CRITICAL NOTES.--+2. Doctrine,+ Literally something received, handed
over; the author so describes it because he received it from his
father. The Septuagint and the Vulgate translate by +donum,+ "a
gift." +3. Tender and only,+ "dearly-beloved"--not that Solomon was
Bathsheba's only son (1 Chron. iii. 5). +5. Get,+ Heb. "acquire or
buy"--spare no cost. The repetition of the verb makes the injunction
more imperative. +Forget+ is a word in Hebrew that takes the
preposition _from_. In the idea of forgetting there is naturally
involved that of turning aside or away from the object to be
remembered. +6.+ Miller translates the last clause: "Love her, and
she shall stand sentry over thee." +7.+ The first clause of this
verse contains only four words, viz.: +Beginning,+ or "principal
thing;" +Wisdom; get wisdom.+ Its terseness has led to various
translations. Hitzig and others read: "The highest thing is wisdom."
Miller translates: "As the height of wisdom, get wisdom."
Delitzsch--The beginning of wisdom is: "Get wisdom." +With,+ not to
be taken in the sense of "in connection with," but "by means of," or
"at the price of." +8. Exalt+ or "esteem." +9.+ Last clause, or "she
shall compass thee with a crown of glory." +10.+ As is all other
instances (see Notes on Chap. iii. 2), Miller translates the promise:
"And they shall grow greater to thee through years of life." +14. Go
not.+ The Heb. is literally "to go straightforward;" also, "to
pronounce happy." +15. Avoid,+ "Let it go," "reject it." +Turn from
it,+ _i.e._, even if thou hast entered, turn back. +16.+ Miller here
reads: "For the mere reason that they sleep not, rest assured they do
mischief; and that their sleep is stolen, rest assured they occasion
stumbling:" and understands it to mean that the more sleepless the
industrious impenitent, the faster he is carrying everything to
eternal ruin. But all other commentators of importance read as in the
English version. +18. Shining light,+ Lit. "the light of dawn that
grows and brightens even to the establishment of the day."
+19. Darkness,+ "thick darkness," the gloom of midnight.
+22. Health,+ or "healing." +23.+ "Above all other watching, keep thy
heart," some read: "Keep thy heart with all (kinds of) keeping."
_Issues_--"currents," "outgoings." +24. Froward mouth,+ Lit.,
"distortion," "crookedness." +26. Ponder,+ "make level, or straight."
NOTE ON VERSE 20.--There is an aspect of sameness in these
beginnings. But they _are_ beginnings. One of the characteristics of
Scripture is a division, like Childe Harold into cantos, or separate
sonnets. They are most conspicuous in the prophet Isaiah; and, like
grapes upon a bunch, each wrapped in its individual rind, but all
clustered on a common stem. If we ventured a conjecture, it would be
that this suited the Israelitish worship. The synagogue would take
one of these cantos and use it for the day. They were of irregular
length, but that would allow variety. They have some repetitions, but
so have missals and breviaries, that allow of choice on different
occasions. There was an aim to provide most of the points for
recitation on each occasion. What for one reading would seem very
same, for many readings would seem wonderfully diversified.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4.
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN.
+I. Parental Duty.+ "He taught me." Solomon, and all children, have
many claims upon their parents to receive from them instruction in
the revelation of God. 1. _Parents are responsible for the existence
of their children._ They are the instrumental cause of their child's
being in the world, and his being in that state of probation upon
which hang such "infinite possibilities." 2. _The child is so
absolutely ignorant of the life into which he comes._ Unavoidable
ignorance has always a claim upon knowledge, and the claim is
assuredly increased in proportion as those who know and those who do
not know are related to each other by a divinely constituted bond. "I
am a stranger in the earth" is the claim which every child puts in as
a reason why he should be instructed and taught in a way which he
should go. "Hide not God's commandments from me" is the appeal which
the child's ignorance makes to those who have had some experience in
the world. 3. _Children claim instruction because of their future
relationship to others._ The neglect of a child's education is a sin
against more than himself. He will come, in his turn, to influence
others. Upon his character will depend, in a great degree, the
characters and eternal destinies of many in generations yet to come.
4. _Children have a claim upon their parents because they belong to
God._ If a proprietor of land hands over to the cultivator a piece of
virgin soil, he does not relinquish his own claim thereby--he demands
that his property shall be restored to him increased in value by
being brought under cultivation. The child is given to its parent by
God in its undeveloped moral condition, but God retains His own
inheritance in the gift. He looks for nurture, for cultivation; He
demands from the parent such a fulfilment of parental duties as will
ensure to Him that His gift shall grow of more and more worth in the
moral universe. A day of reckoning on this matter will assuredly
come. Solomon recognises the claim which children have upon their
parents by recording his own parents' conduct in relation to himself
and by giving us an example of his own method of instructing his
children.
+II. Filial Duty.+ "Hear, ye children." Parents have claims upon
their children. 1. _From the simple fact of the relationship._ A good
father claims the obedience of his son because he is that child's
ordained guide and ruler. He is to his son God's viceregent so long
as his commands are in accordance with God's law. 2. _From their
larger experience._ They have trodden the path which the youth has
yet to traverse, they have climbed the hill which rises yet before
him, they have tested the worth of the things which will allure him.
Their superior knowledge entitles them to say, "Hear the instruction
of a father." 3. _From the self-denial which, as parents, they have
exercised._ All that a good mother and father have done and suffered
in order to advance the welfare of their children, their toil and
forbearing love, constitutes a powerful claim to their children's
grateful, reverential, attention and love. Solomon here gives an
example of the honour in which every child should hold godly parents.
A PARENT'S MOST PRECIOUS GIFT.
