to his table, they naturally conclude that the person to whom\nthey speak has as bad a heart as themselves, and they will not fail\nto bring him new stories of the like kind, as soon as they have got\nan opportunity to learn or to make them. But if the receiver of\nstolen goods is a sharer with the thief in his guilt, and if any man\nthat encourages another in evil partakes in his sin, then he that\nhears the backbiter with complacency is little better than himself,\nand would probably follow the same trade if he had the same talents\nfor it. We cannot, therefore, clear ourselves from the sin of\nbackbiting, unless we refuse to receive a bad report of our\nneighbour, and testify our displeasure, by all proper methods, at the\nbase conduct of the assassins that would murder in the dark the\ngood-name of their fellow-creatures. When the murderers of Isbosheth\nbrought their master's head to David, judging from their own\ndisposition that it would be an acceptable present to him, he\ntreated them in such a manner that no man ever sent another present\nof the like kind to him.--_Lawson._\n\nThere is a place for anger as well as for love. As in nature, a\ngloomy tempest serves some beneficial purposes for which calm\nsunshine has no faculty; so in morals, a frown on an honest man's\nbrow is in its own place, as needful and useful as the sweetest smile\nthat kindness ever kindled on the human countenance. . . . We don't\nwant a fretful passionate man; and if we did, we could find one\nwithout searching long or going far. We want neither a man of wrath\nnor a man of indiscriminating, unvarying softness. We want something\nwith two sides; that is, a solid real character. Let us have a man\nwho loves good and hates evil, and who, in place and time convenient,\ncan make either emotion manifest upon his countenance. The frown of\nanger is the shade that lies under love and brings out its\nbeauty.--_Arnot._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 24, see on chapter xxi. 9, page 613.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nCOLD WATER AND GOOD NEWS.\n\n+I. Two blessings often ardently longed for.+ In these days of\ntravel, many more can enter into the spirit of this analogy than in\nthe days of Solomon--the comparative ease by which men can reach the\nmost distant lands, and which in one aspect brings all places and\npeople so much nearer together than in ancient times, is on the other\nhand the cause of far more separation between those who are bound\ntogether by tender ties, and fills far more hearts with an anxious\nlonging for tidings from far countries. No more apt illustration\ncould be used to picture such a condition of spirit than that of\n_thirst;_ for as _it,_ if of long duration, prostrates the frame and\nrenders every other blessing of life incapable of affording any\ncomfort, so often does a long delay of tidings concerning those most\ndear paralyse all the energies of the soul, and render it unable to\ngain comfort from any other source. The wife whose husband has been\nlong fighting for his country on the distant battle-field, or the\nfather whose son has been for years seeking his fortune in some\nfar-off land, turns often with distaste from all the comforts and\ninterests which surround them, and would willingly sacrifice many\nnear blessings in exchange for cheering news from those beyond the\nseas. They are like the traveller in the desert, whose gold cannot\nallay his consuming thirst, and who would willingly give a bag of\npearls for a cup of cold water.\n\n+II. Two blessings bringing like results.+ Hagar and her son wandered\nin the desert till the water was spent in the bottle, and then mother\nand son gave up all for lost and lay down to die. We may take it for\ngranted that neither the youth nor his mother were easily overcome or\nquickly daunted, but thirst and its attendant evils would soon have\nslain them as certainly as a band of desert robbers. But when God\nshowed to Hagar the well, and they had drunk of its waters, it was as\nthough a new life had entered into them, and hope and energy\nreturned. This is a type of what has happened to many a heart-sick\nsoul since those days. Jacob was going down to his grave still\nmourning for the son lost so many years ago, and life, we may well\nbelieve, had lost its interest for him when his sons brought the\nastonishing tidings, \"Joseph is yet alive, and is governor over all\nthe land of Egypt.\" And the old man renewed his youth, and, so to\nspeak, began to live again, so life-restoring often to a thirsty soul\nis good news from a far country.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n_A far-off land_ sends specially _good news_ because we faint the\nmore, and long the harder, for the very reason that it is so distant.\nThey come more seldom. And our relations with far-off lands are\nweightier and more critical than those beside us. So much for the\nsecular significance. But oh! the spiritual! The righteous scarcely\nare saved (1 Peter iv. 18). We are in a wilderness (Rev. xii. 6, 14).\nOur enemies are legion (Ephes. vi. 12). We run the gauntlet with\ndaily foes (Ephes. v. 16); and that with daily changes in their\nattempts to trip us (Prov. v. 6). The sinner, wherever he may be met,\nis faint with fatigue. Our Saviour knew this when He shaped His\nappeal \"Come unto me, all that labour,\" etc. (Matt. xi. 28). Now,\nhigh over all the odes of comfort is the _\"good news from a far-off\nland.\"_ All right there, come anything! A man's life may have been a\nperfect failure, _quoad_ the opinion of the world; but if he have\nHeaven it has been the very best--there has not been an hour of it\nthat has not been \"marshalled by a Divine tactic,\" the best for the\nman and the best for his part in the war.--_Miller._\n\nWe shall especially apply the subject--to _heaven_--good news from\nheaven. There are several things that make good news from a far\ncountry as grateful as \"cold waters to a thirsty soul.\" _I. If the\ncountry reported is altogether unlike our own._ The human mind is\nalways interested in what is novel and romantic--strangeness has a\nstrange fascination for the soul. What charms have the reports of\nCaptain Cook, Moffatt, Livingstone, for all minds. . . . _II. If the\ncountry reported has conferred an immense benefit on us._ Supposing\nthat we had once been in a state of abject slavery, and that the far\ncountry reported to us had effected our emancipation and guaranteed\nour liberty, with what interest should we listen to everything about\nit--the act that served us would invest all the incidents connected\nwith this history with a special charm. . . . _III. If the country\nreported contained any that are dear to us._ New Zealand, Vancouver's\nIsland, and many other countries, are extremely interesting to many\nfamilies in this land, on account of the friends they have living in\nthem. . . . _IV. If the country reported is a scene in which we\nexpect to live ourselves._ With what interest does the emigrant\nlisten to everything referring to that land whither he is about to be\nwending his way, and which he is adopting as his home. Heaven as a\nfar country pre-eminently meets all these conditions of interest.\nThere is the _Novel._ . . . How unlike that country is ours. Here is\na sphere for the play of the romantic. There is the _Benefactor._\nWhat benefits that far country has conferred on us! Thence we have\nreceived Christ the Redeemer of the World, and the Blessed Spirit of\nwisdom, purity, and love. There are our _Friends._ How many of those\nwho we have known and loved are there. How many such are going there\nevery day. Some of us have more friends in heaven than on earth.\nThere we _expect to live._ There we expect an inheritance\nincorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.--_Dr. David\nThomas._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.\n\nTHE EVIL RESULT OF MORAL COWARDICE.\n\n+I. There can never be a good reason why a good man should waver or\nbow down before a bad man.+ Many reasons often exist why one bad man\nshould fear another bad man, they are both on the wrong side, both\narrayed against the moral order of the universe, and therefore are on\nthe _weakest_ side, and cannot count upon the support of any superior\nand all-powerful force. Neither of them has conscience or God upon\nhis side; each one has to fight his battle on his own charges, and\ncan with no confidence foretell the result. But the want of firmness\non the part of a righteous man in the presence of wickedness--even\nwhen that wickedness is allied with all the power that it can\narrogate to itself--is contrary to reason. For as surely as light\nmust defeat the darkness, so surely must right in the end prove\nitself victorious over wrong. A good man has the whole force of the\nmoral universe upon his side, and is assured both by experience and\nby Divine promise that if he holds fast to the end he shall be more\nthan conqueror.\n\n+II. The wavering of such a man pollutes the very sources of social\nmorality.+ Unreasonable although it is, yet it is not out of the\nrange of human experience. \"The best men are but men at the best\"\nsays an old writer, and in times of great trial they often give\nevidence that it is so. Good and noble men have sometimes trembled\nand given way before the terrors of the stake, and far less terrible\nsuffering has often sufficed to shake the constancy of true men who\nwere less courageous. But whenever such a fall takes place it is a\nheavy blow to the cause of right and truth upon the earth. A good man\nis like a fountain of pure and living water. He is a source of moral\nlife and health in the circle in which he moves; even if he does not\nput forth any direct or special effort for the advancement of\nmorality, his life will as certainly have an influence for good as\nthe lighted candle will illumine the darkness around it. But if he\nshows himself a coward when exposed to loss or danger for the sake of\nright, it will do as much harm to the moral health of the community\nin which he lives as would be done to its bodily health if the stream\nfrom which its members drink were polluted at the fountain head. The\nmischief done in each case may not show itself by any startling\nresults. The poison in the water may not _kill,_ but only lower the\nstandard of health in those who partake of it, and so a moral fall in\na good man may not lead other men to open apostasy from the right\npath, but it may make the walk of many unsteady. Christ tells His\ndisciples this same truth when He calls them the _\"salt of the\nearth,\"_ and asks _\"if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall\nit be salted\"_ (Matt. v. 13). In other words, the good are the\nconservators of the moral purity of the world, and if any one among\nthem ceases to sustain this character he is not only a loser himself\nbut a source of loss to others.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nLord Bacon gives this proverb political application: \"It teaches that\nan unjust and scandalous judgment in any conspicuous and weighty\ncause is, above all things, to be avoided in the State;\" and in his\nEssay (lvi.) of Judicature, he says; \"One foul sentence doth more\nhurt than many foul examples; for these do but corrupt the stream,\nthe other corrupteth the fountain\"--_Tr. of Lange's Commentary._\n\nEastern _fountain and springs_ (where the rains are only periodical,\nand at longer intervals) are of no common price. The injury of\n_corrupting_ them is proportionate. The well is therefore a blessing\nor a curse, according to the purity or impurity of the waters. _A\nrighteous man_ in his proper character is \"a well of life, a blessing\nin the midst of the land.\" But if _he fall down before the wicked_ by\nhis inconsistent profession, the blessing becomes a curse, _the\nfountain is troubled, and the spring corrupt._ What a degradation was\nit to Abraham to _fall down_ under the rebuke of an heathen king; to\nPeter, to yield to a servant maid in denying his Lord! How did\nDavid's sin _trouble the fountain,_ both to his family and his\npeople! How did the idolatry of his wise son _corrupt the spring_\nthrough successive generations!\n\nWhen a minister of Christ apostatises from the faith (and mournfully\nfrequent have been such spectacles) or compromises his principles\nfrom the fear of man, the _springs and fountains_ of truth are\nfearfully corrupted. When a servant of God, of standing and\ninfluences, crouches and _falls down under the wicked,_ the\ntransparency of his profession is grievously tarnished. Satan thus\nmakes more effective use of God's people than of his own.--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.\n\nTOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING.\n\nFor Homiletics on the first clause of this verse, see on verse 16,\npage 703. A reference to the Critical Notes will show that, owing\npartly to its elliptical form, the rendering of the second clause has\nbeen much disputed. The reading found in our version is, however,\nquite admissible on the principles of Hebrew interpretation, and\naccords well with the first clause. The analogy teaches--\n\n+I. That a desire for the good opinion of others is right and\nsalutary.+ As honey is not only a pleasant but a wholesome article of\nfood, so the wish to stand well with our fellow-men is a\nGod-implanted feeling which is very beneficial both to the individual\nman and to society as a whole. He is a churlish being who does not\ncare what other people think about him, who sets at nought their\nesteem or their blame, while a right regard to their judgment of us\ninsensibly produces a beneficial influence upon our conduct and\ntemper.\n\n+II. But it is a desire which must not rule our life.+ Just as honey\nmust not be substituted for plainer food, or made the staple article\nof diet, so a desire for the good opinion of others must not be put\nbefore higher motives--must not be made the ruling principle of life.\nThis proverb may be linked with the preceding one to some extent, for\nthe lack of firmness which good men sometimes display in the society\nand under the influence of worse men than themselves is often due to\na desire not to lose their good opinion--not to be thought obstinate,\nor morose, or conceited. But when any question of right or wrong is\nat stake the approval or disapproval even of those whose goodwill is\nmost precious to us must be cast aside.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere is such a thing as _vain glory._ There is such a thing as a\nperson's indulging an insatiable appetite for applause or honour.\nThere is such a thing as _\"searching it out,\"_ looking ever after it,\neager to get it, and touchily jealous of every omission to bestow it\nand every deficiency in its amount; exploring for it in every\npossible direction; listening with an ear on the alert to catch every\nbreathing of adulation; _fishing_ for praise; throwing out hints to\ndraw it forth; eulogising others, to tempt a return; saying things in\ndisparagement of oneself, for the sake of having the\ncontradicted--things which, said by another, would stir the hottest\nof his blood. The temper of mind may be put in exercise, in regard to\ngreater and to smaller matters. It may assume the form of a proud\nambition, or of a weak-minded vanity. But in either case it may with\ntruth be said that _\"it is not glory.\"_ A man's honour should rather\n_come to him,_ than be eagerly solicited and searched for. It should\nnot be made _his object.--Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.\n\nA DEFENCELESS CITY.\n\nThe other side of this picture is given in chap. xvi. 32. (See page\n497.)\n\n+I. Such a city as is here described proclaims the lack of a wise and\npowerful governor within.+ The walls and buildings of a city are\nconstantly exposed to influences which promote decay, even if no\nhostile military force attacks them. The everyday exposure to storm\nand sun and rain will have a tendency to make the mortar crumble, and\nthe bricks or stones to become loose and fall away. Hence, if a wise\nman governs a city he will make it a part of his constant duty to\nwatch for the first signs of weakness, and if he has the authority\nwhich his position ought to put into his hand, he will cause each\nbreach to be repaired as soon as it is discovered. And when we see a\ncity whose walls are in a perfect condition--where there are no\nfallen stones and no crumbling mortar--we feel at ease that there is\nrule and authority residing there. But _\"a city broken down and\nwithout walls\"_ tells plainly the opposite story. Now every human\nspirit in this fallen world is exposed daily, and sometimes hourly,\nto influences which tend to irritate and vex it, and so to destroy\nits means of defence against temptation, and lower its dignity and\nmar its moral beauty. And if a man yields himself up to these\ninfluences, and allows them to hold undisputed sway over his life, he\nproclaims himself to be without those essential elements to his\nwelfare and happiness--wisdom to see his danger, and power to guard\nit.\n\n+II. Such a city gives an invitation to the invader without.+ If a\nfortress is known to be well fortified, if there is no weak or\nunguarded point, an enemy will not hastily try to take possession of\nit. Its strength will oftentimes be its security against attack. But\nif its fallen towers and tottering defences tell of weakness and\nanarchy within, its condition will tempt the foe to enter. So if a\nman gives evidence that he has no control over his passions, both\nevil men and evil spirits will mark him for their prey, and will make\nit their business to lead him from one sin to another--to make him\nnot only a negative but a positive transgressor. Such an one, in the\nlanguage of Paul, _\"gives place to the devil\"_ (Eph. iv. 27).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nTo come to particulars; if any be angry or given to wrath, will he\nnot quickly be led captive to revile and commit murder? If the\naffection of covetousness possess any, will he not easily be drawn to\ndeceive and steal? The like is to be said of all the passions of the\nmind, which, if a man cannot bridle or govern, they will carry him\nheadlong with violence into all mischief and misery, as wild and\nfierce horses oftentimes run away with an unguided coach or\nwaggon.--_Muffett._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+2.+ The first clause of this verse should be, +As\nthe sparrow flitting, as the swallow flying,+ etc. +Causeless,+\n_i.e., \"undeserved\"--i.e.,_ Such a curse is but transient--it alights\nfor the moment, but, like a bird, does not stay long. Miller and\nothers, however, understand the comparison to carry an entirely\nopposite meaning. (See Suggestive Comments on the verse.) +3.+ To our\nEnglish ideas, the whip and bridle are assigned respectively to the\nwrong animals, but it must be remembered that the Eastern ass is\noften quite as spirited an animal as the horse. +6. Drinketh damage,+\nor _\"injury.\"_ As in Job xxi. 20, the verb _\"drinketh\"_ seems to\nexpress suffering in a large measure. +7. Are not equal.+ The Hebrew\nword, so rendered, is a very obscure one, and is rendered by\nDelitzsch, Gesenius, and others, _\"hang down.\"_ Z\u00f6ckler and Stuart\ngive the sentence the imperative form, and read, _\"Take away the legs\nfrom the lame, and the proverb in the fool's mouth.\"_ +Parable.+ This\nis the common word for proverb--the word that gives the title to the\nbook. On its real meaning, see the Introduction. +8. Sling.+\nGesenius, Z\u00f6ckler, and many other commentators, adopt the reading in\nthe margin of the English version, and translate this word, which is\nvery obscure, _\"a heap of stones.\"_ Stuart, Ewald, Delitzsch, and\nothers, retain the word _\"sling,\"_ which is the reading of the\nSeptuagint. Stuart thus explains the verse, _\"It would be absurd to_\n+bind a stone in a sling,+ _and then expect it to do execution.\nEqually so it is to_ +bestow honour on a fool,+ _and expect any good\nconsequences from it.\"_ If the first reading is adopted, the word\nstone must be understood to refer to _a precious stone._ +9. A\nthorn.+ This is generally understood to mean a thorny stick or staff,\nwhich is a mischievous weapon in the hands of a drunkard. +10.+ This\nverse is very difficult and obscure, and has many and entirely\ndifferent renderings. Luther, Elster, and others, translate the\nsubject of the first clause, _\"A master, an able man, formeth all\naright,--or all himself.\"_ Delitzsch, Umbreit, and Hitzig, read,\n_\"Much produceth all.\"_ The French version is in substance the same\nas our English marginal rendering. Perhaps the greater number of\nHebrew critics favour the rendering of Z\u00f6ckler, Ewald, Stier, etc.,\nwho read, _\"As an archer, who woundeth everything, so is he who\nhireth fools and vagrants\"_ (or wayfarers). Stuart and Miller\ntranslate the first word, _\"arrow,\"_ and the former thus explains the\nproverb, _\"He who employs fools and vagrants to do his work, will\ninjure himself.\"_ +15. In his bosom.+ Rather, +In the dish,+ as in\nchap. xix. 24. +17. Meddleth,+ rather, _\"is excited.\"_ +21. Coals to\nburning coals--+_i.e., \"black coals to burning,\"_ etc. +22.+ A\nrepetition of chap. xviii. 8. (See on that verse.) +23. Burning\nlips+--_i.e.,_ \"lips whence some ardent expressions of friendship.\"\n+Silver dross.+ Impure silver not freed from the dross. +24. Layeth\nup,+ rather, _\"prepareth,\"_ or _\"mediateth.\"_\n+26. Congregation+--_i.e., \"before the people assembled for\njudgment.\"_ (Z\u00f6ckler.)\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nA GIFT WRONGLY BESTOWED.\n\n+I. To honour some men is both seemly and right.+ The snow and the\nrain come from heaven by Divine command, and are indispensable to the\nbeauty and fruitfulness of the earth. So to accord honour where it is\ndue is a Divine command (Rom. xiii. 7), and is indispensable to our\nsocial well-being.\n\n+II. But honour accorded to a fool (_i.e.,_ a bad man) is incongruous\nand hurtful.+ Snow in summer is an exception to the rules of nature.\nIt would indeed be a surprise to our reapers when they were about to\ngather in the grain, to find the fields white with snow, and such an\nevent would be most mischievous in its effects. And in Oriental\ncountries rain in summer would be equally surprising, and probably as\nhurtful, since the rain in those lands generally descends in torrents\nand not in gentle showers as with us. So, although God has commanded\nus to _\"honour all men\"_ (1 Peter ii. 17), the wicked man, by his\nwickedness, puts himself outside this rule, and to place him in a\nposition of honour, or to give him reverence, is entirely out of\nplace, and an act which can only produce evil consequences. 1. _It\ndoes harm to the man who gives it._ The heavy rain or snow falling\nupon the ripened cornfield, takes away all its beauty and lessens its\nworth--it may make it utterly valueless. And so it degrades a soul to\nbow down where it ought to stand erect and firm, and a man who will\nfrom cowardice or any other cause cringe before a moral fool is a man\nwho is of no use in the world from a moral point of view. (See on\nthis subject, on verse 26 of the preceding chapter, page 711.) 2. _It\ninjures the man who receives it._ It makes him feel as if there was\nno difference between vice and virtue, when he finds himself\nreceiving that which ought to be given to a good man only, and so he\nis confirmed in his wickedness. This will be the case especially if\nthe person who does him honour is a better man than himself, it is\nsuch a case as is described in the verse referred to above. 3. _It\nhas a bad influence upon men around them._ It is an encouragement to\nbad men to continue in their evil courses when they see wickedness\nenthroned in high places, and worthless men receiving honour instead\nof the scorn which they deserve. Such an elevation makes all bad men\nmore shameless and daring, and it also discourages and depresses\nbetter men. Although the truly good man's actions spring from a\ndeeper source, and have their origin in a higher motive than the\npraise or blame of their fellow-men, yet there are many who are not\nfirmly rooted in the practice of virtue, who are much influenced by\nthe moral atmosphere in which they live. If they see their fellow-men\ndoing as God does, and being a respecter of persons in regard to\n_character,_ and to character _only,_ their better nature will be\nstrengthened, and their efforts to be upright and godly will be\nencouraged, but if they see _\"the wicked walk on every side,\"_ and\n_\"the vilest men exalted\"_ (Psalm xii. 8), they may give up the\nstruggle after a higher and better life in despair. And thus the\neffect upon the moral tone of the community will be as blighting and\ndestructive as floods upon the growing corn, or as snow upon the\nripening fruits. It is, therefore, the solemn duty of every man in\nthis respect to _\"discern between the righteous and the wicked,\nbetween him that serveth God, and him that serveth Him not\"_ (Mal.\niii. 18).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHonour is unfit for a fool, in two respects especially; the one, for\nthat punishment is properly due unto him; the other, for that he\nabuseth his authority, be it civil or ecclesiastical, unto the hurt\nof those that are subject unto him.--_Muffett._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nTHE CAUSELESS CURSE.\n\nA reference to the Critical Notes and the Suggestive Comments will\nshow that different meanings are attached to this proverb.\n\n+I. Men often utter causeless curses.+ In whatever country of the\nworld we travel, and among whatever society, we are liable to hear\nmen pouring forth maledictions against their fellow-creatures. There\nare places and circles where such imprecations are never uttered,\nbecause a better spirit rules those who belong to them, but there\nare, alas! exceptions to a rule. Curses without cause are uttered by\nmasters against servants, and by parents against children, and by men\nin every condition and relation in life--curses prompted by passion\nand falling from the lips of men who answer to the description of the\nPsalmist--whose _\"inward part is very wickedness,\"_ and, as a\nconsequence, whose _\"throat is an open sepulchre\"_ spreading\nunhealthy and loathsome influence around (Psa. v. 9).\n\n+II. Such a curse is harmless to its victims.+ A curse which is\nundeserved has no sting; it is as powerless to injure as the bird\nthat flits over the traveller's head and soon disappears. Even if the\ncreature attempted to harm the man it is too weak, but not weaker\nthan the _curse without cause._ It may cast a passing shadow in its\npassage, but there is no substance in it--it consists of words\nwithout weight, and wishes that have no power to fulfil themselves.\n\n+III. But such a curse will fall upon him who uttered it.+ We know\nthat every bird who casts a shadow over our path will presently\nsettle down again--it will find its nest whence it started, and there\ntake up its abode. And so every curse uttered without a cause will\nreturn upon the head of him who uttered it--upon him will come the\nsame, or worse, ills than those he has called down upon another.\n\"Cursing men,\" says Trapp, \"are cursed men.\"\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n(This comment, it will be seen, rests on another interpretation of\nthe verse.) The type is graceful. The _\"bird\"_ is so little, and his\nflight and roaming about so graceful, that we never think of him as\nhaving an aim. And yet, the wildest sport upon the wing is\ncontinually directed, and obeys the mind of the humblest voyager in\nthe heavens. _\"Curses;\"_ of all other things not aimless. \"He doth\nnot afflict willingly\" (Lam. iii. 33). And so whether large or\ntrivial; the one great curse, or its numerous army of descendants;\nnone are without a _purpose._ In each gentle pulse upon the wind the\ntwittering _\"swallow\"_ has no more clear a meaning than these flying\ngriefs, as they float fitfully toward them who are to bear them. This\nHebrew has two meanings. . . . We have selected _\"to no purpose\"_\nhere, because the preposition is \u05dc and not \u05d1\u05bc. Had we selected \"for no\ncause,\" there would have emerged a beautiful sense. The meaning then,\nas birds do not make their appearance in the spring as apparitions,\nstarting up ghost-like in the fields as they seem to, but have come\nlong journeys, many of them in the night, and have reached us by\nhonest flying, so the curse _does not come_ without a _cause._ The\nmeanings, as will be seen, are very different. One is, that the curse\nhas a _cause_ on our part; the other, that it has a reason on the\npart of our Creator. Now, both are true. Both are very expressive.\nBoth have a fitness in the passage. . . . _\"To no purpose\"_ yields\nthe wider truth, and, moreover, is the bolder mystery. The curse had\na subsistence earlier than we, and a _\"cause\"_ later than it had a\n_reason._ It was pre-determined from the very beginning. And,\ntherefore, ours is the bolder grasping of the cavil, and replies to\nthe sinner more deeply.--_Miller._\n\nPowerless was Moab's curse, though attempted to be strengthened with\nthe divination of the wicked prophet. Goliath's curse against David\nwas scattered to the winds. What was David the worse for Shimei's\ncurse; or Jeremiah for the curses of his persecutors? Under this\nharmless shower of stones we turn from men to God, and are at peace.\n\"Let them curse; but bless thou; when they arise, let them be\nashamed; but let thy servant rejoice\" (Ps. cix. 28).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 3-11.\n\nA LOW LEVEL.\n\n+I. A moral fool puts himself on a level with the brute by turning a\ndeaf ear to the voices of reason and conscience.+ That which above\nall other characteristics distinguishes man from the lower animals is\nthe possession of a moral sense and a reasoning faculty; these are\nthe great lights which God has given him for his guidance, by the use\nof which he may ever be rising to a higher moral and intellectual\nlevel. But the moral fool does not listen to them, and even after he\nhas tasted the bitterness of disregarding them, and even while he is\nsuffering from the evil effects of his folly, he gives evidence of\nhis moral stupidity by _returning to it_ (ver. 11). This is a plain\nproof that he is _\"as the horse or the mule, which have no\nunderstanding\"_ (Psa. xxxii. 9).\n\n+II. Having chosen his position he must be treated accordingly.+ When\nmen act like men--when their conduct is such as befits responsible\nand rational creatures--they are open to reason and persuasion, and\ntheir fellow-men are bound to use such means in their intercourse\nwith them. They are bound to listen to what they have to say, and to\nreply to their questions and consider their objections. But to do\nthis with such a person as is here called a _fool_ would be to\ndisobey our Saviour's injunction, and to _\"cast our pearls before\nswine.\"_ It would be letting ourselves down to his level and\nencouraging him in his self-conceit. This, we think, is the meaning\nof verse 4. But, on the other hand, we are not always to be silent\nwhen the fool is talking. This also might lead him to think that his\nfoolish arguments were unanswerable--that we thought him as wise as\nhe thinks himself to be. He is to receive sometimes the stern rebuke\nthat his folly deserves; the manifestation of our displeasure is to\nbe in proportion to his manifestation of weakness and wickedness.\nThis will also be _\"answering a fool according to his folly,\"_ as in\nverse 5. But a fool must be checked by means that will perhaps make\nmore impression upon him than mere words. The _rod_ must be\napplied--coercion and punishment must come into use where reason and\nmoral persuasion are useless. Having placed himself on a level with\nthe brute, he must be ruled sometimes by brute force--by the whip of\ncompulsion, by the bridle of restraint. Men have the power of doing\nthis to a certain extent, and it is their duty to use it. But whether\nthey do or do not, God will certainly visit such an offender with the\nrod of punishment. Whether this is the truth contained in verse 10 or\nnot, revelation and experience affirm it, and we have met with it\nrepeatedly in this book. It is a great offence against Him who called\nus into being, and who desires His creatures to be worthy of their\nCreator, when men thus in practice count themselves unworthy of their\ndestiny. The Hebrew nation, in the bygone ages, was called by God to\noccupy a higher moral level than the surrounding nations, but by its\nown stubbornness and self-conceit it made the purpose of God to none\neffect, and was therefore necessarily made to feel the bitterness of\nbeing treated like a wild and refractory animal (Jer. xxxi. 18). And\nso it is with men in general. God would treat them as His sons, but\ntheir moral foolishness compels Him to make them feel the whip, the\nbridle, and the rod. One other thought is suggested in verses 7 and\n8--\n\n+III. That even the fool will sometimes adopt the speech of the\nwise.+ A _parable,_ or a wise saying, will sometimes be found in his\nlips, he will be sometimes heard to utter words of wisdom and give\ngood advice. But precept is of little avail if not backed by a good\nexample; the words and the deeds of such a man are as ill-matched as\nthose of a cripple who has one sound and useful limb, but whose other\nis shrunken and useless. The gait of such a man is awkward and\nuncertain, the malformed and the healthy limb do not well balance his\nbody. This is an apt illustration of the incongruity which often\nexists between the words and actions of a moral fool.\n\n(For Homiletics on verses 6 and 8 considered separately see on verse\n1, page 714, and on chap. x. 26, page 179.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 3. The rod is needful for the fool's back. Are you the unhappy\nfathers of foolish children? you must make use of the rod and reproof\nto give them wisdom. Are you authorised to bear rule in the church?\nthe rod of church discipline must be applied to offenders, that they\nmay be reclaimed, and others warned. Are you magistrates; the rod\nwhich God has put into your hands may be a means of preserving young\nmalefactors from the gibbet at a more advanced period of life. Are\nyou wise? beware of turning aside unto folly, that you may never need\nthe rod. Are you fools? learn wisdom, or do not blame those whom duty\nand charity will oblige to use the rod for your correction.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerses 4 and 5. _Answer a fool,_ not with any dream that you\nthoroughly answer him, _lest you be like him,_ and a fool yourself.\nAnd yet, by all means _answer_ him. _Answer_ wherever you can, lest\nhe think you can't; exploding all baseless heresies and mistakes;\nlest, hardening himself where he might be convinced, and defrauding\nhimself where there is everything to be said, he erect himself\nagainst facts where he has not been taught, and _become wise in his\nown eyes. . . . Answer not a fool,_ because much mystery does not\nadmit of answer, and you will be a fool yourself. But more. The\nnatural man does not discern the things of the Spirit of God. If you\nanswer a natural man with the idea that mere answers can turn him,\nyou must _\"be like him,\"_ as having no sense yourself of what is\npurely spiritual. Notice here a grand rebuke of reason in all\nattempts to convince the sinner. Nevertheless _answer a fool,_ and\nbow to just as great a rebuke to reason. We use reason far too\ngingerly. Reason is a Divine creation. It is an instrument. There is\na thought as though it were wicked to go too deep. On the contrary,\nwe are to out-think the fool. If we leave science to work her way,\nshe will grow _wise in her own conceit. Answer_ her. Rationalistic\ninfidelity is by no means an infidelity in reason. And the church\nshould make that to be seen. Scripture has been belied in the\ndirection of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. ii). Nothing is more\nirrational than rationalism. And one of the first _answers to the\nfool_ which he shall receive in the judgment will be, that he had all\nthe _reason_ for believing Christ which he had for anything beside,\nand a host of greater ones peculiar to the Gospel.--_Miller._\n\nThese two sentences may seem at the first blush to be contrary . . .\nbut this knot will be easily untied if it be observed that there are\ntwo sorts of answers, the one in folly, the other unto folly. A fool\nis not to be answered in his folly, or according unto his folly, that\nis to say, in such vanity as he useth, or after such a raging manner\nas he speaketh. . . . A fool is to be answered unto his folly; that\nis, by reasons to be confuted, and by reproofs that are wise to be\nbridled.--_Muffett._\n\nGenerally speaking, it would be better to follow Hezekiah's command\nconcerning Rabshakeh's blasphemy--_\"Answer him not.\"_ Jeremiah thus\nturned away in silence from the folly of the false prophets (Jer.\nxxviii. 11). If however we are constrained to reply--_Answer him not\naccording to his folly;_ not in his own foolish manner; \"not\nrendering railing for railing\" (1 Pet. iii. 9). Moses offended here.\nHe _answered_ the rebels _according to their folly_--passion for\npassion, and thus _he became like unto them._ David's answer to Nabal\nwas in the same humiliating spirit. The _answerer_ in this case _is\nlike_ the fool. He appears at the time to be cast in the same\nmould.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 7. Uniformity and ubiquity of obedience are sure signs of\nsincerity; but as an unequal pulse argues a distempered body, so doth\nuneven walking a diseased soul. A wise man's life is all of one\ncolour, like itself, and godliness runs through it, as the woof runs\nthrough the warp. But if all the parts of the line of thy life be not\nstraight before God, it is a crooked life. If thy tongue speak by the\ntalent, but thine hands scarce work by the ounce, thou shalt pass for\na Pharisee (Matt. xxiii. 3). They spake like angels, lived like\ndevils; had heaven commonly at their tongue ends, but the earth\ncontinually at their finger ends.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 9. When a drunkard carries and brandishes in his hand a sweet\nbriar, he scratches more with it than he allows the roses to be\nsmelled; so a fool with the Scriptures or a judicial maxim oft causes\nmore harm than profit.--_Luther._\n\nProverbs have sometimes been hurtful even in the mouths of wise men,\nthrough the imperfection of their wisdom. Job's friends dealt much in\nparables, which they had learned by tradition from their wise\nancestors, but they misapplied them in the case of Job; and although\nthey meant to plead the cause of God, yet they displeased Him so much\nby their uncharitable speeches against Job, which they drew by unjust\ninference from undoubted truths, that He told them they had not\nspoken the thing that was right concerning Him as His servant Job had\ndone. If Job had not been a strong believer, their management of\ntruth must have sunk him into despondency.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 11. The emblem is a loathsome and sickening one. It is meant to\nbe so. It would not have been appropriate, had it been anything else.\nThere are _two_ ideas conveyed by the comparison. The _disposition_\nor _tendency,_ on the part of the fool or vicious man, to return to\nhis folly; and the loathsomeness--the vileness--of the thing itself,\nwhen it does take place. There are persons of great pretensions to\nrefinement, who affect great disgust at the comparison. They wonder\nhow anybody of ordinary delicacy can utter it. They would think their\nlips polluted by the very words. It were well for such persons to\nremember, that there is no comparison _so_ odious as the thing itself\nwhich is represented by it. It were well if such persons would\ntransfer their disgust and loathing at the figure to that which the\nfigure represents:--if they would cherish a proper loathing of _sin._\nThat is what _God_ holds in abhorrence:--that is what should be\nabhorred by _us._ Persons may affect to sicken at the comparison here\nused, and yet be themselves exemplifying the very conduct it so aptly\nrepresents. Folly and sin are incomparably more polluting and\ndebasing to the nature of man, than the vilest and most disgusting\npractices in the inferior animals.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAnd is this the picture of man--\"made a little lower than the angels\"\n(Ps. viii. 5)--yea--\"made in the likeness of God?\" (Gen. i. 26). Who\nthat saw Adam in his universal dominion, sitting as the monarch of\ncreation; summoning all before him; giving to each his name, and\nreceiving in turn his homage (Ib. ii. 20)--who would have conceived\nof his children sunk into such brutish degradation? The tempter's\npromise was--\"Ye shall be as gods\" (Ib. iii. 5). The result of this\npromise was--\"Ye shall be as beasts.\" . . . Thus greedily did Pharaoh\n_return_ from his momentary conviction; Ahab from his feigned\nrepentance; Herod from his partial amendment; the drunkard from his\nbrutish insensibility--all to take a more determinate course of sin;\nto take their final plunge into ruin.--_Bridges._\n\nAccording to the usual method of\nthe Scriptures, a known thing is here\nemployed to teach an unknown. The\ntaste which inheres in nature is used\nas an instrument to implant the\ncorresponding spiritual sensibility.\nThe revulsion of the senses from a\nloathsome object is used as a lever\npower to press into the soul a dislike\nof sin. . . . The lines are strongly\ndrawn, that the lesson may be clear\nand cutting. There must be a rude\nhearty blow, for there is a hard searing\nto be penetrated. Those who go back\nto suck at sins, which they once\nrepudiated, may see in this terse\nproverb a picture of their pollution;\nonly the Omniscient perfectly knows\nand loathes the vile original.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-16.\n\nSELF-CONCEIT AND INDOLENCE.\n\n+I. The ruinous effects of self-satisfaction.+ In the preceding\nverses Solomon has drawn a picture of the moral fool--of the man who\nseems to have no moral sensibility, and who is a slave to evil habits\nand degrading vices. At first sight it would seem that no one could\nbe in a more hopeless condition, but a little consideration will\nconvince us that the wise man is right when he declares that it is\neasier to convince a fool of his folly, than a self-conceited man of\nhis ignorance and weakness. For there are many men who know that they\nare not what they ought to be, although they have not the moral\ncourage to quit their sinful courses; and sometimes the very depth of\ndegradation in which such men find themselves, and the strong\ncontrast which exists in their outward life between themselves and\nmore respectable citizens, startle them into a vigorous and\nsuccessful effort to break their chains. But a man who is wise in his\nown eyes is generally outwardly decorous in his behaviour--is what\nhas been called a _respectable sinner_--and it is this very outward\npropriety which lulls his conscience to sleep. Like the Pharisee in\nthe temple, he thanks God that he is not as other men (Luke\nxviii. 11) who are outwardly immoral, and forgets that if he is not\n_sensual_ he may be _devilish_ (Jas. iii. 15), may be under the\ndominion on the sin that made the first and greatest sinner in the\nuniverse. It was men of this class, and not the openly profane and\nsensual, whom Christ declared to be in danger of committing the _sin\nwhich should not be forgiven_ (Matt. xii. 31), and on another\noccasion he shows that their hopeless condition arose from the fact\nthat they did not realise that they were in any spiritual need. _\"If\nye were blind we should have no sin, but now ye say, we see;\ntherefore your sin remaineth\"_ (John ix. 41). This moral blindness is\nso hopeless because it is self-originated and self-sustained--because\nthe subjects of it love darkness rather than light, and even call\ntheir darkness _light,_ and their evil, _good._\n\n+II. Self-conceit is both the child and the parent of indolence.+ If\na man feels certain that he is far in advance of his competitors for\nany prize or position, his efforts to gain it will be very feeble and\nintermittent. And on the other hand, if he is indolent he will be\ncontent with very low intellectual and spiritual attainments, and\ninclined to place a very high estimate upon the very little mental or\nmoral wealth that he possesses. Being unwilling to labour after more,\nhe makes the most of what he has, and so his sloth keeps him\nignorant, and his ignorance confirms him in his slothful habits.