+Good Doctrine.+ Verse 2. 1. _Because without it there can be no good
character._ There can be no right feelings towards God unless there
has been right teaching about Him. True views of God can only come
from true doctrine concerning Him. Without a right view of God there
is no motive power to form character. A man must know God as He is
before he can begin to follow Him. There must be a true mirror to
give a correct reflection. 2. _Because if there is not the beginning
of a good character, there will be an increasingly bad one._ When men
have no right doctrine concerning God, in other words, when they do
not know Him as He is, they invariably make a God after their own
conceptions. They bring God down to their level. "Thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such an one as thyself" (Psa. l. 21), has been
the fatal mistake of men in all ages. If a man falls overboard from
the deck of a vessel, he will not remain long at the level of his
first fall. If he is not rescued he will sink to such a depth as will
be out of all comparison with it. He will go lower and lower till his
body finds the bottom of the ocean. Man's first fall from obedience
to disobedience was a great fall, but he has not been content with
this moral distance between himself and his Maker, he has tried to
drag God down with him and thus has brutalised and demonised the
divine that was still within him. In more than a material sense he
has "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made
like unto corruptible man" (Rom. i. 23). This changing of the truth
of God into a lie will always take place where there is an absence of
the right conceptions of God, and the result must always be the moral
deterioration which Paul gives as the result in Rom. i. 26-32. There
is as much relation between "good" or "right" doctrine and good and
holy character as there is between good bread and pure water and a
healthy body. Good bread will make good muscles and sinew, bad bread
will not nourish the human frame. Pure water is indispensable to
health, stagnant water will breed a hundred diseases. And mistaken
views about God must be fruitful of soul disease. Results prove this
to be the case. National and individual history prove the truth of
it. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. vii. 20). As we can
foretell what the quality of the harvest will be from the seed sown,
so can we tell what has been the character of the seed from that
which it brings forth.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 2. The common cry is "Who will show us any good?" and every man
will lend both ears to a good bargain. The doctrine here delivered is
good every way, whether you look to the _author, matter_, or _effect_
of it.--_Trapp._
God's commandments are not like the commandments of any other, which
are directed to the benefit of the commanders: but God's commandments
do only bring good to him that is commanded. . . . What is there so
absurd, as to despise His commands who doth command that He may have
matter for rewarding: for God doth not want our obedience, but we do
want His commanding. Therefore it is said, "As the eyes of servants
look unto the hand of their master, and the eyes of a maiden to the
hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he
have mercy upon us," that is, until He command us something, and
that, thou, O David, callest mercy.--_Jermin._
Good. +I. In itself.+ It is most majestic, as containing not trivial
and common sentences, but high parables and extraordinary mysteries.
It gives the highest direction in the greatest things. +II. It is
good to us.+ Good for profit and pleasure. Good for soul and body
(1 Cor. xv. 2; Deut. xxviii. 1). Good for this life and the life to
come (1 Tim. iv. 8). Good when it pleaseth us (Psa. cxix. 7). Good
when it crosseth us (Isa. xxxix. 8).--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 3. Noteworthy is the prominence given to the mother's share in
the training of the child. Among the Israelites and the Egyptians
alone of the nations of the old world, was the son's reverence for
the mother placed side by side with that which he owed to his
father.--_Plumptre._
Verse 4. Training, discipline, not foolish indulgence, is the truest
evidence of affection to our tender and beloved ones (chap. xiii. 24;
with 1 Kings i. 6).--_Bridges._
"He taught me." The prayer of Solomon, at Gibeon, for wisdom, as the
principal of God's gifts, was suggested to him by his father David,
just before his death. (See 1 Chron. xxviii. 9,
xxix. 19).--_Wordsworth._
Here Solomon again commands the involuntary, because he has shown the
steps to it. We cannot, of all other things in the world, _live_ by a
voluntary act, but we can "keep watch over the commandments." I mean,
we can, as it is a voluntary act, if God makes us willing. But we
cannot live as a voluntary thing except through some form of anterior
obedience.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-13.
THE ONE THING NEEDFUL.
+I. Human nature has many needs.+ 1. _There are the needs of the
body, which begin upon our entrance into life, and never cease until
the day of our death._ These are common to all men, and keep every
man in an attitude of getting all through his life. It is the demand
of these needs--the effort to get what will supply them--that is the
motive-power which keeps the world of men in motion. 2. _Men's needs
are multiplied in proportion to the greatness of their sphere and
their intellectual activity._ The needs of a judge upon the bench are
more than those of a crossing-sweeper. Both have some wants in
common, but the intellectual and social position of the former has
multiplied his needs far beyond those of the latter. The needs of a
master in a house of business, or of a mistress in a family, are more
than those of their servants. They have more claims to meet--more
responsible positions to fill. But the aim of each individual man,
woman, or child is to supply their natural or acquired--their real or
their supposed--wants, whether material, or intellectual, or
spiritual.
+II. There is one need above all other needs--one thing to be gotten
before all other gettings--viz.: Wisdom, taking the word to mean
godliness.+ The husbandman finds that the field that has been given
him to till needs many things before it will yield him a golden
harvest. But there is one thing, among others, that is indispensable,
viz.: the sunlight. He will plough, and harrow, and sow in vain if
this want is not supplied. So all a man's gettings will fail to bring
him a harvest of soul-satisfaction if this primal element be wanting.
+III. The blessings which follow the getting of godliness.+ They have
already been enumerated in chap. iii. 21-26. See homiletics on that
paragraph. On verse 9 see homiletics on chap. i. 9.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 5. We cannot do it directly, but there immediately follow the
rules to be observed, "forget not," etc. It is astonishing how much
is made of attention. It is the only voluntary thing, not
muscular.--_Miller._
For so much a man learns as he remembers. The promise also of
salvation is limited to "keeping in memory what we have received"
(1 Cor. xv. 2).
1. Because of the _excellency_ of it. Things of high birth are
excellent. This wisdom is from above (James iii. 17). Things rare are
precious. True wisdom is not found in many. 2. Because of the
_pleasure_ of it (chap. iii. 17). No content in the world like that
wisdom gives. 3. Because of the _profit_ of it. Every trade will tell
you that wisdom thrives, and folly beggars men. So in spiritual
things. 4. Because of the _necessity_ of it, which is the strongest
argument. Without it die, nay be damned.--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 6. Jerome wrote to a friend, "Beg now for me, who am
grey-headed, of the Lord, that I may have Wisdom for my companion, of
which it is written, 'Love her and she shall keep thee.'"
Forsake her not, and thou will love her, for love is bred by
continuing together; love her and thou will not forsake her, for love
liketh not of parting. The manner of speech seemeth to intimate a
union of marriage, and indeed Wisdom is a fit spouse for man's noble
soul.--_Jermin._
We turn an eye to Wisdom, and she turns an eye to us. We watch and
she watches. In our ungodly state we cannot think of Wisdom that she
does not turn and step back to us by common grace. And, if we think
so long, and strive so earnestly as that she comes to us and is full
in sight, then each new fondness fascinates her and brings her close.
Each wise thing that we do makes us wiser.--_Miller._
It is worse with him that leaves good, than with him that never did
it (2 Pet. ii. 21). One goes blindfold to hell and hath less pains
there; another, seeing, hath more.--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 7. Make religion thy business, other things do by the bye. As
Cæsar, swimming through the waters to escape his enemies, carried his
books in his hand above them, but lost his robe.--_Trapp._
It can have no place if it has not the first place. If it be anything
it will be everything.--_Bridges._
The mistake of the principal thing is that which maketh the principle
disorder in man's heart. . . . But as that is light which showeth the
light unto us, so that is the principal thing which showeth the
principal thing unto us, even wisdom alone.--_Jermin._
I. _What_ we are to acquire. Both divine and human learning, which
differ as means do from the end. Were there no Divine learning, human
learning would lose great part of its value: limited to the present
life, it must terminate on the confines of the grave. And had we no
human learning, now that the days of inspiration have passed, we
should not be able to attain that which is divine. II. _How_ we are
to acquire it. We must be taught by those who were in the world
before us. Weeds and thistles only will be the spontaneous produce if
the ground is _not_ broken up and good seed sown. III. _Why_ we are
to acquire it. The pleasures of wisdom exceed all others--in kind,
degree, and duration.--_Bishop Horne._
The world's maxim, on the contrary, is--money is the principal thing;
therefore get money; and with all thy getting, get more.--_Fausset._
Amidst all thy other acquisitions acquire this, without which all
others will be useless and even hurtful.--_Menochius._
"With," rather "by means of" (see "Critical Notes"). We are to turn
all our gettings into the channel of more grace. We are to use all
our properties for growing wiser. We are to grind up all our corn
into the bread of spiritual nourishment.--_Miller._
Venture all for wisdom rather than miss it. 1. What we lose is
transitory, what we get is durable. A fee-simple is better than a
leaf. 2. What we lose is hollow and empty, what we get is full and
substantial. A sound timber tree is better than one hollow within,
though the latter make a bigger show. 3. What we lose is vain, what
we get is profitable. A piece of gold is better than a counter.
4. What we lose is often matter of danger, what we get is matter of
safety and security.--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 8. Of this recommendation of religion it is the more necessary
to fix our attention because it is often refused to it by men of the
world. Their notions of honour are apt to run in a very different
channel. . . . A distinction must be made between fame and honour.
The former is a loud and noisy applause; the latter a more silent and
internal homage. Fame floats on the breath of the multitude; honour
rests on the judgment of the thinking. Fame may give praise while it
withholds esteem; but honour implies esteem mingled with respect. The
one regards particular distinguished talents; the other looks up to
the whole character. It follows, therefore, that in order to discern
where man's true honour lies, we must look at the whole of what forms
a man. A mind superior to fear, to selfish interest, and corruption;
governed by this principle of uniform rectitude, the same in
prosperity as in adversity, such is the mind which forms the
distinction and eminence of men. And such a character is formed
solely by the influence of true religion. II. The honour which man
acquires by religion and virtue is independent and complete. It is
independent of anything foreign or external. Wherever fortune is
concerned it is the rank which commands our deference. Where some
shining quality attracts admiration, it is only to a part of the
character that we pay homage. But with goodness, it is the whole man
whom we respect. III. This honour is divine and immortal. It is
honour not only in the sight of man, but of God, whose judgment is
the standard of truth and right. It enters with man into a future
state; and continues to brighten through eternal ages.--_Blair._
Not only "get," "keep," and "love" her, but also "exalt her." We are
apt to think less of those things which we have, however precious,
after the novelty has worn off. Beware of this feeling in religion.
Religion richly repays in kind all that we can do to "embrace" her.
She exalts them who exalt her (Psa. xxx. 1), and gives them fresh
reason for exalting her (Psa. xxxvii. 34).--_Fausset._
Verse 9. She is the diadem which bindeth up the shattered thoughts of
man's understanding: she it is which covereth and succoureth the
broken cracks of man's invention: she it is which delivereth the
authority of sovereignty to the head, and maketh the head to be the
head, in bearing rule and commanding the inferior affections and
lusts of the heart and other members.--_Jermin._
Crowns were anciently given to many sorts of persons as tokens of
general favour and esteem. 1. To wise men and learned; to those who
excelled in the arts and sciences. Godly-wise men deserve them much
better. 2. To men famous for justice and other moral virtues; to good
lawmakers and judges. Godly-wise men excel in theological virtues,
which are far more excellent. 3. To conquerors. A wise man is a
conqueror over his passions and affections, which make other men, and
great ones too, very slaves. 4. To bridegrooms when they were
married. A wise man is married to Wisdom, the fairest bride in the
world. 5. To kings on their coronation day. So shall godly men be
crowned when they die. They know how to rule their own souls here,
and to direct others, and to get an eternal crown in Heaven. A beggar
being once asked what he was, answered: "I am a king!" "Where is thy
kingdom?" "It is in my soul. I can so rule my external and internal
senses that all the faculties of my soul are subject to me." And who
doubts that this kingdom is better than all the kingdoms of the
world?--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 11. He may boldly call to be heard who himself doth what he
teacheth. Christ placeth doing before teaching (Matt. viii. 19), for
good doing leading the way, though teaching doth not follow, yet good
works can, as clear as the light, teach those that look upon us. Paul
saith, "We have received grace and apostleship to the _obedience_ of
faith;" one would have thought he should have said rather to the
government and direction of faith, but he saith, _obedience_, because
examples do direct and govern better than words.--_Jermin._
The two branches which constitute the sum of parental
tuition--_instruction_ and _direction_--teaching truth and guiding to
duty. The one part relates to _knowledge,_ the other to _practice._
In all rightly conducted education, the two should never be
disjoined. To teach duty without truth is to teach action without
motive--virtue without its principle. To teach truth without duty is
to teach motive without the practice to which it should lead. They
are both partial, and, if kept asunder, both worthless.--_Wardlaw._
Verse 12. Having a good mixture of zeal and knowledge; so that thy
zeal doth quicken thy knowledge, and thy knowledge guide thy
zeal.--_Trapp._
The way of wisdom is indeed narrow, but in a narrow way there may be
large steps; for though our feet may be straightened from going
aside, yet they are not straightened from going on apace.--_Jermin._
As "goest" refers to the ordinary course, so "runnest" refers to
extraordinary undertakings, wherein the believer has to put forth
more than common energy.--_Fausset._
The word _straightened_ seems to express the case of one in difficulty
and perplexity--contradictory impulses and obstacles pressing and
hindering him on every side, perpetually producing embarrassment and
apprehension--hedging up the way, and hemming us in, and destroying
the freedom and comfort of advancement. Such is the case of a man who
walks according to a worldly and carnal policy. He is ever at a loss.