\n\n+III. The indolent man has spasmodic and fruitless seasons of\nactivity.+ He turns upon his bed of sloth as though he were going to\nrise, and he puts his hand in the dish (see Critical Notes) of human\nenterprise and activity as though he intended to take a prize, and to\ntaste the sweets of honest and earnest toil. But his resolutions are\nbroken almost before they are formed, and his moral courage is not\nstrong enough to carry him through the first difficulty, or make him\nwilling to undergo the least self-denial. And so he ever remains a\nstranger to the sweetness of repose honestly earned, and to the\nrelish of good things gained by industry and perseverance. On this\nsubject see also on chap. xii. 27, page 289, and on verse 13. (See\nHomiletics on chap. xxii. 13, page 647.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. The publicans and sinners went faster to heaven than the\nPharisees; yea, there may be a greater nighness between the things\nwhen there is a greater distance between the working of them and the\nbringing them together. Thus, brother and sister are nigher in blood\nyet farther off marrying each other than two strangers; and thus two\nmen upon the tops of two houses opposite to each other in one of your\nnarrow streets--they are nearer each other in distance than those\nbelow are, yet in regard of coming each to other they may be said to\nbe farther off, for the one must come down and then climb up again.\nThus now a moral man, though he seems nearer to a state of grace, yet\nis really farther off; for he must be convinced of his false\nrighteousness, and then climb up to the state of grace.--_Goodwin._\n\n\nVerse 16. There is no refuting a man who says nothing. Nonsense is\nunanswerable if there only be enough of it. Who would dispute against\na pair of bagpipes, or against a company of boys that hoot at him? If\nyou will make a match at barking or biting, a cur will be too hard\nfor you. And if you will contend with multitudes of words, or by rage\nor confidence, a fool will be too hard for you.--_Baxter._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nNEEDLESS INTERFERENCE.\n\nThe wise man may here be regarded as passing from one extreme of\ncharacter to the other--from the man who is too indolent to mind his\nown affairs, to one whose activity is so great that it leads him to\nunnecessary interference with his neighbour's business. Or he may\nintend to suggest that indolence and meddling are very closely\nallied--that he who is not usefully occupied in doing his own work\nwill be very apt to interfere impertinently with the concerns of\nothers.\n\n+I. Such a meddler brings trouble upon himself.+ It is a dangerous\nthing to take a strange dog by the ears, and he who does it will be\nvery likely to suffer for it in his own person, for the creature will\nprobably wound him. But he who meddles impertinently with those who\nare at strife has to deal, not with _one_ angry _brute,_ but with\n_two_ angry _men or women,_ and will very likely bring down the wrath\nof both upon his own head. For it is to be noted that the strife with\nwhich it is mischievous to intermeddle is that \"which belongeth not\nto\" a man--a quarrel in which an outsider has no right to take a part.\n\n+II. He may do harm to others.+ To take a dog by the ears is at least\na foolish and useless act, and will certainly not increase the\ncomfort or peace of anybody. But it may so enrage the beast as to\nmake him a general disturber of the public peace and safety. And the\nsame holds good in relation to meddlers; the mischief that they do\nmay extend far beyond themselves, and their action may form a centre\nof a wide circle of mental disquietude and moral mischief.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA wide difference is made between \"suffering as a busy-body, and\nsuffering as a Christian.\" It is alarming to those who have no\nadequate sense of the criminality to find the apostle classify the\none with \"murderers, and thieves, and evil-doers.\"--_Bridges._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verses 18-22, see on chap. xvii. 14, page 513, and\non chap. xviii. 6-8, page 539.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 23-28.\n\nCOUNTERFEIT FRIENDSHIP.\n\n+I. Because there are true friends in the world false men sometimes\nput on the garb of friendship.+ Because there is an abundance of\ngenuine coin in the country men take the trouble to make counterfeit\nimitations of it; the existence of the good money is the cause of the\nexistence of the bad, and the great preponderance of the good over\nthe bad is the reason why men sometimes get imposed upon and take the\nbad for the good. So there is much real and true friendship in human\nlife, and there is therefore an opportunity given to wicked men to\nimitate its outward expression--there are many \"burning words\"\nuttered from the depths of a sincere heart, and therefore a wicked\nman will sometimes utter such words for the purposes of deception.\nThe vessel of clay covered with silver may be taken for silver,\nbecause its shape and external appearance are close imitation of the\ngenuine article, and the fair words of the false man may effectually\ndeceive the listener, but it is because some things _are what they\nseem,_ that other things are made _to seem what they are not._\n\n+II. The words of true friendship are used to reveal, and those of\nthe false friend are employed only for concealment.+ There were many\nsilver vessels in Solomon's palace, and their bright splendour was a\ntrue revelation of their intrinsic worth and genuineness; the shining\nsurface reflecting the light was an indication of the preciousness of\nthe entire article. But when a clay vessel is covered with silver,\nthe external coating is used only to cover what is beneath, and\nperhaps to deceive those who look on it. So when the friendship is\nreal the ardent expressions of affection which are uttered are only a\nrevelation of the emotions which are experienced, but when it is only\na counterfeit the words are like the silver which hides instead of\nrevealing what is beneath it. Solomon's father thus records his\nexperience of the language of a counterfeit friend: _\"His words were\nsofter than oil, yet were they drawn swords\"_ (Psalm lv. 21).\n\n+III. Because counterfeit friendship is opposed to human happiness it\nshall be publicly arrested and condemned.+ Every counterfeit has\narrayed against it the force of human interest. It is to the interest\nof the general community that the forger should be brought to\njustice, and that the coiner of bad money should be severely\npunished. It is only by rigidly enforcing the law against such\ncriminals that they are kept in check, and the safety of the public\nmade tolerably secure. When such offenders are discovered their\nwickedness is condemned by the united voice of the commercial world.\nBut the man who betrays another by false words is quite as great an\nenemy to his brother man, and ought to be as severely dealt with and\nas publicly and universally condemned. But it can hardly be affirmed\nthat such is the case. If every such betrayer were dealt with by\nhuman laws we should need a large increase of judges and gaolers and\nprison-cells, and should find within the walls of the latter many men\nwho are now living in mansions. And if it were only punished by being\nshut out from the favourable notices of their fellow-men, many would\nbe missed from their present positions in commercial and fashionable\ncircles. Although they are shunned, and their wickedness is abhorred\nby all lovers of truth and honesty, they are far from meeting at the\nhands of man with the contempt and condemnation which they deserve.\nBut the forces arrayed against such men are nevertheless in\noperation, and though they often work secretly and slowly they are\nmost certain to find their object and to make him conscious of their\nexistence. There are other agencies at work in the universe besides\nhuman agencies, and a Divine lawgiver as well as human lawgivers. And\nalthough the latter may fail to discover those who break their laws,\nno offender against the law of God will be able to escape public\narrest and condemnation, if not before a human congregation, before a\nhigher and more august assembly.\n\n+IV. A special form of punishment which will be the special portion\nof such offenders.+ The great principle proclaimed by Christ, _\"With\nwhat measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again\"_ (Matt.\nvii. 2), is here uttered by Solomon. Every deceiver will be deceived,\nand one false man will become the prey of another false man. This is\na law which is always and now in operation, although the punishment\nmay not always be discernable to onlookers. But it is a work which\nthe Almighty Judge has taken into His own hands, and many a one who\nis now suffering from a pitfall laid by another, knows very well in\nhis secret soul that he is only passing through the same experiences\nwhich he once prepared for another--that if what he took for a silver\nvessel is only clay, he has himself palmed off the counterfeit\narticle for a genuine one.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 28. It is not easy for us to forgive the injuries we receive;\nbut it is far more difficult to forgive the injuries we do.--_Lawson._\n\n1. There is the inward self-reproach, arising from the workings of\nconscience, from which arises a secret irritability and fretfulness\nand unhappiness; and this produces dislike of the innocent occasion\nof it, instead of terminating (as it always ought to do) on _self._\nThis of course is only _more injustice._ True; but it is in human\nnature to hate with a bitter hatred the object of our own crime; as\nif it were a fault in that object to exist, and so to be the object\non which our sin terminates. 2. The evil passions, like the good, are\nstrengthened and increased by their exercise. If the utterance of the\nfeelings of love serves further to inflame love, the utterance, in\nlike manner, of the feelings of hatred tend to inflame hatred. The\npassion gives birth to the word and the action; and, reciprocally,\nthe word and the action strengthen the passion. 3. The fretful\nuneasiness produced by the unceasing apprehension of detection and\nexposure, already alluded to, and of the weight of _his_ vengeance\nwho is the object of the lying tongue's assaults, gives rise also to\nthe same feeling of rankling dislike to him who is the source of it.\nThus the slanderer, instead of feeling pity for the man who his\nslander wounds, hates him still the more. This appears to have had a\nvery striking exemplification in the case of our blessed Lord and His\nJewish unbelieving adversaries. They \"hated Him without a\ncause.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+4.+ Delitzsch reads this verse _\"The madness of\nanger and the overflowing of wrath, and before jealousy who keeps his\nplace?\"_ +5. Secret love.+ Z\u00f6ckler and Hitzig understand this love to\nbe that _\"which from false consideration dissembles, and does not\ntell his friend of his faults when it should do so.\"_ Delitzsch\nthinks it refers to _\"love which is confined to the heart alone, like\na fire, which, when it burns secretly, neither lightens nor warms.\"_\n+8. Place,+ rather _\"home.\"_ +9.+ This verse is obscurely rendered in\nthe English version. Delitzsch translates _\"Oil and frankincense\nrejoice the heart, and the sweet discourse of a friend from\ncounselling of soul.\"_ Ewald, Elster, Luther, etc., render _\"The\nsweetness of the friend springeth from faithful counsel of soul.\"_\nZ\u00f6ckler, _\"The sweetness of a friend is better than one's own\ncounsel.\"_ +10. Neighbour that is near,+ etc. _\"The near neighbour is\nhe who keeps himself near as one dispensing counsel and help to the\ndistressed, just as the far-off brother is he who, on account of his\nunloving disposition, keeps at a distance from the same.\"_ (Z\u00f6ckler.)\nMost commentators substantially agree with this view of the text.\n+14. As a curse,+ etc. It is no better than a curse, or it may be\nregarded as veiling an evil intention. +16. And the ointment of his\nright hand.+ Z\u00f6ckler and Delitzsch translate _\"And his right hand\ngraspeth, or meeteth oil,\"_ that is, he cannot hold her. Other\ncommentators, retaining the English translation, understand it to\nrefer to the hopelessness of concealing her vexatious disposition.\n+17.+ Stuart and Noyes find here the idea of provocation. But most\ncritics take the ordinary view. Miller translates _\"Iron is welded by\niron: so, for a man, the tie is the face of a friend.\"_ +20. Hell and\ndestruction,+ rather _\"the world of the dead.\"_ +Eyes.+ Some\nunderstand the reference to be the insatiableness of human passion.\n+21. A man to his praise.+ Delitzsch understands the meaning to be\nthat a man is valued according to the measure of public opinion.\nEwald, Hitzig, and others, coincide with Z\u00f6ckler's rendering, _\"A man\naccording to his glorying,\" i.e.,_ \"One is judged according to the\nstandard of that which he makes his boast.\"\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nDIVINE PROPERTY.\n\n+I. A possession exclusively Divine.+ Both the distant and the\nimmediate future belong to God alone; not only does He possess the\nexclusive control of what shall be in a hundred years to come, but\nto-morrow, and even the next hour and minute, are exclusively His.\nThere is, doubtless, an existence beyond time where God's creatures\ncan look forward to the future with more certainty than can man in\nhis present condition, but it does not belong to even the highest\narchangel to say what shall be in the far-off or even the near time\nto come. This is the prerogative of Him alone with whom all is one\neternal present.\n\n+II. A possession to which men often lay claim.+ If we were to hear a\nman making definite plans as to how he would spend a fortune which it\nwas only probable he would possess, we should wonder at his tone of\ncertainty, and perhaps attribute it to weakness or presumption. But\nwe all dispose of our days, and sometimes of our months and years,\nlong before they are ours, and while our own past experience and that\nof others around us admonish us of the great uncertainties that\nsurround our future, we are prone to lay our plans as if to-morrow\nand many years to come were ours. It is doubtless necessary and right\nto forecast to a certain extent--we must look forward to what will\nprobably or may be on the morrow, or be guilty of another form of\npresumption. But we are not forbidden by the wise man to do this--all\nthat the proverb warns us against is that boastful certainty in\nrelation to the future which so ill becomes creatures so limited in\ntheir knowledge and so straitened in their resources--that definite\nlaying of our plans which leaves God entirely outside of them, and\nthat confident disposal of ourselves which forgets to say, _\"If the\nLord will we shall live, and do this, or that\"_ (James iv. 15). It\nwould be foolish for a raw recruit to pretend to map out the plan of\nhis general's campaign, or for an unlettered peasant to prophecy what\nline of policy would be adopted by the prime minister of the land;\nbut he who boasts himself of to-morrow is more foolish, and is also\nwicked.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe day is said to bring forth because time travaileth with the\nLord's decrees, and in their season bringeth them forth, even as a\nwoman with child doth her little babies. Indeed, time properly\nworketh not, but, because God's works are done in time, it is said to\ndo those things which are done therein.--_Muffett._\n\nI. _This ignorance of the morrow is necessary to the prosecution of\nour duties on earth._ Could we draw aside the veil of the future and\nlook at the things which are coming to us, our energies would be so\nparalysed as to incapacitate us for the ordinary avocations of life;\nmercy has woven the web of concealment. II. _This ignorance of\nto-morrow is our incentive to the preparation for the future._ Christ\nused this argument: _\"Be ye, therefore, ready,_ for in such an hour\nas ye think not the Son of Man cometh.\"--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\nThe same reason that should check our boasting of to-morrow may\npreserve us from desponding fears. It may be stormy weather to-day;\nbut storms do not last all the year. We are filled and tormented with\nfears of some impending evil, but we often give ourselves real pain\nby the prospect of calamities that never were appointed to us by the\nprovidence of God.--_Lawson._\n\nHow awfully has this _boasting_ been put to shame! In the days of\nNoah \"they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the very\nday when the flood came and destroyed them all.\" Abner promised a\nkingdom, but could not ensure his life for an hour. Haman plumed\nhimself upon the prospect of the queen's banquet, but was hanged like\na dog before night. The fool's soul was required of him \"on the very\nnight\" of his worldly projects \"for many years\" to come. \"Serious\naffairs to-morrow,\" was the laughing reply of Archias, warned of a\nconspiracy which hurried him into eternity the next hour. The infidel\nGibbon calculated upon fifteen years of life, and died within a few\nmonths, at a day's warning.--_Bridges._\n\nTo count on to-morrow so as to neglect the duty of to-day is in many\nrespects the greatest practical error among men. None have a wider\nrange, and none are charged with more dreadful consequences. Whether\nthe work in hand pertain to small matters or great--to the sowing of\na field or the redemption of a soul--for every one who resolves\ndeliberately not to do it, a hundred tread the same path, and suffer\nthe same loss at last, who only postpone the work of to-day with the\nintention of performing it to-morrow. The proverb contains only the\nnegative side of the precept, but it is made hollow for the very\npurpose of holding the positive promise in its bosom. The Old\nTestament sweeps away the wide-spread indurated error; the New\nTestament then deposits its saving truth upon the spot. . . . Solomon\nwarns us to distrust the future, and Paul persuades us to accept the\npresent hour. \"Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day\nof salvation.\" \"To-morrow,\" is the devil's great ally, the very\nGoliath in whom he trusts for victory. \"Now,\" is the stripling whom\nGod sends forth against him. A great significance lies in that little\nword. It marks the points on which life's battle turns. That spot is\nthe Hougoumont of Waterloo. There the victory is lost or won. . . . An\nartist solicited permission to paint a portrait of the Queen. The\nfavour was granted--and the favour was great, for probably it would\nmake the fortune of the man. A place was fixed, and a time. At the\nfixed place and time the Queen appeared; but the artist was not\nthere--he was not ready yet. When he did arrive, a message was\ncommunicated to him that her Majesty had departed, and would not\nreturn. Such is the tale. We have no means of verifying its history,\nbut its moral is not dependent on its truth. If it is not a history,\nlet it serve as a parable. Translate it from the temporal into the\neternal. Employ the earthly type to print a heavenly lesson.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nSELF PRAISE.\n\n+I. Merit will win the praise of others.+ The light of the sun makes\nits existence felt by every man who is possessed of vision, and there\nare but few men who do not acknowledge that it is a good and pleasant\nthing. The perfume of the flowers cannot be hidden while there are\ncreatures endowed with the sense of smell, and their fragrance is so\ngrateful and refreshing to us, that it is sure to win from us an\nacknowledgement of its existence and expressions of delight. And as\nmen are endowed with senses which recognise light and fragrance and\nevery form of physical beauty, so there is a moral sense in man which\ncompels him to discern moral excellence or moral superiority. The\nconscience and the reason stand in the same relation to spiritual\nworth and intelligence as the sense of sight does to the sunlight, or\nthat of smell to a pleasant odor. It is true that there are men who\nwill refuse to acknowledge the presence of moral worth, but there are\nalso some who will not acknowledge the existence of good in anything.\nBut they know it is there notwithstanding. And although man as fallen\nmay be more ready to praise that which appeals to his senses than\nthat which commands the admiration of his better nature, there will\nalways be found some in every community who will give to real worth\nits due proportion of praise.\n\n+II. Self-praise generally implies a lack of merit.+ A man of\nintellectual or moral worth loves knowledge or excellence of any kind\nfor its own sake, and not for the height to which it may raise him in\nthe estimation of his fellows. Although he is or ought to be grateful\nfor the esteem of others, he does not make that the end of his\nexistence; his satisfaction arises not from what people think of him,\nbut from what he is in himself. And just in proportion as a man\nattains to mental or moral heights, so does he apprehend more truly\nhow little after all he has and is, and so the higher he goes the\nless value he commonly sets upon his present attainments. It is\ntherefore an inference most commonly drawn that he who praises\nhimself is but little deserving the praise of others, and is not\nlikely to get it. And this conclusion is generally a correct one.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt must never be forgotten that all such passages imply the sincere\nand earnest cultivation of a real and divinely approved _principle._\nThe principle called for in this verse is that of true,\nself-diffident modesty. Considerations entirely different, and even\nopposite, may induce the suppression of _self-praise:_--even the very\ndesire of praise from others. From this arises the danger of holding\nout--to the young especially--the motive or inducement of _getting a\ncharacter for modesty._ This may produce artifice, affectation,\nsimulation, hypocrisy. That which is wanted,--that which God approves\nand requires,--is _honest simplicity,_ which neither, on the one\nhand, courts praise, nor, on the other, affects to disdain and\nundervalue it,--which neither blusters out its own commendation, nor\nwhines and simpers, and depreciates, and makes light of what it is or\nof what it has done, merely for the purpose of making others say\nmore. The affectation of despising the commendation of others is\nworse than the self-commendation that is reprehended. It is, in\ntruth, the very same spirit showing itself under another\naspect.--_Wardlaw._\n\nPraise is a comely garment, but though thyself do wear it, another\nmust put it on, or it will never fit well about thee. Praise is sweet\nmusic, but it is never tuneable in thine own mouth, if it come from\nthe mouth of another, it soundeth most tuneably in the ears of all\nthat hear it. Praise is a rich treasure, but it never makes thee\nrich, unless another tell the sum.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 3 _and_ 4.\n\nWRATH AND ENVY.\n\n+I. A most unhappy combination.+ A fool and wrath. Wrath or\ndispleasure is possible of every being capable of emotion. The power\nto love implies the power to hate, and he who can be pleased can also\nbe displeased. The most tender mother can be angry, and righteously\nangry, with her child, and we read in Scripture of the _\"wrath of the\nLamb\"_ (Rev. vi. 16). But there is an infinite distance between the\nwrath of the Holy God, and even between that of a good man or woman,\nand that of a moral fool. Divine displeasure is an emotion, and never\na passion. God is never passive in the hands of His anger. And in\nproportion as men are like God they always have their displeasure\nunder the control of their will. It is as amenable to their\nconscience and their reason as an obedient horse to his rider. But a\nfool is a man who is without power of self-government--who is himself\ngoverned first by one passion or desire and then by another--like a\nship without a rudder, at the mercy of the winds and waves. When such\nan one is in the hands of his wrath, a most mischievous and\ndestructive force is at work. For whether we consider its effects on\nthe man himself, or upon the objects of his anger, we may truthfully\nbrand it as _burdensome, and cruel and outrageous._ 1. _It is a cruel\nburden to the subject of it._ A more wretched creature can hardly be\nfound in the universe than a man passive in the hands of his own\nanger; it is like a heavy weight crushing out of him all power to\nstand morally erect and self-possessed, and like a knotted scourge\ninflicting wounds not on the body but on the spirit. 2. _The objects\nof it also find it a painful yoke._ In proportion as the fool is in a\nposition to exert his influence over others, in the same proportion\nis the amount of misery which he can create by his unbridled wrath.\nPerhaps its effects are nowhere so painfully felt as in the domestic\ncircle. As a master the wrathful fool may make his servants\nmiserable, but they may be able to quit his service and so get beyond\nhis influence. But there is no escape for wife and children from the\nwrath of a morally foolish husband and father; for such there is a\nmillstone ever about the neck, and tormenting goads always pricking\nthe feet.\n\n+II. The most pitiless foe.+ Terrible as is the unbridled wrath of a\nfool, there is a passion more to be dreaded. The open battle-field in\nbroad daylight is a place to be shunned, but an ambush at midnight is\nmore certain death. Men fear to meet the lion upon the highroad, but\nthe scorpion concealed among the grass is more dangerous. For some\nresistance can be offered to an open and avowed enemy, but no defence\ncan be prepared against an unseen foe. And if wrath is like the angry\nlion, envy is like the deadly scorpion. The first gives some warning\nof his design, but the latter none. The man of unbridled passion\noften misses his aim by reason of his unsteady hand--the very excess\nof his wrath sometimes takes away his power to execute his intention.\nAnd he generally deals his blows at his enemy's face--speaks out his\nhatred in his hearing, and publicly and openly tries to do him a\nmischief. But the envious man acts in a different manner. The natures\nthat are most prone to envy have generally some power of\nself-control--they are more cold-blooded than passionate men. Though\nthey are moral fools, they have generally enough intellectual wisdom\nto see the best method of bringing to pass their malicious purposes;\nand they consequently prefer an ambush to an open fight, and choose\nrather to stab a man in the back than to meet him face to face. In\nother words, they do not upbraid him openly and give him an\nopportunity to defend himself, but blacken his character by\ninsinuations when he is absent. And as it is the nature of envy to\nbrood over its grievances in secret, and that of unbridled wrath to\nmanifest its displeasure immediately and openly, the first gathers\nstrength by repression and the other loses it by the very force of\nits expression.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAs an earthquake ariseth from a tumultuous vapour shut up in the\ncaverns and bowels of the earth, where it tosseth and tumbleth until\nit break out and overturn all that standeth in the way of it, so envy\nis a pestilent vapour which lieth in the heart of a man, where it\nboileth and fretteth until it tumbleth and throweth down all that\nstandeth in the malicious eye of it. Houses and trees stand firm\nagainst a tempest of lightning or a flood of rain, and men stand out\nagainst the cruelty of sudden wrath and rage of a man's lasting\nanger, but what house or tree standeth against the force of an\nearthquake, and who is able to stand against the force of\nenvy?--_Jermin._\n\nI do not ask for men passionless; this is _hominem de homine\ntollere._ Give them leave to be men, not madmen. Anger in the best\nsense is the gift of God, and it is no small art to express anger\nwith premeditated terms, and on seasonable occasions. God placed\nanger among the affections engrafted in nature, gave it a seat,\nfitted it with instruments, ministered it matter whence it might\nproceed, provided humours whereby it is nourished. It is to the soul\nas a nerve to the body. The philosopher calls it the whetstone to\nfortitude, a spur intended to set forward virtue. But there is a\nvicious, impetuous, frantic anger, earnest for private and personal\ngrudges; not like a medicine to clear the eye, but to put it\nout. . . . To cure the bedlam passion . . . let him take some herb of\ngrace, an ounce of patience, as much of consideration how often he\ngives God cause to be angry with him, and no less of consideration\nhow God hath a hand in Shimei's railing--mix all these together with\na faithful confidence that God will dispose all wrongs to thy good;\nhereof be made a pill to purge choler. . . . Anger is a frantic fit,\nbut envy is a consumption. . . . Among all mischiefs it is furnished\nwith one profitable quality--the owner of it takes most hurt. . . .\nIt were well for him that he should dwell alone. It is a pity that he\nshould come into heaven, for to see \"one star excel another in glory\"\nwould put him again out of his wits. . . . His cure is hard. . . .\nTwo simples may do him good if he could be won to take them--a\nscruple of content and a dram of charity.--_T. Adams._\n\nWell then might it be asked: _Who is able to stand before envy?_ Even\nthe perfect innocence of paradise fell _before it._ Satan lost his\nown happiness. Then he _envied_ man, and ceased not to work his\ndestruction. (See Wis. ii. 23, 24.) It shed the first human blood\nthat ever stained the ground (1 John iii. 12). It quenched the\nyearnings of natural affection, and brought bitter sorrow to the\npatriarch's bosom. Even the premier of the greatest empire in the\nworld was its temporary victim. Nay more--the Saviour in His most\nbenevolent acts was sorely harassed, and ultimately sunk under its\npower. \"His servants therefore must not expect to be above their\nMaster.\"--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5 _and_ 6, 9 _to_ 11,\n_and_ 14.\n\nTESTS OF FRIENDSHIP.\n\nWe group these verses together because they all treat of the same\nsubject, viz., friendship in reality and friendship in profession\nonly. The same subject occurred in the preceding chapter (see on\nverses 23-28, and in chap. xvii. 17, 18, page 519).\n\n+I. He does not love us truly who does not love us well enough to\ntell us of our faults.+ The true friend must desire to see the object\nof his affection as free from faults as it is possible for him to be;\nthe truest and the purest love seeks by every means within its reach\nto bless the beloved one. And as we should not consider him a friend\nwho would make no effort to free us from any bodily disease or\nphysical deformity, we ought not to call him an enemy who will strive\nto rid us of moral and spiritual blemishes. For such an one gives\nproof that he cares more for our ultimate good than for our present\nsmile--he shows that he is even willing to risk our displeasure in\nthe hope of doing us real kindness. He who gives us kisses when he\nought to give us reproof, or who holds back deserved rebuke from\ncowardice, is more cruel than if he withheld from us an indispensable\nmedicine simply because it had a bitter taste. For if we will not\ntake the unpleasant draught from the hand that we have clasped in\nfriendship, we are not likely to find it more pleasant when\nadministered by a stranger, much less by an enemy. And if a wound is\nto be probed it is surely better for the patient that it should be\ndone by a skilful and tender hand than by one who has no sympathy\nwith us and no acquaintance with our inner life. And as it is certain\nthat those who do not love us will either rebuke us for our faults or\ndespise us on account of them, the real friend is he who, by a loving\nfaithfulness, strives to rid us of them. What would have become of\nDavid if Nathan had lacked the courage to say to him, \"Thou art the\nman.\"\n\n+II. Such a true friend is the most refreshing and invigorating\ninfluence that can bless our life.+ Setting aside the blessing and\nstrength which come to man direct from his Father in heaven, there is\nno source whence he can derive so much help and comfort as from the\nhearty sympathy and sound advice of a real friend. They are like the\nanointing oil and perfume which refresh the weary Eastern traveller\nat the end of his day's journey, removing the traces of toil and the\nsense of fatigue, and putting new life into every limb. Life is a\ndusty, toilsome highway for most men, and they sorely stand in need\nof some soothing and renewing influence as they pursue the journey.\nAnd this, Solomon assures us--and experience confirms his\nassurance--is to be found in hearty friendship.\n\n+III. The cultivation and retention of such friends should be one of\nthe aims of life.+ Seeing that there is no other means by which we\nare so likely to get a true acquaintance with ourselves, and no other\nearthly influence which is so likely at once to elevate and console\nus, we ought to try and make real friends and be faithful to our\nfriendships after they are formed. And especially we ought ever\ngratefully to remember the friends of our youth--those who gave us\nhelp and counsel when we most needed them, and to whose faithfulness\nand forbearance we probably owe far more than we can ever rightly\nestimate. There is a proneness in the youth as he rises into manhood,\nand is probably removed from early associations and lifted into a\nhigher social sphere, to forget his earliest and truest friend, but\nthe truly wise and honourable man will count fidelity to such a\nsacred duty.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 6. Many indeed profess their value for a true friend; and yet\nin the most valuable discharge of friendship, they \"count him their\nenemy.\" The apostle had some just apprehension on this account,\nthough so wise and affectionate, and speaking from the mouth of God\n(Gal. iv. 12-16). As of the rule of friendship was, that we should\nabsolutely, \"please,\" without reference to the Divine\nrestriction--\"for good to edification\" (Rom. xv. 2). Christian\nfaithfulness is the only way of acting up to our profession. And much\nguilt lies upon the conscience in the neglect. But this open _rebuke_\nmust not contravene the express rule of love--\"telling the fault\nbetween thee and him alone.\" Too often, instead of pouring it\nsecretly into our brother's ear, it is proclaimed through the wide\nmedium of the world's ear, and thus it passes through a multitude of\nchannels before it reaches its one proper destination. The _openness\nof the rebuke_ describes the free and reserved sincerity of the\nheart, not necessarily the public exposure of the offender; save when\nthe character of the offence, or the interests of others, may appear\nto demand it (1 Tim. v. 20).--_Bridges._\n\nThis is that false love which really injures its object; and which,\non this account,--that is, from its injurious _tendency,_ how little\nsoever designed, gets in the Scriptures the designation of _hatred:_\n\"Thou shalt not _hate_ thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any\nwise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him\" (Lev.\nxix. 17).--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 9. The best physic for man is man. For friendship is a kind of\nlife to man, without which there is no comfort of a man's life.\nFriendship is in men a kind of step to God, and by means of love man\ndraweth near to God, when, as from being the friend of man, he is\nmade the friend of God. But as among the Jews there was no oil that\ndid so rejoice the heart as that wherewith the kings were anointed;\nno perfume that did so delight the soul as that which the priest\noffered; in like manner as there is no friend so sweet as God, so\nthere is no counsel that doth so glad the soul, so cheer the heart,\nas that which He giveth in His Word, whereby we are made even kings\nand priests unto Him.--_Jermin._\n\nThe _heartiness of a friend's counsel_ constitutes its excellence. It\nis not official, or merely intelligent. It is _the counsel of his\nsoul.--Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 10. _\"Neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy\ncalamity.\"_ This has certainly the appearance of a very strange\nadvice. Whither, in the day of our calamity, should we go, if not to\nthe house of a brother? Where are we to expect a kind reception, and\nthe comfort we require, if not there? But the proverb, like all\nothers, must be understood generally, and applied in the\ncircumstances and the sense obviously and mainly designed. The\nmeaning seems to be either--1. Do not choose \"the day of thy\ncalamity\" for making thy visit, if thou hast not shown the same\nintimacy before, in the day of thy success and prosperity. This\nunavoidably looks not like the impulse of affection, but of felt\nnecessity, or convenience and self-interest: \"Ay, ay,\" your brother\nwill be naturally apt to say, \"I saw little of you before: you are\nfain to come to see me _now,_ when you feel your need of me, and\nfancy I may be of some service to you.\" Or, 2. Let not sympathy be\nforced and extorted. \"In the day of thy calamity,\" if thy brother has\nthe heart of a brother, and really feels for thee, _he will come to\nthee;_ he will _seek and find thee._ If he does not, then do not\npress yourself upon his notice, as if you would constrain and oblige\nhim to be kind. This may, and probably will, have the effect of\ndisgusting and alienating him, rather than gaining his love. Love and\nsympathy must be unconstrained as well as unbought. When they are\neither got by a bribe, or got by dint of urgent solicitation, they\nare alike heartless, and alike worthless. The reason is--_\"For better\nis a neighbour that is near, than a brother far off.\"_ The\nantithetical phrases _\"at hand\"_ and _\"far off,\"_ have evident\nreference here, not to _locality,_ but to _disposition._ A friendly\nand kindly-disposed neighbour, who bears no relation to us save that\nof neighbourhood, is greatly preferable to a brother--to any near\nrelation whatever that is cold, distant, and alienated.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe proverbial sense is, that better is a lesser comfort which is\nready at hand, than a greater solace which we must go to seek\nafter.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 14. It is an excellent description of a notorious flatterer,\nand a just denunciation of his due reward. First, _he blesseth with a\nloud voice, as if he wanted breath_ and sides to set out the praise\nof his friend, and as if he would not only awaken him with the news\nof it but many others also with the loudness of it. Secondly, he doth\nit _rising early_ as if it were some main and principal business\nwhich he had to do, and wherein he would show himself more forward\nthan any others. Thirdly, he doth it _in the morning,_ as if he would\nbless his friend before he blessed God, or rather would make him his\ngod by offering his sacrifice of praise unto him.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.\n\nWANT OF APPETITE.\n\n+I. The value which men set upon things depends upon their condition\nand circumstances.+ When we look around upon our fellow-creatures, we\ncan but remark the widely different estimates which different men\nplace upon the same things, and also the different value which the\nsame man attaches to the same object at different times. To begin as\nSolomon does, with our lower nature--there are hundreds of well-fed\ncitizens in every community who look with indifference at the most\ntempting dainties that are set before them, and perhaps close to\ntheir mansions are to be found as many to whom one good meal would\ngive the keenest physical enjoyment. And if a traveller were passing\nthrough England he would probably turn away with disdain from a\ndinner of bread and water; but if he were in some far-off desert land\nhe would hail such plain fare with delight. If we apply the proverb\nto man's intellectual nature, we find the same law in operation. Some\nmen are surrounded with opportunities of mental culture and growth,\nand they despise and neglect them because they have no intellectual\nappetites, while others who are shut out for such advantages are\nlonging eagerly for them. And it is no less true in spiritual things.\nThe longings and aspirations of those whose spiritual appetites have\nbeen awakened are entirely unknown to those who have not felt their\nsoul need, and the language which they use to express their desires\nis an unknown tongue to those who say, \"I am rich and have need of\nnothing\" (Rev. iii. 17). There was a time in the life of Saul of\nTarsus, when the language of Paul the apostle would have been utterly\nunintelligible to him. It would have been hard to convince the young\nman who consented to the death of Stephen, that he would one day\n_\"count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of\nChrist Jesus\"_ (Phil. iii. 8), but the different estimate which he\nset upon the Gospel of the Son of God depended entirely upon the\ndifference in his own spiritual condition at those different periods\nin his life. Even the gift of a Saviour is lightly esteemed, when men\nare full of pride and worldliness; it is true in this sense as in\nothers that _\"the full soul loatheth an honeycomb.\"_\n\n+II. A sense of need will not only teach men to value luxuries and\ncomforts, but will make what was unpalatable welcome and acceptable.+\nThe young man who had lightly esteemed the good things on his\nfather's table, came not only to remember with a longing desire the\nbread that fed his father's servants, but would _\"fain have filled\nhis belly with the husks that the swine did eat\"_ (Luke xv. 16). And\nwhen a youth has known the misery of homelessness, the restraints of\nhis father's house, and the daily toil which once he felt to be so\nirksome, are light and easy in comparison. And so it is when a soul\nbegins to hunger and thirst after righteousness. The conditions of\nreconciliation with God and the yoke of Christ, which before were so\ndistasteful, are joyfully and eagerly accepted, and that which was\nbitter becomes sweet to the soul.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nA MAN AND HIS PLACE.\n\n+I. It is good for every man to have a place in the world which he\ncan call his home, and work which he feels especially belongs to\nhim.+ A man should have some spot on earth which is dearer to him\nthan all the world beside, and some calling or profession which he\ncan recognise as his own. It is not by any means desirable that he\nshould always be in that place, or that he should never employ his\ntime in other work. The bird often leaves the nest and flies hither\nand thither for many hours, and men must and ought not to confine\nthemselves always to one place and to the same employment. Change of\nscene and occupation is always desirable within certain limits, and\nis often a necessity with men. But however far the bird flies she\nreturns to her nest, and however much men may be obliged or may\nchoose to wander, they should always have one place to call home; and\nhowever many things may occupy their hours of leisure, they should\nhave one kind of work which especially fills up their life.\n\n+II. It is not good hastily and often to quit one sphere of work and\none mode of life for another.+ Every honest calling has some\nadvantages connected with it, and almost every sphere in life has\nsomething to recommend it; and steady perseverance in one employment,\nand continuance in one position, is often far more conducive to our\nmaterial prosperity, and more beneficial to our character and\nreputation, than constant changes, even although they promise more\nspeedy promotion and a smoother path to some desired end. This much\nis certain, that change merely for the sake of change is foolish, and\nchange without good and sufficient reason is not wise.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nBy _place,_ the Holy Ghost understandeth particular callings. Now God\nhad taken care that none should molest a bird in her nest, there she\nwas safe (Deut. xxii. 6, 7); but when she begins to wander then she\nis in danger, either to be shot by the fowler or caught in the snare,\nor made a prey to other ravenous birds. So a man that is diligent in\nhis calling whilst he is employed therein, is in God's precincts, and\nso under God's protection; but when he wandereth abroad from his\ncalling, going out of his bounds to sit and talk, he is a waif and a\nstray, and so falleth to the lord of the manor, \"the god of this\nworld.