As circumstances are ever shifting, he is ever shifting his
principles and plans to suit them. But the "wisdom from above"
inspires a simplicity and a unity of principle by which a vast amount
of this painful and agitating perplexity is taken away.--_Wardlaw._
Verse 13. Often a ship's crew at sea are obliged suddenly to betake
themselves to their boats, or abandon the sinking ship. Such a case
was recently reported of an American whale-ship in the South Seas.
The huge leviathan of the deep, wounded by the art of man, ran out
the distance of a mile by way of getting a run-race, and thence came
up with incredible velocity against the devoted ship. She began to
fill. . . . The word was given. All hands went to work, and soon all
the seaworthy boats were loaded to the gunwale with the prime
necessaries of life. The deck was now nearly level with the water,
and the boats shoved off for safety. After they had pulled a hundred
yards away, two resolute men leaped from one of the boats into the
sea, and made towards the ship. They disappear down a hatchway. In a
minute they emerge again, bearing something in their hands. As they
leap into the water the ship goes down; the men are separated from
each other and their burden in the whirlpool that gathers over the
sinking hull. They do not seem to consult their own safety. They
remain in that dangerous eddy until they grasp again the object which
they had carried over the ship's side. Holding it fast, they are seen
at length bearing away to their comrades in the boat. What do these
strong swimmers carry, for they seem to value it more than life? It
is the compass! It had been left behind, and was remembered almost
too late. Now they have taken fast hold of it, and will not let it
go. Whatever they lose, they will at all hazards keep it, for "it is
their life." When shall we see souls, shipwrecked on the sea of time,
take and keep such hold of the truth as it is in Jesus?--_Arnot._
Fasten and do not let slack. One rough grapple is not enough. Wisdom
insidiously glides away if we give time to the arch deceiver. We are
like a child trying to wake: he grasps the apple that one gives, but
_slackens_ as drowsiness creeps back.--_Miller._
+I. Because many thieves lie in the way to rob us of what wisdom
teaches.+ 1. _The devil steals away the seed of the word_ (Matt.
xiii. 9). 2. _Wicked men also, by seducing us._ Sometimes by
persecuting us to make us forsake the truth (Matt. xiii. 21). 3. _The
world with its cares and profits seek to take this treasure from us_
(Matt. xiii. 22). The flesh presents many pleasures to us which drown
our wits. +II. Because we may lose wisdom ourselves by
negligence.+--_F. Taylor._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-19.
CONTRASTED PATHS AND OPPOSITE CHARACTERS.
+I. The just man's path.+ 1. It is a _pre-ordained_ one. The path
which the sun takes through the heavens, the path in which our earth
encircles the sun, are the paths which God has pre-ordained for them.
They are the only paths which they could take and preserve the
harmony of the system to which they belong. They are the orbits which
are exactly adapted to the fulfilment of the end for which God
created them. So the path--the manner of life--of the godly man is
the path in which God intended man to walk when He created him. He
called him into being in order that he might "walk before Him and be
perfect" (Gen. xvii. 1). "The highway of holiness" is the
God-ordained path of man, the old way which was trodden by His
creatures for ages before man had any existence. 2. It is a
_blessing-dispensing_ path. The sun, by keeping God's pre-ordained
path, is a blessing to the world. Its rays possess a quickening power
which develops the hidden life of the plant, and so clothes the earth
with beauty and fruitfulness. Without its heat and light our globe
would be a great Sahara--a vast wilderness of black barrenness. It
likewise brings into operation a sense in man which would otherwise
be dormant. The light of the body is the eye, but where would sight
be without sun? Creatures who have lived for years in darkness appear
to lose the power of sight, even if light shines upon their
eye-balls. The constant contact of the eye with light keeps alive the
power of vision. So with the just man's path. Without the godly this
world would be a moral wilderness. All the beauty of goodness there
is in it comes from the life of the children of wisdom. "They that
dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn
and grow as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of
Lebanon" (Hosea xiv. 7). And He keeps alive the inner eye of man--the
conscience. It, too, needs external light to play upon it to keep it
alive. And the holy walk of the godly does this for the ungodly, it
prevents the conscience from being utterly stifled by sin. 3. It is a
_progressive_ path. It shines more and more. The light of dawn has
glories all its own, but it is not strong enough to do the work of
the noon-day rays, its heat is not able to penetrate beneath the
surface of the earth and wake up the life out of the seed-corn hidden
there; its brightness touches the mountain-tops, but does not scatter
the shadows in the valleys. But when the sun reaches its meridian
"there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." So with the children of
wisdom. When they first set out upon their journey their godliness is
not so manifest to others, nor does it yield so much comfort to
themselves as when they have trodden the path for years. But it must,
from a necessity of nature, go on unto perfection. "Just men will be
made perfect" (Heb. xii. 3). "They go from strength to strength"
(Psa. lxxxiv. 7). They come "to the perfect day."