\" Reader, thou mayest expect to be preserved whilst thou art\na-working, but not when thou art wandering. Those soldiers who leave\ntheir place in a march and straggle to pilfer, are many times snapt\nand slain by their enemies, while they who keep their places are safe\nand secure.--_Swinnock._\n\nChanges of place is thought of as an evil. The sense of security is\nlost and cannot be regained. The maxim, it may be noted, is\ncharacteristic of the earlier stages of Hebrew history, before exile\nand travel had made change of country a more familiar thing. We seem\nto hear an echo of the feeling which made the thought of being \"a\nfugitive and a vagabond\" (Gen. iv. 12, 13) the most terrible of all\npunishments.--_Plumptre._\n\nIn such a comparison as this, we cannot but suppose there is a\nreference to the _purposes_ for which the nest is constructed. The\nallusion is doubtless to the period of _incubation_--to the hatching\nof the eggs, and the rearing of the young. If the bird \"wanders from\nher nest\" during that period, what is the consequence? Why, that the\nprocess is frustrated--the eggs lose their vital warmth; they become\ncold, addled, and unproductive. Absence, even for a very short time,\nwill produce this effect; and produce it to such a degree, that no\nsubsequent sitting, however constant and prolonged, can ever vivify\nagain the extinct principle of vitality. And then, during the period\nof _early training,_ when the young are dependent on the brooding\nbreast and wing of the parent bird for their warmth, and on the\nactive quickness of the parent bird, as their purveyor, for their\nsustenance,--desertion is death. If the mother _then_ \"wanders from\nher nest,\" forsaking for any length of time her callow brood--they\nperish, the hapless victims of a mother's neglect. They are starved\nof cold, or they are starved of hunger; or, it may be, their secret\nretreat is found out by some devouring foe. Such appears to be the\napt illusion. Let us now consider _to what cases it may with truth\nand profit be applied._ 1. In the first place then, I apply it to a\nman's HOME. _Home_ may surely be regarded as most appropriately\ndesignated _\"his place.\"_ It is there he ought to be; not merely\n_enjoying_ comfort, but _imparting_ it;--not the place of selfish\nease and indulgence, but of dutiful and useful occupation. He has a\ncharge there,--committed to him, not by the instincts of nature\nmerely, but by the law of God. His family demand his first interest\nand get his first attention. 2. I apply the proverb to the SITUATION\nIN LIFE which has been assigned to a man by Providence. As the\nbrooding bird should be found upon her eggs, or with her young, so\nshould every servant, in every department, be found in his own place,\nand at his own occupation. It should be the aim of every man to have\nit said of him with truth--_Tell me where he ought to be, and I will\ntell you where he is._ 3. I wish to apply the words to the SANCTUARY\nOF GOD. I think they may be so applied with perfect appropriateness.\nEvery Christian must delight in God's sanctuary. It is to him, as a\nworshipper of God, _\"his place;\"_--the place where, at stated times,\nhe ought to be, and where he chooses, and desires, and loves to be.\nHow frequently, how strongly, how beautifully, does the Psalmist\nexpress this feeling!--and on one occasion with an exquisitely\ntouching allusion to those birds of the air, that built their nests\nin the vicinity of the temple; and which, when banished from\nJerusalem, and kept at a distance from the sacred precincts, he\nrepresents himself as envying--coveting their proximity to the altars\nof Jehovah (Psa. lxxxiv. 3).--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nThe 9th, 10th, 11th, and 14th verses have been considered with the\n5th and 6th. For Homiletics on the subject of verse 12 see on chap.\nxiv. 15, page 364. Verses 13, 15, and 16 are almost a verbal\nrepetition of chaps. xx. 16, and xix. 13. For Homiletics see pages\n589 and 573.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.\n\nA SOCIAL WHETSTONE.\n\n+I. This proverb may be applied to men's general intercourse with\neach other.+ It is needful for a man to mingle with his\nfellow-creatures in order to have his faculties and capacities\ndeveloped and fitted for action. Social intercourse is stimulating to\nthe mind and refreshing to the spiritual nature, and is indeed\nindispensable to our happiness and usefulness. \"A man by himself,\"\nsays Muffet, \"is no man--he is dull, he is very blunt; but if his\nfellow come and quicken him by his presence, speech, and example, he\nis so whetted on by this means that he is much more skilful,\ncomfortable, and better than when he was alone.\" The human\ncountenance, as the organ by which the soul of one man makes its\npresence felt by another, has a quickening influence even when no\nwords are uttered, and this general friction of soul with soul\npreserves men from intellectual dulness and spiritual apathy.\n\n+II. It is especially applicable to intercourse with those whom we\nknow and love.+ Above and beyond the general need of man to have\nconstant intercourse with man, there are times and seasons when the\nface of a _friend_ is especially helpful. The sword that has seen\nmuch hard service must come in contact with another steel instrument\nto restore its edge. The ploughshare that has pushed its way through\nhard and stony ground must be fitted for more work by friction with a\nwhetstone, and the axe, after it has felled many trees, must be\nsubjected to a similar process. So the intellectual and spiritual\nnature of man becomes at times in need of a stimulus from without\nwhich may fitly be compared with this sharpening of iron by iron.\nHard mental toil, contact with uncongenial persons and things,\ndisappointments, and even great spiritual emotions, have a tendency\nto exhaust our energies and depress our spirits, and render us for a\ntime indisposed to exertion, and perhaps incapable of it. In such a\ncondition a look of sympathy and encouragement from one who\nunderstands us is very serviceable indeed, and has the power to\narouse within us fresh hope, and therefore new life for renewed\naction.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAs you can only sharpen iron by iron, you can _only sharpen souls by\nsouls._ Neither dead matter, however majestic in aspect or thunderous\nin melody, nor irrational life, however graceful in form or mighty in\nforce, can sharpen a blunted soul. Mind alone can quicken mind; it is\nin all cases the spirit that quickeneth.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\n_Iron is welded by iron._ (This is Miller's rendering.) That is, we\nmust bring a _\"force\"_ of _\"iron\"_ (not of tin, or brass, or wood,\nbut, by the very necessities of its nature, of _iron_), and strictly\na face of it, so that face may meet face (as of the water in the 19th\nverse), or they cannot run or mould themselves together. Fit a face\nof iron, red hot, to a face of iron, also hot, and force them hard\nupon each other, and thus you weld them. Bring a man face to face\nwith his neighbour, and let them be warmed by a common taste, and,\nthough one of them be God Himself, this will weld them.--_Miller._\n\nWe owe some of the most valuable discoveries of science to this\nactive reciprocity. Useful hints were thrown out, which have issued\nin the opening of large fields of hitherto unexplored knowledge. The\ncommanding word in the field of battle puts a keen edge upon _the\niron_ (2 Sam. x. 11-13). The mutual excitation for evil is a solemn\nwarning against \"evil communications.\" But most refreshing is it,\nwhen, as in the dark ages of the Church, \"they that feared the Lord\nspake often one to another.\" _Sharpening_ indeed must have been the\nintercourse at Emmaus, when \"the hearts of the disciples burned\nwithin them.\" The apostle was often so invigorated by _the\ncountenance of his friends,_ that he longed to be \"somewhat filled\nwith their company.\" Upon the principle--\"Two are better than\none\"--our Lord sent His first preachers to their work. And the first\nDivine ordination in the Christian Church was after this precedent\n(Acts xiii. 2-4).--_Bridges._\n\nThe countenance of a friend is a wonderful work of God. It is a work\nas great and good as a sun in the heavens; and verily, He who spread\nit out and bade it shine did not intend that it should be covered by\na pall. . . . He intends that it should shine upon hearts that have\ngrown dark and cold. . . . The human countenance--oh, thou possessor\nof the treasure, never prostitute that gift of God! If you could, and\nshould pluck down these greater and lesser lights that shine in\npurity from heaven, and trail them through the mire, you would be\nashamed as one who had put out the eyes and marred the beauty of\ncreation. Equal shame and sin are his who takes this terrestrial\nsun--blithe, bright, sparkling countenance--and with it fascinates\nhis fellow into the old serpent's filthy folds.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nTHE REWARD OF SERVICE.\n\n+I. The reward of the servant of nature.+ The fig-tree may here be\ntaken as typical of all that the earth produces for the sustenance of\nman. God has ordained that man shall be a co-worker with Himself in\nmaking the earth fruitful. If He gives the life to the herb or the\ntree, and sends the sun and the rain to quicken and nourish it, man\nmust give his service too. It is his business to prepare the soil, to\ntend the God-given life, and to protect it as far as possible from\nall adverse influences. And this being done, some reward is certain.\nThere will be cases of individual and occasional failure, but _fruit\nfor service_ is the rule in the kingdom of nature.\n\n+II. The reward of service rendered to man.+ Although the word\n_servant_ is now obnoxious to many ears, we do well to remember the\nestimate which God puts upon faithful service and the important place\nwhich it holds in the world. He who served unto death left this\ncommand on record, _\"Whosoever will be the chiefest, shall be servant\nof all\"_ (Mark x. 44), and a little consideration will convince us\nthat the whole of human society is knit together by service. In one\nsense, all true men and women, however high their position, are\nservants to others. The good monarch and the faithful statesman are\nservants to their nation as truly as men and women in more lowly\nstations are servants to individual masters. It is, however,\ndoubtless to these latter that the wise man here refers, and faithful\nservice rendered by them in their small sphere is as much esteemed by\nGod as the service of the greater and more gifted. Those who serve\n_\"as to the Lord, and not unto men\"_ shall _\"of the Lord receive the\nreward of the inheritance,\"_ says Paul (Col. iii. 22-24). Honour\nshall be awarded by God, not in proportion to the kind of service\nrendered, but in proportion to the spirit in which it is performed,\nand this fruit of faithful service will never fail. And, as a rule,\nesteem and gratitude from the earthly master will also be rendered.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nAll sorts of inferiors, then, as both servants and subjects, must\nmake this reckoning and account of their superiors and rulers, that\nthey are unto them their peculiar charge, whereon they must attend,\nand the special hope of their honour and preferment. They must\ntherefore think and say thus with themselves: Surely this is the\nfig-tree that I must watch and keep; this is the same olive-tree that\nI must look unto. I must not suffer this to be spoiled or destroyed.\nI must not suffer my ruler's goods to be wasted, nor his name to be\ndiscredited, nor the gifts of God in him to decay; I must keep his\nfavour, and I must seek his welfare, as much as in me\nlieth.--_Muffet._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 19.\n\nA CORRECT LIKENESS.\n\n+I. A mirror in which we may see the reflection of the hearts of\nothers.+ All the knowledge that we have of our own personal\nappearance is gained by means of some reflecting surface. We can only\nlook upon ourselves indirectly, and it is quite possible that every\nperson who looks upon us has a juster conception of our appearance\nthan we ourselves have. If there were no substance which could serve\nas mirrors, a man must always remain ignorant as to those\npeculiarities of feature which distinguish him from every other\nperson on the face of the earth. But none are destitute of nature's\nlooking-glass--the stream or lake, or even a smaller quantity of\nwater, will show a man what he is like as to his exterior. And by\nmeans of a medium we can gain much knowledge concerning the inner\nlife of our human brothers and sisters. As we may gain a good idea of\nour own face by seeing its reflection in water, so we may form a\nfairly correct estimate of the feelings and hopes and desires of\nothers by studying our own. After making allowance for many\ndifferences upon the surface dependent upon difference of\ntemperament, and education, and circumstances, we shall be safe in\nconcluding that in the depths of the human soul there are spots which\nform a common meeting-ground for all mankind.\n\n+II. A means by which we may gain the hearts of others.+ We cannot\nplead ignorance of the way to our brother's heart. We must not\nconclude, because in outward expression he differs from us, we have\ntherefore nothing in common, no clue to what is passing within his\nbreast. If we could call to mind how we felt in like circumstance, or\ntry to imagine how we should feel if we were in his place, we shall\nhardly fail to form some idea of his feelings, and shall therefore be\nable so to regulate our behaviour towards him as in some measure to\nsupply his soul needs.\n\n(There are other interpretations of this verse, for which we refer to\nthe Comments.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHere is one of the foundations on which that rule is built of doing\nto others as we would be done by (Exod. xxiii. 9). . . . One corrupt\nheart is like another, and so is one sanctified heart, for the former\nbears the same image of the earthy, the latter the same image of the\nheavenly.--_Henry._\n\nThe proverb _may_ be regarded as expressing _reciprocity of soul._ It\nmay mean this: that just as the water will give back to you the exact\nexpression which you gave to it--the frown or the smile, the hideous\nor the pleasing--so human hearts will treat you as you treat them.\n\"With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again.\" This\nis true--manifestly true; kindness begets kindness, anger anger,\njustice justice, fraud fraud, the world through.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\nIn the world we see our own hearts embowelled; and there we can learn\nwhat ourselves are at the cost of other men's sins.--_Bp. Hopkins._\n\nAs in the outline water trembles, and is uncertain, so also are\nhearts. The lesson is: Trust not!--_Luther._\n\nNo man knoweth or showeth the spirit of a man, but the spirit of a\nman that is in him. The water, as a certain glass, somewhat dim\nindeed, but very true, representeth the countenance therein imprinted\nunto the countenance that beholdeth the same; even so the heart\nshoweth man to man; that is to say, the mind and the conscience of\nevery man telleth him justly, though not perfectly what he is, as\nwhether he be good or evil, in God's favour or out of the same; for\nthe conscience will not lie, but accuse or excuse a man, being\ninstead of a thousand witnesses. . . . As water that is troubled\nrepresenteth the visage amiss, so a troubled or polluted mind may\nsometimes wrongly show to a man the estate wherein he standeth. But\nif the soul be not wholly corrupt and the conscience seared as with a\nhot iron, it will declare to a man his condition rightly, though not\nperadventure fully in all respects.--_Muffet._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 20.\n\nINSATIABILITY.\n\n+I. A destructive force always in operation.+ Ever since the earth\nclosed over the first dead body, it has been constantly opening to\nreceive those whom death has made ready for the grave, and to-day\nthis terrible and remorseless destroyer is as busy in our midst as\never. And we know that it will be so to the end of time; while the\npresent dispensation lasts, men will never be able to say that death\nhas ceased to claim the mortal part of man, or that the last grave\nhas been dug in the vast graveyard of the world. This is a most\nmelancholy stand-point from which to view man and his destiny. If all\nthe human race lived to a good old age, and went down to their last\nearthly resting-place like a stock of corn fully ripe, death would\nstill be a dark and dreary thing, looked at by itself, but it becomes\nmuch more appalling when it strikes men and women in the prime of\nlife, and carries them off, often without warning, from the place\nwhere they seemed so much needed, and to which they were bound by so\nmany ties.\n\n+II. A faculty of men always at work.+ The eye of man is simply an\norgan by which knowledge is conveyed to his mind. And his appetite\nfor fresh mental food is not lessened by that which he has received\nin the past--on the contrary, it is quickened and whetted in\nproportion to the supply, for while an ignorant man is often content\nin his ignorance, the man who has learned most is generally the most\neager to learn more. And this passion in man for knowledge is not\nquenched by the certain consciousness he possesses that one day he\n_must,_ that to-morrow he _may,_ quit the scene of his\ninvestigations, and end his search after truth under his present\nconditions. Surely if men did not instinctively feel that this life\nis not the only one, their desire after constant intellectual growth\nwould not be so ardent. If there was not that within them that told\nthem that death would not end their opportunities of growing in\nknowledge, the contemplation of the shortness of life would paralyze\nthe acquisitive faculty of men. But we take the strength and\nuniversality of this undying desire of man as an argument for his\nexistence after death and the grave have taken possession of the\nmaterial house in which he lived and laboured on the earth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe _eye_ is the avenue of growth. The growth will be eternal. . . .\nIt will take in more and more and raise or sink us through eternal\nages. . . . The terms here used are used elsewhere for anything\ninsatiate (chap. xxx. 16). Solomon describes a great psychological\nlaw, that the mind by its very nature sees, and by all its seeings\nwill grow, either in one way or the other.--_Miller._\n\nThe _eyes,_ by a very natural figure, are put for the _desires._ Upon\nthat which is the object of our desire, we _fix our eyes;_ and that\nwith an intensity of settled eagerness proportioned to the degree of\nthe desire (chap. xxiii. 5). The meaning, then, is not merely that\nthe sense of _sight_ never has enough of its own peculiar enjoyments,\nbut that the _desire that is by the eye expressed_ is never satisfied\nby any amount of present gratification. The desires of men are\ninsatiable. They set their hearts on some particular object, and long\nfor its attainment. They fix in their mind some point of advancement\nin the acquisition of the world,--some measure of wealth, or of power\nwhich they think, if once realised, would satisfy them to the full.\nThey get what they want; but they still long as before. There is ever\nsomething unattained. Having gained the summit of one eminence, they\nsee another above it; and as they mount, their views widen and their\nconceptions and wishes amplify, and still more is required to fill\nthem.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe meaning of the second clause as indicated by this parallel cannot\nbe doubtful. It relates to the really demoniacal insatiableness of\nhuman passion, especially the \"lust of the eyes.\" (Comp. 1 John\nii. 16, James iii. 6; and in particular Prov. xxx. 16; Eccles.\ni. 8.)--_Z\u00f6ckler._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 21.\n\nA CRUCIBLE FOR CHARACTER.\n\nAlthough the second interpretation of this proverb given in the\nCritical Notes is very generally adopted, it will very well bear the\nother constructions given below, which is indeed adopted by many\nexpositors.\n\n+I. Praise received is a test of character.+ Many moralists think\nthat it is more difficult to pass uninjured through \"good report\"\nthan through \"evil report.\" Dr. Payson reckons \"well meant but\ninjudicious commendations\" a source of temptation to him, and we do\ncertainly often meet men possessing many good qualities whom\npopularity seems to have injured. But all men who have any striking\nintellectual gifts or moral excellencies will be subject to this\nrefiner's fire, and if they pass through it uninjured they will prove\nthat they are made of very pure metal. As we remarked on verse 2,\npage 725, merit will win praise, and therefore every deserving man\nwill be more or less subject to this test, and his conduct and\nbearing under it will reveal the real character of his motives and\nthe strength of his principles. In proportion as his actions have\nbeen disinterested and his aims pure and unselfish, in the same\nproportion will he be able to bear praise. If he is a truly humble\nman--if he has a right sense of his dependence on God and a\nconsciousness of his own shortcomings--the praise of his\nfellow-creatures will only make him strive to be more deserving of\nit; but if there is an alloy of baser metal mixed with the gold and\nsilver of his character, such an ordeal will be very likely to reveal\nit.\n\n+II. Praise given is a test of character.+ That upon which a man\nbestows praise reveals the standard by which he rules his life. Men\npraise that which they value, and there cannot therefore be a better\nrevelation of their moral condition. A man who praises the action of\nanother, irrespective of its moral character, shows that he attaches\nlittle value to goodness, while he who praises a bad action proclaims\nhimself a lover of sin. On the other hand, commendation bestowed upon\ngood deeds and godly men at least indicates a preference for what is\ngood, which one may hope will be manifested not only in word but also\nin deed.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n1. It may express what every man, with reference to the praise\nbestowed upon him, _ought to do:_--that is, he ought to do with it\nwhat the \"fining-pot\" does to the \"silver,\" and the \"furnace to the\ngold.\" He should _try it well._ There is a deal of dross frequently\nin it; and men are apt to be fonder of the dross, in some of its\nappearances, than of the sterling metal. The process of refining\nshould in this case be very cautiously pursued: just as a chemist, if\nanxious for the correct result of an experiment with the crucible,\nwill be the more careful in making it, in proportion as he is\nconscious of any leaning towards a particular theory,--lest this\nshould bias his mind and put him off his guard. 2. \"A man is to his\npraise what the fining pot is to silver, and the furnace is to gold,\"\nbecause a man's conduct _actually does put to the test_ the\ncommendation bestowed upon him. That conduct is like \"the fining-pot\"\nand \"the furnace\" to it, in regard to the estimate formed of it _by\nothers._ His behaviour detects whether it be or be not just and\nmerited. Commendation naturally excites notice. All eyes are on the\nman who elicits applause, to ascertain if the applause be\nwell-founded. In this way the commendation is _put to the test;_ and\nthe man himself is the _tester;_--proving or disproving the justice\nof the character given him.--_Wardlaw._\n\nAs praise is due to worth, so it is the tryer and refiner of worth.\nFor as silver is melted in the fining pot, and gold in the furnace;\nso is the heart of man even melted with joy in the furnace of praise.\nAnd as those metals which have least solidity are soonest melted, so\nwhere there is least of the solidity of worth, there the heart is\nsoonest melted with praise. And as in the furnace the light matter is\nblown away into smoke and vapour; so by praise a light heart is\nquickly blown up, and vainly transported and carried away with it.\nBut as the silver and the gold are made the finer and the purer by\nthe furnace, so true worth is ennobled and made the richer by just\npraise ascribed to it. For he that hath worth in him, the more he is\npraised the more will he endeavour to deserve it, and by praise\nseeing what is dross in himself, will by his care purge it out, and\ncast it away.--_Jermin._\n\n\nThe thought in verse 22 is but a repetition of a thought which has\noften occurred before, as for instance in chaps. xvii. 10 and in\nxix. 29. See pages 509 and 510, also page 581.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 23-27.\n\nMODEL FARMING.\n\nThese words were especially applicable to the Israelitish people in\ntheir early history, when every family lived upon its own domain and\nfound all its simple wants supplied by the produce of the land and\nthe cattle which fed upon it. The paragraph deals--\n\n+I. With the duties of such a life.+ Solomon had several times before\ngiven exhortations to diligence in labour, but here he sees rather to\nenforce the necessity of diligent and constant supervision on the\npart of the master and owner of the land. He is not addressing a\nhired servant, but one who is a landed proprietor and has flocks and\nherds of his own. If a man in so highly favoured a position desires\nto reap all its benefits he must diligently superintend all who he\nemploys and set them a good example of industry and perseverance. He\nmust not be content to leave these things to hirelings, but must give\nsuch close attention to all that is going on in his domain as to be\nable intelligently to guide all the varied engagements which follow\none another as one season succeeds the other. No man ought to\nconsider this an unworthy employment of his mental powers, and he who\ndoes so would do well to remember that the cultivation of the soil\nwas the employment which God gave to man when He first created him in\nHis own image. As an incentive to industry in this direction the\nproverb contains a reminder of the uncertainty of riches--it is\nunwise of any man to be wholly dependent upon a fortune made in the\npast and to have no resource in case of its loss.\n\n+II. It sets forth the rewards attached to the performance of such\nduties.+ There is first the supply of the necessaries of life.\nLuxuries are not promised, but it is implied that simple food and\nclothing will not be wanting; and a sufficiency of these is all that\nis really needful to man's comfort. But there is a pleasure in\nobtaining them in this way which is surely not found in any other\ncalling. The cultivator of the ground escapes much of the monotony\nfound in most other professions, and has pleasures and advantages to\nwhich dwellers in the city are strangers. If he is more exposed to\nthe hardships of the winter, the joy of spring--\"when the tender\ngrass sheweth itself\"--is surely enough to repay him for it, and then\nfollow the varied occupations of summer, one affording relief to the\nother, until the year is crowned with the \"joy of harvest.\" Surely no\nmode of life is more favourable to bodily and spiritual health than\nthe one here sketched by the Wise Man.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSolomon tells us, in another place, that the instability and\nuncertainty of earthly things, after all our care, is a motive to\ndraw off our hearts from them, and to fix our eyes upon nobler\nobjects; but he tells us, in this place, that the perishing nature of\nearthly things is likewise a reason for bestowing a moderate and\nlawful share of our attention upon our temporal interests.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 25. The frail condition of fading worldly things is here well\nexpressed, it appeareth only and is cut down. _The tender grass\nsheweth itself,_ and it is but a shewing, for that being done, it is\neaten up presently, being at once, as it were, both seen and\ndevoured. The herbs of the mountain are gathered; their growing is\nnot mentioned as being no sooner grown than gathered, and as being\ngrown for the gathering only. . . . Wherefore as the careful\nhusbandman looketh to the hay and grass and herbs, and takes them in\ntheir time, so is the good spiritual husbandman to consider the short\ntime of worldly contentments, and in their time to use them, at no\ntime to trust in them. As hay and grass and herbs are taken in their\nseason, so it is the season in all things that is to be taken. And,\ntherefore, when the season appeareth, let not thy negligence appear\nin omitting it; when occasion shows itself, show not thyself careless\nin apprehending of it; when the fruit of opportunity is to be\ngathered, climb the mountain speedily.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerses 26 and 27. In these two verses the wise man dehorteth from\nwastefulness of apparel, and from excess in diet. . . . The\nproverbial sense is, that plainness of apparel keepeth a man's estate\nwarmest; and that a homespun thread in clothing is a strong and\nlasting thread in the web of a man's worldly fortune, and that a\nsober and temperate feeding both in himself and family doth best feed\nthe estate of any man, and that the flock of a man thriveth best when\nhe is contented with the nourishment and sustenance that cometh from\nthe flock.--_Jermin._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+2. For the transgression,+ etc. Or, _\"In the\nrebellion.\"_ \"For this use of the word transgression in the sense of\n_revolt,_ compare the verb employed in this sense in 2 Kings i. 1;\nalso Exod xxiii. 21, etc.\" _(Z\u00f6ckler.)_ Z\u00f6ckler translates the last\nclause, _\"through wise, prudent men, he_ (the prince) _continueth\nlong.\"_ Delitzsch reads, _\"Through a man of wisdom, of knowledge,\nauthority continues.\"_ +5. Judgment,+ or \"what is right\"\n_(Delitzsch)._ +6. Perverse,+ etc., literally \"he who is crooked in\ntwo ways.\" Delitzsch translates, _\"a double-dealing deceiver.\"_\n+8. Usury and unjust gain.+ Literally, _\"Interest and usury.\"_ \"These\nare so distinguished according to Lev. xxv. 36, that the former\ndenotes the annual revenue of a sum of money loaned out, the latter\nan exaction in other things, especially in natural products\"\n_(Z\u00f6ckler)._ +12. Hidden.+ Or _\"sought for.\"_ Delitzsch understands\nthis to mean \"plundered,\" or _\"subjected to espionage.\"_ +16.+ Ewald,\nZ\u00f6ckler, Delitzsch, and others read this verse, _\"O prince devoid of\nunderstanding, he that hateth unjust gain continueth long.\"_\n+17.+ First clause. _\"A man laden with the blood of a soul.\"_\n+18. Perverse ways.+ Rather _\"double ways.\"_ +21.+ Z\u00f6ckler reads the\nlast clause, _\"And_ (yet) _even for a piece of bread_ (many) _a man\nwill transgress.\"_ +22.+ Rather _\"The man of an evil eye hasteth,\"_\netc. +23.+ Delitzsch reads this verse, _\"He that reproveth a man that\nis going backwards,\"_ etc.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nCOWARDICE AND COURAGE.\n\n+I. This act of a wicked man reveals an unnatural condition.+ The\nsparrow flies to her nest when the hawk is on the wing, and the stag\nflees before the hunter or hounds that are on his track. But neither\nbird nor beast is ever found fleeing in terror when it is not\npursued. But bad men flee when they are not chased, and when there is\nnothing following them more substantial than their own shadow.\n\n+II. The cause of this unnatural action.+ There must be some\ninfluence at work somewhere which strikes this terror into the human\nspirit. There must be some hidden power which thus unnerves a man\nwhen he is out of the reach of any visible avenger, and causes him to\ntremble at the sound of his own footstep, or to see the reflection of\nthe face of the man he has wronged in every human countenance that he\nmeets. In the absence of all causes without we must look within, and\nthere we find the pursuer. It is conscience that thus makes every\nwicked man a coward--that voice within him which thus bears witness\nto the existence of a Divine law which he has broken, and to a Divine\nLawgiver to whom he must render an account whether he escape human\njustice or not.\n\n+III. The hopeless nature of the act.+ The man who flees when none\nare pursuing reveals that he is engaged in an attempt to flee from\nhimself, and this is an endeavour that will ever be fruitless. A man\nmay quit the scene of his crime and go into a country where all\naround him is entirely different, but he will be painfully conscious\nthat he is himself the same being--that although he has changed\neverything outside himself he has preserved his identity. He can free\nhis soul from his body and so flee from the world, but he cannot free\nhimself from the consciousness of guilt and so break the tie that\nbinds him and his sin together. For this flight from self is but\nanother name for flight from God--from Him to whom alone the\nPsalmist's words apply:--_\"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or\nwhither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven\nthou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there; if I\ntake the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the\nsea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall\nuphold me\"_ (Psa. cxxxix. 7-10).\n\n+IV. The entirely contrary attitude of a righteous man reveals an\nentirely opposite relation to conscience and to God.+ The natural\nposition of any creature in relation to the Creator is the position\nwhich he held when he was originally created. Man was then on such\ngood terms with himself and in such conscious favour with God that he\nhad no sense of fear and no desire to flee from the Divine presence.\nIt was not until the first sin had been committed that Adam and his\nwife hid themselves, and fled when no man pursued. But there are\ndescendants of Adam who, although they cannot pretend to sinlessness,\nhave no guilty fear of God, and consequently are not afraid of man.\nThe original and natural relation between them and their Father in\nheaven has been re-established by their acceptance of His conditions\nof reconciliation, and being now on the side of righteousness they\nhave no reason to flee even when many pursue them, much less when\nthey are alone with themselves and God. They can sing with the\nPsalmist, _\"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?\nThe Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? . . .\nThough an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;\nthough war should rise against me, in this will I be confident\"_\n(Psa. xxvii. 1, 3).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nMoses \"feared not the wrath of the king.\" Caleb and Joshua stood firm\nagainst the current of rebellion. Elijah dared Ahab's anger to his\nface. Nehemiah, in a time of peril, exclaimed--\"Should such a man as\nI flee?\" The three confessors stood undaunted before the furious\nautocrat of Babylon. The Apostles' _boldness_ astonished their\nenemies. Paul before the Roman governor, and even before Nero\nhimself, witnessed a good confession. Athanasius before the Imperial\nCouncil of Heresy; Luther at the Diet of Worms, finely exemplified\nthis lion-like boldness.--_Bridges._\n\nThe _wicked_ is a very coward, and is afraid of everything; of God,\nbecause He is his enemy; of Satan, because he is his tormentor; of\nGod's creatures, because they, joining with their Maker, fight\nagainst him; of himself, because he bears about with him his own\naccuser and executioner. The godly man contrarily is afraid of\nnothing; not of God, because he knows Him his best friend, and will\nnot hurt him; not of Satan, because he cannot hurt him; not of\nafflictions, because he knows they come from a loving God, and end in\nhis good; not of the creatures, since, \"the very stones in the field\nare in league with Him;\" not of himself, since his conscience is at\npeace.--_Bp. Hall._\n\nConscience within a man is one extremity of an electric wire, whose\nother extremity is fastened to the judgment-seat. . . . A man may be\nsaved from death by seeing the reflection of his danger in a mirror,\nwhen the danger itself could not be directly seen. The executioner,\nwith his weapon, is stealthily approaching through a corridor of the\ncastle to the spot where the devoted invalid reclines. In his musings\nthe captive has turned his vacant eye towards a mirror on the wall,\nand the faithful witness reveals the impending stroke in time to\nsecure the escape of the victim. It is thus that the mirror in a\nman's breast has become in a sense the man's saviour, by revealing\nthe wrath to come before its coming.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.\n\nTHE PENALTY OF REVOLT.\n\nAs will be seen by a reference to the Critical Notes, the word\n_transgression_ would be better translated _rebellion._ The proverb\nthen sets forth,\n\n+I. The disadvantages attendant on revolt against the existing\ngovernment.+ Whether the rebellion be a lawful one or not--whether\nthe ruler that is dethroned be a tyrant or a wise and just monarch,\nthe result is very much the same. There will be many claimants to the\nvacant place, and many to support the claims of each aspirant. This\nis an effect which is almost certain to follow any uprooting of the\nexisting order of things, whether the order be good or bad. If the\ncrew of a vessel put their officers in irons, the difficulty will\nimmediately arise as to who is to guide the vessel. If this is not\nspeedily settled, the ship will be in danger of running upon the\nrocks while she is drifting on without a guide. It is the same with\nthe vessel of the State. Many justifiable efforts to better the\ngovernment of a country have broken down at this point--although\nthere has been entire unity of feeling in favour of a change, there\nhas been a great diversity of opinion as to who should inaugurate it\nand succeed those who have been deprived of authority. The confusion\nand insecurity which such a division has caused, has often made way\nfor a return to the old condition of things, and the last state of\nthe land has been worse than the first. But this can hardly be used\nas an argument against all revolt against existing abuses, but only\nas a strong incentive to try every other means before resorting to\nthis last extremity.\n\n+II. That which makes revolt unnecessary, and consequently conduces\nto the peace of the commonwealth.+ Wisdom and prudence on the part of\nthe monarch and his ministers (for the words may be referred to\neither) will avert such a calamity. That kingdom is highly blest in\nwhich the throne is filled with a worthy occupant, and surrounded by\nmen of intellectual ability and moral worth, and therein lies its\nonly real security. For every reasonable man knows that the reins of\ngovernment must be held by some one, and there is generally a\nsufficient number of reasonable citizens in a nation to uphold an\nenlightened administrator of righteous laws, and to keep in check\nthose turbulent spirits to be found everywhere, who, under the name\nof patriots, only advocate change to serve their own selfish ends.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"Let the children of Zion be joyful in _their_ King.\" The kingdom to\nwhich they belong has _one_ King; and a king whose reign is permanent\nas well as unparticipated. There are no _rival powers_ there. If the\nprinces of this world, in the plenitude of their presumption, take\nupon them to intrude themselves within the precincts of His sole\njurisdiction, and to intermeddle with what does not belong to them,\nthe subjects of the King of Zion must stand by His prerogative,\nresist the encroachment, and, at all risks as to this world, refuse\nobedience. In the spiritual kingdom of which they are subjects,\nChrist is the only Head; and His Word the only authoritative rule.\n\nAnd there is _no succession_ here. He reigns over the house of Jacob\nfor ever; \"and of His kingdom there is no end.\" Blessed be God for\nthis! The sceptre of our King can never, even to the end, be wrested\nout of his hands; and He _never dies._ He must reign, till all His\npeople are saved with an everlasting salvation, and all His enemies\nare put under His feet.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.\n\nTHE MOST INEXCUSABLE OPPRESSION.\n\n+I. Oppression from an unexpected quarter.+ Although poverty\nsometimes has a very hardening influence upon men, we do not often\nfind it takes the form of oppression of their fellow-sufferers in\npoverty. On the contrary, the sympathy of one poor man for another is\noften the brightest spot in his character. But the ability to oppress\nimplies some elevation of the oppressor over the oppressed, and\ntherefore leads us rather to look for the heartless tyrant among\nthose who have known poverty, but who are now in some degree raised\nabove it. And even here we should hardly expect to find an oppressor\nof the poor. Such a man cannot plead ignorance of the miseries of\npoverty. We might expect that he would be full of sympathy for those\ninto whose trials his own experience has so fitted him to enter. If\nwe wanted a tender nurse for a wounded man we should expect to find\none in him who has himself been wounded, and who knows what bodily\npain is, and in a man who has himself been poor we ought to find the\nmost patient and generous ruler and judge of the poor. Oppression\nfrom such a quarter is a painful surprise.\n\n+II. Oppression to an extreme degree.+ The oppressor of the proverb\nis one who has sinned against the knowledge furnished by his own\nexperience, and is therefore a greater transgressor than one who sins\nwithout such experimental knowledge. If this barrier is not strong\nenough to restrain him, he is not likely to be hindered by any less\npowerful ones, and will therefore allow his cruel and unnatural\npassions to have full dominion over his conduct. And so it will come\nto pass that a man, who has been poor if he become an oppressor, will\nbe a more terrible one than he who has always been rich and powerful.\nIt may be regarded as a rule with few exceptions, that he who breaks\nthrough the most restraints in order to sin will go to the greatest\nlengths in it.\n\n\n_ILLUSTRATION._\n\nThis illustrative comparison is here most impressive. It is founded\nupon a phenomenon which I have frequently seen, and sometimes felt. A\nsmall black cloud traverses the sky in the latter part of summer or\nbeginning of autumn, and pours down a flood of rain that sweeps all\nbefore it. The Arabs call it _sale;_ we, a water-spout, or the\nbursting of a cloud. In the neighbourhood of Hermon I have witnessed\nit repeatedly, and was caught in one last year, which in five minutes\nflooded the whole mountain side, washed away the fallen olives--the\nfood of the poor--overthrew stone walls, etc. Every summer\nthreshing-floor along the line of its march was swept bare of all\nprecious food. . . . And such is the oppression of a poor man that\noppresseth the poor. These landlords, and sheiks, and emirs are\ngenerally poor, hungry, greedy, remorseless, and they come in\nsuccessive swarms, each more ravenous than his predecessor. On a\ngigantic scale, every hungry pasha from the capital is such a _sale,_\nsweeping over the distant provinces of the empire. Vast regions,\nformerly covered with golden harvests in their season, and swarming\nwith people full of food and gladness, are now reduced to frightful\ndeserts by their rapacity.--_Thomson's \"The Land and the Book.\"_\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nWoeful is the condition when necessity and imbecility meet together\nand encounter. For necessity hath no mercy, imbecility hath no help.\nWhen poverty oppresseth anyone, there is no measure in his oppressing\nanother that is poor. He spares not to strip him naked who hath\nalready no clothes on. He fears not to be a spoiler whom spoiling\nhath left nothing. For there is nothing that doth so harden the hart\nof man as his own need; and he hath little or no feeling of another's\nmisery, who feels the biting of his own. As the rain falls, so the\nearth bears it; and as oppression dealeth, so must the poor suffer\nit; for as the earth lieth under all, so doth he. The rich man is a\n_dashing_ rain upon him, and when he pleaseth, washeth away his means\nand succour from him . . but there is no such _sweeping_ rain unto\nhim as when the oppressor is oppressed by poverty. . . . For he\nhaving nothing, takes all that he can get, and the hunger of his own\ndistress so devoureth all, as that he leaveth no food.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 4 _and_ 5.\n\nLAWKEEPERS AND LAWBREAKERS.\n\n+I. A quick understanding in Divine things springs only from sympathy\nwith Divine precepts.+ Spiritual truth can only be apprehended by a\nsoul in love with what is good and true. A mere intellectual assent\nto certain moral propositions will not bring men to a real and\nintimate acquaintance with Divine realities, for the revelation of\nGod is not a mathematical problem which appeals only to the\nintellect, but a message to the consciences and affections of men.\n_\"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him\"_ (Psa. xxv. 14).\nThere must be spiritual sympathy before there can be spiritual\nperception, for sin puts out the eyes of the soul, and renders a man\nincapable of apprehending spiritual realities, as physical blindness\nmakes him unable of seeing material objects. Hence our Lord made\n_willingness to do His Will_ the one essential condition to knowledge\nconcerning His teaching (John vii. 17).\n\n+II. Those who love and obey the Divine precepts contend with the\nwicked by their obedience.+ Love to God and obedience to Him are\ninseparable. The one is the necessary outcome of the other, so that\n\"seekers after God\" described in verse 5, and the \"keepers of the\nlaw\" mentioned in verse 4, are the same persons. The lives of such\npeople are a more powerful reproof to the godless and wicked than any\nwords which they can utter. The feathers of the arrow have their\nplace and value in helping the arrow find its destination, but it is\nthe steel point that penetrates the breast. So words of admonition\nfitly spoken have their worth, and are of some weight in contending\nwith the wicked, but a constant life of obedience to God is more\nconvincing and penetrating. So that ever true servant of God is\nfighting against the servants of sin by simply seeking to bring his\nlife into conformity with His Master's Will.\n\n+III. All neglect of God's law is a commendation of sin.+ There are\nmany men who would be ashamed openly to praise a wicked action who\nyet by their disregard of the Divine requirements encourage open\ntransgressors. For there is no middle way here. Every man is on one\nside or the other, and all who are not contending with the wicked by\nobedience are countenancing their evil courses by their own forsaking\nof the law of God.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 4. \"Forsaking;\" simply evading or avoiding it, no matter on\nwhat pretence. Solomon strikes for the result. He scoffs at all\napology. Do you, or do you not, obey direction? If you do not, the\nfact that you do not is all that is needed to mislead the looker-on,\nfor, seizing upon that most villainous of all things, _praising the\nwicked_--a thing that scarce ruffians do, a thing that obscene\nseducers scarcely venture--he says, All disobedience does it. . . .\nBut the lonely widow, going quietly to heaven, who has asked\ncarefully the road, and has moved on as she was directed, the text\nsuddenly arms with a sword and spear! She is a warrior! In her quiet\nwalk she is smiting down the rivals of her King. And Solomon\nliterally means it. The most effective army of the saints is the\nquiet group that dream of nothing but obedience.--_Miller._\n\n\nVerse 5. The natural man perceiveth not the things that belong to\nGod, but the spiritual man discerneth all things. Albeit there is\nsome light in the wicked man which is sufficient to make him\ninexcusable, yet he is always so blinded by natural ignorance and\nmalice that both Christ and the Law to him are a mystery. Hence it\ncometh to pass that he neither fully seeth what is to be believed nor\nyet what is to be done, either generally in all sorts of actions, or\nparticularly in the course of his calling or office.--_Muffet._\n\nOrigen saith, \"Of them who do not see, some are blind, and do not see\nbecause of their blindness; others are in darkness, and therefore do\nnot see; but others do not see because they shut their eyes.\" And\nthis is which many times makes the evil man not understand\njudgment--he will not do judgment, and therefore will not understand\nit. But true also it is that wickedness is a great blinding of the\nunderstanding. For it turns away the eyes from the Son of\nRighteousness, and casteth also a black shadow before it. . . . But\nwhat do they not understand, that understand Him that understandeth\nall things? In all things that are required of them, they understand\nwhat is to be done by them; in all things that are taught them, they\nunderstand the truth of them. . . . They understand the judgment that\nshall be upon the wicked; they understand the reward that shall be to\nthemselves; they understand in all things to do judgment to others;\nthey are general scholars in their duties both to God and\nman.--_Jermin._\n\nHe who makes wickedness his element, falls into the confusion of the\nmoral conception; but he whose end is the one living God gains from\nthat, in every situation of life, even amid the greatest\ndifficulties, the sense of what is morally right. Similarly the\napostle John (1 John ii. 20): _\"Ye have an unction from the Holy One,\nand ye know all things:\" i.e.,_ ye need to seek that knowledge which\nye require, and which ye long after not without yourselves, but in\nthe new Divine foundation of your personal life; from thence all that\nye need for the growth of your spiritual life, and for the turning\naway from you of hostile influences, will come into your\nconsciences.--_Delitzsch._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 6, see on chap. xix. 1, page 561; on verse 7,\nchap. x. 1, page 137; on verse 8, see the last remarks on chap.\nxiii. 22, page 331. On the subject of verse 9, see on chap. xv. 8 and\n9, pages 407 and 408, and on verse 10, see on chap. xxvi. 27, page\n721, etc.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.\n\nWISDOM IS WEALTH AND POVERTY.\n\n+I. Riches tend to produce self-deception.+ The power of riches to\ngive external position and influence is almost unlimited. Wealth can\nbring its owners into the palaces of princes, and place them on an\nequal footing with men of talent and rank. It can surround a man with\nservants who will obey his nod, and with friends who will flatter him\nto his heart's content. By means of riches a man can make his name\nfamous in both hemispheres while he lives, and cause it to be\nremembered after he is dead. It is not therefore surprising that many\nmen who possess this potent means of influence should be so dazzled\nby it as to be unable to see themselves apart from it, and should\ncredit themselves with _being_ more than ordinary men, while the only\ndifference is that they _have_ more. A rich man is always in danger\nof mistaking his wealth, which is but an appendage to his\npersonality, for the wealth of wisdom, which is a part of oneself,\nand so of being the subject of the worst of all deception, viz.,\n_self_-deception.\n\n+II. But the possessor of riches does not often deceive other people\nas to his real worth.+ Men around him may flatter him and treat him\nas if they thought him very wise and clever, but they are often\ndespising him all the time, and oftentimes there are those about him\nwho, although they are beneath him in rank and wealth, are far above\nhim in sagacity and penetration, and can read his character and\nmotives far better than he can himself. Wealth can do much for a man,\nbut it cannot purchase for him the respect and esteem of even the\npoor man who \"hath understanding,\" and poverty has many drawbacks,\nbut it is free from this one--it does not minister to human vanity.\n\n+III. A poor man who has moral and mental wealth is a greater\nblessing to the world than even a rich man who is wise and good.+ He\ncan show the world that there are some things better than wealth, and\nthat these better things are in no sense connected with it or\ndependent upon it. He can convince men that God is but a shadow and\nthat riches of heart and mind are the substance, and he can\ndemonstrate how much more lasting and satisfying is the influence\ngained by wisdom than that which is born of wealth.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe phrase _\"searches him out,\"_ may be variously understood. He\ndiscerns his true character. He sees that wisdom and wealth do not\nalways go together; that a full purse is quite compatible with an\nempty head. He sees, too, that a man's wisdom is not to be estimated\nby his opinion of himself. He sees shallowness where the man himself\nfancies depth, and folly in what elates him with a vain consciousness\nof his own wisdom. He sees abundant reason for not making the rich\nman his oracle, or setting him up as his idol, or making his example\nthe pattern for his imitation, merely for the number of his acres, or\nfor the gold and silver in his coffers. He sees how prone men in\ngeneral are to allow weight to counsel in proportion to the wealth of\nthe counsellor. But the \"understanding\" which God has given him shows\nhim the absurdity of this. He \"searches out\" the fallacy, and directs\nand exposes the imprudence and folly of sentiments and proposals,\nthat are propounded and recommended by the wealthiest of the wealthy.\nAnd still further, taking \"understanding\" in its higher sense, as it\nis used in this Book as including a mind Divinely enlightened and\nunder the influence of the fear of God and all the principles of true\nreligion:--the poor man who has this, sees and knows that \"a little\nwith the fear of the Lord is better than the riches of many\nwicked;\"--that \"a good understanding have all they who do his\ncommandments;\"--that no folly can be more palpable and flagrant than\nthe folly of \"trusting in uncertain riches,\"--\"setting the eyes upon\nthat which is not,\" and neglecting provision for the soul and for\neternity,--forfeiting the \"unsearchable riches\" provided by the mercy\nof God for sinners,--all the blessings, unspeakably precious, summed\nup in \"life everlasting;\"--spurning away the counsel that would put\nthese in possession;--greedily coveting the treasures of the world\nthat perish in the using, and rejecting the Divine offer of the\ntreasures of immortality. The poor man who hath understanding--I can\nhardly say _\"searches out\"_ the folly of this,--he discerns it by a\nkind of spiritual intuition.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nThe thought in verse 12 is the same as in chap. xi. 10. See\nHomiletics on page 206.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.\n\nCONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS.\n\n+I. Sin tends to produce shame.+ Even a child often tries to hide an\nact of disobedience to a good mother's law, and this not from fear of\npunishment merely, but from an undefined sense of shame. And this\nfeeling clings to all men through life who are not entirely hardened\nin iniquity. So long as the conscience is not entirely stifled, men\ntry to hide their wrong actions from their fellow-men even when no\nhuman punishment would follow the discovery, and they even try to\ncover them from themselves by inventing excuses for them. They often\nendeavour to cloak their sin before their fellow-creatures by putting\non the garb of special sanctity, and so add hypocrisy to their other\ntransgressions, and they will try to palliate their guilt at the bar\nof their own conscience by lowering the standard of morality which\nGod has set up within them, or by persuading themselves that He is a\nhard taskmaster, requiring them to render Him an unreasonable and a\nburdensome service. There are other motives which induce men to cover\ntheir sins besides this one of shame, and other methods by which they\ntry to do it, but whatever impels them, and whatever means they use,\nthe truth taught in the proverb is always verified, viz., that all\nsuch makeshifts are worse than useless.\n\n+II. The only prosperous method of dealing with sin.+ This method\nconsists of two acts which God has joined together, and which man may\nnot put asunder, because neither of the two by itself would give\nevidence that the sinner was fit to receive full absolution. If a man\n_confesses_ his sin without _forsaking_ it, he seems almost to\naggravate his transgression, for he acknowledges that he sins knowing\nthat it is sin, and that it is useless to pardon him to-day, because\nhe will do the same thing to-morrow. And if he _forsakes_ his sin\nwithout _confessing_ his guilt he shows that he does it from some\nother motive than abhorrence of evil. Certain sins are sometimes\nforsaken from expediency, or from self-righteous motives, but in such\ncases there is no guarantee that there will not be a return to them.\nOur Lord describes such when he speaks of the unclean spirit going\nout of a man, but returning to find an empty house--a soul with none\nof the newborn hopes and desires and aims which always come with true\nrepentance--and of such He says that _\"the last estate of that man is\nworse than the first\"_ (Luke xi. 26). But when hearty and sincere\nacknowledgement of sin is joined with earnest endeavour to forsake\nit, God sees a soul which will know how to value His pardon, and will\nfind strength in it to fight against evil and finally to overcome it.\nAnd to such a soul it is given to know the _\"blessedness of the man\nwhose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, unto whom the\nLord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile\"_\n(Psa. xxxii. 1, 2).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThere are various ways of endeavouring to cover sins. By _denying_\nthem. A lie is a cover which men put over their sins to conceal them\nfrom others. They sin and deny the fact, they wrap up their crimes in\nfalsehood. Thus Cain, Rachel, Joseph's brethren, Peter, Ananias and\nSapphira, endeavoured to hide their sins. By _extenuating_ them. Men\nplead excuses. The influence of others, the power of circumstances,\nthe moral weakness of the constitution. Extenuation is a common\ncover. By _forgetting_ them. They endeavour to sweep them from the\nmemory by revelry and mirth, by sensuality, worldliness, and\nintemperance.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\nA child of God will confess sin in particular; an unsound Christian\nwill confess sin by wholesale; he will acknowledge he is a sinner in\ngeneral, whereas David doth, as it were, point with his finger to the\nsore: _\"I have done this evil\"_ (Psa. li. 4); he doth not say I have\ndone evil, but _this evil._ He points at his\nblood-guiltiness.--_Watson._\n\nConfession of sin will work a holy contrition and a godly sorrow in\nthe heart (Psalm xxxviii. 18). Declaration doth breed compunction.\nConfession of sin is but the causing of sin to recoil on the\nconscience, which causeth blushing, and shame of face, and grief of\nheart. . . . Secret confession gives a great deal of glory to God. It\ngives glory to God's justice. I do confess sin, and do confess God in\njustice may damn me for my sin. It gives glory to God's mercy. I\nconfess sin, yet mercy may save me. It gives glory to God's\nomnisciency. In confessing sin I do confess that God knoweth my\nsin.--_Christopher Love._\n\nIt is fearful for a man to bind two sins together when he is not able\nto bear the load of one. To act wickedness and then to cloak it, is\nfor a man to wound himself and then go to the devil for a plaster.\nWhat man doth conceal God will not cancel. Iniquities strangled in\nsilence will strangle the soul in heaviness. There are three degrees\nof felicity:--the first is, not to sin; the second, to know; the\nthird, to acknowledge our offences. Let us, then, honour Him by\nconfession whom we have dishonoured by presumption. . . . Sinfulness\nis a sleep, confession a sign that we are waked. Men dream in their\nsleeps, but tell their dreams waking. In our sleep of security we\nlead a dreaming life, full of vile imaginations; but if we confess\nand speak our sins to God's glory, and our own shame, it is a token\nthat God's Spirit hath wakened us. . . . This is true, though to\nsome a paradox; the way to cover our sins is to uncover them.--_T.\nAdams._\n\nSin is in a man at once the most familiar inmate and the greatest\nstranger. . . . Although he lives in it, because he lives in it, he\nis ignorant of it. Nothing is more widely diffused or more constantly\nnear us than atmospheric air; yet few ever notice its existence and\nfewer consider its nature. Dust, and chaff, and feather, that\nsometimes float up and down in it, attract our regard more than the\nair in which they float; yet these are trifles that scarcely concern\nus, and in this we live, and move, and have our being. . . . Such, in\nthis respect, is sin. It pervades humanity, but, in proportion to its\nprofusion, men are blind to its presence. Because it is everywhere,\nwe do not notice it anywhere. . . . But the chief effort of the\nalienated must ever be to cover his sins from the eye of God. . . .\nAll the wiles of the tempter, and all the faculties of his slave, are\ndevoted to the work of weaving a curtain thick enough to cover an\nunclean conscience from the eye of God. Anything and everything may\ngo as a thread to the web; houses and lands, business and pleasure,\nfamily and friends, virtues and vices, blessings and cursings--a\nhideous miscellany of good and evil--constitute the material of the\ncurtain; and the woven web is walked over and over again with love\nand hatred, joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, to thicken the wall\nwithout, and to deepen the darkness within, that the fool may be\nable, with some measure of comfort, to say \"in his heart, No\nGod.\"--_Arnot._\n\nSin and shifting came into this world together. Sin and Satan are\nalike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own colour. . . .\nWe must see our sin to confession, or we shall see it to our\nconfusion. . . . No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed\nbadness; many are for their supposed goodness.--_Trapp._\n\nSt. Gregory speaketh, \"He that covereth his sin, doth not hide\nhimself from the Lord, but hideth the Lord from himself, and that\nwhich he doth, is that himself may not see God, who seeth all things,\nnot that he be not seen.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 14 see on chaps. xii. 15, and on xiv. 16,\npages 271 and 365.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 15-17.\n\nVICE AND VIRTUE IN HIGH PLACES.\n\n+I. A cruel ruler is on a level with the most cruel of the brute\ncreation.+ The more power a man holds in his hand over the destinies\nof his fellow-creatures the greater is his responsibility, and the\nblacker is his crime if he abuses his opportunities of blessing them.\nIn proportion to the unlimited character of his authority ought to be\nhis care not to overstep the limits of the strictest justice, and he\nis bound to lean rather to the side of mercy than to severity. The\nless reason he has to fear any retaliation from those whom he rules,\nthe more is he bound to mingle much gentleness and forbearance with\nhis government, for it is the act of a coward to act towards the weak\nand defenceless as we should fear to act towards one who is our equal\nin strength. The man who can be capable of such cowardice no longer\ndeserves the name of a man, but puts himself on a level with those\nbeasts of prey from whom we shrink in terror, knowing that in them\nthere is no reason, or conscience, or pity to which we can appeal.\n\n+II. Incapacity in a ruler may work almost as much misery as\ncruelty.+ A mother may not be guilty of positive acts of cruelty\ntowards her children, and yet they may suffer very keenly and very\nseriously from her unfitness to train their souls and her ignorance\nas to how to take care of their bodies. Her neglect may in the end\nbring consequences as fatal as the greatest severity would have done.\nThis rule holds good wherever one human creature has others dependent\nupon him, and the more entire the dependence, the more miserable will\nbe the results of his or her incapacity. In countries where rulers do\nnot bear absolute sway, a _\"prince who wanteth understanding\"_ is not\nso great a curse as where his will is the only or the supreme law,\nbut the history of our own country contains instances of monarchs\nwho, although they would have been harmless in private life, were,\nfrom lack of capacity to rule, very great oppressors of the people.\n\n+III. The curse which rests upon all such oppressors of their kind.+\nLike Jehoram of old, they depart undesired (2 Chron. xxi. 20). The\nblood of their brothers crieth out for vengeance upon their heads,\nand no man puts forth a hand to arrest their doom. Even those who\npity as well as blame, if they wish well to the body politic, feel it\nis a blessing when such tyrants are removed from the earth--when\ntheir power of doing violence to the rights of their fellow-creatures\nis at an end. _\"Let no man stay him\"_ for the sake of those whom he\nleaves behind, and let no man hinder his departure for his own sake,\nfor his continuance in his place upon the earth would but give him\nopportunity to add to his crimes, and thus increase the weight of his\npunishment. (For illustrations of this subject and additional\nHomiletics see on chap. xi. 17, page 220--also page 208.)\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 15. But these emblems were insufficient to represent the\nmonstrous barbarities that have been often exercised by those that\nwere at the head of the Roman empire in its pagan or antichristian\nstate; and, therefore, Daniel and John represent them under the\nfigure of monsters more dreadful than any that were ever beheld by\nthe eyes of man (Jer. xxxi. 18, Daniel vii. 10, Rev. xiii.). The\nlanguage of inspiration could not furnish out more terrible images\nfor the devil himself, than those which have been used to represent\nthe wickedness of tyrannical and persecuting powers. We ought to be\nthankful for the wounds that have been given to the beast with seven\nheads and two horns, and for the civil and religious liberties which\nwe enjoy.--_Lawson._\n\n\nVerse 16. As want of understanding maketh a man an oppressor, so to\nbe an oppressor showeth a want of understanding in him. But the\nspecial want at which the verse seems to aim is the greedy want of\ncovetousness. For as a covetous man wanteth understanding, because he\nseeketh that so eagerly which he cannot keep, so a covetous prince\nwanteth understanding, because he seeketh that so earnestly which he\nhath already.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 17. God's jealous regard for the life of man was strongly\nexpressed at the second outset of our world's history; and expressed\nin terms of evident allusion to the early and awful violation of its\nsacredness in the antediluvian period:--\"And surely your blood of\nyour lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require\nit, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I\nrequire the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his\nblood be shed: for in the image of God made he man\" (Gen. ix. 5, 6).\nFor my own part, having examined the various principles of\ninterpretation by which those who are for doing away _all_ capital\npunishments have explained these words, I have not been able to\nsatisfy myself with any one of them. They seem to be all forced and\nunnatural, and, on different critical grounds, inadmissible. I cannot\nbut regard the language as bearing no fair and natural\ninterpretation, but that which makes it a Divine requisition, on the\npart of man, of _blood for blood_--that is, of _life for life;_ and\nas thus affording more than a _sanction,_ as laying down a\n_requirement._ Though I am far from conceiving that we are bound by\nJewish criminal law, yet in the law regarding murder there is so\nevident an allusion to this original and universal injunction, and\nthe language withal is so very pointed and emphatically reiterated,\nthat I cannot go the length of those who would include _murder_ among\ncrimes to be punished with infliction short of death. When set beside\nthe original and universal law it serves, by its very emphasis and\nperemptoriness, to confirm the ordinary interpretation of that charge\nto the second progenitors of our race as the just one, and to show,\ntherefore, the universality of its obligation.--_Wardlaw._\n\nEven the heathen judged this awful transgressor to be under the\nDivine vengeance (Acts xxviii. 4). The death therefore of the\nmurderer is an imperative obligation. It is miscalled philanthropy\nthat protests against all capital punishments. Shall man pretend to\nbe more merciful than God? Pity is misplaced here. The murderer\ntherefore of his brother is his own murderer.--_Bridges._\n\nThis is not directly an admonition against that which is immoral; it\nmay also be a declaration of that which is impossible.--_Delitzsch._\n\n\nThe subjects of the next six verses have all been treated before. For\nHomiletics on verse 18, see on chaps. x. 9, and xi. 3, pages 153 and\n195. Verse 19 is almost a verbal repetition of chap. xii. 11, see\npage 266. On the main subject of verses 20 and 22, see on chaps.\nxiii. 11 and xxi. 5, pages 306 and 609. On verse 21, see on chap.\nxvii. 23, page 524, and on verse 23 chap. xxvii. 5 and 6, page 728.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nROBBING PARENTS.\n\n+I. A parent's sacred rights.+ A father and mother, if they are\nworthy of the name, have a very strong claim upon their children's\nconsideration. Their children owe them obedience in their childhood,\nand reverent and loving regard when they have reached manhood. If\ntheir parents are _rich,_ their possessions are to be held as\npeculiarly sacred. \"A feeling,\" says Wardlaw, \"should attach to it\nsomewhat like that which attaches to _holy things_--things pertaining\nto God and His service. The violation of _their_ property should be\nfelt to be a description of _sacrilege._\" On the other hand, if the\nparents are _poor,_ their children are certainly bound to help to\nsupport them, and so in some measure to repay to them the expense of\ntheir own bringing up. Christ puts this duty to parents before that\nof giving even to the support of Church ordinances, and severely\ncondemns the Pharisees and Scribes for inculcating opposite teaching\n(Mark vii. 11).\n\n+II. The character of the child who violates these rights.+ There\nare, alas, many sons and daughters who, instead of rendering more\nhonour to their parents than to other people give them _less,_ and\ninstead of showing more regard to their parents' rights than to those\nof a stranger, seem to ignore the fact that they owe anything to\nthem. In the matter of money, those who would not touch the\npossession of any other person will sometimes appropriate what\nbelongs to their parents, and say, \"It is no transgression;\" or if\nthey do not go quite so far as this, do not hesitate to live upon\nthem when they ought to be earning their own living, or to incur\ndebts which they know their parents will discharge. He who is guilty\nof any of these negative or positive transgressions \"robs,\" his\nfather and his mother, and his character is given here. Although he\nmay not be openly a vicious man--although he may seem to be much less\nblameworthy than the man who openly violates the law of the land, he\nis here put on a level with him. The sin in the sight of God is as\ngreat, and there is in such a man the capability of developing into\nan open transgressor, for he who can violate such holy demands of\nduty, and trample upon the rights of such a sacred relationship, only\nwants the motive and opportunity to commit actions which would at\nonce class him among the criminals of society.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\n\"But if any widow have children or nephews, let them first learn to\nshew piety at home, and to requite their parents\" (1 Tim. v. 4). It\nis observable, children's kindness to their parents is termed _piety_\nor _godliness,_ because it is a part thereof, and very acceptable to\nGod. Besides, it is called a _requiting_ them, intimating that it is\nnot an act of _grace,_ but of _justice.--Swinnock._\n\nTo say that we did not look upon a thing to be a transgression will\nbe no just excuse for any piece of conduct that we might have known\nto be criminal. It will only shew us to be so depraved that even our\nminds and our consciences are defiled.--_Lawson._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the first clause of verse 25, see on chap.\nxiii. 10, page 305.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26, _AND LAST CLAUSE OF VERSE_ 25.\n\nSELF-CONFIDENCE.\n\n+I. He that trusts in his own heart is a fool, because he refused to\nprofit by the experience of others.+ If a man who has made a perilous\nvoyage declares at the end of it that he has found his compass\nutterly untrustworthy, we should count him a madman who would set out\nupon a similar expedition with the same faulty guide; and if he went\ndown in mid-ocean to rise no more, we should certainly say that it\nwas his own fault. To trust to a guide which another man has proved\nto be unworthy of confidence when so much was at stake, would be\nuniversally condemned as obstinate foolhardiness. Yet this is what\nmen do in the voyage of life. The testimony of most men who,\nrejecting the guidance of a higher wisdom, have shaped their lives\naccording to their own ideas and inclinations, has been at the end\nthat they have trusted a guide that has misled them. Solomon himself\nsteered a good deal of his life by this deceiving compass, and at the\nend confessed that he had acted foolishly in so doing (Eccles. i. 2).\nIt may be that the words of our text were the expression of his own\nbitter experience on the subject, and that he is here counselling\nothers to avoid the error into which he had fallen.\n\n+II. He is a wise man who seeks guidance from God because he trusts\nin One who has proved Himself worthy of confidence.+ He who has\ndeclared that the human heart _\"is deceitful above all things and\ndesperately wicked\"_ (Jer. xvii. 9) has offered Himself as the object\nof man's trust and as His infallible guide. Millions of the human\nfamily have assented to the truth of the Divine statement, and have\ntestified to the blessedness of submission to Divine guidance, and\nhave been manifestly delivered by their submission from the bondage\nof evil, and elevated into a region of moral purity and freedom to\nwhich other men are strangers. They are living proofs that He who\nexhorts men to trust in Him is not a deceiver, but can justify the\ndemands He makes upon our confidence and submission. Human experience\nhas set its seal to the inspired word:--_\"Blessed is the man that\ntrusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For He shall be as\na tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the\nriver, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be\ngreen; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall\ncease from yielding fruit\"_ (Jer. xvii. 7-8). Surely, then, he is a\nwise man who makes the trial for himself.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThe _heart,_ indeed, has instrumentality to save us. We must _trust_\neverything to that. But it is the _heart_ dwelt in by Christ. He that\ntakes his heart and confides it to the Son of Man, receives for it an\naltered life, and will be able to _trust_ that _heart_ thus _trusted_\nto Christ as the instrument in the battle of deliverance.--_Miller._\n\nThough the mariner sees not the pole-star, yet the needle of his\ncompass, which points to it, tells him which way he sails. Thus the\nheart that is touched with the loadstone of Divine love, trembling\nwith godly fear, and yet still looking towards God with fixed\nbelieving, interprets the fear by the love in the fear, and tells the\nsoul that its course is heavenward towards the haven of eternal\nrest.--_Leighton._\n\nWhoever trusts another for his guide must do it upon account of two\nqualifications to be found in him:--1. That he is _able_ to direct\nand lead him. 2. That he also _faithfully will_ give the best\ndirections. . . . There are two things which may make a trust\n_foolish:_--1. The _value_ of the thing which we commit to a trust.\n2. The _undue qualifications_ of the person to _whose trust_ we\ncommit it. In both respects the confidence reposed by men in their\nown hearts is exceeding _foolish._ I. _The honour of God is\nentrusted._ So far as the manifestation of God's honour depends upon\nthe homage of His obedient creatures, so far is it at the mercy of\nour actions, which are at the command of the _heart,_ as the motion\nof the wheels follows the disposition of the spring. God is never\ndisobeyed but He is also dishonoured. II. _Man trusts his heart with\nhis happiness in this world, and this is two-fold--spiritual and\ntemporal._ III. _He entrusts his heart with the eternal concernment\nof his soul hereafter._ . . . The heart of man will also be found to\nhave eminently these two ill qualities utterly unfitted for such a\ntrust. I. _It is weak, and so cannot make good a trust._ Its weakness\nis twofold. 1. In point of _apprehension_ it cannot perceive and\nunderstand certainly what is good. 2. In point of _election,_ it\ncannot _choose_ and _embrace_ it. II. _The heart is deceitful, and so\nwill not make good its trust._ . . . The delusions of the heart may\nbe reduced to three sorts. 1. Such as relate to the _commission of\nsin._ 2. Such as relate to the _performance of duty._ 3. Such as\nrelate to a man's _conversion,_ or _change of his spiritual\nestate._ . . . The heart if it does not find _sins small,_ has this\nnotable faculty, that it can make them so . . . and in duty is\nwilling to take up with the outside and superficies of things,\nand . . . it will persuade him that he is converted from a state of\nsin, when perhaps he is only converted from _one sin_ to _another;_\nand that he has changed his _heart_ when he has only changed his\n_vice.--South._\n\n\nOn the subject of verse 27, see on chap. xi. 24-26, page 234, and on\nchap. xiv. 31, page 389. The subject of verse 28 has been treated in\nchap. xi. 10, page 206.\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+4. He that receiveth gifts.+ Z\u00f6ckler translates\nthis, _\"a man of taxes.\"_ +7. Considereth.+ Literally _knoweth._\nZ\u00f6ckler and Delitzsch translate the latter clause, _\"the godless\ndiscern, or understand not, knowledge.\"_ +8. Bring a city,+ etc.,\nliterally, _\"set a city on fire.\"_ +9.+ The second clause should\nrather be _\"he rageth and laugheth_ (_i.e.,_ the fool), _and there is\nno rest.\"_ +10.+ Delitzsch translates this verse: _\"Men of blood hate\nthe guiltless and the upright; they seek his soul.\"_ +11. His mind.+\nRather _his wrath._ +Keepeth it till afterward.+ Rather _restraineth\nit, keeps it in the background._ +13. The deceitful.+ Rather _\"the\nusurer.\" A man of usury is only a more concrete expression for a rich\nman and this is the corresponding term_ in chap. xxii. 2 (Z\u00f6ckler).\n+18. Vision.+ Rather _\"Revelation.\"_ \"The word denotes prophetic\nprediction, the revelation of God by His seers (1 Sam. ix. 9); the\nchief function of these consisted in their watching over the vigorous\nfulfilling of the law, or in the enforcement of the claims of the\nlaw\" (Z\u00f6ckler). +19. Doth not answer.+ Rather _\"there is not an\nanswer,\"_ that is in action, by obedience. Delitzsch translates\n_\"does not conform thereto.\"_ +21. A son,+ etc. There are many\ndifferent translations of this verse, but the general verdict of\nscholars seems to favour the English rendering. Luther translates the\nverse, _\"If a servant is tenderly treated from youth up, he will\naccordingly become a squire.\"_ +24. He heareth cursing.+ Rather _the\ncurse, i.e.,_ according to Z\u00f6ckler, \"the curse which according to the\nlaw (Lev. v. 1. sq.) marks a theft as an offence demanding a heavy\npenalty.\" Delitzsch translates _\"he hateth the oath,\"_ and explains\nit \"as that of the judge who adjures the partner of the thief by God\nto tell the truth.\" (See also Lev. v. 1.)\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.\n\nREPROOF AND DESTRUCTION.\n\n+I. An act of benevolence which is often resented.+ When a child is\nreproved, and if need be chastised, for playing with the fire or\nneglecting its lessons, all reasonable people see that it is a kind\nact, and the child itself, when it has grown wiser, acknowledges that\nthe reproof, even if it took the form of punishment, was an act of\ntrue benevolence, for it has saved him from bodily suffering or from\nintellectual loss. But it is probable that at the time the reproof\nwas administered it was received with resentment, and the parent or\nfriend who administered it was looked upon as an enemy. And it is so\ngenerally with men in relation to the reproofs of God, whether they\ncome direct in the shape of providential chastisements or indirectly\nin the rebukes of His servants. God can have but one aim in reproving\nHis creatures, and that is to save them from the pain which follows\nsin, and to increase their capabilities of happiness by bringing them\nunder His Divine training. But this effort of God is often resisted,\nand man in the act of resistance is here and elsewhere likened to the\nox which refuses to obey his master. He \"hardens his neck\" against\nthe yoke of Divine reproof. Repentant Ephraim acknowledges that under\nDivine chastisement he was _\"as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke\"_\n(Jer. xxxi. 18); he resisted the efforts of his God to bring him into\nsubjection to His wise rule, and into harmony with His benevolent\npurposes concerning him. The ox who does nothing but browse is living\nthe lowest form of life which a brute can live--he eats, and sleeps,\nand fattens for the knife. But if his master leads him from his\npasture, and harnesses him to the plough, he thereby makes him a\nco-worker with himself; the beast now helps to raise the corn which\nnot only feeds himself, but feeds men also, and thus, by coming under\nthe yoke, he becomes a more useful and valuable creature. But as he\nis only a brute, he is not to be blamed if he prefers the lower life\nto the higher. As it is with the ox and his master, so it is with the\nsinner and God. The godless man is content to live upon a level with\nthe lowest level of brute life--to satisfy his bodily appetites, to\neat and drink, and die and leave undeveloped all his capacities for\nspiritual growth and blessedness. But God would make him a co-worker\nwith Himself in lifting him to a higher level and in making him a\nmore useful and blessed creature. But men often resist this\nbenevolent intention, and resent this check upon their self-will.\n\n+II. The resistance to many acts of benevolence bringing one act of\njudgment.+ It must at last be decided whose will is to be the law of\nthe universe--that of rebellious men or that of the Holy God; and\nthough the Divine longsuffering is so exceedingly great, He must, in\nthe interests of His creatures, assert His right to their obedience.\nThis He did in the case of His chosen people--after centuries of\nresisted reproof sudden and irremediable destruction came upon the\nnation, and those who, like the Jews, will not come under the yoke of\nGod, must sooner or later feel His rod. If they will not be His\nchildren they must be treated as rebellious subjects. On this subject\nsee also on chap. vi. 12-19, page 81.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSuch was the _destruction_ of the old world, and of the cities of the\nplain, long _hardened_ against the forbearance of God. Pharaoh grew\nmore stubborn under the rod, and rushed madly upon his _sudden_ ruin.\nEli's sons \"hearkened not unto the voice of their father, and in one\nday died both of them.\" Ahab, _often reproved_ by the godly prophet,\n_hardened his neck,_ and \"the bow, drawn at a venture,\" received its\ncommission. How must Judas have steeled his heart against his\nMaster's _reproof!_ Onward he rushed, \"that he might go to his own\nplace.\"--_Bridges._\n\nSins repeated and reiterated are much greater than sins once\ncommitted. . . . As in numbers, one in the first place stands but for\na single one, in the second place ten, in the third place for a\nhundred, so here, each repetition is a great aggravation. It is one\nthing to fall into the water, another thing to lie there; it is the\nlatter that drowns men.--_Swinnock._\n\n\nOn the subject of verse 2, see on chap. xi. 10, page 206. On verse 3,\nsee on chap. x. 1, page 137, and on chap. v. 1-20, page 68. The\nsubject of verse 4 has been treated on page 472, in the homiletics on\nchap. xvi. 10-15, and that of verse 5 in the homiletics on chap.\nxxvi. 23-28, page 721.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 6.\n\nA SNARE AND A SONG.\n\n+I. Sin deceives men.+ If a man digs a pit for the purpose of\nentrapping a victim, his great aim is to make the path over it as\ninviting as possible and entirely to hide from sight the snare which\nhe has laid, for, as Solomon tells us elsewhere, _\"Surely in vain the\nnet is spread in the sight of any bird\"_ (chap. i. 17). So when the\ngreat deceiver of men tries to lead them into sin, he makes the way\nof transgression look very inviting, and persuades his victim that\nsome great gain is to be gotten by the sin. He hides from view the\npit of misery that lies at the end of every path of disobedience to\nGod. He did not let Adam and Eve see beforehand the bitter\nconsequences of breaking the Divine command or he would not have\nsucceeded in accomplishing their downfall. And he does not let the\nyoung man whom he persuades to rob his master see the felon's cell\nbeyond, or his persuasions would be ineffectual. His great aim is to\nmake men believe there is security where there is danger--a solid\nrock where there is a yawning pit--probable gain where there is\ncertain loss. Seeing that sin is against the sinner's own interests,\nand that there is in every man an instinct of self-preservation, we\nmust conclude that if transgressors were not _ensnared,_ Satan could\ntake the captive no other way.\n\n+II. Righteousness gladdens men.+ God, who is the Fountain and Source\nof all the joy in the universe, made man for happiness. This is the\nportion which He intended all His creatures to possess, and which\nthey forfeit by their own act and deed. Before sin entered our world,\nsong was man's natural employment--it was as natural for him to\nrejoice in God's love as it was to breathe God's air. And in\nproportion as sin is banished from the human soul, and the right\nrelation between it and God is re-established, joy and gladness\nre-enter the heart. The indissoluble connection which is found\neverywhere between righteousness of life and peace of mind is a\nrevelation of the character of the Being who sits upon the throne of\nthe universe, and although the song of the righteous in this world is\nnot an unbroken one, and they have sorrow as well as joy, they are\nhastening to a world where _\"God shall wipe away all tears from their\neyes, and there shall be no more sorrow or crying, neither shall\nthere be any more pain; for the former things are passed away\"_ (Rev.\nxxi. 4).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nOr, a cord, viz., to strangle his joy with--to check and choke all\nhis comforts. In the midst of his mirth he hath many a secret gripe,\nand little knows the world where the shoe pinches him. Every fowl\nthat hath a seemly feather hath not the sweetest flesh, nor doth\nevery tree that bringeth a goodly leaf bear good fruit. Glass giveth\na clearer sound than silver, and many things glitter besides gold.\nThe wicked man's jollity may wet the mouth, but not warm the\nheart--smooth the brow, but not fill the breast. . . . But though\nSaul could not be merry without a fiddler, Ahab without Naboth's\nvineyard, Haman without Mordecai's courtesy, yet a righteous man can\nbe merry without all these.--_Trapp._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 7 see on chap. xiv. 31, page 389, and on\nchap. xxiv. 11, 12, page 680.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.\n\nTHE CITIZEN'S ENEMY AND THE CITIZEN'S FRIEND.\n\n+I. A scornful man is a social calamity.