+II. The wicked man's way.+ It is in every point the converse of that
which has just been sketched. 1. _It is his own way_ (chap. i. 31):
_not God's way, not the way in which he was destined to walk_. It is
an _old_ way (Job. xxii. 15), but not the _oldest_ way; it is a path
cast up by the will of man and pre-Adamite sinners. 2. _It is a way
of darkness, because it is a way of blindness._ Blindness puts a man
in the dark, and, being in the dark, he has only the experience that
springs from darkness. Wickedness puts out the eyes of the soul, and,
like a blind Samson, it sits in darkness and the shadow of death. A
state of blindness is a state of _ignorance_. A blind man cannot
avoid objects that come in his way, and when he falls in consequence,
he knows not the object that caused him to fall. So the wise man here
describes the ungodly as one "who knows not at what he stumbles"
(verse 19). He has no realisation of the real character of his
tempters, no insight into the sinfulness of sin; the lack of a
guiding principle turns his walk into a series of stumblings. It
follows of necessity that such a path is one of _danger_. It is more
dangerous to walk in the night than in the day. The footpad or the
highwayman can hide himself from our view in the darkness, and come
upon us unawares. We may fall over the precipice at night that we
could easily avoid in the day. So it is in a course of sin. A man who
shuts his eyes to the light within him, and rejects the light which
is to "lighten every man" (John i. 9), will, unawares, be overtaken
by retribution, and fall into depths of remorse upon which he little
counts. 3. _Like the path of the just, it is a progressive path._ No
man stands still in it. The darkness thickens as the blindness
increases, and the blindness grows the longer men refuse to "come to
the light" (John iii. 20). Men do not at once come to the height or
descend to the depth of iniquity described in verse 16, when, unless
they have done some iniquitous act, they feel that they have lost a
day. The merchant may feel he has lost a day when he has failed to
make a good bargain; the scholar feels it when he has not added to
his stock of knowledge; the heathen emperor reckoned a day lost when
he had not benefited some one; but for a man not to sleep except he
has done a mischief, surely expresses as "perfect a night" as it is
possible for human nature to attain to. Surely he then proves himself
to be a child of him whose business it is to "go about seeking whom
he may devour" (2 Pet. v. 8). 4. _It is a path which is destructive
to others._ As the good man, by walking in God's path, blesses his
fellow-creatures as well as himself, so the wicked man, in his path
of darkness, is a curse to others as well as himself. The force of
evil example alone is pernicious to all who surround him, but
although he may begin in this negative way, he soon advances to
positive acts of sin, until he lives upon the misery of others. It
becomes his meat and drink to drag others to destruction with him,
or, failing that, to do them as much injury as he can (verses 16 and
17).
+III. The means of escape from this path of darkness and ruin.+
"Enter it not," and, to make sure of not entering it, give it a wide
berth--"pass not by it, turn away" (verses 14, 15). When we see those
whom we love in danger, we multiply words of warning, and are not
careful to avoid repeating words which may have little or no
difference in their meaning. So Solomon's anxiety shows itself here
in the repetition of his exhortations. But there is some gradation
observed in them. 1. _We are not to enter the paths, not even to set
one foot upon the forbidden way._ Men may be tempted to venture a
step or two just to take a glance, and intend to turn back as soon as
they have done so, but it is enchanted ground, and it is more than
likely if they are once upon the track they will go further than they
at first intended. But if they do not _enter_ it, they cannot _walk_
in it. 2. _If you have already entered, do not persevere another
moment, turn from it at once._ If the captain of a ship becomes all
at once aware that he is steering his vessel upon the rocks, he puts
about at once. The next best thing to not going wrong at all is to
turn back--in Bible language, to repent, to put the face in the
opposite direction, to turn the whole man back to the opposite goal.
3. _In order to escape the danger of entering at all, or of
re-entrance after having once forsaken it, avoid its very
neighbourhood, pass not by it, go not in the way of temptation._ If a
youth has been induced to gamble, and has resolved to give up the
habit, let him not go near the gambling house--let him give up all
intercourse with gamblers; if he has been once under the fatal
influence of strong drink, he must taste it no more--not even "_look
upon_ the wine when it is red" (ch. xxiii. 31). He must "flee
youthful lusts" and the most certain method of doing this is to
strike out another course--to "follow after righteousness" (1 Tim.
vi. 11, 12), to get well into the way of wisdom, to know from
experience the blessedness of the path of the just. Men must have a
"way" in life, there is no neutral ground; or if some men seem for a
time to be living in the border-land, a time will come when they must
declare for one side or the other.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 14. We must all "enter" somewhere. We are all travelling. We
all necessarily follow something. Don't take the path of the wicked
for it. That is the doctrine.--_Miller._
Sin is like a whirlpool. He who once ventures within the circle of
its eddying waters in the self-sufficient assurance that he may go a
certain length, and then turn at his pleasure and stem the current
back, may feel the fancied strength of the sinews of his moral
resolution but weakness in the moment of need, and may--nay, almost
certainly will--be borne on further and further, till, all power of
resistance failing, he is carried round and round with increasing
celerity, and sucked into the central gulf of irrecoverable
perdition.--_Wardlaw._
Jortin, in his remarks upon Ecclesiastical History, relates the story
of a colloquy between a Father of the second century and an evil
spirit in a Christian, whom he sought to expel. Upon inquiring how he
dared be so impudent as to enter a Christian, the evil spirit
replied, "I went not to church after him, but he came to the
playhouse after me, and, finding him upon my own ground, I sought to
secure him for myself." Whatever becomes of the story, the moral of
it deserves attention.--_Leifchild._
We pray to be kept from temptation, and our practice ought not to
contradict our prayers; otherwise, it is evident that we mock God by
asking from Him what we do not wish to have.--_Lawson._
Verse 15. This triple gradation of Solomon showeth, with a great
emphasis, how necessary it is to flee from all appearance of
sin. . . . Entireness (_friendship_) with wicked consorts is one of
the strongest chains of hell, and binds me to a participation of both
sin and punishment.--_Brooks._
Come not near. 1. Because our corruption is so great that, if we come
near it, we will both smell it with delight and smell of it.