+ A scorner is a man who has\na great opinion of his own wisdom and ability, and a very low one of\nall who oppose him. From his self-constructed elevation he looks down\nupon those who refuse to obey him, and counts them his inferiors\nsimply because they do so. This is a perilous course to pursue even\nwhen only individual interests are at stake, but when the scornful\nman holds the welfare of others in his hand, the disastrous effects\nof his conduct are more widely spread. When he is the only person who\nsuffers from over-estimating himself and underrating the strength of\nhis opponents the issue is hardly to be regretted, but Solomon here\nhas in his mind a public man who brings ruin upon many besides\nhimself by his proud disdain of their foes, and by his refusal to\nrecognise a common danger. Goliath was such a man. As the\nrepresentative and champion of the Philistines he over-estimated the\nvalue of his physical strength, and set too low an estimate upon the\nunseen power arrayed against him, and his scorn of his enemies\nbrought a great calamity upon his nation. A scornful man brings the\nheaviest calamity upon a people when he scoffs at the power of God\nand persuades his followers to set at nought His demands and\nthreatenings. This was the great crime of many of Solomon's\nsuccessors on the throne, and of the false prophets of Judah and\nIsrael, and hence the sentence passed upon them and upon those who\nlistened to them: _\"Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful\nmen, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have\nsaid, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in\nagreement: when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall\nnot come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under\nfalsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord\nGod . . . Judgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to\nthe plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuges of lies, and\nthe waters shall overflow the hiding places,\"_ etc. (Isa.\nxxviii. 14-22).\n\n+II. A wise man is a social blessing.+ We have before seen (see on\nchap. xiv. 15-18, page 364) that it is one of the characteristics of\na wise man that he recognises the presence of moral danger in\nrelation to himself, and the same may be said concerning danger of\nevery kind, not only as regards himself, but others also. The\n_recognition_ of danger is quite distinct from the _fear_ of it;\nindeed those who are most quick to discern it have generally the most\ncourage to meet it and the most wisdom to avert it. Scornful men\ngenerally have nothing but scorn wherewith to meet a foe, but the man\nwho is truly wise can afford to acknowledge the strength of his\nenemies because he is fully prepared to meet them. If he seek to turn\naway the wrath of man by persuasion, he will be able to back his\npersuasion by wise reasoning, and if he strive to avert the wrath of\nGod he will endeavour to bring those for whom he intercedes to such a\nstate of mind as will render them fit to appreciate Divine pardon.\nBut if he cannot do this his own character will give effect to his\nprayers, and as in the case of Moses and the children of Israel, God\nwill spare many sinners for the sake of one righteous man.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nSurely it was _wisdom_ in the king and people of Nineveh, instead of\n_bringing their city into a snare by scornful_ rebellion, to avert by\ntimely humiliation the impending destruction (Jonah iii. 5-10). Let\nthe people be gathered; let the ministers of the Lord gird themselves\nto their work of weeping and accepted pleaders for the land (Joel\nii. 17). Surely \"except the Lord of Hosts had left us a very small\nremnant\" of these powerful intercessors, \"we should have been as\nSodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah\" (Isa. i. 9).\nPraised be God! The voice is yet heard--\"Destroy it not, for a\nblessing is in it\" (_Ib._ lxv. 8). The salt of the earth preserves it\nfrom corruption (Matt. v. 13). Shall not we, then, honour these _wise\nmen_ with reverential gratitude--\"My father--my father! the chariots\nof Israel, and the horsemen thereof?\" . . . Moses--Exod.\nxxxii. 10-14; Deut. ix. 8-20; Ps. cvi. 23; Aaron--Num. xvi. 48;\nPhinehas--Num. xxv. 11; Ps. cvi. 30. Elijah--1 Kings xviii. 42-45;\nJames v. 16, 18; Jer. xviii. 20; Dan. ix. 3-20; Amos vii. 1-6. The\nrighteous remnant--Isa. i. 9, vi. 13. Comp. Gen. xviii. 32; Job\nxxii. 30; Jer. v. 1; Ezek. xxii. 30, 31. Contrast Ezek.\nxiii. 5.--_Bridges._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subject of verse 9, see on chaps. xxiii. 9 and\nxxvi. 3-11, pages 665 and 716.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.\n\nSOUL-SEEKERS AND SOUL-HATERS.\n\n+I. A proof of the unnatural condition of the human family.+ When we\nlook at a human body we see that every limb and organism belonging to\nit ministers to the well-being of the whole frame, and thus to the\ncomfort of the living soul that inhabits it. This we recognise to be\na natural and fitting state of things--just what we should have\nexpected to find before experience. If in any human body we at any\ntime see the hand inflicting injury upon the head, or any one member\ncausing discomfort to another, we conclude, and with reason, that\nsome disturbance of the natural condition has taken place--that there\nis physical disease in some bodily organism, or moral disease in the\nspirit that animates the body. So our human instincts and our reason\nforce us to the conclusion that the natural relation of the members\nof the great body of humanity is one in which \"each for all and all\nfor each\" should be the rule of action. That it is not so, can but\nstrike all thinking men and women as a terrible incongruity. That\nmost men not merely regard their human brethren with indifference,\nbut that many actually hate and seek to injure their fellow-creatures\nis surely an evidence that some fatal moral distemper has laid hold\nof the race. And the evidence becomes stronger when we consider the\ntruth of the first assertion in the proverb--that not only do\nbloodthirsty men seek to injure other men in general, but that the\nobjects of their especial malignity are the upright--those who have\ngiven them no provocation, but whose desire and aim it is to bless\ntheir human brothers and sisters.\n\n+II. An example in renewed men of what human brotherhood ought to\nbe.+ Notwithstanding the great amount of self-seeking and enmity that\nis found in the world, there always has been found a small minority\nwho have been seekers of the good of others, and in whom love to\ntheir human brethren has been the keynote of existence. And this love\nhas been felt, and this seeking has been active, in behalf of those\nwho hated them, and sought to do them ill. All such members of the\nhuman family are doing their part towards restoring men to the\ncondition of peace and goodwill in which their Creator intended them\nto live, and help us to form some idea of what earth would have been\nif sin had never entered it. It is true they would then have had no\nopportunity of loving their enemies, and of doing good to those who\nhate them, but the love which \"seeketh not her own\" would have found\nfree scope for her activities in going out towards those animated by\nthe same spirit of love and would never have had to sorrow over\nefforts to seek and save that have been apparently fruitless. All\njust men who are seekers of the well-being of others, and especially\nthose who seek the good of their enemies, are followers of that Just\nOne who was hated by the bloodthirsty of His day, and who sought\ntheir souls while they sought His life. The history of the martyr\nChurch in all ages has been the history of the \"bloodthirsty hating\nthe upright,\" and of the just treading in the footsteps of their\nDivine Master, and \"seeking the souls\" of their persecutors.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nThese words may mean--and probably _do_ mean--that the upright, in\nopposition to the blood-thirsty by whom the just is hated, \"seek his\nsoul,\"--that is, the soul or life of the object of the hatred--of the\njust or the upright. Of the Lord Himself it is said--\"He loveth the\nrighteous.\" And in this all His people resemble Him. It is one of\ntheir characteristic distinctions. They pray for the upright, and\nendeavour, by all means in their power, to preserve them from the\ndeadly machinations of their persecutors. The amount of love required\n_of_ God's people _towards_ God's people is that they be ready to\n\"lay down their lives for the brethren.\" And if \"for _the\nbrethren_\"--how much more for THE JUST ONE.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe just seek his soul. As Paul did of his countrymen the Jews, of\nwhom five times he received forty stripes save one (2 Cor. xi. 24);\nas the disciples did of those spiteful Pharisees that had causelessly\naccused them (Matt. xv. 2-12); as that martyr Master Saunders did:\n\"My lord,\" said he to Bishop Bonner, \"you seek my blood, and you\nshall have it. I pray God you may be so baptized in it as hereafter\nyou may loathe blood-sucking, and so become a better man.\"--_Trapp._\n\n\nOn the subject of verse 11 see on chap. x. 19-21, page 168.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.\n\nA MORAL CANCER IN A KING'S COURT.\n\n+I. A man in authority should be a discerner of character.+ The man\nwhose bodily sight is defective is not fit to be entrusted with the\ndestinies of others in any case in which clear vision is needed. A\npurblind seaman would not be the man to stand upon the bridge of a\nvessel and direct its movements, nor would a general unable to\ndistinguish friends from foes be a safe person to whom to entrust the\nguidance of an army in the field. And a man is manifestly in the\nwrong place if he is a ruler over others and is not a discerner of\ncharacter.\n\n+II. A man in authority should be the possessor of a character.+ A\nruler may be a good man himself and yet be imposed upon by others,\nbut as a rule a lover of truth is a discerner of truth, and an honest\nman will detect the false ring of the liar's words. But if a man is\nhimself a liar, he will instinctively shrink from contact with true\nmen, and true men will not care to hold intercourse with him, or to\nserve him, and so he must necessarily gather round him servants who\nare like himself. Such processes of attraction and repulsion are\nalways going on in the world, in all departments of government, in\nthe family, in the factory, and in the court. The servants are\ngenerally what the master is, and the courtiers reflect the character\nof the monarch.\n\n+III. It is therefore indispensable to the moral purity of any\ncommunity that its head be first a good man and then an able man.+\nMoral excellence is before all other things needful, but it is not\nthe only thing needful. A good man is not always a keen discerner of\ncharacter, although his goodness will strengthen his power of\ndiscernment, but he who _rules_ men should possess in an uncommon\ndegree the power of _reading_ them as well as that of setting them a\ngood example in his own life.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHe that carrieth Satan in his ear is no less blameworthy than he\nwhich carrieth him in his tongue. Untruths are cherished and\nfostered, as it were, by those who are too light of belief. But this\ncredulity is especially to be shunned by rulers in church,\ncommonwealth, or private families; for all the inferiors commonly\nfollow the example of the superiors. . . . It may indeed sometimes\nfall out that an Obadiah may lurk in Ahab's court, but this is rare,\nand commonly the sway goeth another way. Who were Saul's courtiers\nbut Doeg and such backbiters?--_Muffett._\n\nHow wise was David's determination--both as the sovereign of his\npeople and the _ruler_ of his house--to discountenance lies, and\nuphold the cause of faithful men! (Ps. ci. 2-7).--_Bridges._\n\nIt is natural, when we think of Solomon's own situation as king of\nIsrael, to expect to find some of his maxims of proverbial wisdom\nbearing special reference to the character and conduct of men in\npower. And so it is. When, moreover, we think of the wisdom with\nwhich, at the outset of his reign, and at his own earnest request, he\nwas Divinely endowed, we as naturally anticipate a correspondence\nbetween the maxims and the character. Nor are we disappointed. The\nmaxims are not those of the selfishness of power,--not those of\narbitrary despotism or the sovereignty of royal will; nor are they\nthose of an artful, intriguing, Machiavellian policy. They are sound\nand liberal, and based on the great principle of the public good\nbeing the end of all government--the principle that kings reign, not\nfor themselves, but for their people; while, in all their\nadministration, they ought to be swayed and regulated by the laws of\nan authority higher than their own, by a regard to the Will of God as\ntheir rule, and the Glory of God, to which all else must ever be\nsubordinate, as their supreme aim. But we must not forget, that the\nBook of Proverbs forms part of the canon of Inspired Scripture; that\nit does not contain, therefore, the mere dictates of human wisdom,\nhow extraordinary soever that wisdom was; that \"a greater than\nSolomon is here.\"--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe reigns of those princes who gave an easy belief to accusations,\nare stained with the most atrocious crimes. Tiberius C\u00e6sar put to\ndeath the greater number of his own privy councillors, by giving ear\nto lies, and encouraging his servants to be wicked; and it is\nprobable that the worst action that ever was committed since the fall\nof Adam, the murder of the Prince of Life, was occasioned by Pilate's\nwicked and cowardly regard to the temper of that tyrant, and his fear\nof being accused as an encourager of treason, if he had suffered our\nLord to escape.--_Lawson._\n\nRulers are the looking-glasses according to which most men dress\nthemselves. Their sins do much hurt, as by imputation (2 Sam.\nxxiv.)--the prince sinned, the people suffered--so by imitation; for\nman is a creature apt to imitate, and is more led by his eyes than\nhis ears. . . . Height of place ever adds two wings to sin,\n_example,_ and _scandal,_ whereby it soars higher and flies much\nfurther.--_Trapp._\n\n\nThe subject of verse 13 is the same as that of chap. xxii. 22, page\n636. The _deceitful_ man should be \"the man of usury, money-lender,\"\nmeaning simply the \"rich man.\" (Z\u00f6ckler.) For subjects of verses 14\nand 15, see on chapter xvi. 10-15, page 472, and xiii. 24, page 335,\nalso on chap. xix. 13-18, page 573.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.\n\nVICTORY NOT WITH THE MAJORITY.\n\n+I. There is no necessary connection between numbers and\nrighteousness.+ Weeds grow faster than wheat, and are much more\nabundant than the grain. But the simple fact that there are more\nweeds than there is corn does not alter the character of either. In\nthe same field it may happen that there is more to bind for fuel than\nfor food--that the tares far outnumber the ears of wheat--and in this\ncase the worth is on the side of the smaller quantity. So it is in\nthe moral field of the world. It is a startling fact that under the\ngovernment of God the wicked are permitted to multiply--that when a\nman sets himself in opposition to his Maker, he is not at once\nremoved from the earth, but is permitted to live and use his life to\nmake other men wicked like himself. We may sometimes be inclined to\nask with the patriarch, _\"Wherefore do the wicked live, become old,\nyea, are mighty in power\"_ (Job xxi. 7), and the question may be\ndifficult for us to answer; but this we must never forget, that\nneither with an nor with God is there any necessary connection\nbetween quantity and quality, between worth and abundance.\n\n+II. Neither are numbers any guarantee of victory.+ The greatness of\na tree and the number of its branches do not make it certain that it\nwill outlive the storm--on the contrary, its great bulk and height\nare often the causes of its fall. When the wicked multiply, and so\nincrease transgression, they sometimes lose sight of their personal\nsin and danger in the sin and danger in the multitude, and persuade\nthemselves that there is safety in numbers. But the very opposite is\nthe case. Men grow more bold in transgression in proportion as they\nare surrounded with other transgressors, and venture to do deeds of\nwickedness when in company with others that they would fear to commit\nalone. And so the multiplication of the wicked, as it increases\ntransgression, is the means of hastening their fall instead of\nretarding it. It was _\"when men began to multiply upon the face of\nthe earth\"_ (Gen. vi. 1) that their wickedness became so great as to\ncompel God to destroy them by a flood. It was the combination of the\nentire Jewish nation that enabled them to commit the crime of\ncrucifying the Lord of Glory, but it was this \"increase of\ntransgression\" that led to their final fall.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nCombination emboldens in sin (Isa. xli. 7). Each particle of the mass\nis corrupt. The mass therefore of itself ferments with evil. Hence\nthe prevalence of infidelity in our densely crowded districts above\nthe more thinly populated villages. There is the same evil in\nindividual hearts, but not the same fermentation of evil.--_Bridges._\n\nThe reference is, in all probability, to the influence of wicked\nrulers in promoting the increase of wickedness in the community,\nwhich requires not either illustration or proof.--_\"But the righteous\nshall see their fall.\"_--Their fall, that is, _from power and\nauthority._ It is not the _final fall_--the _perdition_ of the\nwicked, that is intended. In that the righteous have _no pleasure._\nHerein they resemble God; are of one mind and heart with Him. He\nsays, and confirms it by His oath--\"As I live, saith the Lord, I have\nno pleasure in the death of the wicked.\" In the execution of the\nsentence against them, God glorifies Himself; and the righteous\nsolemnly acquiesce, acknowledging and celebrating the justice of the\nDivine administration:--\"Even so, Lord God, Almighty, for true and\nrighteous are Thy judgments!\" But pleasure in witnessing the\nexecution of the sentence, we cannot, we must not, for a moment,\nimagine them to have.--_Wardlaw._\n\nCyrillus Alexandrinus tells us, when man was alone upon the earth\nthere was then no such matter as sinning. . . . Much company in sin\never makes more, it being the weakness of man's understanding to fear\nlittle hurt and danger, where many run into it, and it being the\nnature of wickedness to take strength from a multitude, as not\nfearing then to be opposed or resisted.--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subject of verse 17, see on chap. xix. 18,\npage 573.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.\n\nDIVINE REVELATION AND HUMAN OBEDIENCE.\n\n+I. The human soul needs what it cannot produce.+ If the flower is to\nattain to its development of beauty and colour it must have the\nsunlight and the rain from without itself--it needs what it has no\npower to produce. The husbandman and all mankind need a harvest, but\nthey have no power within themselves to supply their need; although\nthey can plough, and plant, and sow, they cannot give the quickening\nrays of light and heat which alone can make the seed to live and\ngrow. The entire human race has spiritual needs which it cannot\nsupply, and capabilities which must be developed by influences\noutside and above itself. It needs a knowledge of God's Nature, and\nWill, and Purposes, if it is to grow in moral stature, and blossom\nand ripen into moral beauty and fruitfulness, but no human intellect\nor heart can acquire this knowledge by its own unaided efforts. If\nthe human soul is to grow in goodness it must know God, and if it is\nto know Him, God must reveal Himself.\n\n+II. God by revelation has supplied man's need.+ This supply men had\na right to look for and expect. He had a right to look to the Creator\nof his bodily appetites and needs for the supplies that are necessary\nto his physical life and well-being, and he does not look in vain.\nGod has given the _\"earth to the children of men\"_ (Psa. cxv. 16),\nand every year He causes it to bring forth and bud, not only giving\nseed to the sower and bread to the eater, but an abundance of\nluxuries for his enjoyment. It is most natural and reasonable to look\nto the Giver of all these good things for the body, and expect from\nHim the supply of the deeper needs of the soul. We do not think a\nhuman parent does his duty to his child if he only feeds and clothes\nhim and makes no effort to enlighten his mind and satisfy his heart.\nAnd surely the Great Father of the universe would not be worthy of\nHis name if He dealt so with the children of whose bodies and souls\nHe is the Author. But He has not left us thus unprovided for, but\n_\"at sundry times and in diverse manners_ He has spoken unto men\"\n(Heb. i. 1), telling them enough of Himself and of themselves to\nsatisfy their spiritual cravings, and to elevate their spiritual\nnature.\n\n+III. It follows that gratitude and self-love should prompt men to\nlisten to God, and to obey Him.+ If the foregoing assertions are\ntrue, it follows that man must give heed to the revelation of God, or\nsustain permanent and irretrievable loss. As he cannot reject the\nDivine provision for the body without bodily death, so he cannot\nrefuse attention to God's provision for his soul without spiritual\nruin--without causing to perish all those powers and faculties of his\nhighest nature the exercise of which make existence worth having.\nSelf-love, therefore, should prompt a man to _\"keep the law,\"_ and if\nhe do not listen to its voice he has only himself to blame for\nmissing real happiness. If a man is starving, his best friend can do\nno more than supply his need, he must eat the food set before him;\nand when God has offered to the children of men that wine and milk\nwhich will satisfy the soul, and cause it to grow, He has done all\nthat even a God can do (Isa. lv. 1, 2). Man is a self-murderer if he\nrefuse it.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nHe doth not say they may perish, but they do perish; or they are in\ndanger of perishing, but they do certainly perish where there is no\nserious, conscientious, faithful, powerful preaching. . . . These men\nperish _temporarily;_ when vision, when preaching ceased among the\nJews, oh, the dreadful calamities and miseries that came upon the\npeople! . . . There men perish _totally:_ both the bodies and the\nsouls of men perish where serious conscientious preaching fails\n(Hosea iv. 6); _\"My people are destroyed for want of\nknowledge.\"_. . . The Papists say that ignorance is the mother of\ndevotion; but this text tells us that is the mother of\ndestruction.--_Brooks._\n\nThis is only a hypothetical case, for there are no such _\"people.\"_\nNevertheless there is such a principle. Just in proportion as men do\nnot know they will not be punished. Paul and Solomon are in full\naccord. \"They that sin without law shall also perish without law; but\nthey that sin in the law shall be judged by the law\" (Rom. ii. 12).\nThese Proverbs elsewhere have taught the same doctrine (chap.\nviii. 36). Men might all perish, but some less terribly, from a\ndifference of light. All men have some light (Rom. i. 20); and that\nwhich they actually have is all that they shall answer for in the day\nof final account. Still there is a form of ignorance that will\nexactly proportion our guilt. It is ghostly ignorance, or the absence\nof spiritual knowledge. Perhaps I may still say that a man is\npunished for what he has, and not for what he has not. A man who\nknows of this ignorance, and has light enough to know his need of\nlight, has enough to give account for in that without being supposed\nto suffer for a profound negation. Be this as it may, there is such\nan ignorance. It exactly grades our sins. It is the measure of our\ndepravity. The profounder it sinks we sink. No man need sink or\nperish. There is a remedy. \"The word is nigh\" (us).--_Miller._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 19 _and_ 21.\n\nMASTERS AND SERVANTS.\n\n+I. Human servants generally need correction.+ The relation of master\nand servant is generally, though not always, founded upon some\nsuperiority on the one side and inferiority on the other. Where there\nis any right adjustment of social relations, those who serve are\nthose who lack knowledge of some kind which those who rule are able\nto impart, and hence arises the necessity of correction on the part\nof the master and of submission on that of the servant. It is\nundeniable that there are many inversions of this ideal moral order,\nbut the proverb can only refer to what ought to be, and what _often,_\nthough not _always,_ is the case.\n\n+II. The means of correction ought to be moral means.+ A servant is a\nmoral and intelligent agent, and not a machine or a brute, and he can\nand ought to appreciate appeals to his reason and conscience. A wise\nand humane rider will use his voice to his steed in preference to the\nwhip or the spur, and generally finds it effectual. And words of\nreproof and encouragement are probably the only successful means of\ndealing with human nature in this relationship. If these fail, no\nothers will avail, and all benefit from the connection will cease.\n\n+III. Therefore human masters need much wisdom.+ If they are\nover-indulgent the servant may take undue advantage and claim\nprivileges to which he has no right (ver. 21). In the present\nconstitution of things in this world, and probably throughout the\nuniverse, there are inequalities of position and rank which no wise\nman can ignore, and it is kind and wise to those beneath us to\nmaintain these differences and distinctions. But to maintain them\nwithout haughtiness, and with that consideration and sympathy which\nought to mark all our intercourse with our fellow-creatures, needs\nmuch wisdom on the part of superiors. Dr. David Thomas suggests\nanother, and perhaps a pleasanter application of this proverb. \"There\nis another side,\" he says, \"to the kindness of a master towards his\nservant, that is, the making of the servant feel towards him all the\nsympathy and interest of a son. . . . He who can make his servant\nfeel towards him as a loving, faithful, and dutiful child, will reap\nthe greatest comfort and advantage from his service.\" But this happy\nresult can only be brought about where the master is truly wise as\nwell as kind.\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verses 20 and 22, see on chap. xiv. 17 and 29,\npages 363 and 386. On verse 23, see on chap. xi. 2, page 192, and on\nxvi. 18, page 482.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.\n\nCRIMINAL PARTNERSHIP.\n\n+I. Partnerships are self-revealing.+ That proverb is an old and true\none--\"Tell me what company you keep, and I will tell you what you\nare.\" A man seeks the society and shares the pursuits of those who\nare likeminded with himself; if he chooses the fellowship of the good\nit shows that there is something in his character that has an\naffinity to theirs, and if he willingly associates himself with bad\nmen, he proclaims himself to be a bad man. Good men do not \"walk in\nthe counsel of the ungodly,\" or \"sit in the seat of the\nscornful\"--men who are found in such places must be counted among the\nungodly and scornful, although they may be negative rather than\npositive sinners.\n\n+II. Criminal partnerships are self-destroying.+ As we have seen,\npartners with criminals are criminals themselves in spirit if not in\nactual deed, and must therefore meet with the doom of the\ntransgressor. Probably the proverb is directed against those who\nshelter themselves under the idea that those who do not commit the\ncrime themselves, but only consent to it beforehand, or conceal it\nafterwards, are not so very guilty; but this is nowhere the teaching\nof Scripture, nor is it the verdict of the human conscience.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nA partnership life is becoming more and more common and necessary in\nour commercial England. Great undertakings can only be carried out by\ncompanies. Modern legislation has greatly encouraged these\ncombinations, by limiting the monetary liability of its members.\nHence, joint-stock companies are multitudinous and multiplying. Such\ncompanies are often, perhaps generally, projected and managed by\nselfish, needy, and unprincipled speculators; and honest men are\noften tempted by the glowing promises of their lying programmes to\nbecome their adherents, and they soon find themselves in the\nunfortunate position referred to in the text.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\nThe _receiver_ and _resetter_ is at least as guilty as the thief. I\nsay _at least;_ for in one obvious respect he is worse. His is a\ngeneral trade, which gives encouragement to many thieves, by holding\nout to them the means of disposing of their stolen property and\nevading the law. He is thus, in fact, a partaker in the guilt of all.\nOne thief cannot set up and maintain a resetter; but one resetter may\nkeep at their nefarious trade many thieves.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThere is a warning under the eighth commandment. Do we realise the\nsame solemnity of obligation as under the first? Many professors\nattach a degree of secularity to a detailed application of the duties\nof the second table. But both stand on the same authority. The\ntransgressions of both are registered in the same book. The place in\nthe Decalogue cannot be of moment, if it be but there with the\nimprimatur--\"I am the Lord thy God.\"--_Bridges._\n\nIt is the cursed policy of Satan, that he strives to join men in\nwickedness. In drunkenness there must be a good fellow; in wantonness\nthere must be a corrival; in bloody duels there must be a second; in\ntheft there must be a partner, yoking men together to draw upon\nthemselves the heavy burden of God's displeasure. . . . Wherefore,\nalthough it may be a love unto the things stolen, or else a love unto\nthe stealer, which maketh others to join with him, certainly he\nshoweth little love to God's law, certainly he proveth great hatred,\nwhich he has to his own soul. For while he joineth with another in\nstealing some worldly goods, he joineth with Satan in stealing his\nown soul from himself. And whatsoever fear he may have of some\n_curse_ which the other hath laid upon him, if that he doth reveal\nit, he hath much more cause to feel the _curse of God's wrath,_ if he\ndoth conceal it. He hath but _heard_ the one, he shall _feel_ the\nother.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 25 _and_ 26.\n\nSAFETY FROM A SNARE.\n\n+I. Men fear and hope too much from their fellow men.+ This fear and\nthis hope are very active agents in this world, influencing men often\nto abstain from what they know to be right, and inducing them to do\ndeeds of evil. Good men have often staggered and sometimes fallen\nbefore this fear and have been misled by this false hope, and both\nthe hope and the fear are intensified when the object of them belongs\nto the ranks of the conventionally great--when the man whom they\ndesire to propitiate is a _\"ruler\"_ among his fellows. Such a man\nsometimes has the power to injure those who displease him, and has\nalso much that he can bestow upon those who seek his favour; but the\nweight of his displeasure and the worth of his gifts are generally\nestimated far too highly by his inferiors in rank, and when this is\nthe case they are snares which lead to sin.\n\n+II. Trust in God is the only escape from the fear that will mislead,\nand the hope that will disappoint.+ The many and the great contrasts,\nnot only between the favour of God and the favour of man, but between\nall that is connected with the seeking and the bestowal, will lead\nevery wise man to forsake the pursuit of the less for the greater.\n1. _The favour of an earthly ruler is often obtained only by the\nexercise of great skill on the part of the seeker._ When the woman of\nTekoa desired to obtain from David the forgiveness of Absalom, what\ningenuity on her part was necessary in order to gain the monarch's\near and goodwill. She had to study how to put the case before him in\nthe best light, and to enact a little drama before his eyes in order\nto enlist his attention and soften his heart. And yet she was\npleading with a tender-hearted father for his own son. How different\nit is when we plead for the mercy of God either for ourselves or\nothers. The simplest statement of the case is sufficient; no schemes\nor plans of any kind are necessary to win the ear of Him who is\nalways waiting to be gracious. 2. _Success with an earthly ruler is\noften unconnected with the merit or demerit of the pleader._ It often\nhappens that the most worthless characters obtain the greatest\nfavours, even if the ruler himself be a fairly impartial man, because\nthey have more friends at court than a deserving man. In the case\njust mentioned, Absalom, a thoroughly bad man, was able to command\nthe services of a person who was probably more fitted to gain the\ndesired end than any person in the kingdom. If there had been a\nbanished subject who really merited a free pardon from the king, he\nwould probably not have been able to command the services of so\nsuccessful a pleader as the woman of Tekoa. But the case is\naltogether different with Him who doth not _\"judge after the sight of\nHis eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears\"_ (Isa.\nxi. 3). The \"judgment which cometh from the Lord\" is founded on the\nstrictest impartiality, and depends upon nothing but the character\nand needs of the suitor. If we add to these drawbacks the uncertain\ngood which may be contained in the \"favour of a ruler\" even after it\nis obtained, we may well wonder that it is as true now as in\nSolomon's days that the \"many\" seek it, and only the few trust their\nearthly and their spiritual interests with their God. How many of the\nfew who are not disappointed _of_ the favour of great men are\ndisappointed _in_ it, and find it a poor and unsatisfying portion\nafter all; but the testimony of all those who seek the higher good is\n_\"In Thy favour is life, and Thy lovingkindness is better than life\"_\n(Psa. xxx. 5; Psa. lxiii. 3).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nTo those who look out upon society from the standpoint of trust in\nGod, the greatest magnates of the world will appear only as\ngrasshoppers. . . . He who can say, \"Surely my judgment is with the\nLord,\" will stand before his race with undaunted heroism, and before\nhis God with devotion. Conscious dependence on the Almighty is the\nspirit of independence towards men.--_Dr. David Thomas._\n\nThe fear of man leads you into a snare, and will the fear of God make\nyou safe? No; if the character of the affection remains the same, you\nwill gain nothing by a change of object. If you simply turn round and\nfear God as you feared men you have not thereby escaped. The fear of\nthe greater Being is the greater fear. The weight presses in the same\ndirection, and it is heavier by all the difference between the finite\nand the infinite. . . . It is not a transference of fear from man to\nGod that can make the sinner safe. The kind of affection must be\nchanged, as well as its object. Safety lies not in terror, but in\ntrust. Hope leads to holiness. He who is made nigh to God by the\ndeath of His Son stands high above the wretched snares that entangled\nhis feet when he feared men. The sovereign's son is safe from the\ntemptation to commit petty theft. . . . When you know in whom you\nhave believed, and feel that any step in life's journey hereafter may\nbe the step into heaven, the fear of this man and the favour of that\nwill exert no sensible influence in leading you to the right hand or\nto the left.--_Arnot._\n\nAlbeit faith, when it is in the heart, quelleth and killeth\ndistrustful fear, and is therefore fitly opposed to it in this sacred\nsentence; yet in the very best sense it fights sore against faith\nwhen it is upon its own dunghill. I mean in a sensible danger.\nNature's retraction of itself from a visible fear, may cause the\npulse of a Christian that beats truly and strongly in the main\npoint--the state of the soul--to intermit and falter at such a time,\nas we see in the examples of Abraham, Isaac, David, Peter, and\nothers. . . . The chameleon is said to be the most fearful of all\ncreatures, and doth therefore turn himself into so many colours to\navoid danger, which yet will not be. God equally hateth the timorous\nand the treacherous. \"Fearful\" men are the first in that black roll\n(Rev. xxi. 8).--_Trapp._\n\nThere is a higher step to be taken before we can well step so high;\nthere is the favour of God to be procured before the favour of the\nruler can well be obtained. For kings are but God's kingdoms; as they\nreign over their people, so He reigneth over them; as they sit on the\nthrone of their kingdom, so He sitteth on the throne of their hearts,\nand by a distributive justice dispenseth the _judgment_ of his and\ntheir favours according as it seemeth good to His eternal wisdom. The\nfavour therefore of thy ruler is worth thy seeking for; but first\nseek and get God's favour, if thou wilt get and enjoy the other to\nthy happiness. And when thou hast gotten it, remember that it was\nGod's hand which directed the king's hand to reach it forth unto\nthee. For it is too commonly seen, as one speaketh, \"Then doth God\nespecially slip out of the minds of men, when they enjoy His benefits\nand favours.\"--_Jermin._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on verse 27, see on chap. xxviii. 4.\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Agur.+ There have been many conjectures about\nthis person. Many consider that it is a figurative name, and some\nhave adopted the old Jewish tradition that it is an allegorical\ndesignation of Solomon. \"The name,\" says Delitzsch, \"means _'the\ngathered'_\" (see chap. vi. 3, x. 5), also _\"the collector,\"_ or the\nword might mean, perhaps \"industrious in collecting.\" +The son of\nJakeh,+ etc. Stuart and Z\u00f6ckler adopt here the reading of Hitzig and\nothers, and read _\"The son of her who was obeyed in Massa (or the\nprincess of Massa): I have toiled for, or carried myself about, God,\nand have ceased.\"_ For their reasons the student is referred to their\ncommentaries, where the subject is discussed at great length. Ithiel\nand Ucal signify respectively _\"God with me,\"_ and _\"the son of the\nmighty,\"_ and the common opinion is that they were Agur's disciples.\nFrom the great differences between the language and style of the last\ntwo chapters of the book, and those which have preceded them, most\nscholars believe that they were written outside the land of\nPalestine. Z\u00f6ckler thinks that \"Agur and Lemuel might very properly\nbe regarded as Arabian-Israelitish shepherd-princes or kings of a\ncolony of Israelites of the tribe of Simeon that had emigrated to\nnorthern Arabia.\" (See 1 Chron. lv. 38-43; Micah i. 15, ii. 8, 10.)\nDelitzsch suggests that they were \"Ishmaelites who had raised\nthemselves above the religion of Abraham, and recognised the religion\nof Israel as its completion.\" +2. Brutish,+ _i.e.,_ without reason.\n+10.+ Stuart and Z\u00f6ckler here read \"Cause not a servant to slander\nhis master.\" Delitzsch agrees with the English version.\n+15. Horseleach,+ or \"_vampire,_ an imaginary spectre or ghost,\nsupposed to suck the blood of children.\" _(Stuart.)_ +15+ and\n+16.+ On these verses, Dr. Aiken, the American translator of the\nProverbs for Lange's Commentary, remarks, \"As compared with the\nnumerical proverbs which follow, the complexity and the more\nartificial character of the one before us at once arrests attention.\nThey all have this in common, that whatever moral lesson they have to\nconvey is less obvious, being hinted rather than stated. . . . In the\none now under consideration, insatiable desire and the importance of\nits regulation seem to be the remote object. In the development,\ninstead of the 'three things' and 'four things' which repeatedly\nappear afterwards, we have the 'leech,' its two daughters, the three\nand the four. Some have regarded the two daughters as representing\nphysical characteristics of the bloodsucker, others as expressing by\nan Orientalism a doubly intense craving. Parallelism suggests making\nthe first two of the four the two daughters; other allusions of the\nScripture to the greediness of the world of the dead justify the\nfirst, while the second alone belong to human nature.\" +23. Odious,+\n_or unloved._ +26. Conies.+ A gregarious animal of the class\nPachydermata, which is found in Palestine living in the caves or\nclefts of the rocks. Its scientific name is _Hyrax Syriacus_. . . .\nIt is like the Alpine marmot, scarcely the size of a domestic cat,\nhaving long hair, a very short tail, and round ears _(Smith's\nBiblical Dictionary)._ +28. Spider.+ Most commentators translate\n_\"lizard.\"_ Delitzsch reads, _\"The lizard thou canst catch with the\nhands, and yet it is in the king's palaces.\"_ +29. Go well,+ rather,\n\"are of stately walk.\" +31.+ Delitzsch renders the last clause of\nthis verse:--_\"A king with whom is calling out of the host.\"_\n\nNOTE.--The following is Miller's unique translation of the first four\nverses of this chapter with his reasons for the same, and the\nteaching which he sees in the passage. \"It struck us that we would\ntake the simple Hebrew and inquire its meaning. We would accept\nnothing as a proper name till we found it destitute of sense; and,\nfollowing no intricate conceits, we would fail of a directer meaning\nbefore we went into anything more difficult. It is astonishing how\nfacile the result. We believe that all was the work of Solomon. We\nbelieve there was no such man as _Agur,_ except that great man Jesus\nChrist. We believe there was no such king as _Lemuel._ We believe\neverything is the work of Solomon as much as any other proverb. If it\nappear Arabic or extra-Hebraic no matter. Solomon gathered his\nmaterials over a wide surface. We believe it is distinctly what it\nsays, _The prophecy._ We count it as all finished in the four first\nverses, and _Jakeh_ and _Ithiel,_ and _Ucal_ and _Muel_ in the next\nchapter (verse i. 4). We would be quite willing to read it that way,\nif, like _Lo-ammi_ in the prophet, or _Lo-ruhamah,_ words confessedly\nsignificant (Hosea i. 8, 9), it were thought euphonious or wise to\ngive them without a translation. But what the Hebrews saw why not our\npeople see? Certain it is that the words to a Hebrew were about as\nfollow:--\n\n \"1. Words of I-fear, Son of the Godly: The prophecy:--\n The Strong Man speaks to God-with-me, to God-with-me\n and to I-am-able.\n 2. Forasmuch as I am more brutish as to myself, than a\n man of the better sort,\n and have not the intelligence of a common man.\n 3. and have not been taught wisdom and yet know the\n knowledge of holy things.\n 4. who has gone up to heaven and come down?\n who has gathered the winds in his fists?\n who has bound the waters in a garment?\n who has set firm all the extremities of the earth?\n what is his name, and what is his son's name?\n Because, Thou knowest.\n\n\"Let us examine, first, the language, and then the result as to the\nsense. _I-fear._ This is the very simplest Hebrew. It actually occurs\nin Deuteronomy (chap. xxxii. 27). The verb is the familiar one \u05d1\u05d3\u05bc \u05da,\nwhich means primarily _to turn out of the way._ And this _turning out\nof the way_ for danger is a prudent and innocent character of _fear.\nAgur_ therefore, or _I-fear,_ with the light we get afterward, marks\nhimself as the _Strong Man_ of the next clause; the _Son of the\nGodly,_ because descended out of the loins of the Church (see Rev.\nxii. 5); and the _Man_--just as _Muel_ (chap. xxxi. 1) is God and\nman--contemplating the low humanity of Christ, which is about to\nexpress its wonder at its amazing knowledge. _Godly;_ from a root\nmeaning to venerate: _Jakeh_ is in the singular, and means the _pious\none;_ which keeps in view what is too often forgotten, that Christ\nwas not the son of the abandoned, but, as His mother expresses it\n(chap. xxxi. 2), the _son of my vows. The Prophecy;_ not needfully\n_prediction,_ as in the present case, but an _oracle, vision,_ or\n_inspired elation_ of any kind. The words that follow constitute _the\nprophecy_ for though the speech of the _Man_-Christ does not begin\ntill the second verse, the very names in the next clause are\npredictive; and the most vitally so of the whole of the vision. _The\nStrong Man;_ strong, though weak; strong because he sees in himself\nsuch wonderful conditions. The word _strong_ is implied in the noun\nthat is selected. _Speaks;_ oracularly. It is the solemn, poetic, and\nin fact, rare expression. _To-God-with-me._ That the Man-Christ\nshould address the Deity has innumerable precedents. If it were\nnecessary, we could imagine the Human Nature as addressing the Divine\nNature; for that really occurs in high Eastern vision, in the Book of\nZechariah (chap. iii. 4, 6, 7, 8). In lofty texts, like this, it is\nperfectly admissible. Christ speaks of His Divine Nature (John\niii. 13); and speaks of it as being where the Man Christ Jesus was\nnot, viz., in Heaven. But the fourth verse of this chapter mentions\nboth Father and Son; and therefore in this, which is so near it, it\nis not necessary to distinguish. _The Strong Man_ speaks to the _God_\nwhich was _with_ (Him), and calls Him _Ucal,_ which means\n_I-am-able._ There was a powerful Divinity in Christ, and that He was\nwondering about. His mother repeats the wonder in the after case\n(chap. xxxi. 2). The whole is a grand _Prophecy_ of Christ in the\nform of a grand inquiry. _Agur_ makes it of _Ithiel._ That is, the\n_Man, I-fear,_ goes searching into the _God-with-me._ There is an\n_I-fear_ part and an _I-am-able_ part, of His one Grand Person; and\nthese parts speak even in the New Testament with the humility (John\nv. 19) and with the splendour (John viii. 58) that belong to each.\n_Forasmuch as;_ the simple particle _because. I am more brutish, i.e._\nmore the mere untaught animal. _As to Myself, i.e._ as to my human\nself; for it is the _Strong Man_ that speaks. The emphasis is laid by\nthe mere expression of the pronoun. _Than a man of the better sort;_\nthan an educated, refined man, which Christ was not. _And have not\nthe intelligence of a common man._ That is, he had not the education\nusually given to the more lowly. The _commonness_ of the humanity is\nexpressed again by the noun. _And have not been taught wisdom._ Here\nthe emphasis is on _taught. And yet know the knowledge of holy\nthings._ The meaning of the whole is, that he has singular light. He\nconfronted the doctors in the temple, and, as a little child, was a\nmiracle. Whence came this? This is what the prophecy represents as a\nsurprise. _Who has gone up to Heaven and come down?_ Somebody has.\n_The Strong Man_ addresses this appeal to the _God-with-me;_ and ends\nit significantly;--Who is it? _Because Thou knowest._ One word back\nin the third verse:--_know the knowledge._ We have not altered this,\nnor said _have the knowledge,_ which would be better English, because\nthis seems the intentional form. The words that Christ gave to His\ndisciples, God gave to Him; and Christ, in saying so, would include\nall senses; the outer word; the inner word; the outward blessed\nrevelation, and the inner teaching. _He knew the knowledge; i.e.,_ He\ndiscerned in perfect ways what the Spirit without measure was there\nto impart. _Going up to heaven, gathering the wind, binding the\nwaters, and setting firm the extremities of the earth,_ were the work\nof a Divinity. Some Divinity had been at work upon Him. He applies to\nthe _Able One,_ to the _God with Him,_ to explain a low man's\nwonderful knowledge, and then adds, as significant of the reply,\n_Because Thou knowest._\"\n\nThe extract is given here, not because we agree with Miller's view of\nthe passage, but as affording a specimen of the mode of\ninterpretation which he adopts throughout the book.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-9.\n\nTHE SOURCE OF TRUE HUMILITY.\n\n+I. In proportion as men know God they confess they know Him not.+ A\nchild looks above his head at the midnight sky and he concludes that\nthe stars that he sees are only so many shining points which have no\nuse beyond that of beautifying the heavens and giving a little light\nto our world. He does not think that there is any more to know about\nthe stars, but this conclusion of his is based upon complete\nignorance. How different is the attitude of the astronomer in\nrelation to the stars. He has good reason to believe that each one is\na sun like unto that which makes the centre of our own system of\nplanets, and this enlarged knowledge enables him to form some idea of\nhow much he has to learn about them, and so draws from him such a\nconfession of ignorance as a child would never utter. He realises\nthat what he knows is nothing in comparison with what there is to\nknow, and it is his increased knowledge which makes him feel thus. So\nmen who never reflect upon the nature or character of God have no\nconception of the height and depth of the knowledge of the Infinite,\nand hence have no conception of their ignorance concerning Him. It is\nonly the man who has in some degree apprehended the greatness of his\nMaker that has any idea of how far he is from comprehending Him, and\nhis consciousness of ignorance increases with his growth in the\nknowledge of God. Agur, who here declares that he has no \"knowledge\nof the Holy,\" and is \"without understanding\" on the highest and\ndeepest subjects, was evidently a man who had endeavoured by\nsearching to find out God, and his confession is the result of his\nknowledge and not of his ignorance. But what he knew only served to\nshow him how much remained unknown.\n\n+II. Therefore humility is the great sign of high attainments in\nDivine knowledge, and those who know most will be the most able and\nwilling to be taught more.+ Humility is the effect of the most\nthorough acquaintance with any subject, and of the most profound\nmeditation upon it. When men utter their opinions in the spirit of\nself-conceit, and are lifted up by their acquirements, we must\nascribe it to their ignorance and not to their knowledge. Those who\nhave learned most are the most teachable scholars and the first to\nwelcome instruction from whatever source it may come. If we were to\ntell a savage of the wonderful capabilities of electricity he would\nmost likely look upon us with contempt, and refuse to believe our\nstatements; but if we were to speak to an experienced electrician\nabout some new theory or discovery in relation to it he would not\nturn from us in disdain simply because he was unacquainted with it,\nbut would gladly welcome any new light upon the subject. This is\npre-eminently the case in the knowledge of all that relates to the\nDivine Being. When He becomes the object and subject of study and\ncontemplation--when a creature who had no existence a few years ago\nseeks to know Him who is God _from everlasting to everlasting_ he\nfinds himself embarked upon an ocean without a shore, and is\ncompelled to exclaim: _\"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is\nhigh, I cannot attain unto it\"_ (Psa. cxxxix. 6). His humble\nreverence will always be in proportion to the progress that he has\nmade. He who knew as much about God and His dealings as any man who\never lived, gave, as the result of his researches, that _\"His ways\nare past finding out,\"_ and was led by it to ascribe to Him _\"glory\nfor ever\"_ (Rom. xi. 33-36); and all who have trodden the same path,\neither before or after him, have arrived at the same conclusion, and\nhave acquired the same spirit of humility. And this is the spirit\nwhich makes a man willing and therefore able to receive a higher and\ndeeper revelation. Because he knows that he has not \"already\nattained\"--that there is no comparison between what he knows and what\nthere is to know--his mind is ever open to receive new instruction,\nand he welcomes any means by which he can advance a step nearer to\nthat _\"light which no man can approach unto,\"_ and catch a fresh\nglimpse of Him _\"whom no man hath seen or can see\"_ (1 Tim. vi. 16).\n\n+III. The unsearchableness of God is no hindrance to practical\ngodliness.+ If Agur could not know all that he desired about God, he\nknew enough to trust Him, and enough to make him desire to serve Him.\nHe could from experience testify that God had spoken to men, and that\nHis word was to be depended on, and that there was a reward to those\nwho kept it. If God is unknowable in some aspects of His nature,\ngodly men in all ages have found him a shield in danger, and a rock\nof certainty, upon which it is safe to rest. Although Agur could not\nascend into heaven and read the secrets of the other world, he felt\nthat he could strive to walk with God in this world, and the effect\nof a real conviction of the greatness and majesty of God is not to\ndrive men from Him but to draw them near in holy living as well as in\nhumble adoration.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 2. This was true humility, that like true balm ever sinks to\nthe bottom, when hypocritical, as oil, swims on the top. . . . He\nthat looks intently on the sun hath his eyes dazzled; so he that\nbeholds the infinite excellencies of God, considers the distance,\ncannot but be sensible of his own naughtiness, nothingness. It is fit\nthe foundation should be laid deep, where the building is so high!\nAgur's humility was not more low than his aims lofty: \"Who hath\nascended up to heaven?\" It is a high pitch that he flies, for he knew\nwell that godliness, as it begins in a right knowledge of ourselves,\nso it ends in a right knowledge of God.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 4. The discourse is philosophically accurate, as well as\nreligiously devout. It is through the mutual relations of air, earth,\nand water, that the Supreme Ruler gives or withholds the food of man\n(verse 8). These three, each in its own place and proportion, are\nalike necessary to the growth of grain, and consequently to the\nsustenance of life. . . . The earth is the basis of the whole\noperation. . . . Alike in its creation and its arrangement, its\nmaterial and its form, the final cause of the earth has obviously\nbeen the growth of vegetation and the support of life. But the earth\ncould not bear fruit at any portion of its surface without the\nconcurrence of water; and how shall the supply of this necessary\nelement be obtained? \"Who hath bound the waters in a garment?\" Again\nthe clouds and showers, the springs and streams, with one voice\nanswer, \"God.\" So wide is the dry land, and so low lies the water in\nits ocean storehouse, that we could not even conceive how the two\ncould be made to meet, unless we had seen the cosmical hydraulics in\nactual operation from day to day and from year to year. Here lies the\nearth, rising into mountains and stretching away in valleys, but\nabsolutely incapable, by itself, of producing food for any living\nthing. There lies the sea, held by its own gravity helpless in its\nplace, heaving and beating on the walls of its prison-house, but\nunable to rise and go to the help of a barren land. . . . In this\nstrait--when the land could not come to the water and the water could\nnot come to the land--a Mediator was found, perfectly qualified for\nthe task. \"Who hath gathered the wind in His fists?\" The air goes\nbetween the two, and brings them together for beneficent ends. The\natmosphere softly leans on the bosom of the deep, and silently sucks\nitself full. The portion so charged then moves away with its precious\nburden, and pours it out partly on the plains but chiefly on the\nvertebral mountain ranges. Thus the continents are watered from their\ncentres to the sea.--_Arnot._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 6.\n\nTHE WORD OF GOD.\n\n+I. God has given man a knowledge of His Character and Will.+\nAlthough, as we have just seen from the preceding verses, God is so\ngreat and incomprehensible in His nature, there is a knowledge of Him\nwhich is possible to man and which he possesses. This seems\nreasonable before experience. If a man built a vessel which he\nintended to send his son to navigate across an unknown sea, we should\nconclude beforehand that he would put a compass in the vessel. And we\nshould likewise conclude before experience that a just God would not\nbuild a world, and call into existence a creature like man to dwell\nin it, without furnishing him with a compass by which to guide his\nlife--a revelation and a law by obedience to which he can be blest\nand saved. And what might have been expected has come to pass. God\nhas spoken, and has thus met human expectation and human need. Agur\nrecognised this fact in the days of old, and we, to whom in these\nlast days God has spoken by His Son (Heb. i. 1), have a clearer\nrevelation. In answer to Agur's question, _\"Who hath ascended up into\nheaven, or descended,\"_ we can bring the words of Christ, _\"No man\nhath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even\nthe Son of Man which is in heaven\"_ (John iii. 13), and in the record\nof His life and death obtain the fullest and clearest revelation of\nGod that it is possible for Him to give and for us to receive.\n\n+II. The Word of God is what of necessity it must be.+ The sun is in\nits nature light, and therefore rays of light must proceed from it.\nThat which flows from it must of necessity be of the same nature as\nthe sun whence it comes, and the fountain of natural light being pure\nthe streams which flow from it must be pure also. When human words\nare a reflection of the human soul, and _\"out of the abundance of the\nheart the mouth speaketh\"_ (Matt. xii. 34), the spoken word must be\nof the same nature and character as the inward feelings. The purity\nof the outward word will be in proportion to the purity of the inner\nlife. God is moral light--_\"In Him is no darkness at all\"_ (1 John\ni. 5)--therefore, rays of moral light must flow from Him; all that\nproceeds from Him must be, like Himself, perfectly free from all\nshadow of moral imperfection.\n\n+III. Because the Word of God is what it is, it must be carefully\npreserved from human additions.+ It is manifest that nothing that man\ncan add to what God has said can make His Word more fitted to a\nman's needs, any more than any intervention of man can make the sun\nmore perfectly adapted to human vision. It is therefore a criminal\nact for any creature to add to the Divine Word by putting his own\nideas on an equality with the revealed thoughts of God, and most\nfoolish for him to expect them to have the same power on the heart\nand conscience as Divine words have. _\"The law of the Lord is\nperfect, converting the soul\"_ (Psa. xix. 7), and man must not tamper\nwith its perfection. _\"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,\nand is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for\ninstruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect,\nthoroughly furnished unto all good works\"_ (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17). The\nfact that it comes from God is a guarantee that blessing will come\nfrom seeking to understand and obey it, and condemnation by seeking\nto improve it by human addition.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt is the saying of Tertullian, \"This is the first thing which we\nbelieve, that there is nothing beside God's word to be\nbelieved.\". . . At least it must not be taught or received, _as added\nto His words,_ either as of equal authority with them, or as\nsupposing any defect in them. . . . He therefore that addeth to God's\nwords, shall add unto his own words the just and sharp reproof of God\nupon them; and whatsoever any may think to find by the doing of it,\nhe shall himself therefore be found a liar. Search them thou mayest\nto find the depth of them, explain them thou mayest that others may\nbe able to find the meaning of them: but in searching, in explaining,\nlet nothing be added that is contrary to them. . . . For what can he\nbe but a liar that opposeth truth itself?--_Jermin._\n\nThe learner is far in advance of his starting-point now. He set out\nin quest of knowledge to gratify a curious intellect; he ends it by\nfinding rest for a troubled soul. He addressed himself successively\nto the air, and the water, and the earth; but they were all dumb.\nThey sent back to him only the echo of his own cry. Turning next to\nthe Scriptures, he finds what he sought and more. His darkness\nvanishes, and his danger too. No sooner has he learned that the Word\nis pure than he learns that the Speaker is gracious.--_Arnot._\n\nThere is, perhaps, in the expression here a more immediate reference\nto the _unmingled truth_ of God's Word. This suits the connection\nwith what follows:--\"He is _a shield_ unto them that put their trust\nin Him.\" _Scepticism_ and _infidelity_ unsettle the mind. They leave\nit without confidence and without security. The mind under their\ninfluence is like a vessel that has drifted from its moorings, and\nhas been left to drive out to sea, without rudder and without\nanchor,--unmanned, and at the mercy of the winds and waves and\ncurrents:--or, to keep nearer to the allusion in the verse under\ncomment, it is like a soldier in the thick and peril of the battle\n_without a shield,_ in danger from every arrow that flies, and every\nsword that is raised against him. They make their unhappy subject the\nsport and the victim of every delusive theory and every temptation of\nSatan. Hence such expressions as that of Paul to the\nEphesians:--\"Over all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall\nbe able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.\" God is the\n\"SHIELD\" of all who trust in Him. And it is the _trust,_--it is the\nfirm _faith in God,_--that imparts the feeling of security. So, what\nis here said of God himself is said of His _truth_ or\n_faithfulness:_--\"His _truth_ shall be thy _shield_ and _buckler._\"\nGod could not be \"a shield,\" though His power be almighty, unless He\nwere _faithful._ It is His faithfulness that renders Him the object\nof _trust._ And when this view of God's faithfulness is such as to\nimpart _perfect trust_--the spirit, calm and tranquil, feels as if it\nwere under the protection of an all-covering shield.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 7-9.\n\nTHE MIDDLE WAY.\n\n+I. A desire that our circumstances should be favourable to our\ngodliness reveals a soul alive to the meaning of existence.+ The man\nwho values his health more than his raiment, and is more anxious to\nkeep his body in a fit condition to work than to clothe it in purple\nand fine linen, reveals that he rightly estimates the comparative\nvalue of the two, and values most that which is worth most. But no\nman attains to a right estimate of the comparative worth of all that\nbelongs to him until he values his character more than all things\nelse, and is willing to suffer the loss of all his other possessions\nin order to preserve that. He is a wise man who, in the choice of\nclothes, considers first what will conduce to health; but the highest\nwisdom is that which leads a man in choosing--so far as he is\nable--his position in life, to consider first of all what will be\nfavourable to his soul's welfare. Such a man reveals that he has made\nthe all-important discovery that the chief end of man is to glorify\nGod, and that he can do this only by a holy life. He therefore makes\nit the aim of his life to say in deed as well as in word \"Hallowed be\nthy name;\" for he has learned the lesson of the text, that anything\nless than perfect dependence upon God is a denial of Him, and any act\nof doubtful integrity is \"taking His name in vain.\"\n\n+II. A prayer that our circumstances may be thus favourable, reveals\na soul conscious of its own weakness.+ There can be no doubt that a\nman's confidence in God ought to be so strong as to remain unshaken\nin the most adverse circumstances, and his spirituality ought to be\ndeep enough to remain uninjured in the greatest temporal prosperity,\nbut this is but seldom the case. All sincere and humble servants of\nGod acknowledge their proneness to yield to temptation, and the more\nvital their godliness, the more earnestly do they put up the\npetition, _\"Lead me not into temptation.\"_ Paul could say without\nboastfulness, _\"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to\nabound. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me\"_\n(Phil. iv. 12, 13), but there have been but few men who would say\nthis with truth, and those who have been most like him in spirit have\nbeen the most ready to acknowledge the danger of being exposed to\neither extreme. A very robust man can keep in perfect health either\nin the arctic regions or in the torrid zone, but there is most safety\nin living in a region between these two extremes, and the wisest men\nacknowledge this, and unless duty calls them, prefer the latter to\neither of the former. So a man of God, although he hopes that he\nmight be found faithful in any circumstances, reveals a right spirit\nof humility when he puts up the prayer of Agur. For he knows that the\ntempter of men is most skilful in using our circumstances against our\ngodliness, and that both great wealth and extreme poverty are weapons\nwhich he can use with great skill.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 7. Agur re-enforces his request. It was honest, else he would\nnever have begun it; but being so, he is resolved to follow it. So\nJacob would have a blessing, and therefore wrestles with might and\nslight; and this he doth in the night and alone, and when God was\nleaving him, and upon one leg. . . . When poor men ask us two things\nwe think we deal well if we grant the one. Few are Naamans that when\nyou beg one talent will force you to take two. But God heaps mercies\non his suppliants, and blames them for their modesty in\nasking.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerse 8. We are not only to pray for the removal of sin, but for the\nremoval of it at a great distance from us. As God removes it far away\nin pardon, the soul that abhors sin desires to have it far removed\nfrom the heart and life. Our Lord reaches us not only to pray against\nsin, but against temptation; for there is a strong inclination in the\nhearts of men to comply with temptations when they are presented to\nthe soul. If a man has a bag of powder in his hands, he will\ncertainly wish to keep at a distance from the fire.--_Lawson._\n\nFood convenient is obviously not a fixed measure. It implies, not a\nbare sufficiency for natural life, but a provision varying according\nto the calling in which God has placed us. \"If Agur be the master of\na family, then that is his competency, which is sufficient to\nmaintain his wife, children, and household. If Agur be a public\nperson, a prince or a ruler of the people; then that is Agur's\nsufficiency, which will conveniently maintain him in that condition.\"\nJacob when \"he had become two bands,\" evidently required more than\nwhen in his earlier life \"with his staff he had passed over Jordan\"\n(Gen. xxxii. 10). What was sufficient for himself alone, would not\nhave been sufficient for the many that were then dependent upon him.\nThe immense provisions for Solomon's table, considering the vast\nmultitude of his dependents, might be only a competency for the\ndemand (1 Kings iv. 22). The distribution of the manna was _food\nconvenient_--nothing too much, but no deficiency--\"He that gathered\nmuch had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack\"\n(Exod. xvi. 18). And thus, in the daily dispensation of Providence, a\nlittle may be a sufficiency to one, while an overflowing plenty is no\nsuperfluity to another. Only let Christian self-denial, not depraved\nappetite, be the standard of competency.--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 9. Many in their low estate could serve God, but now resemble\nthe moon, which never suffers eclipse but at her full, and that is by\nthe earth's interposition between the sun and herself.--_Trapp._\n\n\nFor Homiletics on the subject of verse 10 see on chap. xxiv. 28, 29,\npage 689.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-17.\n\nFOUR MANIFESTATIONS OF UNGODLINESS.\n\n+I. Children without natural affection.+ Parents that have the\ndisposition and character which God intends them to possess are the\nbest reflection of God that a child can look upon in a fallen world.\nA son or daughter can by no other means so well come to understand\nthe fatherhood of God as by considering the tenderness and\nself-sacrifice of good human parents, and hence the Saviour in His\nmost beautiful parable (Luke xv.) uses this relationship to set forth\nthe depth and strength of Divine love to sinful men. He who treats\nsuch love lightly, therefore, despises the love of Him who instituted\nthe relationship of parent and child to minister to human happiness\nand to elevate human character. The man or woman who is guilty of\nthis crime reveals a heart incapable of worthy emotion, and a\nconscience dead to all the claims of duty. Such an unnatural being\nmust fail in all his other relationships--he cannot be a good husband\nor faithful friend, or worthily fulfil any of the more public duties\nof life. A man who was found wanting here, was, in the Hebrew\ncommonwealth, regarded as rotten at the very core of his moral\nnature, and condemned to suffer the extreme penalty of the law (Deut.\nxxi. 18-21). Thus God puts the rebellious child on a level with the\nmurderer and blasphemer, and the terrible threatening passed here\nupon one who disregards the fifth commandment is another proof of the\ngreatness of the sin in the eyes of God. In verse 17 such a sentence\nis passed upon an undutiful child as is scarcely paralleled in\nScripture. Even the body which was the home of so unnatural a soul\nshall be exposed to ignominy and contempt.\n\n+II. Self-deceivers.+ This is a manifestation of ungodliness, which\nis in some degree common to all men whose inner vision has not been\nset right by Divine grace. All unrenewed men are more or less like\nthe ancient Laodiceans, who thought they had need of nothing, but who\nwere in reality so spiritually blind that they could not see their\nspiritual nakedness (Rev. iii. 15). It is those who are \"not washed\nfrom their filthiness\" that are \"pure in their own eyes,\" for they\nare in the condition of spirit described by the apostle John--they\n_\"walk in darkness,\"_ and _\"that darkness hath blinded their eyes\"_\n(1 John ii. 11). But it is their own fault if they remain in this\ncondition of blindness. A man may be born into this world with weak\nor impaired vision, but there may be means within his reach whereby\nthe defect may be remedied and he become capable of seeing things as\nthey are. By coming under the influence of those who can see well\nthemselves and who can help him to sight also, he may be brought from\na state of comparative darkness to one of light, and if with these\nopportunities within his reach he become worse instead of better, and\nat last totally blind, his blindness is a crime and not a misfortune.\nSo, although it is true that we all come into this world with our\nspiritual perceptions defective and impaired, we are blameworthy in\nthe highest degree if we do not put ourselves in contact with the\nmoral light which God has placed within our reach, and we shall in\ntime come to the condition of the Jewish nation in the days of the\nprophet and in the time of Christ (Isa. vi. 9; Matt. xiii. 14),\n_\"seeing, we shall see, and shall not perceive.\"_ For _\"the light\nwhich lighteneth every man\"_ (John i. 9) has come into the world; and\nwhen His Word is allowed free access to man's heart and conscience it\nopens his spiritual eyes as the morning sun playing upon the bodily\neyes of the sleeper arouses him to life and consciousness.\nSelf-deception, therefore, is a _sin,_ and a sin inseparable from\nungodliness.\n\n+III. The proud.+ This sin is the natural outcome of the one just\nmentioned. If a man has no sense of his state before God, he will\nhave no right conception of his position in relation to his\nfellow-creatures. The eyes that cannot discern their own moral\ndefilement will certainly look disdainfully upon others. He who thus\ndishonours his God will certainly despise his brother, and the less a\nman has to be proud of, the prouder he will be. (On the subject of\npride see on chap. xi. 2, and xiii. 10, pages 192 and 305.)\n\n+IV. The cruel and covetous.+ Man's rapacity and selfishness are set\nforth in verses 15 to 17 in very strong terms. His greediness and\ncruelty are compared to that of a creature the sole end of whose\nexistence is to gorge itself with blood; to the ever open grave; to\nswords and knives, etc. We know too well that this picture is not\noverdrawn. Nothing that man can imagine in the form of cruelty can\nsurpass what man has been guilty of, and such ingenuity has he\nsometimes displayed in this direction that one is constrained to\nbelieve that he has been inspired by a supernatural power of evil,\nfor his deeds of darkness have seemed too black for man of himself to\nconceive. Some of the cruelty of man towards man may not be the\noffspring of covetousness, but doubtless much of it is. Men often\ncare not who suffers, or how much they suffer, so that they satisfy\ntheir own selfish desires, and all this unnatural conduct is an\nevidence that there is a schism in the human race which calls for\nsome remedy such as that of the Gospel, whereby such savage natures\nmay be transformed, and _\"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,\nand the leopard shall lie down with the kid,\"_ etc. (Isa. xi. 6).\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIn Scripture, the word _\"generations\"_ is repeatedly used to signify\nparticular _classes_ or _descriptions_ of men; for two reasons, or\npoints of analogy:--_first,_ that as generation follows generation,\nso surely, in every generation, a _succession_ of such characters is\nto be found;--and _secondly,_ that they very often communicate the\ncharacter to one another, and thus keep up their respective\nkinds,--are successive propagators of their species.--_Wardlaw._\n\n\nVerse 11. Here a new thought begins, but probably one from the same\nteacher. As he had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells us\nwhat he most abhorred, and in true harmony with the teaching of the\nTen Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against\nthe Fifth.--_Plumptre._\n\nSolon, when asked why he had made no law against parricides, replied,\nthat he could not conceive of anyone so impious and cruel. The Divine\nlawgiver knew His creature better, that his heart was capable of\nwickedness beyond conception (Jer. xvii. 9).--_Bridges._\n\n\nVerse 14. Yet withal, these cruel oppressors are marked by pitiful\ncowardice. They vent their wantonness only where there is little or\nno power of resistance. It is not the wolf with the wolf, but with\nthe defenceless lamb; _devouring the poor and needy from off the\nearth,_--\"eating up my people\"--not like an occasional indulgence,\nbut \"as they eat bread\" their daily meal, without intermission (Ps.\nxiv. 4).--_Bridges._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18-20.\n\nDEPTHS OF WICKEDNESS.\n\n+I. There are deeds of iniquity which leave no outward immediate\ntrace.+ The path which the eagle opens by her wings when she soars\naloft cannot be traced by the human eye. The air closes behind her as\nshe moves, and she leaves nothing to show that she has passed that\nway. The vessel ploughs its way through the deep, and leaves a wake\nbehind her for a short time. But the sea, like the air, soon resumes\nits former condition, and the keel leaves no lasting indication upon\nthe water whereby the course of the mariner can be seen. So the\nserpent glides over the rock, and for a moment its shining scales are\nreflected in the sun, and then it is hidden from sight and the rock\nbears no footprint upon its surface. No human skill could, in any of\nthese instances, find any evidence by which to establish the fact\nthat either the thing without life or the living creatures had been\nthere. So the sin to which all these comparisons are linked is one\nwhich may be concealed from the eyes of all except those concerned in\nit, not only at the time of its committal, but also in the immediate\nfuture. Those who come in contact with the guilty parties may see no\nmore trace of the sin than they would do of an eagle's course, or, to\nuse the other metaphor, of bread that had been eaten by one who has\nwiped his mouth after the meal.\n\n+II. Sin is so in opposition to the voice of the human conscience\nthat even those who love it must seek to hide it.+ The adulteress has\nsunk as low in the moral scale as it is possible for a human creature\nto sink, and yet she seeks to hide her shame. Men of evil deeds love\ndarkness rather than light, and so give evidence that there is that\nwithin them that condemns their unholy deeds. The very denial of the\ncrime is a condemnation of it. There are many crimes which are not\namenable to human law which men, notwithstanding, try to hide from\nhuman eyes, and their efforts to do this are witnesses against them\nand in favour of the law which they have broken.\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-23.\n\nBURDENS GRIEVOUS TO BE BORNE.\n\n+I. It is sometimes dangerous to the peace of a community to raise a\nperson from a low to a high position.+ To place a man who has never\nbefore crossed a horse, upon a high-spirited charger, is to create a\nsource of danger both to himself and others. There is a strong\nprobability that the unskilful rider will be thrown from his\nunaccustomed elevation, and so injure himself. And it is also\nprobable that he will be the means of mischief to other travellers\nupon the road, whom he will overthrow in his unskilful efforts to\nkeep his seat. It is generally as dangerous an experiment to lift a\nman at once from the position of a servant to that of a ruler.\nAlthough faithfulness \"over a few things\" is, according to the\nhighest authority, the best qualification for rulership \"over many\nthings\" (Matt. xxv. 21), it is not always hands used only to service\nare fit to hold the reins of government, either in a small or a large\nsociety. On this subject see also on chap. xix. 10, page 569.\n\n+II. Some human creatures cannot safely be trusted with even a\nsufficiency of this world's goods.+ They are not only unfit to rule\nothers, but so unfit to rule themselves that they cannot be \"filled\nwith meat\" without becoming a centre of disturbance. Even enough of\nthe necessaries of life suffices to make them injurious to themselves\nand insolent to their betters. This is especially true of men who are\nslaves to their bodily appetites. There are men in the world who,\nalthough peaceable and even useful citizens when they are kept in a\nstate of comparative want and hardship, indulge in excess and\nimmorality as soon as the restraint is removed. They will sometimes\nknow this to be true, and yet they are so wanting in moral courage\nand strength as not to struggle after a higher condition of being.\nSuch men are fools indeed.\n\n+III. The change of disposition which change of circumstance\nsometimes seems to work may be the result of deliberate purpose.+\nWhen a servant becomes a ruler he may be the occasion of trouble\nsimply from intellectual inability, and the fool who cannot safely be\nfilled with meat may be only morally weak; but the woman here\nrepresented as developing into a curse after marriage suggests a\nperson who has deliberately hidden her real character for a time in\norder to gain a position in which she can have more opportunities of\nindulging her evil propensities. This is a step farther in\nwickedness, and this domestic burden is often the most grievous of\nall burdens. On this subject see on chap. xxi. 9 and 19, page 613.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nJudge, then, how horrible it is that men should set the devil, or his\ntwo angels the world and the flesh, in the throne, whiles they place\nGod in the footstool; or that in this commonwealth of man, reason,\nwhich is the queen or princess over the better powers and graces of\nthe soul, should stoop to so base a slave as sensual lust.--_T.\nAdams._\n\nAnd now, just notice the comprehensiveness, in regard to the\nhappiness of human life, of the _four things_ thus enumerated. They\nbegin, observe, at _the throne,_ and come down to the _domestic\nservant._ They embrace four great sources of the social unhappiness\nof mankind. They are--_incompetent rule, preposterous and besotted\nfolly, conjugal alienation and strife with its domestic miseries,_\nand the _unnatural inversion of social order.--Wardlaw._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 24-28.\n\nLOWLY TEACHERS.\n\n+I. Men can learn from creatures far beneath him.+ Herein he gives\nevidence both of his greatness and of his imperfection. He is often\nso faulty in many respects that some of the most insignificant\ncreatures around him read him lessons of wisdom, and yet his\ncapability of receiving instruction from them shows how superior he\nis to them. For creatures below man, although their actions are often\nmarked by something that seems very nearly akin to reason, are not\ncapable of receiving moral instruction, either from those above or\nbeneath them, and so give proof that they lack a capacity which man\npossesses.\n\n+II. The lessons taught him by each of these creatures.+ 1. _From the\nant industry and forethought._ On this subject see on chap. vi. 6-11,\npage 78. 2. _From the coney_ (see Critical Notes) _a prudent\nacknowledgement of weakness._ It is one of the marks of a wise man\nthat he knows his weakness as well as his strength, and this seems to\nbe the lesson conveyed by the feeble folk who, conscious of their\nfeebleness, make their abodes in the rocks. Foolhardiness may ruin a\nman as surely as cowardice, and it is quite a different thing from\ncourage, though it is sometimes mistaken for it. 3. _From the locust\nthe need of unity and co-operation._ The locust is in itself a small\nand weak insect, yet it is well known what mighty and terrible work\ncan be accomplished by them when they unite. They stand as an example\nof the wonderful effect of perfect combination and unanimity in\naction. (See Joel ii. 2-11.) They seem animated by a single purpose,\nand the myriads of individuals seem to become one great and\nirresistible monster, and thus show us what great things can be\naccomplished in any community when men are of one heart and mind on\nany subject, and are willing to lay aside personal preferences and\nindividual interests in order to achieve a common purpose. 4. _From\nthe lizard_ (see Critical Notes) _the results of perseverance._ This\nlittle creature is constantly found in Eastern houses, and doubtless\nin the palace as well as in more lowly dwellings. Although hardly so\ngood an example of perseverance as the spider, yet it owes its\npresence in the house to its own energy in overcoming obstacles, and\nits pertinacity in seeking out some means of entrance, and may\ntherefore be regarded as worthy of man's imitation when some task is\nset before him which calls for continuous and watchful effort.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nIt has been remarked by some, that the four emblems express all that\nis requisite for the conservation and well-being of a STATE or\nKINGDOM. There is _supply of food;--commodious and secure dwelling\nplaces;--subordination, concord, and united exertion;_--and the\n_prevalence and encouragement of the ingenious and useful arts._\nThese are things that governors and kings should look to. And we may\napply the emblematic lessons to _domestic_ life. Before a man can\nprudently marry, and have a family, he should have some suitable\nprovision made, and something like a fair prospect of being able to\nsupport them. Next is to be found a suitable dwelling, adapted to the\ncircumstances and convenience. Then, when settled, there must be\nharmony, union, co-operation, in all departments of the household.\nAnd lastly, there must be the diligent, constant, persevering\napplication of his skill and labour to his worldly\ncalling.--_Wardlaw._\n\nThe ants prepare their meat in the summer, that they may not starve\nin the rigours of the winter months. How despicable, compared with\nthese insects, are the rational creatures, who suffer the thoughts of\nan endless duration to be pushed out of their minds by threescore and\nten years? The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the\nrocks for the conies; and has God provided no refuge for our souls?\nGod himself is our refuge and our strength, and those that make Him\ntheir habitation shall be secured from the fear of evil.--_Lawson._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 29-31.\n\nKINGLY QUALITIES.\n\nThese words seem to set forth animal qualifications needed by human\nleaders.\n\n+I. They must be men of courage.+ A cowardly man in any position in\nsociety will, at some time or other, be found wanting, but what is\nneeded in everyday life and by men in ordinary positions, is\nindispensable in him who has to lead others. A king in the days of\nSolomon was expected to be at the head of his army in the day of\nbattle, and if he was not then an example to all beneath him in this\nrespect, he brought disgrace and ruin upon himself and them. A king\nin all ages, and under all circumstances should be to his subjects\nwhat the lion is to the other beasts of the forest--a pattern of\ndignity and courage.\n\n+II. They must be active and watchful.+ Both the greyhound and the\nwar-horse--whichever may be here meant--are characterised by\nswiftness of foot and great sagacity. They are ready at any moment to\nset forth on any errand, and are always on the alert when danger is\nnear. The goat, also, is agile in its movements, and as sure-footed\nas it is fleet. All these animal qualities are symbolic of mental\nqualifications which must be possessed by those who aspire to lead\nand rule their fellow-men successfully. They must not be behindhand\nwhen called to action, but they must at the same time take heed to\nthe dangers which may lie in wait for them. They must be ever ready\nat the call of duty, but they must not be rash and hasty, and so\nendanger much more than their own personal safety.\n\n\nOn the subject of verses 32 and 33, see on chap. xvii. 14, page 513.\n\n\n_REMARKS ON THE CHAPTER AS A WHOLE._\n\nWhile it appears at the first view that the flowers and fruits from\nthe cornucopia of Agur's wisdom, original and in part so rarely\nfashioned, are heaped up wholly without order, yet they all agree in\nthis, that they depict the glory and all sufficiency of the Word of\nGod, dissuade from adding to it by any human supplement, and most\nurgently commend the fulfilling and following it by a pious life.\nThere is hardly a single commandment of the Decalogue that is not\ndirectly or indirectly repeated and emphasised in these maxims.\nObserve the relation of the prayer for the hallowing of God's name\n(verses 7-9) to the first and third commandments; the references\ncontained in verse 11, and again in verse 17 to the fifth\ncommandment; the warnings against the transgression of the sixth\ncommandment in verse 14 as well as in verses 32-33; the reproving and\nwarning aim of verses 18-20, and 23, in their bearing upon the\nseventh; the allusion to the eighth in verse 9, and to the ninth in\nverse 10; and finally the reference, reminding us of the tenth in\nverses 15 and 16. . . . No one of these proverbs is wholly without an\nethical value; not even the two numerical proverbs (verses 24-28, and\n29-31), which at the first view stand apart as incidental reflections\non merely natural truths, but in reality hide under their ingenious\nphysical drapery decided moral aims. For in verses 24-28 four chief\nvirtues of one's social and political avocation are specified through\nan allusion to a like number of examples from the animal world, and\nverses 29-31 run into a delineation of the high dignity and glory of\na king by the grace of God in contrast with the insufferable tyranny\nof base upstarts (verses 21-23).--_Lange's Commentary._\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nCRITICAL NOTES.--+Lemuel.+ This Hebrew word signifies _\"For God,\"_ or\n_\"belonging to God,\"_ and is regarded by most commentators as a\nproper name. +The prophecy.+ Delitzsch, Stuart, and many other Hebrew\nscholars render this word as a proper name, and read _\"The words of\nLemuel, king of_ MASSA, _which his mother taught him.\"_ Miller reads\nthe verse, _\"Words in respect to the Seed-of-God, a king; a prophecy\nin agreement with which his mother disciplined him,\"_ and, as in the\npreceding chapter, applies it to Christ. +2. What,+ etc. \"An\nimpassioned exclamation expressing inward emotion.\" (Z\u00f6ckler.) \"The\nquestion,\" says Delitzsch, \"which is at the same time a call, is like\na deep sigh from the heart of a mother concerned for the welfare of a\nson.\" +3.+ The second clause reads literally _\"nor thy ways to\ndestroy kings,\"_ and hence some understand it as a warning against\nwarlike rapacity and lust of conquest, but, as Delitzsch remarks,\nthis does not stand well as the parallel to the warning in the first\nclause. +4. Strong drink.