2. Because wicked men stand upon the edge of their way to draw others
into it, as thieves watch for their prey. 3. We may stumble into that
way ourselves, if we be not pulled into it by others. He that walks
on the brink of a river may fall in. There is but a narrow bridge
between lawful and unlawful. And that which is lawful to-day may, by
a circumstance, be made unlawful to-morrow.--_Francis Taylor._
It would not be complaisance, but cowardice--it would be a sinful
softness which allowed affinity in taste to imperil your faith or
your virtue. It would be the same sort of courtesy which, in the
equatorial forest, for the wake of its beautiful leaf, lets the
liana, with its strangling arms, run up the plantain or orange, and
pays the forfeit in blasted boughs and total ruin. It would be the
same sort of courtesy which, for fear of appearing rude or
inhospitable, took into dock the infected vessel, or welcomed, not as
a patient, but as a guest, the plague-stricken stranger.--_Jas.
Hamilton._
Verses 16 and 17. The devil, their taskmaster, will not allow them
time to sleep, which is very hard bondage.--_Trapp._
The character of the wicked is here drawn in their father's
image--first sinners; then tempters. . . . Judas with his midnight
torches (John xviii. 3); the early morning assembly of the Jewish
rulers (Luke xxii. 66); the frenzied vow of the enemies of Paul (Acts
xxiii. 12); and many a plot in after ages against the Church--all
vividly pourtray this unwearied wickedness.--_Bridges._
The fearful stage of debasement when the tendency to sin is like the
craving for stimulants, as a condition without which there can be no
repose.--_Plumptre._
The trouble of others is the rest of the wicked.--_Jermin._
Just as bread forms the flesh, and makes it grow, according as it is
eaten, so wickedness is the food of the spirit. "My meat is," says
Christ, "to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work"
(John iv. 34). "Thy words were found, and I did eat them" (Jer.
xv. 16). So in chap. i. 31. "Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of
their own way"--the meaning being, that a man's way, spiritually
considered, is all that forms him. He feeds upon it. If it is
righteous, it nourishes him in life. If it is wicked, it nourishes
him in death. He feeds on food of wickedness, and grows exactly in
proportion as he sins. His very life is in its very self a deadly
self-banqueting.--_Miller._
They sin, not of frailty, but of malice; not by occasion, as it were,
but by an insatiable desire of committing wickedness.--_Muffet._
Verse 18. He sets forth betime in the morning and travels to meet the
day.
The sun is an emblem, not of the just, but of the Justifier. Christ
alone is the light of the world. The just are those whom the Sun of
Righteousness shines upon. . . . When any portion of the earth's
surface begins to experience a dawn diminishing its darkness, it is
because that portion is gradually turning round towards the sun, the
centre of light fixed in the heavens. When any part of the earth lies
away from the sun, and in proportion to the measure of its aversion,
it is dark and cold, in proportion as it turns to him again its
atmosphere grows clearer, until in its gradual progress it comes in
sight of the sun, and its day is perfect then. So is the path of the
just. Day is not perfect here in the believer's heart . . . but the
machinery of the everlasting covenant is meantime going softly and
silently as the motion of the spheres; and they that are Christ's
here, whatever clouds dim their present prospect, are wearing every
moment farther from the night, and nearer to the day.--_Arnot._
There is a day to be which shall be a day indeed, without cloud,
without night, without morning, without evening. Unto this day
leadeth the path of the righteous, and which going on, shineth more
and more, until at last when it seemeth to go out, it shall be
received into that light which never goeth out.--_Jermin._
Light is emblematical of _knowledge, holiness_, and _joy._ The three
bear invariable proportion to each other--holiness springing from
knowledge, and joy from both. . . . "The entrance of God's word gives
light." But the entrance of this light into the mind is often, like
the early dawn, feeble, glimmering, uncertain. . . . But it does not
abide so. . . . He who is enlightened from above is eager for more of
the blessed light. He thirsts for knowledge, and is on the alert to
obtain it. . . . With growth in knowledge there is growth in
holiness. At the first dawn of spiritual light some faint desires are
felt after God and sanctity. These progressively increase, and they
show their influence in the increase of practical godliness. . . .
And joy is the natural attendant of spiritual illumination and inward
sanctity. It, too, is progressive. Like the sun in every stage of his
diurnal course, it may be overcast by occasional clouds. But as the
sun appears the brighter on his emerging from the cloudy veil, so the
trials of the just serve to give lustre to their virtues.--_Wardlaw._
Verse 19. It is interesting to note the resemblance between these
words and those of our Lord (John xi. 10; xii. 35).--_Plumptre._
Strange enough: it is a confessed darkness. There is a sort of common
light that tells a man that impenitence is darkness. And yet it does
not teach him better. Like mere physical light at times, some
chemical ray is absent. The darkness that remains is a darkness that
may be felt. It constitutes our eternal chains (2 Pet. ii. 4); it
binds a man on the car of ruin. And like a Christian, who, in his
partial light, may fail to know what is blessing him, so the sinner
in his absolute darkness, takes industry for virtue, and family love
for wholesome righteousness; and does not know the incidents of life
that are stumbling blocks to eternal ruin.--_Miller._
Sinners are in such darkness that they are insensible to the objects
that are leading them to ruin, thus they stumble--1. At the great
deceiver. 2. At one another. 3. At Divine Providence. 4. At their
common employments. 5. At the nature and tendency of their religious
performances. 6. At the preaching they hear. 7. At the blindness of
their hearts.--_Emmons, from Lange's Commentary._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-27.
THE PATH OF SAFETY.
_For Homiletics on Verses_ 20-22, _see chap._ ii. 1-5, _etc._
Verses 23-27. +I. A man's most precious and real possession.+ "Thy
heart." The heart here, and in other parts of Holy Scripture, is that
part of a man for which the Bible exists, that in man to which the
revelation of God appeals, that which places a great gulf between him
and all other creatures in the world, that which links him to the
angels of God, that which entails upon him responsibilities and
endows him with capabilities which will last throughout all the ages
to come. It is that spiritual nature which our Lord calls a man's
"own soul" (Matt. xvi. 26), which Paul speaks of as the "inner man"
(Ephes. iii. 16).
+II. The need of "keeping," or "guarding" the heart.+ There are
elements of evil as well as good in it. In any kingdom where there
are bad subjects as well as good, there must be a watch kept over
those out of whom submission to law is not to be got voluntarily.