+ (See on chap xx. 1.) +5. Any of the\nafflicted.+ Literally _\"The sons of want.\"_ +8. Such as are appointed\nto destruction.+ Literally _\"Children of leaving,\"_ generally\nunderstood to mean orphans. The twenty-two verses following form an\nalphabetical song, each verse beginning with the several letters of\nthe Hebrew alphabet arranged in consecutive order. +10. Virtuous.+\nLiterally _\"a woman of power.\"_ +Rubies,+ rather _\"pearls.\"_ +11. He\nshall have no need,+ etc. Rather, _\"He shall not fail of spoil.\"_\n\"Strictly, 'the spoils of war,' a strong expression to denote his\nrich profit.\" (Z\u00f6ckler.) +15.+ This probably signifies the appointed\ntask for the day. +21. Scarlet.+ Delitzsch and Z\u00f6ckler retain this\nreading; the former remarks that \"as high-coloured, it appears\ndignified as well as preserves warmth.\" +22. Coverings,+ rather\n_\"coverlets,\"_ as in chap. vii. 16, \"a part of the furniture of the\nbed.\" +25. She shall rejoice.+ Rather, _\"She laugheth at the future,\"\ni.e.,_ she is not afraid of it, being fully prepared for all\nemergencies. +26. Law of kindness.+ Delitzsch reads \"Amiable\ninstruction.\" +30. Favour,+ _i.e., \"outward grace.\"_ +Vain,+ or _\"a\nbreath.\"_\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-9.\n\nDIVINE COMMANDS FROM A MOTHER'S LIPS.\n\n+I. Two considerations made it obligatory upon Lemuel to attend to\nthis counsel of his mother.+ 1. _She was inspired to utter it._\nHowever we may translate the word here rendered \"prophecy\" (see\nCritical Notes), its place in the Holy Scriptures gives to it the\nauthority of a message from God. The words are not merely the results\nof a tender and wise mother's own observation and experience, but\nthey are the utterances of a spirit under the special influence of\nthe Holy Ghost. Although, therefore, his mother's love, and,\ndoubtless, her holy example, ought to have been very powerful\nincentives to attention and obedience, his obligation was increased\ntenfold by the conviction he must have had that God spoke to him\nthrough her lips. 2. _He was a king._ If men in every station of life\nare bound to keep the paths of purity and charity, much more is it\nthe duty of one in a high place--the influence of whose actions\nstretch so far beyond his immediate surroundings, and who holds in\nhis hand the destinies of so many besides his own. Because Lemuel had\nbeen called by God to a throne, what he was and what he did concerned\nnot a few people only, but a nation, and this reflection ought to\nhave added great weight to his mother's words.\n\n+II. The first and indispensable duty of a ruler is to rule himself.+\nEvery man is a little kingdom made up of many different and sometimes\nopposing forces--of inclinations towards the earthly, the sensual,\nand even the devilish, and of aspirations towards the heavenly, the\nspiritual, and the godlike. There are lawful desires which, satisfied\nin a lawful manner, may lead to much enjoyment and blessing, but\nwhich, if allowed to rule the man, or even to have any share in the\ngovernment of the life, will degrade and may almost brutalise him.\nBodily appetites have their place in the constitution of man, but it\nwas never intended that they should be satisfied by breaking the\nmoral law; and when they lead to this, moral anarchy has set in, and\nmoral ruin is not far off. The two great sins of the body against\nwhich Lemuel is here warned have in all ages shown how man can turn\nblessings into curses by abusing and mis-using them, and the Word of\nGod and human history unite in proclaiming the truth that the Divine\nintention is perverted when the body rules the man and not the man\nthe body. Every man is bound to be king of himself, and one who\naspires to be a king over others and is yet a slave to his own\nunlawful passions will being upon himself the curse of man and the\njudgment of God. On this subject see also on chap. vi. 24-35, page\n89, and on chap. xxiii. 29-35, page 673.\n\n+III. The obligation next in order is succour of the needy.+ In\nformer chapters we have considered the obligation which God lays upon\nevery man to consider the cause of the poor and afflicted. (See on\nchaps. xiv. 20, page 370, and chap. xxiv. 11, page 680.) As we\nremarked at the outset, duties which men owe to their fellow-men\nmultiply and become binding in proportion to opportunities. The king\nof ancient times was but another name for one whose direct influence\nover his subjects was greater than that of monarchs in our day. His\nword was law, and the power of life and death was often in his hand\nalone, and if he exercised self-denial and gave of his substance to\nthose in want, he might often by his individual action entirely\nchange the condition of half his subjects. The relations of society\nhave changed since then, and kings have no longer so exclusively the\npower for good or ill, but their influence is still very great, and\nif it is all exerted in favour of benevolence and justice, and they\nlive lives of self-denial and active compassion on behalf of others,\nthey will come up to the ideal picture here drawn for their imitation.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 2. There was a threefold cord of maternal love which this\nparent was wont to employ, and which remained in its form as well as\nits power in the memory of her son. \"My son\" is the outmost and\nuppermost aspect of the relation. This is a bond set in nature, felt\nby the parties, and obvious to all. On this she leans first when she\nmakes an appeal to his heart. But at the next step she goes deeper\nin. She recalls the day of his birth. She goes back to that hour when\nnature's greatest sorrow is dispelled by nature's gladdest news. \"A\nman-child is born into the world.\" By the pains and joys of that hour\nshe knits the heart of her son to her own, and thereby increases her\npurchase upon the direction of his life. But still one step farther\nback can this mother go. Here is the \"son of her vows.\" Before his\nbirth she held converse, not with him for God, but with God for\nhim.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 4. _It is not for kings_ to admit within their dominions anyone\nthat is stronger than themselves, and able to overthrow them. _It is\nnot for kings_ to harbour anyone within their dominions that is false\nunto them, and ready to betray them; much more it is not for kings to\nadmit within themselves any immoderate quantity of wine, which soon\nproveth too strong for them, and quickly with shame overthroweth\nthem.--_Jermin._\n\n\n_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-31.\n\nA MODEL MATRON.\n\nThis picture of a faithful and kindly wife, mother, and mistress is\nhere placed before the youthful monarch as the ideal woman whom he is\nto seek with all _diligence,_ because she is well worth any pains to\nsecure, and with much _discrimination,_ because she is a rarity, and\nbecause there are many imitations of the real gem which look very\nmuch like it before they are tested. This beautiful picture is held\nto his view as the master holds some grand conception on canvas\nbefore his pupil, in order that he may acquire a distaste for all\nthat comes short of it. This portrait may have been drawn by the\nmother of Lemuel; in any case we may safely conclude that she was\nsuch a woman herself, and if it came from another hand it is,\nprobably, her likeness drawn from life. We notice--\n\n+I. The prominent features of her character.+ 1. _Her energy._ There\nseems to be within her a spring of unfailing activity, and the\ncompletion of one task is immediately followed by the beginning of\nanother. In her home she is astir before the dawn, and when her\ndomestic duties are completed she gives her mind to the transaction\nof business without--to the best market in which to sell her goods,\nand to buy all that she needs for the supply of her household. We\ncannot conceive of this energetic spirit in a frail and sickly\nbody--she must have been physically healthy and strong, and we may\ngive her credit for having been observant of the laws of God in this\nrespect as in higher matters, and be sure that she avoided whatever\nmight weaken her body or deaden her intellect. This being the case,\nher constant activity would be a pleasure, and would in itself\ncontribute to the maintenance of her bodily strength. 2. _Her\ncapability._ She was not only a great worker, but there was wisdom\nbehind the work--a brain directing the hands. There are many people\nalways busy, who yet accomplish but little, because their activity is\nnot wisely directed--indeed, energetic action without wisdom to guide\nit, may be most disastrous in its effects. There is an abundance of\npower in the locomotive, but if it is set in motion and left free\nfrom wise control, it works ill instead of good. But this woman's\nintellectual capacity equalled her active energy. She was a good\njudge of the merchandise that she had to sell, and knew the value of\nthe land that she bought. She was methodical, and so able to arrange\nthe employments of all the household so that no confusion should\narise, and she could also show them with her own hands how to perform\ntheir work, for _\"she layeth her hands to the spindle,\"_ and so\nfollows up her precept by example. Her capacity also manifested\nitself to her _forethought_--in keeping her supply well ahead of her\ndemand. 3. _Her loving tenderness._ She might have been all that we\nhave thus far painted her, and yet not have made a happy home. If she\nhad been nothing more she might have been feared, and in some measure\nrespected, but she would not have been _loved._ Just as energy may be\ndangerous without wisdom to guide it, so such capable energy may be\nrepellent without love to soften it. But her uncommon endowments and\nattainments did not make her impatient with her inferiors, and she\nwas not so absorbed in providing for those at home as to forget the\npoor outside. Her commands were given in a winning tone, and her\ncorrections in a loving spirit. She was more apt to instruct than to\nreprove, and doubtless acted upon the principle that the \"way to make\npeople better is to make the best of them.\"\n\n+II. The root of all these excellencies.+ Although it is not\nabsolutely stated, it is implied that godliness was the source of\nthis symmetrical character--that it was the fear of the Lord which\nenabled her to keep so even a balance of virtues as to stand forth a\nperfect pattern to the women of every age and nation. The fear of God\nhad given her a right conception of her duties towards all mankind,\nand especially of the sacred nature of her relationships as wife and\nmother. She fully entered into the Divine idea of marriage, and this\nmade her the true helpmeet of her husband, and in regard to each son\nand daughter she heard the voice of her God saying, \"Take this child\nand nurse it for me.\" She knew that faithfulness in all things was\nexpected of a servant of God, and that true godliness consists not so\nmuch in the things done as in the spirit in which they are performed.\nIn this spirit of George Herbert she could say--\n\n \"Teach me, my God and King,\n In all things Thee to see;\n And what I do in anything\n To do it as for thee.\n\n \"All may of Thee partake;\n Nothing can be so mean\n Which with this tincture (for Thy sake)\n Will not grow bright and clean.\n\n \"This is the famous stone\n That turneth all to gold;\n For that which God doth touch and own\n Cannot for less be told.\"\n\nAnd thus living every day and always in conscious fellowship with the\nUnseen, she would be too conscious of her own shortcomings to be\nanything but tender towards the failings of others, and would not\nforget that she owed all her success in life to the blessing of the\nLord, and held all her material good in stewardship for His service.\n\n+III. The blessed results of all.+ She had an abundant and lasting\nreward. Her husband's trust in her was undimmed by a single shadow;\nwhatever position she was called upon to sustain he felt fully\nconfident that she was equal to it, and that everything that he\npossessed--from his reputation to his purse--was not only safe in her\nhands, but had increased in worth through his connection with her.\nHer words of loving counsel, and her useful and benevolent life, were\nnot lost upon her children, but as good seen sown in good ground\nbrought forth an abundant harvest in their filial reverence and noble\ndeeds. And this family blessedness was not a thing that could be hid,\nbut, like a candle of the Lord in a world of much moral darkness, it\nshed its light all around, and blessed and stimulated others to fear\nGod, and so to serve their generation.\n\n\n_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._\n\nVerse 12. The manner of some is to do good with the one hand, and\nwith the evil of the other to spoil it; whereby they still remain to\nbe evil wives. Others will do good while the fit lasteth, but they\nare weary of well-doing; whereas a good wife indeed will do good to\nher husband all the days of her life. It is not said of _his_ life,\nbut of _hers._ For though he may be dead, she will do him good while\nshe liveth, by doing good to his children, to his friends, to his\nmemory.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 16. Some _consider_ but they buy not; some _buy_ but they\nconsider not; some consider and buy, but they _plant_ not; some\nconsider and buy and plant; but it is with the _rapine_ of their\nhands, not _the fruit_ of their hands. That field is well bought,\nwhere wisdom considereth what is bought, where ability buyeth that\nwhich hath been considered, where care planteth that which hath been\nbought, and where honesty giveth a blessing to that which hath been\nplanted.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 20. She doth not only open her hand, but stretcheth it (if I\nmay so make use of the word), as if she would hold more to give the\npoor if she could. . . . And as if one hand were not enough for her\nit is said she reacheth forth her _hands_; and if she had more than\ntwo no doubt she would reach them all forth to the poor.--_Jermin._\n\n\nVerse 22. It is precisely such a woman who should wear such garments.\nThe silk hangs all the more gracefully on her person that it was\nwound and spun by her own hands. . . . This matron is not limited to\nsilk and purple; strength and honour are her clothing too. She may\nsafely wear elegant garments, who in character and bearing is elegant\nwithout their aid. If honour be your clothing, the suit will last a\nlife-time, but if clothing be your honour, it will soon be worn\nthreadbare.--_Arnot._\n\n\nVerse 26. There be may false keys which open the mouths of many, as\nrashness, and choler, and pride, and folly, and the like. But there\nis one right key, and that is wisdom. That it is which makes a\nvirtuous woman courteous to all, a flatterer to none, a tale-bearer\nto none; that it is which maketh her to be familiar with a few, to be\njust and true with every one: that it is which maketh her respectful\nto her husband, lovingly grave to her children, awfully grave to her\nservants; dutiful to her superiors, affable with her equals, friendly\nto her neighbours, and not disdainful to her inferiors; that it is\nwhich maketh her slow to speak, quiet in speaking, profitable by\nspeaking.--_Jermin._\n\nVerse 29. By the benefit of a better nature, or civil education, or\nfor the praise of men, or for a quiet life, sure it is that all\nunsanctified women, though never so well qualified, have failed, both\n_quoad fontem, et quoad finem,_ for want of faith for the principle\nand God's glory for the aim of their virtuous actions. And,\ntherefore, though they may be praiseworthy, yet they are far short of\nthis gracious matron. . . . \"Better is pale gold than glittering\ncopper.\" (Bernard.) Say the world what it will, a drachm of holiness\nis worth a pound of good nature.--_Trapp._\n\n\nVerses 30 and 31. The lessons and where they began. Obedience is\ntraced up to faith. . . . As we traverse the various phases of her\ncharacter, we seem to be making our way over a well-watered and\nfruitful region, until we reach at last the fountain of its\nfertility. . . . Near the base of a mountain range, early in the\nmorning of the day and the spring of the year, you may have seen, in\nyour solitary walk, a pillar of cloud, pure and white, rising from\nthe earth to heaven. In the calm air its slender stem rises straight\nlike a tree, and like a tree spreads out its lofty summit. Like an\nangel tree in white, and not like an earthly thing, it stands before\nyou. You approach the spot and discover the cause of the vision. A\nwell of water from the warm depths bursts through the surface there,\nand this is the morning incense which it sends right upward to the\nthrone. But the water is not all thus exhaled. A pure stream flows\nover the well's rocky edge, and trickles along the surface, a river\nin miniature, marked on both sides by verdure, while the barrenness\nof winter lies on the other portions of the field. . . . Such are the\ntwo outgoings of a believer's life. Upward rises the soul in direct\ndevotion; but not the less on that account does the life flow out\nalong the surface of the world, leaving its mark in blessings behind\nit wherever it goes. You caught the spring by surprise at dawn, and\nsaw incense ascending. At mid-day, when the sun was up, it rose\nunseen. . . . Thus is it in the experience of living Christians in\nthe world. . . . The upright pillar is seldom visible, but the\nhorizontal stream is seen and felt to be a refreshment to all within\nits reach.--_Arnot._\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\nDetailed changes:\n\n - \"#\" represents an illegible character.\n\n - _Note counting convention:_ When a note continues from the prior\n page, it is \"note zero\" or \"same note,\" (if it had been addressed\n in the transcriber's notes on the previous page). The first note\n that begins new on a page is \"note one,\" etc.\n\n - In the Table of Contents (TOC), on page v. (unnumbered in\n original), chapter i. 1-4, change \"The Author, his Method and His\n Object\" to capitalise \"His\" (twice). Chapter i. 7-9, change \"The\n Root of True Knowledge and the Means of its Attainment\" to\n capitalise \"Its.\" Chapter i. 10-10, change \"Enticement to Sin and\n Exhortation against yielding to it\" to capitalise \"Against,\"\n \"Yielding,\" and \"It.\" Chapter ii. 12-20, change \"The Character of\n those from whom Wisdom Preserves\" to capitalise \"Those\" and\n \"Whom.\" Chapter iii. 5, 6, change \"Exhortation to confidence in\n God\" to capitalise \"Confidence.\" Chapter iii. 7-12, change \"The\n way\" to capitalise \"Way.\" Chapter iii. 31-35, change \"The Oppressor\n not to be Envied\" to capitalise \"Not\" and \"Be.\" Chapter vi. 24-35,\n change \"A Special Sin and its Penalties from which He who Keeps\n God's Law will be Kept\" to capitalise \"Its,\" \"Which,\" \"Who,\"\n \"Will,\" and \"Be.\" Chapter viii. 10, 11, change \"Better than\n Wealth\" to capitalise \"Than.\"\n\n - TOC, page vi. (unnumbered in original), chapter x. 28, change\n \"Hopes Realized & Disappointed\" to spell out \"and.\" Chapter\n xi. 12, 13, change \"Contempt and Tale-bearing\" to capitalise\n \"Bearing.\" Chapter xi. 22, change \"Precious Things possessed by\n Unworthy Owners\" to capitalise \"Possessed.\" Chapter xii. 1, change\n \"The Love of Knowledge and the Proof of it\" to capitalise \"It.\"\n Chapter xii. 3, change \"A Right Desire and the Means of its\n Attainment\" to capitalise \"Its.\" Chapter xii. 5-8, change\n \"Thoughts and Words and their Result\" to capitalise \"Their.\"\n Chapter xii. 25, change \"Heaviness of Heart and its Cure\" to\n capitalise \"Its.\"\n\n - TOC, page vii. (unnumbered in original), chapter xiii. 23, change\n \"Land and its Tillers\" to capitalise \"Its.\" Chapter xiv. 6, change\n \"Seeking but not Finding\" to capitalise \"Not.\" Chapter xiv. 31,\n change \"The Oppressed and their Oppressors\" to capitalise \"Their.\"\n Chapter xv. 16, change \"A Treasure without Trouble\" to capitalise\n \"Without.\" Chapter xv. 20, change the homiletics reference to page\n 137, from page 136.\n\n - TOC, page viii. (unnumbered in original), chapter xvi. 8, change\n the first homiletics reference to page 405, from page 415. Chapter\n xvi. 27-30, change \"Different Species of the same Genus\" to\n capitalise \"Same.\" Chapter xvi. 33, change \"The Lot and its\n Disposer\" to capitalise \"Its.\" Chapter xvii. 9, change \"How to\n make Friends and How to Separate Them\" to capitalise \"Make.\"\n Chapter xvii. 10, change \"Correction must be Adapted\" to\n capitalise \"Must.\" Chapter xvii. 24, change \"The Eyes of a Fool\n and those of a Wise Man\" to capitalise \"Those.\" Chapter\n xviii. 6-8, change \"Folly and its Results\" to capitalise \"Its.\"\n Chapter xviii. 13, change \"Answering before Hearing\" to capitalise\n \"Before.\" Chapter xix. 2, 3, change \"Influence leading to Sin\" to\n capitalise \"Leading.\" Chapter xix. 8-9, change the homiletics\n references to pages 121 and 124, from 122 and 128. Chapter\n xix. 24, change the homiletics reference to chapter xxvi. 12-16\n from xxvi. 13-15. Change the reference for \"Possibilities of Human\n Depravity\" from xxvi. 26-28 to xxvi. 26-29.\n\n - TOC, page ix. (unnumbered in original), chapter xx. 4, change\n homiletics reference to page 142, from page 146. Chapter xx. 10,\n add reference to chapter xi. 1. Chapter xx. 13, change homiletics\n reference to page 78, from page 79. Chapter xx. 18, change\n \"Thought before Action\" to capitalise \"Before.\" Chapter xx. 21,\n change second cross reference from \"xxi. 5-7\" to \"xxi. 5, 7.\"\n Chapter xxi. 11, change \"Instruction for those who Need It\" to\n capitalise \"Those\" and \"Who.\" Chapter xxi. 23, change the\n homiletics reference to chapter xiii. 2-3 from xiii. 3. Chapter\n xxii. 1, change \"Better than Gold\" to capitalise \"Than.\" Chapter\n xxii. 5, 6, change \"A Hedged-up Way\" to capitalise \"Up.\" Chapter\n xxii. 10, change \"A Man who Ought to Dwell Alone\" to capitalise\n \"Who.\" Chapter xxii. 26, 27, change \"Suretyship and its Dangers\"\n to capitalise \"Its.\" Chapter xxiv. 8, 9, change cross reference\n from \"chap. vi. 12, 19\" to \"chap. vi. 12-19.\"\n\n - TOC, page x. (unnumbered in original), chapter xxiv. 28, 29,\n change \"An Uncalled-for Testimony\" to capitalise \"For.\" Chapter\n xxv. 14, change \"Clouds without Rain\" to capitalise \"Rain.\"\n Chapter xxv. 27, change \"Too much of a Good Thing\" to capitalise\n \"Much.\" Chapter xxvi. 12-16, change \"Self-conceit and Indolence\"\n to capitalise \"Conceit.\" Chapter xxvii. 8, change \"Plac\" to\n \"Place.\" Chapter xxvii. 22, change second homiletics reference to\n chapter xix. 26-29 from xix. 29. Chapter xxviii. 4, 5, change\n \"Law-keepers and Law-breakers\" to \"Lawkeepers and Lawbreakers.\"\n Chapter xxviii. 6, change page reference to 561 from 582. Chapter\n xxviii. 9, change page reference to 406 from 407, 408. Chapter\n xxviii. 10, change reference to chapter xxvi. 23-28 from xxvi. 27\n and page 721 from 722. Chapter xxviii. 12, change reference to\n chapter xi. 10-11 from xi. 10. Chapter xxviii. 14, change second\n reference to chapter xix. 15-18 from xiv. 16. Chapter xxviii. 18,\n change first reference to chapter x. 9-10, from x. 9. Chapter\n xxviii. 24, change page reference to 751 from 749. Add entry for\n chapter xxviii. 25a. Chapter xxviii. 25, 26, change to 25b, and\n change page reference to 752 from 751. Chapter xxviii. 28, change\n reference to chapter xi. 10-11 from xi. 10. Chapter xxix. 2,\n change reference to chapter xi. 10-11 from xi. 10. Chapter\n xxix. 3, change first page reference to 67 from 68.\n\n - TOC, page xi. (unnumbered in original), chapter xxix. 19, change\n \"Soul-seekers and Soul-haters\" to capitalise \"Seekers\" and\n \"Haters.\" Chapter xxix. 13, change reference to chapter\n xxii. 22-23 from xxii. 22. Chapter xxix. 16, change \"Victory not\n with the Majority\" to capitalise \"Not.\" Chapter xxix. 23, change\n second reference to chapter xvi. 18-19 from xvi. 18.\n\n - Page 2, Divisions, point III, change \"ch. xxii. 17; xxiv. 22\"\n reference to \"ch. xxiv. 17--xxiv. 22.\" Critical Notes, chapter i.,\n set verse numbers 17, 20, 28, and 32 in bold for consistency.\n Title \"The Author, his Method, and his Object\" to capitalise\n \"His\" (twice).\n\n - Page 4, verse 2, note one, apply Reverential Capitalisation (RC)\n to \"Divine\" (twice). Verse 4, note one, use four period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 5, verse 5, note two, change \"Melancthon\" to \"Melanchthon.\"\n\n - Page 6, title, change \"The Root of True Knowledge and the Means of\n its Attainment\" to capitalise \"Its.\" Point I, change subpoint\n \"(1)\" to \"1.\" for consistency.\n\n - Page 7, note zero, paragraph one, point 2, apply RC to \"Spirit\";\n add \"1 Cor. ii. 14\" reference; change \"the smothering the\" to \"the\n smothering of the.\" Verse 8, note two, capitalise \"Oriental\";\n change \"patriarchial\" to \"patriarchal.\" Title, change \"Enticement\n to Sin and Exhortation against yielding to it\" to capitalise\n \"Against,\" \"Yielding,\" and \"It.\"\n\n - Page 9, lesson, point III, change \"youth reflect up\" to \"youth\n reflect upon.\" Verses 11-13, note one, change subpoint \"2\" of\n point 2 to \"(2)\" for consistency.\n\n - Page 10, verse 11, note zero, change the word \"and\" to Roman type\n from Italic in _Traditions of Robin Hood and Henry V_ to separate\n the two titles.\n\n - Page 11, title, change the scripture reference from \"Verses 20-23\"\n to \"20-33.\" Point I 1, remove right double quotes after\n \"handiwork.\"\n\n - Page 12, point V, apply RC to \"His Spirit.\" Point VI, apply RC to\n \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 13, verse 20, note two, capitalise \"Orientals.\" Note six,\n change the double quotes around the scripture to single quotes and\n add a closing double quote.\n\n - Page 14, verse 21, note zero, apply RC to \"Spirit.\" Verse 22, note\n one, add closing double quote after \"first.\"\n\n - Page 16, verse 28, note zero, change \"wicket.gate\" to\n \"wicket-gate.\" Verse 31, note three, add right parenthesis after\n \"Isa. iii. 9-11\" reference.\n\n - Page 17, verse 31, same note, use three period ellipsis after\n \"desire.\" Spell-out \"Ver. 32.\" Verse 32, note one, move the\n closing double quotes from after \"lees\" to after \"evil.\" Note\n five, change period after \"plague in it\" to a question mark.\n\n - Page 18, Critical Notes, chapter ii., change \"9. ver.\" and \"10.\n ver.\" to bold numbers, for consistency; format \"13\" as bold.\n\n - Page 19, lesson, point II 4, add closing quote after \"him.\"\n Verses 1 and 2, note two, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 20, verse 5, note two, use four period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 21, lesson, point II 2, apply RC to \"Himself.\"\n\n - Page 22, lesson, point II 2, add left double quote before\n \"preserveth.\"\n\n - The break between pages 22 and 23 is in the word \"cannot\":\n can|not. In this and all subsequent cases, the whole word was\n moved to the earlier page.\n\n - Page 24, title, change \"The Character of those from whom Wisdom\n Preserves\" to capitalise \"Those\" and \"Whom.\" Lesson, point I 2,\n change \"forwardness\" to \"frowardness.\"\n\n - Page 26, verse 16, note five, apply RC to \"Divinely.\"\n\n - Page 27, verse 21, note two, use a four period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 28, spell out \"Ver. 22.\" Verse 22, note three, change \"That\"\n to lower-case. Critical notes, chapter iii., change \"3\" to \"4.\"\n Verse 6, add right double quote after \"smooth.\" Format verse\n numbers 12 and 34 in bold, for consistency.\n\n - Page 30, verse 2, note one, change \"It itself\" to \"In itself.\"\n Note three, change exclamation point after \"wisdom\" to a question\n mark. Note five, add right parenthesis after Psalm references.\n\n - Page 31, verse 4, note two, use three period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 32, lesson heading, apply Italic formatting consistently;\n change \"Verses\" to initial cap from all caps.\n\n - Page 33, lesson, point III 2, apply RC to \"His.\" Verses 5 and 6,\n note one, apply RC to \"Word.\" Note two, add left parenthesis\n before scripture reference.\n\n - Page 34, title, change \"The way\" to capitalise \"Way.\" Lesson,\n point I 4, change \"John ix. 41\" to \"John ix. 39-41.\"\n\n - Page 37, verse 8, note three, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 39, note one, add right double quote after \"correction.\"\n\n - Page 40, verse 14, note three, change \"entradoes\" to \"entradas.\"\n\n - Page 41, verse 16, note six, point I, add right double quote after\n \"evil men.\"\n\n - Page 42, verse 17, Barrow's comment appears as two paragraphs; the\n Transcriber merged them.\n\n - Page 43, lesson, point II, complete the \"Job xxxviii. 4\" reference.\n\n - Page 44, lesson, point III (2), change \"greater is warmer\" to\n \"greater in warmer.\" Point IV, add left double quote before \"who.\"\n Verse 19, note two, change \"i. 10\" to \"i. 20\"; apply RC to\n \"Diviner.\"\n\n - Page 46, lesson, point II 2, remove period after \"Lot.\" Notes,\n remove the em-dash after \"Verse 22.\"\n\n - Page 47, notes, remove the em-dash after \"Verse 24.\"\n\n - Page 48, lesson, point 2, change \"friend do live\" to \"friend does\n live.\"\n\n - Page 50, title, change \"The Oppressor not to be Envied\" to\n capitalise \"Not\" and \"Be.\"\n\n - Page 52, critical notes, chapter iv., change \"4\" to \"5.\" Verse 7,\n add period after \"get wisdom.\" Verse 15, add left double quote\n before \"reject it.\"\n\n - Page 53, lesson, point I 4, apply RC to \"His\" and \"He.\" Second\n lesson, spell out \"Ver. 2.\"\n\n - Page 54, verse 2, note two, add right double quote after \"us.\"\n\n - Page 55, verse 6, note one, change the double quotes around the\n \"Love her\" quotation to single quotes and insert a closing double\n quote.\n\n - Page 56, verse 7, note zero, point I, apply RC to \"Divine.\" Verse\n 7, note 4, point 3, a typesetting issue (extra ink) next to \"is\n vain.\"\n\n - Page 57, verse 11, note one, add right double quote after \"faith.\"\n\n - Page 58, verse 13, note zero, capitalise new sentence \"The word\n was given.\"\n\n - Page 60, lesson, point III 3, add right double quote after\n \"righteousness\" and remove right double quote after \"just.\"\n\n - Page 61, verse 18, note two, use three period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 62, verse 18, note two, set the word \"joy\" in Italic to match\n \"knowledge\" and \"holiness\"; use four period ellipsis after\n \"practical godliness.\" Title, change \"chap. II. 1--8\" to \"chap.\n ii. 1-5.\"\n\n - Page 64, verse 23, note one, add point \"2\" at \"Victual this fort.\"\n\n - Page 67, Critical Notes, chapter v., add \"4\" before \"Wormwood.\"\n Verses 6, 14, and 16, capitalise \"Authorised Version.\"\n\n - Page 69, lesson, point II 3, change \"breaketh one edge\" to\n \"breaketh one hedge.\" Point III 3, apply RC to \"His.\"\n\n - Page 71, verse 12, note zero, add right double quote after\n \"converted\"; change \"has not repented\" to \"hast not repented\" for\n consistency with \"hast long known Christ.\" Verses 11, 12, note\n one, point III has an odd structure in the original: there are two\n points \"(1)\" each followed by a point \"2.\" The Transcriber changed\n each \"2\" to a \"(2).\"\n\n - The break between pages 71 and 72 is in the word \"interpreters\":\n inter|preters.\n\n - Page 73, lesson, copy missing title from TOC.\n\n - Page 75, Critical Notes, chapter vi., verse 11, add right double\n quote after \"shield.\" Format \"16\" in bold; add right double quote\n after \"illustrations.\" Change the \"22\" that appears after verse 30\n to \"32\" and format it bold.\n\n - Page 76, lesson, point II 2, add right double quote after\n \"eyelids.\"\n\n - Page 78, verse 3, note two, add right double quote after \"sin.\"\n\n - Page 79, lesson, point I 2, change \"to Him\" to lower-case,\n referring to a person.\n\n - Page 80, notes, change \"Verse 5\" to \"Verse 6\" and \"Verse 6 to 8\"\n to \"Verses 6 to 8.\"\n\n - Page 82, lesson, point I shows subpoints 2, 3, and 4. The\n Transcriber added point \"1\" and set the next sentence in Italic;\n set the sentence for subpoint 2 in Italic.\n\n - Page 83, lesson, point II 1, change \"lay in wait\" to \"lie in\n wait.\" Point II 3, change a comma after \"ruin\" to a period; change\n \"Ps. xxxi. 5\" to \"Ps. xxxi. 5, 6\"; change periods after \"proud\n look\" and \"lying tongue\" to question marks.\n\n - Page 84, notes, spell out \"Ver. 12\" and \"Ver. 13.\" Verse 14, note\n one, add final period before credit. Note three, change \"there\" to\n \"their.\"\n\n - Page 86, title, change homiletic cross references to \"i. 7-9\" from\n \"i. 8\" and \"iv. 1-4\" from \"iv. 1.\"\n\n - Page 88, notes, remove em-dash after \"Verse 23.\" Note two,\n capitalise \"Vulgate.\"\n\n - Page 89, title, change \"A Special Sin and its Penalties from the\n He who kept God's Law will be kept\" to capitalise \"Its,\" \"Which,\"\n \"Who,\" \"Keeps,\" \"Will,\" \"Be,\" and \"Kept.\" Lesson, point I, change\n \"lays in wait\" to \"lies in wait\"; change reference from \"verse 25\"\n to \"verse 26.\" Parenthetical at end of point III, move period\n inside right parentheses.\n\n - Page 90, point IV, change \"Father\" to \"father,\" referring to Paul.\n\n - Page 91, verses 27 and 28, note one, change point (4) to bring the\n word \"the\" before the point; add a final period to this note\n before the credit.\n\n - Page 92, Critical Notes, chapter vii., add the words \"Critical\n Notes.\" Notes on the \"Strange Woman\": first paragraph, in the\n Wordsworth quote, change double quotes around \"Strange Woman\" to\n single quotes, and use a three period ellipsis. In the\n Hengstenberg quote, use a three period ellipsis after \"Wisdom\";\n change double quotes to single quotes around \"the mouth\" quote\n and \"the woman Jezebel.\" Add right double quotes after \"symbolical\n person.\" Second paragraph (continues to following page), change\n double quotes to single quotes throughout and insert a closing\n double quote at the end of the paragraph.\n\n - Page 93, lesson, point IV, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 95, title and first note, change \"6-37\" to \"5-27.\"\n\n - Page 96, verse 5, note two, move period inside parenthesised\n reference.\n\n - Page 97, verse 14, note two, move period for parenthetical to\n inside the parentheses. Verse 14, note three, point 2, move period\n for parenthetical to inside the parentheses; point 3, change\n period after \"ceremonies of religion\" to a question mark.\n\n - Page 98, verse 19, note two, change \"at home rather\" to \"at home\n either.\"\n\n - Page 99, note zero, use a four period ellipsis. Critical Notes,\n chapter viii., verse 21, capitalise \"Authorised Version.\" Verse\n 23, capitalise \"Authorised.\"\n\n - Page 100, notes on personification, remove point \"1\" as a\n singleton. Correct the \"Deut. xxxii. 6\" reference by changing the\n comma after the chapter number to a period. In the Fausset\n quotation, change the double quotes around \"brought forth\" to\n single.\n\n - Page 101, remove the period after point \"(5)\" for consistency.\n Punctuate the Harris quotation as if it is part of the Aiken\n quotation.\n\n - Page 102, lesson, point I, add right double quote after \"was\n lost.\" Point III, change \"let Him come\" to lower-case. Verse 1,\n note two, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 103, title, change \"God's Speech meeting Man's Need\" to\n capitalise \"Meeting.\"\n\n - Page 104, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"His\"; add right double\n quotes after \"pit\" and after \"abundantly.\"\n\n - Page 105, verse 4, note one, point I, change \"eyery\" to \"every.\"\n\n - Page 106, verse 9, note one, add right double quote after \"red\";\n add right parenthesis after reference.\n\n - Page 107, title, change \"Wisdom better than Wealth\" to capitalise\n \"Better\" and \"Than.\" Point II, add period after \"chap.\"\n\n - Page 109, verse 11, note one, set the sentence after point 5 in\n Italic, for consistency.\n\n - Page 110, verse 12, note one, change \"verse 22-30\" to \"verses.\"\n\n - Page 111, verse 13, note six, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 113, verses 15, 16, note one, change \"who use to keep\" to\n \"who used to keep.\" Note two, apply RC to \"Divine.\" Note five,\n change \"(1)\" to \"1.\" and capitalise the next word, for consistency.\n\n - Page 114, lesson, point II, change \"unforseen\" to \"unforeseen.\"\n Point III, change \"(1.)\" to \"1.\" for consistency. Change reference\n to \"vers. 11, 12\" to \"vers. 10, 11\" and move the period inside the\n parentheses.\n\n - Page 115, verse 17, note one, move a comma outside the\n parentheses. Note two, point (3), apply RC to \"Spirit.\" Note\n three, change \"(1)\" to \"1.\" and capitalise the next word, for\n consistency. Verse 20, note one, point 1, apply RC to \"Word\";\n point 2, apply RC to \"Spirit\" (thrice).\n\n - Page 124, verses 30-36, note one, add a comma to \"beginning the.\"\n Critical Notes, chapter ix., verse 2, capitalise \"Orientals.\"\n\n - Page 125, lesson, point I, change \"Exod. xx, ii\" to \"Exod. xx. 2.\"\n\n - Page 127, lesson, point X, add left double quotes before \"if\n thou.\"\n\n - Page 130, verse 2, note four, change \"sweatmeats\" to \"sweetmeats.\"\n\n - Page 131, verse 5, note zero, capitalise \"Negro\"; apply RC to\n \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 132, verse 9, note one, change \"1.\" to \"(1)\" for consistency.\n Verse 12, note two, apply RC to \"His.\"\n\n - Page 133, lesson, point I 2, add right double quote after \"hell.\"\n\n - Page 136, verse 18, note two, change \"damned\" to \"dammed.\"\n\n - Page 137, Critical Notes, chapter x., verse 4, add right double\n quote after \"worketh.\" Verses 6 and 22, capitalise \"Authorised\n Version.\" Verse 29, add right double quote after \"iniquity.\"\n\n - Page 138, lesson, point I, change \"(2)\" to \"2.\" and capitalise the\n next word, for consistency.\n\n - Page 141, lesson, point III 2, apply RC to \"Spirit\" (thrice).\n Fourth note, point II, change \"slily\" to \"slyly\"; add a right\n double quote after \"belly.\"\n\n - The break between pages 141 and 142 is in the word \"unrighteous\":\n un|righteous.\n\n - Page 142, note zero, point III 2, capitalise \"New Jerusalem.\"\n\n - Page 143, lesson, point II, add period after \"rule.\"\n\n - Page 145, verse 4, note five, point 1, change \"industrous\" to\n \"industrious.\"\n\n - Page 148, note one, change \"occasioned offered\" to \"occasion\n offered.\" Note four, points I 1 and II 1, apply RC to \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 149, lesson, point III 1, add double quotes before \"for\" and\n after \"sake.\"\n\n - Page 152, lesson, point II, add right double quote after \"eater\";\n remove right double quote after \"fruit.\"\n\n - Page 153, note zero, apply RC to \"His.\"\n\n - Page 155, verse 9, note four, in-line note about inspiration.\n\n - Page 156, lesson, introduction, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 158, lesson, point I, remove point \"1.\" as a singleton.\n\n - Page 159, lesson, point IV, change the cross reference from\n \"i. 12\" to \"i. 10-19.\"\n\n - Page 161, lesson, point II, add right double quote after \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 162, lesson, point III (2), remove right double quote after\n \"made\"; change the double quotes around \"ruined\" and the final\n line to single quotes, add double quotes at the end of the\n paragraph. Verse 15, note four, add double quotes around the word\n \"destruction.\"\n\n - Page 163, verse 15, note zero, use four period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 164, title, change \"Verse 18\" to \"Verse 17.\"\n\n - Page 166, lesson, point III, change \"agains\" to \"against.\"\n\n - Page 167, note one, change \"clamourous\" to \"clamorous.\" Note two,\n point 3, use four period ellipsis.\n\n - Page 169, lesson, point III, add right double quote after\n \"judgment.\" Verse 19, note two, capitalise \"Christian.\" Note\n three, add right double quote after \"silent.\"\n\n - Page 171, note two, point III, point 1 after \"Observe,\" change \"to\n do harm\" to \"to do no harm.\"\n\n - Page 172, verse 21, note one, change \"Cant. iii. 2\" to \"Cant.\n iv. 11.\" Lesson, point I, add right double quote after \"bands.\"\n\n - Page 173, lesson, point II, use three period ellipses after\n \"because\" and \"judgment.\"\n\n - Page 174, lesson, point I, change \"tell\" to \"tells.\"\n\n - Page 176, lesson, point IV 3, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 179, note two, change \"do not correct\" to \"does not correct\"\n and \"refresh the desert\" to \"refreshes the desert.\"\n\n - Page 181, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 183, note zero, point II, change \"insuportable\" to\n \"insupportable.\"\n\n - Page 185, lesson, point II, add right double quote after \"Godhead.\"\n\n - Page 186, lesson, point II, change question mark after \"away\" to a\n period; apply RC to \"Him\"; and change the double quotes around the\n \"loved darkness\" and \"I will not have\" quotations to single quotes.\n\n - Page 188, lesson, point II, change cross reference to lower-case.\n Remove parentheses from the cross reference for verse 31; split\n the list of four verse numbers into two links, word \"and\" inserted.\n\n - Page 190, Critical Notes, chapter xi., verse 14, change\n \"steermanship\" to \"steersmanship.\" Verse 17, capitalise\n \"Authorised Version.\" Verse 25, add a period after \"seeketh\" and a\n right double quote after \"pleasing.\"\n\n - Page 192, note two, change \"Melancthon\" to \"Melanchthon.\" Note\n three, remove right double quote after \"Jehovah.\"\n\n - Page 193, lesson, point I, use three period ellipsis after\n \"thoughts.\"\n\n - Page 195, note one, add a period after \"prince\" and capitalise\n next word. Note three, add closing quote after \"prudent.\"\n\n - Page 196, lesson, point II, add right double quote after \"man.\"\n\n - Page 197, illustration, capitalise \"Nereids.\" Note one, change\n period after \"paths\" to a question mark.\n\n - Page 198, note two, change \"towards Him\" to \"toward Him.\"\n\n - Page 200, verse 4, note one, add a left double quote before\n \"from.\" Spell out \"Ver. 5.\" Note three, change point \"III\" to\n point \"II.\" Spell out \"Ver. 6.\" Note one, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 202, note one, use three period ellipsis after \"expects.\"\n\n - Page 206, title, change \"The Fate of the Unrighteous one\" to\n capitalise \"One.\"\n\n - Page 207, lesson, point II, change \"develope\" to \"develop\"; a\n right double quote after \"God is.\" Point III, change \"Isa. lx. 18\"\n to \"Isa. lx. 17-18.\"\n\n - Page 209, Foulon illustration, in the first sentence, there is a\n four word appellation in French: the Italic formatting ends after\n three words. All four were tagged as French. The first instance of\n \"H\u00f4tel-de-Ville\" was accented like the second one. Change\n \"Sanscoulottism\" to \"Sans-coulottism.\" Note two, use four period\n ellipsis.\n\n - Page 211, title, change \"Contempt and Tale-bearing\" to capitalise\n \"Bearing.\" Lesson, point II, add a period after \"made known.\"\n\n - Page 212, lesson, point III, remove quotation marks. Notes, spell\n out \"Ver. 12\" and \"Ver. 13.\"\n\n - Page 214, lesson, point III, change \"Plassy\" to \"Plassey.\"\n\n - Page 216, change cross reference for verse 15 from \"vi. 1-4\" to\n \"vi. 1-5.\"\n\n - Page 217, lesson, point I 1, change \"develope\" to \"develop.\" Point\n II, capitalise \"Critical Notes.\"\n\n - Page 219, lesson, point I, change \"subtilly\" to \"subtilely.\"\n\n - Page 220, lesson, point IV, add right double quote after \"mercy\";\n capitalise \"Richard iii.\" and apply Italic formatting as the title\n of a play.\n\n - Page 221, note one, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 222, note one, in-line comment on \"niggardly.\" It also refers\n to Ecclesiasticus, which is not part of the 66-book canon of\n scripture. It is in a Roman Catholic Bible and it can be found\n on-line. Note two, in the word \"kindness,\" the first \"n\" sort is\n inverted. Note three, capitalise first quoted word \"He.\" Note\n four, capitalise \"Sabbath.\" Note five, capitalise \"Good Samaritan.\"\n\n - Page 223, lesson, point I, change comma after \"bane\" to a colon.\n\n - Page 224, lesson, point I 3, change \"a honest man\" to \"an honest\n man.\" Point II 1, change cross reference \"ch. vii. 1, 4\" to\n \"chap. vii. 1-4.