They must be guarded lest they get the upper hand and overpower and
tyrannise over the peace-loving obedient citizens. In every human
body there is some organ which is more prone to disease than others.
While some are strong and vigorous, others are more or less delicate;
therefore a man needs to exercise care over his body. So in the heart
of the child of wisdom there is an evil element as well as a good
one. "I see another law in my members," says Paul, "warring against
the law of my mind" (Rom. vii. 23). Every godly man has a tendency to
moral weakness, some opening in his spiritual armour, some weak part
in his moral constitution. Therefore it behoves him to keep guard
over, to watch vigilantly, the lawless, rebellious, or diseased
elements within him, lest sin have dominion, if only for a time,
where grace ought to rule.
+III. The importance of keeping the heart.+ "Out of it are the issues
of life." The physical heart of man is well defended by nature,
because it is the spring of our bodily life. From it, as from a well,
issues life-blood, which flows into every part of the body, and
without which a man ceases to live. The strong ribs and the inner
coverings of the heart which so well defend it show the necessity
there is that it should be free to do its work without let or
hindrance. "A sound heart is the life of the flesh," says Solomon
(chap. xiv. 30). If the heart is healthy, the benefit is felt to the
extremities of the body; if it is diseased, the whole physical frame
suffers. Out if _it_ are the issues of animal life. A man who has
charge of a well of water is bound to keep it covered and secured
against the entrance of anything that might poison or even defile it.
Upon its safe keeping depends, perhaps, not only the health of
himself and his household, but that of an entire district. It is a
centre of health if pure, of disease if impure. So upon the condition
of the inner man depends the character of the outward life. It is a
well-spring of life in the sense that it determines the character of
the life. The streams which issue from it are the actions of man,
actions repeated are habits, and habits form character; and character
influences other lives. What a man _is_ blesses or curses those
around him, and entails blessing or curse upon generations to come. A
good man in a neighbourhood is like a well of living water, he
diffuses and preserves moral health all around him.
+IV. The way to keep the heart.+--The vigilance of a sentinel is
manifested by his notice of the distant motion of the grass under
cover of which the enemy is creeping towards the citadel. He is ever
on the look-out for the distant enemy. The watchful general notes the
first symptom of mutiny in the army, and treads out the spark before
it becomes a flame. So the watchful heart-keeper takes notice of the
first movement of rebels within. The thoughts take their rise in the
soul under the eye of none but God and the keeper, and he must be on
the alert at the first motion. And as when the sentinel sees the
first movement of the enemy he never thinks of advancing to fight him
alone, but communicates with one who has the power to overthrow him,
so when a man becomes aware of the first motion of evil in his heart,
God must receive the information--He must be called upon to exercise
His power to disperse or take prisoners the thoughts before they can
become actions. Keeping of the heart includes a guarding of every
inlet of temptation, a watchfulness over the senses, and any organ of
the outward man which might lead us into temptation. Hence Solomon
exhorts his son to guard his _eyes_ and his _feet._ It has been
asserted by some that there is nothing in the mind which has not
first been in the senses; and though this is a disputed point, we are
quite sure that there is much in the heart, both of good and evil,
which entered by those gates. There are thoughts there which have
been kindled by what we have seen, as Achan's covetous desires were
created by the sight of the goodly spoils of Jericho. The eye of
David was the entrance-gate of the thought which ended in adultery
and murder. And the feet may lead us in forbidden paths--into the way
of temptation--into the society of those whose words, finding
entrance by the ear, may sow seeds of impurity within.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 20. Still he calls for attention. It fares with many of us as
with little children, who, though saying their lessons, must needs
look off to see the feather that flies by them.--_Trapp._
The former verse having spoken of hearing God's Word, this speaketh
of reading it. For the beginning of obedience is to be willing to
know what is commanded, and it is a part of performance to have
learned what is to be performed. . . . Let God's Word be in our
heart, it will be in the midst of it. For the heart hath no outside,
all is the midst there: the heart hath no outward show, all there is
inward truth.--_Jermin._
Verse 21. The terms of this verse may be compared, for illustration,
with those of Deut. vi. 6, 8: "And these words, which I command thee
this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt bind them for a
sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine
eyes." Amongst the Jews there was a sad propensity to take the latter
injunction _literally_ and _externally._ Hypocrites and formalists
satisfied themselves with having little scraps of the law written on
parchment, and worn as frontlets on the forehead. But this was a
delusion. The laws of God are never rightly "before the eyes" unless
they are "in the heart." The meaning of the former clause of the
verse is, that the commandments of God should be kept _constantly in
view_ as the guides of the whole conduct. And this will be the case
when they are kept "in the midst of the heart."--_Wardlaw._
Verse 22. Some medicines are good for one part of the body, some for
another. This is good for all the body, and all the
soul.--_Cartwright._
Verse 23. That thou mayest keep thy heart sincere, to use the
similitude of a castle, for so the heart is,--1. Repair and fortify
it diligently. Weak walls are soon broken down. Breaches give
occasion for an enemy to enter. Thou wilt find something to mend
every day in the understanding, or conscience, or memory, or will, or
affections, if not in all of them. 2. Victual this fort, else it
cannot hold out against a siege. Feed it with good meditations from
the creatures, and out of the Scriptures. Starved soldiers cannot
defend a fort. 3. Set up a regiment in thy soul. No fort can be kept
without government; soldiers, else, will rebel and betray the fort.
Commit that charge to a well-informed conscience; submit all
thoughts, and words, and deeds to it. 4. Get arms in it to keep out
enemies; to wit, God's prohibitions and threats in His Word. This is
the _sword of the Spirit_ (Ephes. vi. 17).--_Francis Taylor._
The man is as his heart is. The heart is the spring and fount of all
natural and spiritual actions, it is the _primum mobile,_ the great
wheel that sets all other wheels agoing; it is the great monarch in
the isle of man, therefore, keep it with all custody and caution, or
else bid farewell to all true joy, peace, and comfort. When the heart
stands right with Christ He will pardon much and pass by much. . . .
Therefore we should keep our heart as under lock and key, that they
may be always at hand when the Lord shall call for them. . . . The
word heart is here put comprehensively for the whole soul, with all
its powers, noble faculties, and endowments, together with their
several operations, all which are to be watched over. . . . It is a
duty incumbent upon every Christian to keep his own heart. Thou
mayest make another thy park-keeper, thy housekeeper, thy shopkeeper,
thy cash-keeper, but thou must be thy own heartkeeper. "With all
diligence." Some understand this of all kind of watchfulness. 1. As
men keep a prison. How vigilant are they in looking after their
prisoners. 2. As they keep a besieged garrison, or castle, in time of
war. A gracious heart is Christ's fort-royal. Against this fort Satan
will employ his utmost art, therefore it must have a strong guard.
3. As the Levites kept the sanctuary of God and all the holy things
committed to their charge (Ezek. xliv. 8-15). Our hearts are the
temples of the Holy Ghost, and therefore we should keep a guard about
them, that nothing may pass in or out that may be displeasing,
grieving, or provoking to Him. 4. As a man keeps his life. The same
word (_shamar_) is used in Job. x. in reference to life. With what
care, what diligence, do men labour to preserve their natural lives.
5. As men keep their treasures. There are few men who know how to
value their hearts as they should. It is that pearl of price for
which a man should lay down his all. 6. As spruce men and women do
their fine clothes. They won't endure a spot upon them. Let not
others be more careful to keep their outsides clean, than you are to
keep your insides clean.--_Brooks._
The fountains and wells of the East were watched over with special
care. A stone was rolled to the mouth of the well, so that "a spring
shut up, a fountain sealed," became the type of all that is most
jealously guarded (Song Sol. iv. 22). So it is here. The heart is
such a fountain--out of it flow "the issues of life." Shall we let
the stream be tainted at the fountain head?--_Plumptre._
Keep the heart. 1. Because it falls directly under the inspection of
God. Man can judge only by what is external, but "I, the Lord, search
the heart." 2. Because of the influence the heart has upon the life.
He that is concerned about making the tree good will probably make
the fruit so. 3. Care in keeping the heart is greatly to be regarded
for itself. Is there nothing pleasant, nothing honourable in being
masters at home--in being possessors of our own spirits? Is it
nothing that the peace of the kingdom is broken, even though the
constitution of it be not overthrown?--_Doddridge._
A heart purified by the grace of God, and firmly rooted in truth as
its ground, is the source and common fountain for the successful
development of all the main activities and functions of human life,
those belonging to the sphere of sense, as well as to the psychical
and spiritual realms, and this must more and more manifest itself as
such a centre of the personality, sending forth light and
life.--_Lange's Commentary._
Though to keep the heart be God's work, it is man's agency. Our
efforts are his instrumentality.--_Bridges._
All vital principles are lodged there, and only such as are good and
holy will give you pleasure. The exercises of religion will be
pleasing when they are natural, and flow easily out of their own
fountain.--_John Howe._
Although Solomon repeats himself, he always advances upon the
thought. There is always some characteristic novelty: and that
novelty is the hinge of the purpose, and imbeds its meaning in the
life of the passage. Here it is the function of the heart. It
circulates life. Give it good blood, and it will throw off disease;
give it bad blood, and it will produce disease. Give it health
enough, and it will throw off incipient mortification; give it no
health, and it will produce mortification. Solomon weaves this into
experimental godliness. . . . Guard the great central guard-post, and
no out-station will be cut off. If it be, for a time, the heart will
win it again.--_Miller._
Verse 24. While we speak, we should never forget that God is one of
the listeners. . . . Take the principle of Hagar's simple and sublime
confession, accommodated in thought to the case at hand "Thou, God,
_hearest_ me." If our words were all poured through that strainer,
how much purer and fewer they would be.--_Arnot._
It is true that vigilance over the heart is vigilance over the
tongue, inasmuch as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh. . . . There is no surer index of the state of the "inner
man." As is the conversation, so is the heart.--_Wardlaw._
While a fire is confined to one man's house, even if it burns that
house to its foundation, all other dwellings are unharmed; but when
it lays hold of surrounding buildings, all the city is endangered.
When an evil thought is confined to a man's own spirit, kept within
the limits of thinking or desiring, though it may char his own soul
with the blackness of perdition, the evil ends with himself. But when
he allows his thought to become words, he kindles a fire outside
himself which may go on burning even after he has forgotten it
himself.
Verse 25. Let them be fixed upon right objects. . . . Be well skilled
in Moses' optics (Heb. xi. 27). Do as mariners do that have their eye
on the star, their hand on the stern. A man may not look intently
upon that he may not love.--_Trapp._
Like one ploughing, who must not look back.--_Cartwright._
Had Eve done so she would have looked at the command of God, not at
the forbidden tree. Had Lot's wife looked straight before her instead
of behind her, she would, like her husband, have been a monument of
mercy. . . . In asking the way to Zion, be sure that your _faces are
thitherward_ (Jer. i. 5). The pleasures of sin and the seductions of
the world do not lie in the road. They belong to the bye-paths. They
would not, therefore, meet the eye looking right on.--_Bridges._
Verse 26. Lift not up one foot till you find firm footing for
another, as those in Psa. xxxv. 6. The way of this world is like the
vale of Siddim, slimy and slippery.--_Trapp._
The habit of calm and serious thinking makes the difference between
one man and another.--_Dr. Abercrombie._
The feet of the soul are generally understood to be the affections.
And surely we have need to ponder the path of them before we give
away to them. St. Bernard maketh the two feet to be nature and
custom, for, indeed, by them we are much carried, and great need we
have to ponder the path of them, so that they do not lead us
amiss.--_Jermin._
The best time to ponder any path is not at the end, not even in the
middle, but at the beginning of it.--_Arnot._
Verse 27. It is as if the royal way was hemmed in by the sea, and a
fall over either side were danger of drowning. Some are too greedy;
others ascetic. Some are too bold; others too diffident. Some neglect
the one Mediator; others seek more mediators than one. Some flee the
cross; others make one. Some tamper with Popery; others, from dread
of it, hazard the loss of valuable truth.--_Cartwright._
* * * * * *