\" Point II 2, change \"1 Isa. ii. 1\" to \"1 John\n ii. 1.\" Notes, spell out \"Ver. 18.\"\n\n - Page 225, note five, add a period after the initial to \"A Clarke.\"\n\n - The break between pages 225 and 226 is in the word \"encumbrances\":\n encum|brances.\n\n - Page 226, verse 18, note zero, change \"Thess. iv. 1\" to \"1 Thess.\n iv. 1.\" Spell out \"Ver. 19\" and \"Ver. 20.\"\n\n - Page 228, lesson, point II, change \"naught\" to \"nought.\" Point\n III, change \"His work\" to lower case, referring to men; add right\n double quote after \"anointed\"; change \"refuges of lies\" to\n \"refuge\"; change \"Isaiah xxviii. 18\" to \"Isaiah xxviii. 17-18\";\n change \"Isaiah liv. 15, 17\" to \"Isaiah liv. 15-17.\"\n\n - Page 229, title, change \"Precious things possessed by unworthy\n owners\" to capitalise \"Things,\" \"Possessed,\" \"Unworthy,\" and\n \"Owners.\"\n\n - The break between pages 229 and 230 is in the word \"himself\":\n him|self.\n\n - Page 231, copy missing outline title from TOC.\n\n - Page 232, verse 23 and chap. x. 24, note one, point II, change\n points \"(1)\" and \"(2)\" to \"1.\" and \"2.,\" respectively, for\n consistency.\n\n - Page 233, note zero, point III, apply RC to \"He.\" In-line note\n about \"niggardly.\" Lesson, point I, change \"that is meet\" to\n \"than.\" Point I 2, apply RC to \"He\"; add \"Deut. xv. 11\" reference;\n apply RC to \"He.\"\n\n - Page 234, lesson, point I 4, add double quotes around the James\n v. 1-3 quotation. Notes, spell out \"Vers. 24, 25.\" Note one,\n change final period to a question mark.\n\n - Page 237, lesson, point II, change \"chap. viii. 16\" to \"chap.\n viii. 17.\"\n\n - Page 239, lesson, point II 3, replace period after \"living God\"\n with right double quote. Note five, change \"pruning himself\" to\n \"preening himself.\"\n\n - Page 240, lesson, in-line note on \"niggardly.\" Add \"I.\"; remove\n the bold quotation marks.\n\n - Page 242, lesson, point III, apply RC to \"Him\" (twice).\n\n - Page 246, Critical Notes, chapter xii., the name \"Z\u00f6ckler\" is\n spelled without the accent in these notes and it was transcribed\n consistently with other chapters. Verse 9, capitalise \"Authorised\n Version.\"\n\n - Page 247, lesson, point II, change the period after \"born\" to a\n question mark.\n\n - Page 248, verse 1, note five, in-line note on \"Hottentot.\" Apply\n RC to \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 249, verse 1, note zero, apply RC to \"Spirit.\" Change first\n cross reference for verse 2 from \"chap. iii. 4\" to \"chap.\n iii. 1-4.\" Notes, spell out \"Ver. 2.\" Note one, change \"will he\n done\" to \"will be done.\" Note three, move right double quote to\n before the credit from after the credit.\n\n - Page 250, verse 2, note one, apply RC to \"Gospel.\" Title, change\n \"A Right Desire and the Means of its Attainment\" to capitalise\n \"Its.\"\n\n - Page 254, title, change \"Thoughs and Words and their Result\" to\n capitalise \"Their.\" Lesson, point I 1, apply RC to \"Word\"; change\n \"out thy mouth\" to \"out of thy mouth\" and \"thereon\" to \"therein.\"\n\n - Page 255, lesson, point IV I 3, add left double quote before\n \"turned.\" Add \"II.\" before \"But for the wicked.\"\n\n - Page 255, lesson, renumber point \"4\" as point \"2.\" Verse 5, note\n one, change \"whom\" to \"which.\"\n\n - Page 257, notes, spell out \"Ver. 7.\"\n\n - Page 258, notes, spell out \"Ver. 8.\"\n\n - Page 259, add missing lesson title from TOC.\n\n - Page 260, note two, capitalise \"Oriental.\"\n\n - Page 261, note one, change \"Ecclus. x. 30\" to \"Ecclus. x. 27.\" NB,\n Ecclesiasticus is not part of the 66-book Canon. It is available\n in a Roman Catholic Bible or on-line.\n\n - Page 263, note one, capitalise \"Authorised Version.\"\n\n - Page 264, note one, change \"worlding\" to \"worldling.\" Note four,\n add double quotes around \"regard.\"\n\n - Page 266, lesson, point I 1, apply RC to \"Word.\" Change the\n sub-points of point II from \"(1)\" to \"1.\" for consistency with\n point I.\n\n - Page 267, note four, change \"transcendantly\" to \"transcendently.\"\n Add the missing outline title from the TOC.\n\n - Page 268, lesson, renumber the subpoints of point II 2 as \"(1)\"\n and \"(2).\" In point II 2 (1), change \"Jas. v. ii.\" to \"Jas. v. 11.\"\n\n - Page 270, verse 13, note three, add a period after \"chap.\"\n\n - Page 273, verse 16, note three, change \"Chap.\" to \"chap.\"; change\n \"1 Sam. xii. 35\" to \"1 Sam. xx. 34.\"\n\n - Page 274, lesson, point II, change \"Chap. x. 18\" to \"chap. x. 18.\"\n\n - Page 275, lesson, point III 2, remove right double quotes after\n \"God\"; add right double quotes after \"weary\"; change \"Acts x. 14\"\n to \"Acts iv. 12.\" Point IV, change page reference to 190 from 191.\n\n - Page 277, verse 18, note two, apply RC to \"Spirit.\" Verse 19, note\n four, the \"r\" sort of \"ever\" is not in line. Verse 22, note four,\n change \"2 Cor. 1-17\" to \"2 Cor. i. 17.\"\n\n - Page 278, note after poem, change \"2 John i.\" to \"2 John 1\" and\n \"2 John iii.\" to \"2 John 3.\" Second note after poem, apply RC to\n \"He maketh.\" Lesson, point I, add right double quote after\n \"righteousness.\"\n\n - Page 280, verse 20, note zero, point 2, apply RC to \"God, Who.\"\n Lesson, add a right double quote just before the credit for the\n poem.\n\n - Page 281, lesson, point II (2), change \"2 Tim. iv. 13\" to \"2 Tim.\n iii. 13.\" Note three, add right double quotes after \"touch him\"\n and \"his sin.\"\n\n - Page 282, same note, move the right double quotes to after \"wine\"\n from within the reference. Change \"Heb. v. 8, 11\" to \"Zech. v. 8,\n 11.\"\n\n - The break between pages 282 and 283 is in the word \"appearance\":\n appear|ance.\n\n - Page 284, note one includes a reference to Ecclesiasticus, which\n is not in the 66-book Canon. It is available in a Roman Catholic\n Bible or on-line, if desired.\n\n - Page 286, title, change \"Heaviness of Heart and its Cure\" to\n capitalise \"Its.\"\n\n - Page 287, lesson, point I 2, add right double quote after\n \"thereof.\" Point I 3, change \"Psa. xxii. 3\" to \"Psa. xxxii. 3.\"\n\n - Page 288, lesson, point III, tag _ignis fatuus_ as Latin and set\n it in Italic.\n\n - Page 289, note one, add right double quote after \"them.\" Add\n missing lesson title from TOC.\n\n - Page 291, verse 27, note zero, add left double quote before \"the\n slothful.\" Add missing lesson title from TOC.\n\n - Page 292, homily on whole chapter, point (1), add \"vers. 1-11\" for\n consistency. Add point \"(3)\" and capitalise next word, for\n consistency.\n\n - Page 293, Critical Notes, chapter xiii., verse 15, Miller's\n comment, add right double quotes after \"perpetual.\" Verse 19, add\n left double quotes before \"appeased\" and right double quotes after\n \"satisfied.\" Lesson, point III, change \"chap. iv. 1, 4\" to\n \"chap. iv. 1-4.\"\n\n - Page 297, verse 4, note three, apply RC to \"His\" and add right\n double quotes after \"baptism.\"\n\n - The break between pages 299 and 300 is in the word \"towering\":\n tower|ing.\n\n - Page 300, note two, change \"villany\" to \"villainy.\" In-line note\n about \"niggardly.\"\n\n - Page 301, lesson, point III, change \"Laodician\" to \"Laodicean.\"\n\n - Page 302, lesson, point V, add right double quotes after\n \"husbandmen.\"\n\n - The break between pages 302 and 303 is in the word \"proverbs\":\n pro|verbs.\n\n - The break between pages 303 and 304 is in the word \"throughout\"\n through|out.\n\n - Page 304, note two includes a St. Gregory comment; change the\n double quotes around an internal quotation to single quotes, and\n add closing double quotes after \"wealth.\" (Alternately, the St.\n Gregory comment might continue to the end of the note.) Note\n three, change \"shall he put out\" to \"shall be put out.\"\n\n - Page 305, lesson, point I after poem, remove right double quotes\n after \"you.\"\n\n - Page 306, lesson, point II 2, change periods after \"severed\" and\n \"blighted\" to question marks.\n\n - Page 308, verse 11, note zero, remove comma after \"(1)\" for\n consistency.\n\n - Page 309, lesson, point III 2 (3), add right double quotes after\n \"himself.\"\n\n - Page 311, note zero, point IV, add right double quotes after\n \"fail.\"\n\n - Page 313, note four, change \"if they lay under\" to \"if they lie\n under.\"\n\n - Page 315, lesson, point III, apply RC to \"Divine\"; remove right\n double quotes after \"death.\" Point IV, apply RC to \"Holy.\"\n\n - Page 316, lesson, point I, change \"who his regarded\" to \"who is\n regarded.\"\n\n - Page 317, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Spirit.\" Renumber the\n points of point III: change \"1. Antiquity\" to \"2\" \"2. Men's\" to\n \"3\"; \"3. It is attractive\" to \"4\"; \"2. It is hard\" to \"5\"; and\n \"3. It is a\" to \"6.\" Renumbered point III 4, change \"page 8,\n second head\" to include \"ch. i. 10-19\" for utility in plain text.\n\n - Page 319, note one, use four period ellipses after \"last\" and\n \"perdition.\" Note three, point 1, add right double quotes after\n \"stern.\"\n\n - The break between pages 321 and 322 is in the word \"sheet-anchor\":\n sheet-|anchor.\n\n - Page 322, lesson, point II, change \"Heb. x. 10\" to \"Heb. x. 23.\"\n Note five, change \"Lord's\" to lower-case, referring to a human.\n\n - Page 324, verse 18, note zero, add right double quote after\n \"condition.\"\n\n - Page 328, note three, apply RC to \"Divine.\" Note six, change\n \"Jehosaphat\" to \"Jehoshaphat\"; remove the left double quotes\n before \"wrath.\"\n\n - Page 333, title, change \"Land and its Tillers\" to capitalise \"Its.\"\n\n - The break between pages 335 and 336 is in the word \"leisure\":\n lei|sure.\n\n - Page 338, lesson, point II 3, apply RC to \"Word.\" Change the John\n vii. 38 text from \"out of His heart\" to \"out of his belly.\"\n\n - Page 343, verse 2, note zero, add right double quotes after \"God's\n way.\"\n\n - Page 345, verse 5, note one, terminate the Italic formatting at\n \"correctly\" and set the next sentence in Roman.\n\n - Page 346, title, change \"Seeking, but not Finding\" to capitalise\n \"Not.\"\n\n - The break between pages 346 and 347 is in the word \"discerning\":\n dis|cerning.\n\n - Page 350, verse 7, note 1, use four period ellipsis after\n \"workmen.\" Spell out \"Ver. 8.\" Note two, add right double quotes\n just after \"fools.\"\n\n - Page 351, verse 8, note one, use four period ellipsis after \"wise.\"\n\n - Page 352, verse 9, note one, change \"idiotcy\" to \"idiocy.\"\n\n - The break between pages 352 and 353 is in the word \"vine-clad\":\n vine-|clad.\n\n - Page 353, lesson, point III, change \"secresy\" to \"secrecy.\"\n\n - Page 355, title, change \"What seems to Be and What Is\" to\n capitalise \"Seems\" and add a comma after \"Be.\"\n\n - Page 358, verse 12, note two, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Divine.\"\n\n - The break between pages 359 and 360 occurs within the scripture\n reference \"Isa. lvii. 20, 21\" between the chapter and first verse\n number. The chapter and first verse number were moved to the\n earlier page.\n\n - Page 360, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"Him\" (twice).\n\n - Page 364, lesson, point I 4, the list of verse numbers was\n transcribed into two links, with the word \"and\" inserted.\n\n - Page 365, lesson, point III, add right double quotes after \"God.\"\n Verse 15, note three, add right double quote after \"doctrine\";\n apply RC to \"Divine\" (twice).\n\n - Page 366, verse 15, note one, format the word \"To\" in the second\n sentence in Roman as it is in the first. Note two, change \"we use\n to tell\" to \"we used to tell.\"\n\n - Page 367, verse 16, note two, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 369, lesson, point III, after the ellipsis, capitalise\n \"Then\"; insert right double quotes after \"Father.\"\n\n - Page 370, lesson, point I 1, apply RC to \"He.\"\n\n - Page 371, notes, spell out \"Ver. 20.\" Verse 20, note two, change\n \"etween\" to \"between.\" Verse 21, note two, point 2, apply RC to\n \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 373, lesson, point II 3, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 374, note four, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Word's.\" Lesson,\n point 3, change \"developes\" to \"develops.\"\n\n - Page 375, note one after poem, change \"Where he\" to \"Were he.\"\n\n - Page 376, note two, add right double quote after Matthew reference\n to close Henry quotation.\n\n - Page 377, note zero, apply RC to \"Word.\" Title, change \"Wealth\n with and without Wisdom\" to capitalise \"Without.\"\n\n - Page 378, note six, add left double quotes before \"Wisdom.\"\n\n - Page 379, lesson, point II, add right double quotes after\n \"Witness.\"\n\n - Page 380, note five, apply RC to \"Spirit\" and \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 381, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 384, heading, add missing page number 313. Verses 26 and 27,\n note one, change \"presumptous\" to \"presumptuous.\"\n\n - Page 388, note two, in the original, point II starts a new\n paragraph.\n\n - Page 389, title, change \"The Oppressed and their Oppressors\" to\n capitalise \"Their.\"\n\n - Page 390, lesson, point III 2, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 392, note zero, change \"Job xxvii. 10\" to \"Job xxvii. 8\";\n change \"Ghost\" to lower-case; change \"Job. iv. 21\" to \"Job\n xiv. 10.\"\n\n - Page 394, note one, points 2 and 3, use four period ellipses.\n Title, change \"The Hidden made Manifest\" to capitalise \"Made.\"\n Lesson, points I and I 1, apply RC to \"Divinely.\"\n\n - Page 396, lesson, point III, apply RC to \"Word\"; add right double\n quotes after \"sin.\" Note two, point (1), change \"lesson\" to\n \"lessen.\" Note three, apply RC to \"Christianise.\"\n\n - Page 397, same note, change \"Machiavel\" to \"Machiavelli.\" Note\n one, point 1, apply RC to \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 398, lesson, point II, capitalise \"Authorised Version.\"\n\n - Page 399, Critical Notes, chapter xv., verse 26, add right double\n quote after \"words.\" Verse 33, add left double quotes before \"a\n discipline.\"\n\n - Page 400, lesson, point III, remove m-dash between bold and\n non-bold print.\n\n - Page 401, point II, change \"as if He\" to lower-case, referring to\n a person.\n\n - Page 402, verse 3, note one, apply RC to \"Word\" (twice).\n\n - Page 404, verse 4, note zero, add left double quotes before\n \"saving\"; apply RC to \"Gospel.\" Note six, format \"sharp\" in Italic\n for consistency.\n\n - Page 405, note one, apply RC to \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 406, verse 7, note two, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 407, lesson, point II, add right double quotes after \"Him\";\n apply RC to \"He\" and \"His.\"\n\n - Page 409, verse 9, note one, remove left double quotes before\n \"But\"; add left parenthesis before \"Phil. iii. 11\" reference.\n\n - Page 410, note four, apply RC to \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 412, note two, change \"subtilty\" to \"subtlety\"; remove right\n double quotes after \"Him\"; add left double quotes before \"There.\"\n Lesson, point II, change \"see page 323\" to add \"ch. xiii. 18\"\n for utility in plain text.\n\n - Page 413, lesson, point III, change cross reference from \"chap.\n i. 22-32\" to \"chap. i. 20-33.\" Note one, change \"this pains\" to\n \"these pains.\"\n\n - Page 414, lesson, point I, add right double quotes after\n \"beautiful.\"\n\n - Page 415, verse 13, note one, add right double quotes after \"body.\"\n\n - Page 416, note two, change \"Prophecy\" to \"Prophesy.\" Note four,\n add right double quotes after \"not.\"\n\n - Page 417, same note, change \"prophecy\" to \"prophesy.\" Lesson,\n point I 1, change \"envelopes\" to \"envelops.\"\n\n - Page 419, title, change \"A Treasure without Trouble\" to capitalise\n \"Without.\"\n\n - Page 423, verse 18, note one, remove \"(ver. 13).\"\n\n - Page 425, note one, apply RC to \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 426, note three, change \"unresistable\" to \"irresistible.\"\n Change verse 20 page to 137 from 136.\n\n - Page 430, lesson, point I, change \"Sheol\" to \"She\u014dl\" twice to\n match spelling in Critical Notes.\n\n - Page 431, lesson, point III, change \"Sheol\" to \"She\u014dl.\"\n\n - Page 432, note two, change \"transcendant\" to \"transcendent\"; add\n left double quotes before \"partaker.\" Note three, change \"Sheol\"\n to \"She\u014dl.\"\n\n - Page 434, lesson, part II, add left double quotes before \"judge\";\n remove right double quotes after \"crieth\" add right double quotes\n after \"helper.\"\n\n - Page 435, lesson, part III, change \"rivers\" to \"river\"; add a\n four-period ellipsis after \"earth\"; swap \"Seba\" and \"Sheba\"\n\n - Page 437, note five, change \"villany\" to \"villainy.\"\n\n - Page 439, lesson, point III 3, apply RC to \"Him.\" Note one, point\n (2), change \"covetousnes\" to \"covetousness.\" After \"Ephes. v. 5\"\n reference, change \"covetousness man\" to \"covetous man.\"\n\n - Page 440, lesson, point II, add right double quotes after\n \"things.\"\n\n - Page 441, note one, add right parenthesis after \"chap. x. 19\"\n reference. Lesson, point I, change \"everyone of us\" to \"every one\n of us.\"\n\n - Page 442, lesson, point II 2, remove right double quotes from\n after \"live\" and left double quotes from before \"I\" (no internal\n quotes in text referenced). Note one, change \"heart's\" to\n \"hearts.\" Note two, capitalise first \"Publican\" for consistency;\n apply RC to \"He descends.\"\n\n - Page 445, lesson, first point 2, change colon after \"others\" to a\n period.\n\n - Page 447, notes, spell out \"Ver. 31\" and \"Ver. 32.\"\n\n - Page 448, notes, spell out \"Ver. 33.\" Verse 33, note four, add\n right double quotes after \"Israel\"; change \"everyone bigger\" to\n \"every one bigger.\"\n\n - Page 450, Critical Notes, chapter xvi., verse 4, capitalise\n \"Authorised.\" Verse 9, change \"den otes\" to \"denotes.\" Verse 26,\n add right double quotes after \"him.\"\n\n - Page 452, note one, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"; point 2, apply RC to\n \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 453, note five, apply RC to \"Designer.\"\n\n - Page 454, note zero, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 455, note one, change \"is sense\" to \"in sense\"; change \"Prov.\n xxxvi. 2\" to \"Psa. xxxvi. 2.\"\n\n - Page 456, note one, apply RC to \"Will\" and \"Word.\" Lesson, point\n III, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 457, note two, apply RC to \"Will\" and \"Word.\" Note two, apply\n RC to \"Will\" (twice). Note four, add double quotes around \"commit.\"\n\n - Page 459, lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 460, lesson, point IV 3, apply RC to \"He\"; after\n \"Consequently,\" point 3, apply RC to \"Will\" (twice); change\n \"overruled His authority\" to lower-case, speaking of Pharaoh;\n apply RC to \"He.\"\n\n - Page 461, lesson, point II 1, add ellipsis after \"God\" and add\n square brackets around \"He,\" because the word is not in the verse\n but makes the quote more intelligible; change \"Phil. iii. 7, 8\" to\n \"Phil. ii. 7, 8\"; apply RC to \"God-like.\"\n\n - Page 462, note two, change \"Solomon\" to \"Lemuel.\" (See Critical\n Notes for chapter xxxi.) Apply RC to \"Will.\" Change \"father\" and\n \"son\" to lower-case because there is no enmity within the Godhead.\n\n - Page 463, lesson, point III, add right double quotes after \"us\"\n and \"glory\"; add a period after \"chap.\"\n\n - Page 464, note three, apply RC to \"Gospel\" (twice).\n\n - Page 466, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 467, note one, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 469, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Word.\" Add comma to \"pass\n nothing.\" Apply RC to \"Own Will\" and \"His.\"\n\n - Page 470, lesson, point II, change the double quotes around the\n quoted scripture to single quotes; add a period at the end of the\n quotation.\n\n - Page 472, lesson, point I, capitalise \"Authorised Version.\"\n\n - Page 473, notes, spell out \"Ver. 10.\" Note one, format the word\n \"equity\" in Italic for consistency.\n\n - Page 474, note one, spell out \"ver. 9.\" Spell out \"Ver. 11.\" Note\n one, change \"Eccles. vii. 15\" to \"Ecclus. vii. 15.\" NB:\n Ecclesiasticus is not part of the 66-book Canon. It is available\n in a Roman Catholic Bible or on-line. Note four, add right double\n quotes after \"wickedness.\"\n\n - Page 475, notes, spell out \"Ver. 12\" and \"Ver. 13.\"\n\n - Page 476, notes, spell out \"Ver. 14.\" Note one, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 477, notes, spell out \"Ver. 15\" and \"Ver. 16.\" Note one, add\n right double quote after \"world.\"\n\n - Page 479, note zero, change \"conquerers\" to \"conquerors.\"\n\n - Page 480, lesson, point I 2, add an ellipsis after \"God\"; change\n \"Phil. ii. 6\" to \"Phil. ii. 6-8.\" Point II, change \"1 Tim. ix. 11\"\n to \"1 Tim. vi. 11.\" Note one, change \"Num. iv. 7\" to \"1 Tim.\n iv. 7.\" Note three, add right double quotes after \"man.\"\n\n - Page 481, note one, add double quotes around \"highway.\"\n\n - Page 483, notes, spell out \"Ver. 19.\"\n\n - Page 484, note four, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 486, notes, spell out \"Ver. 20.\" Note two, apply RC to\n \"Word.\" Note three, add right double quotes after \"Blessed.\"\n\n - Page 487, note one, add right double quotes after \"likelihoods\";\n apply RC to \"His\" and \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 488, note two, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 489, note one, point 3, remove a period from the ellipsis.\n Note two, apply RC to \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 490, note, point (2), apply RC to \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 491, title change \"Different Species of the same Genus\" to\n capitalise \"Same.\"\n\n - Page 492, note 2, change \"Psalm lxiv. 1-6\" to \"Psalm lxiv. 6.\"\n Spell out \"Ver. 28\" and \"Ver. 29.\"\n\n - Page 493, notes, spell out \"Ver. 30.\"\n\n - Page 494, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 495, note two, change \"Phil. 9\" to \"Philemon 9\" for\n concreteness.\n\n - Page 496, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"He.\"\n\n - Page 498, note three, change \"Judges viii. 1 3\" to \"Judges\n viii. 1-3.\"\n\n - Page 499, title, change \"The Lot and its Disposer\" to capitalise\n \"Its.\" Lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Will\" (twice) and \"He.\"\n\n - Page 504, lesson, point I, change cross reference from \" chap.\n xiv., page 31\" to \"chap. xiv. 31, page 389.\"\n\n - Page 505, lesson, point III, change \"he visit Him\" to \"He visit\n him\" to put the RC on the correct pronoun.\n\n - Page 507, lesson, point II, add double quotes around \"gift.\"\n\n - Page 508, title, change \"How to Make Friends and How to Separate\n them\" to capitalise \"Them.\"\n\n - Page 509, title, change \"Correction must be Adapted to the\n Character of the Offender\" to capitalise \"Must.\"\n\n - Page 510, note three, update the ellipsis to change the comma to a\n period and add a period. Note six, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 512, notes, spell out \"Ver. 12\" and \"Ver. 13.\"\n\n - Page 514, note zero, apply RC to \"He.\" Note three, add right\n double quotes after \"thereof.\" Lesson, insert missing title from\n TOC.\n\n - Page 515, point II, capitalise \"Which.\" Note two, apply RC to\n \"Gospel\" (twice).\n\n - Page 516, note one, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Divinely.\"\n\n - Page 517, lesson, note II, remove right double quotes after\n \"creatures.\"\n\n - Page 520, illustration, at the top of the second column, after the\n word \"speed,\" the comma sort was inverted and appears as an\n apostrophe. The word \"god\" was changed to lower-case given the\n context. Notes, spell out \"Ver. 17.\"\n\n - Page 521, note one, change \"rescue\" to \"venture.\" Note two, apply\n RC to \"Friend.\" Spell out \"Ver. 18.\"\n\n - Page 522, change cross reference for verses 20 and 21 from \"x., 1,\n 13, 14, etc.\" to \"x. 1, 13, 14, etc.\" as two links.\n\n - Page 524, note two, capitalise \"Sabbath\"; change \"vigetous\" to\n \"vegetous.\" Lesson, point II, add right double quotes after\n \"therewith.\"\n\n - Page 525, note one, apply RC to \"Will.\" Note two, change period\n after \"path\" to a question mark. Note four, in the four word Latin\n phrase, only the fourth word was set in Italic, possibly for\n emphasis.\n\n - Page 526, title, change \"The Eyes of a Fool and those of a Wise\n Man\" to capitalise \"Those.\" Lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Gospel\";\n add right double quotes after \"it.\"\n\n - The break between pages 528 and 529 is in the word \"government\":\n govern|ment.\n\n - Page 533, Critical Notes, chapter xviii., verse 1, capitalise\n \"Authorised Version.\" Lesson, introductory comment, capitalise\n \"Authorised Version.\" Lesson, point I, change \"His maker\" to \"his\n Maker\" to put the RC where it belongs.\n\n - Page 535, note zero, in the scripture reference that starts the\n page, change the period after \"15\" to a semicolon. Note one,\n change \"par#ticle\" to \"particle\" and, on the next line, add a\n period after \"to.\"\n\n - Page 536, verse 3, note 1, the period sort after \"this\" is\n inverted.\n\n - Page 538, lesson, point III, change \"Matt. xii. 24, 25\" to \"Matt.\n xii. 34, 35.\" Note two, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 539, title, change \"Folly and its Results\" to capitalise\n \"Its.\" Spell out \"ver. 14.\"\n\n - Page 540, notes, spell out \"Ver. 6\" and \"Ver. 8.\"\n\n - Page 542, lesson, point I, add a period after \"1.\" Point I 2,\n apply RC to \"His.\"\n\n - Page 544, note one, change \"Isa. i. 10\" to \"Isa. l. 10.\"\n\n - The break between pages 545 and 546 is in the word \"provided\":\n pro|vided.\n\n - Page 546, note one, change \"fidgetty\" to \"fidgety.\"\n\n - Page 547, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"Gospel.\" Note one, add\n right double quotes after \"bear.\"\n\n - Page 548, note zero, point 1, add a period to the first ellipsis.\n Point 2, change \"presumptious\" to \"presumptuous\"; add a period to\n the second ellipsis.\n\n - Page 549, note two, add right double quotes after \"heart.\"\n\n - Page 554, note one, add a period to the ellipsis.\n\n - Page 558, lesson, point I, change the page cross reference from\n 302 to 300.\n\n - Page 559, lesson, point II, change cross reference from \"chap.\n xxx. 8, 9\" to \"chap. xxx. 7-9.\"\n\n - Page 560, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"His Own.\"\n\n - Page 561, Critical Notes, chapter xix., the name \"Z\u00f6ckler\" appears\n throughout without the accented character. It has been made\n consistent with other uses. Verse 7, set the words \"are not\" in\n Italic and add a right double quotes after \"good.\" Verse 18,\n capitalise \"Authorised Version.\" Verse 20, add right double quotes\n after \"beneficence.\" Verse 24, change \"vi. 14\" to \"ch. xii. 27.\"\n Lesson, change title comma to period; add missing title from TOC.\n\n - Page 562, title, change \"Ignorance leading to Sin\" to capitalise\n \"Leading.\"\n\n - Page 564, lesson, point IV 1, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 565, note zero, change \"henious\" to \"heinous.\" Spell out\n \"Ver. 2.\"\n\n - Page 566, notes, spell out \"Ver. 3.\" Note one, apply RC to \"He\"\n and \"His Word\" and \"He.\" Note two, point 1, use three period\n ellipses after \"intemperance,\" \"indolence,\" and \"frame.\" Point 2,\n use three period ellipses after \"them\" and \"others.\" Point 3, use\n a three period ellipsis after \"undutiful.\" Point 4, use three\n period ellipses after \"when\" and \"grace.\"\n\n - Page 567, lesson, change \"page 274\" to add \"ch. xii. 17-19, 22\"\n reference for utility in plain text.\n\n - Page 568, lesson, point 3, add a right double quote after \"death.\"\n\n - Page 569, cross reference for verses 8 and 9, change page numbers\n to 121 and 124 from 122 and 128, respectively. Add missing verse\n 10 lesson title from TOC. Lesson, point I, add double quotes\n around \"delight\" and \"servant.\"\n\n - Page 570, note three, change \"He\" to lower-case, thrice.\n\n - Page 572, note four, apply RC to \"Holy\" (twice). Use four period\n ellipsis after \"glory.\"\n\n - Page 573, title, change \"Domestic Sorrow and how to avoid it\" to\n capitalise \"How\" and \"Avoid.\" Lesson, point II 1, change \"li. 5\"\n to \"Ps. li. 5\" for concreteness.\n\n - Page 574, notes, spell out \"Vers. 13, 14.\" Note one, apply RC to\n \"Divine.\" Spell out \"Ver. 18.\"\n\n - Page 575, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"His\" (twice). Note one,\n use three period ellipsis. Add left double quotes before\n \"Wherewithal.\" Remove right double quotes after \"maintains.\" Add\n left double quotes before \"The.\"\n\n - Page 576, lesson, point I, add right double quotes after \"poor\";\n apply RC to \"Gospel.\" Point II, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 577, note one, apply RC to \"Word.\" Note three, use four\n period after \"obedience.\"\n\n - Page 578, lesson, point I, use a three period ellipsis after\n \"hostility.\"\n\n - Page 579, notes, spell out \"Vers. 18, 19.\" Note one, add right\n double quotes after \"again.\"\n\n - Page 581, note zero, use four period ellipsis after \"disappear.\"\n Cross reference for verse 24, change \"xxv. 13-15\" to\n \"xxvi. 12-16.\" Lesson title, change \"verses 26-28\" to \"verses\n 26-29.\" Notes, spell out \"Ver. 26\" and \"Ver. 27.\"\n\n - Page 584, cross reference for verse 4, change page reference to\n 142 from 146. Lesson, point I, add double quotes around \"counsel.\"\n\n - Page 585, lesson, points I 1 and I 2, add double quotes around\n \"No.\"\n\n - Page 586, cross reference for verse 10, change \"chap. xi., page 1\"\n to \"chap. xi. 1.\"\n\n - Page 587, notes, spell out \"Ver. 7,\" \"Ver. 8,\" \"Ver. 9,\" and \"Ver.\n 10.\"\n\n - Page 588, notes, spell out \"Ver. 11.\"\n\n - Page 590, title, change \"Thought before Action\" to capitalise\n \"Before.\"\n\n - Page 592, cross reference for verse 21, change \"chap. xxi. 5-7\" to\n \"chap. xxi. 5, 7, 17,\" and the page number to 609 from 596.\n\n - Page 593, note three, add right double quotes after \"joy.\"\n\n - Page 594, note two, apply RC to \"Gospel\" (twice).\n\n - Page 596, lesson, point III, add double quotes around \"throne.\"\n\n - Page 597, illustration, use three period ellipsis after \"it.\"\n\n - Page 599, note two, add double quotes around \"God.\"\n\n - Page 601, note zero, point IV, use four period ellipses after\n \"worldly\" and \"life.\"\n\n - Page 602, note zero, point VI, use four period ellipsis after\n \"Solomon.\"\n\n - Page 603, note one, change \"The light of reason is a _certain\n light_\" to set \"light\" in Roman, for consistency. Use four period\n ellipses after \"candlelight,\" \"being,\" and \"for.\"\n\n - Page 605, Critical Notes, chapter xxi., verse 12, add right double\n quotes after \"overthroweth.\"\n\n - Page 606, Critical Notes, verse 27, add right double quotes after\n \"iniquity.\" Note one, use four period ellipsis after \"Most High.\"\n\n - Page 607, verse 3, note one, use four period ellipsis after\n \"sacrifice.\"\n\n - Page 609, note one, use three period ellipsis after \"corruption.\"\n\n - Page 610, notes, spell out \"Ver. 5,\" \"Ver. 6,\" and \"Ver. 17.\"\n\n - Page 612, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Will.\" Change second\n cross reference to page 195 from 196. Note two, change \"Cor.\n iii. 3\" to \"1 Cor. iii. 3.\"\n\n - Page 613, lesson, point I, capitalise \"Eastern\" and \"Orientals.\"\n\n - Page 615, title, change \"Instruction for Those who Need it\" to\n capitalise \"Who.\"\n\n - Page 616, note one, use a four period ellipsis after \"happen.\"\n Note two, use a four period ellipsis after \"amendment.\"\n\n - Page 618, note two, use a four period ellipsis after \"beggar.\"\n\n - Page 620, lesson, point II, change \"everyone of them\" to \"every\n one of them.\"\n\n - Page 621, lesson, point I, change \"chap. iv. 18. See page 58.\" to\n \"chap. iv. 18, see page 58.\" Merge this sentence into the one that\n follows.\n\n - Page 622, note one, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Grace.\" Change cross\n reference from \"verses 5-7\" to \"verses 5 and 7.\"\n\n - Page 623, note one, change \"storming of Achan\" to \"stoning of\n Achan.\"\n\n - Page 624, cross reference, change \"5 to 7\" to \"5 and 7.\" Lesson,\n point I, add right double quotes after \"righteousness of God.\"\n\n - Page 625, add trailing period to lesson title.\n\n - Page 628, note one, apply RC to \"Gospel.\"\n\n - Page 629, note two, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 630, lesson, point I, add right double quotes after \"rams\"\n and \"truth.\"\n\n - Page 633, note three, use four period ellipsis after \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 634, Critical Notes, chapter xxii., verse 29, add left double\n quotes before \"apt.\" Add a link to the further Critical Notes for\n this chapter on page 652, after verse 16. Title, change \"Better\n than Gold\" to capitalise \"Than.\"\n\n - Page 636, lesson, point I 1, change \"Rom. v. 12\" to \"Rom.\n iii. 22-23.\" Point I 3, apply RC to \"Spirit\"; add right double\n quote after \"Christ's\"; change \"1 Cor. iii. 23\" to \"1 Cor.\n iii. 22-23.\"\n\n - Page 637, cross reference, change \"chxp. xiv. 16\" to \"chap.\n xiv. 15-18.\" The link for chap. iii. 1-18 is to chap. iii. 1-4,\n which is the start of that section. Title, change \"Verses 3 and 4\"\n to \"Verses 5 and 6.\" Change \"A Hedged-up Way\" to capitalise \"Up.\"\n\n - Page 638, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Heavenly Parent\" and\n \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 639, notes, spell out \"Ver. 5\" and \"Ver. 6.\"\n\n - Page 641, lesson, point II, change \"Isa. xiv. 13\" to \"Isa.\n xiv. 13-14.\"\n\n - Page 642, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"Divine.\" Point II,\n change \"His bread\" to lower-case, speaking of a person.\n\n - Page 643, title, change \"A Man who Ought to Dwell Alone\" to\n capitalise \"Who.\"\n\n - Page 645, note one, change \"perfection is desire\" to \"desire is\n perfection.\"\n\n - Page 649, change third cross reference to \"vii. 5-27\" on page 95\n from \"vi. 6-27\" on page 15.\n\n - Page 652, note zero, apply RC to \"Providence,\" \"He,\" and \"His\"\n (twice).\n\n - Page 653, note two, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 654, verse 19, note one, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 655, same note, apply RC to \"Divine\" (twice). Note one, apply\n RC to \"Divine Word\" and \"Divine\"; add a period after \"whatsoever.\"\n\n - Page 656, note one, apply RC to \"Gospel\" and \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 658, title, change \"Suretyship and its Dangers\" to capitalise\n \"Its.\"\n\n - Page 659, lesson, point I 2, add right double quotes after\n \"swiftly.\"\n\n - Page 661, Critical Notes, chapter xxiii., verse 23, add period\n after \"discipline.\" Verse 25, add right double quotes after\n \"rejoice.\"\n\n - Page 664, lesson, point II, add left double quotes before\n \"covetous.\"\n\n - Page 667, note one, apply RC to \"Word.\" Note two, apply RC to\n \"Himself.\"\n\n - Page 668, same note, apply RC to \"His.\"\n\n - Page 669, lesson, point I, change \"corporeal\" to \"corporal.\"\n\n - Page 670, notes, change \"Verse 15, 16\" to \"Verses 15, 16.\" Verse\n 18, note one, remove right double quotes after \"is.\"\n\n - Page 671, note zero, point 2, apply RC to \"Divine\" (twice).\n\n - Page 672, note zero, apply RC to \"His.\" Verse 26, note one, point\n III, change \"his\" to \"him.\"\n\n - Page 675, Critical Notes, chapter xxiv., verse 16, add right\n double quotes after \"them.\" Verse 22, capitalise \"Authorised\n Version.\"\n\n - Page 681, note one, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 682, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 683, lesson, point II, change \"shall condemn\" to \"shalt\n condemn.\" Note one, use three period ellipsis after \"and.\"\n\n - Page 685, verses 17 and 18, change \"Obadiah xii.\" to \"Obadiah 12.\"\n In-line warning about \"niggardly.\"\n\n - Page 686, lesson, point III, apply RC to \"Will.\" Note one, apply\n RC to \"Will.\" Note two, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 689, title, change \"An Uncalled-for Testimony\" to capitalise\n \"For.\"\n\n - Page 690, lesson, part II, apply RC to \"His.\"\n\n - Page 691, note one, apply RC to \"Gospel\"; spell out \"ver.\" twice;\n change \"23\" to \"28.\"\n\n - Page 693, Critical Notes, chapter xxv., verse 8, change \"be thy\n neighbour\" to \"by thy neighbour.\" Verse 17, change \"Withhold\" to\n \"Withdraw.\"\n\n - Page 694, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"Him.\" Point II, apply RC\n to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 695, note two, point 1, the word \"foresees\" appears at a\n column break; the first half in Italic, the second half in Roman;\n whole word is transcribed in Italic. Point 3, after poem, change\n \"can'st\" to \"canst.\"\n\n - Page 696, same note, change \"can'st\" to \"canst\"; change \"secresy\"\n to \"secrecy.\"\n\n - Page 697, lesson, introduction, change \"seem no refer\" to \"seem to\n refer.\"\n\n - Page 699, title, change comma to period.\n\n - Page 700, lesson, point I 2, change \"If he do not make\" to \"If he\n does not make.\" Note one, apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 701, title, change \"Clouds without Rain\" to capitalise\n \"Without.\"\n\n - Page 707, note one, use three period ellipses after \"that\" and\n \"peaceably.\"\n\n - Page 708, lesson, point I, change \"page 274\" to add \"ch. xii.\n 17-19, 22\" for utility in plain text. Point II, add double quotes\n around \"Amen.\"\n\n - Page 709, note zero, change \"##ceptable\" to \"acceptable.\" Note\n one, use a four period ellipsis after \"countenance.\" Lesson, point\n II, change \"had drank\" to \"had drunk.\"\n\n - Page 710, lesson, point II, change \"are good news\" to \"is good\n news.\" Note one, add right double quotes after \"labour.\" Note two,\n point IV, use a four period ellipsis after \"Novel.\"\n\n - Page 711, lesson, point II, change \"apostacy\" to \"apostasy.\"\n\n - Page 712, lesson, introduction, change \"verse xvi.\" to \"verse 16.\"\n\n - Page 713, verse 28, note one, add a period after \"waggon.\"\n\n - Page 715, lesson, insert \"I.\" before \"Men utter.\"\n\n - Page 716, note one, remove right double quotes after \"heavens.\"\n\n - Page 718, verses 4 and 5, note one, apply RC to \"Spirit\" and\n \"Gospel.\" Note two, use four period ellipsis after \"speaketh.\"\n\n - Page 719, verse 11, note one, remove right double quotes after\n \"animals.\" Note three, add period after \"original.\"\n\n - Page 720, title, change \"Self-conceit and Indolence\" to capitalise\n \"Conceit.\"\n\n - The break between pages 720 and 721 is in the word \"together\":\n to|gether.\n\n - The break between pages 724 and 725 is in the word \"preserve\":\n pre|serve.\n\n - Page 725, note two, change \"Hougomont\" to \"Hougoumont.\"\n\n - Page 728, note three includes a reference to Wisdom, which is not\n part of the 66-book Canon. It is available in a Roman Catholic\n Bible or on-line.\n\n - Page 729, notes, spell out \"Ver. 6.\"\n\n - Page 730, notes, spell out \"Ver. 9.\" Note one, apply RC to \"Word\"\n and \"Him.\" Spell out \"Ver. 10.\" Note one, add right double quotes\n after \"off.\" Spell out \"Ver. 14.\n\n - Page 731, note zero, change \"his God\" to lower-case, because the\n flatterer is exalting a man.\n\n - Page 733, cross reference, change \"6th and 7th\" to \"5th and 6th.\"\n\n - Page 736, note two, add period after \"through.\"\n\n - Page 738, lesson, point I, change \"page 725\" to also refer to\n \"verse 2\" for utility in plain text.\n\n - Page 740, notes, spell out \"Ver. 25\" and \"Vers. 26 and 27.\"\n Critical Notes, chapter xxviii., change \"1\" to \"2.\"\n\n - Page 741, Critical Notes, verse 22, add right double quotes after\n \"hasteth.\" Lesson, point III, change \"Psa. cxxxix. 7, 10\" to \"Psa.\n cxxxix. 7-10.\"\n\n - Page 743, note one, change \"plentitude\" to \"plenitude\" and\n \"precints\" to \"precincts\"; apply RC to \"Word.\"\n\n - Page 744, illustration, use a four period ellipsis after \"food.\"\n\n - Page 745, lesson, points I and II, apply RC to \"Will.\" Notes,\n spell out \"Ver. 4.\" Note one, use a four period ellipsis after\n \"it.\" Spell out \"Ver. 5.\" Note one, change \"both Christ and the\n Law to him is a mystery\" to \"are a mystery.\"\n\n - Page 746, note zero, use a four period ellipsis after \"it.\" Verse\n 8 cross reference, change to page 331 from 332; verse 10, change\n to page 721 from 722.\n\n - Page 747, note one, apply RC to \"Divinely.\"\n\n - Page 748, lesson, point II, add left double quotes before\n \"blessedness\" and right double quotes after \"guile.\"\n\n - Page 749, note zero, apply RC to \"Spirit.\"\n\n - Page 753, lesson, point II, change \"Jer. xvii. 8\" to \"Jer.\n xvii. 7-8.\" Note three, change the \"1\" before \"The honour of God\"\n to \"I.\" In point II 3, use a three period ellipsis after \"so.\"\n\n - Page 754, Critical Notes, chapter xxix., verse 18, add right\n double quotes after \"law.\"\n\n - Page 755, lesson, point II, change cross reference to \"chap.\n vi. 12-19\" on page 81 from \"chap. vi. 15\" on page 82.\n\n - Page 756, lesson, point I, change \"Chap.\" to lower case.\n\n - Page 757, lesson, point II, change cross reference to \"chap.\n xiv. 15-18\" from \"chap. xiv. 16.\" Note one, change \"Phinehas\n xxv. 11\" to \"Phinehas--Num. xxv. 11.\" Change \"Contrast xiii. 5\" to\n \"Contrast Ezek. xiii. 5\" for concreteness. Title, change\n \"Soul-seekers and Soul-haters\" to capitalise \"Seekers\" and\n \"Haters.\"\n\n - Page 760, note zero, apply RC to \"Divinely\"; change \"Machiavelian\"\n to \"Machiavellian\"; apply RC to \"Will,\" \"Glory,\" and \"Inspired.\"\n Title, change \"Victory not with the Majority\" to capitalise \"Not.\"\n\n - Page 761, note two, apply RC to \"Divine.\"\n\n - Page 762, lesson, point I, apply RC to \"Nature,\" \"Will,\" and\n \"Purposes.\"\n\n - The page break between pages 763 and 764 is in a unit that style\n indicates should not be broken. The text on the first page ends at\n the m-dash; the opening quotation mark and the word \"Tell\" have\n been moved to the earlier page so as not to break the unit.\n\n - Page 764, note three, apply RC to \"Decalogue.\"\n\n - Page 765, lesson, point II, change \"Psa. lxiii. 3\" to \"Psa.\n xxx. 5; Psa. lxiii. 3.\"\n\n - Page 767, Critical Notes, chapter xxx., verse 15, change\n \"horseleech\" to \"horseleach\" to match A.V. Verses 15 and 16,\n change the double quotes to single quotes around \"three things,\"\n \"four things,\" and \"leech.\"\n\n - Page 770, verse 2, note one, use a four period ellipsis after\n \"top.\" Verse 4, note one, use a four period ellipsis after\n \"operation\"; add double quotes around \"God.\" Lesson, point I,\n apply RC to \"Character\" and \"Will.\"\n\n - Page 771, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Word.\" Point III, apply\n RC to \"Word\" (twice).\n\n - Page 772, note one, apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Speaker.\" Note two,\n apply RC to \"Word\" and \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 773, lesson, point II, change \"that strengtheneth\" to \"which\n strengtheneth\" to match A.V. Verse 7, note one, change \"Him\" to\n lower case, referring to Jacob. Verse 8, note two, change\n \"dependants\" to \"dependents.\"\n\n - Page 775, lesson, point II, apply RC to \"Word.\" Point IV, apply RC\n to \"Gospel\"; change \"dwell\" to \"shall dwell\" and \"lie\" to \"shall\n lie\"; set \"etc.\" in Roman rather than Italic. Verse 11, note two,\n apply RC to \"Divine\"; change \"His heart\" to lower case.\n\n - Page 777, lesson, point II, change cross reference to \"chap.\n vi. 6-11\" on page 78 from \"chap. vi. 6\" on page 79.\n\n - Page 778, note two, apply RC to \"Him.\"\n\n - Page 779, remarks on chapter xxx., change \"verse 7-9\" to \"verses\n 7-9.\"\n\n - Page 780, lesson, point III, change second cross reference to page\n 680 from page 180.\n\n - Page 783, verse 29, note one, remove period after \"principle.\"","title":"The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Books of the Bible, Volume 13 (of 32): The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Book of the Proverbs","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":548463}