The "wealth of the rich," even in this world, is their great capital.

The "destruction of the poor" is the helplessness, and

friendlessness, and creditlessness, and lack of instruments incident

to "poverty." In the spiritual world the distinction is entire. The

rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, and both by inviolable

laws. All works for good for one, and all for evil for the other. The

last Proverb explained it. Wisdom, by its very nature, grows, and so

does folly. All other interests vibrate: sometimes worse, and

sometimes better. But Wisdom, like the God that chose it, has no

"shadow of turning." If it begins in the soul it grows for ever. If

it does not begin it grows more distant. There is never rest. Wealth

in the spiritual world, by the very covenant, must continually heap

up; and poverty, by the very necessities of justice, must increase

its helplessness.--_Miller._

Naturally the author is here thinking of wealth well earned by

practical wisdom, and this is at the same time a means in the further

effort of Wisdom; and, again, of a deserved poverty, which, always

causes one to sink deeper in folly and moral need. Compare the verse

following.--_Lange's Commentary._

Surely this should humble us, that riches,--that should be our rises

to raise us up to God, or glasses to see the love of God in--our

corrupt nature useth them as clouds, as clogs, etc., yea, sets them

up in God's place, and saith to the fine gold, "Thou art my

confidence" (Job xxxi. 24). _The destruction of the poor is their

poverty._ They are devoured by the richer cannibals (Psa. xiv. 4), as

the lesser fish are by the greater. Men go over the hedge where it is

lowest. "Poor" and "afflicted" are joined together (Zeph. iii. 12).

So are "to want" and "to be abased" (Phil. iv. 12).--_Trapp._

Here he is describing what is, rather than prescribing what ought to

be. The verse acknowledges and proclaims a prominent feature in the

condition of the world. It is not a command from the law of God, but

a fact from the history of men. In all ages and in all lands money

has been a mighty power, and its relative importance increases with

the advance of civilisation. Money is one of the principal

instruments by which the affairs of the world are turned, and the man

who holds that instrument in his grasp can make himself felt in his

age and neighbourhood. It does not reach the Divine purpose, but it

controls human action. It is constrained to become God's servant, but

it makes itself the master of man.--_Arnot._

The rich man often goes about his Sion, or rather his Jericho, and

views the walls thereof; he marketh the bulwarks, and telleth the

towers of it. He looks upon his wealth, he marks his bags, he tells

his moneys, and therein is his confidence; thereby he thinketh to

outstand any siege or assault, and, placing his security on it,

dareth to oppose his strength to any right or reason; whereas God

with a blast of ram's horns is quickly able to throw down all his

might and his greatness.--_Jermin._

Verse 16. The labour of the righteous tendeth to life or "serves as

life." 1. Because it is a good thing in itself. 2. Because it

procures good, each stroke earning its pay. 3. Because it increased,

and that on for ever, making us holier and happier, and making other

holier and happier through the endless ages. It "_serves_"

pre-eminently "_as life_," therefore, literally, "_is for life._" But

the fruit, or "_gains of the wicked_" (and we must not fail to note

the crescendo in the second clause, "The _labour_ of a righteous

man"--"the _gains_ of a wicked man"; the righteous still toiling, the

wicked having made his harvest,) serve to sin or "_as a

sin-offering._" That is, they are all demanded by justice, and are

all consumed by the expiation of his sins. Pious acts are a life.

Wicked gains go to swell what our great creditor seizes.--_Miller._

Labour, not idleness, is the stamp of a servant of God; thus cheered

by the glowing confidence, that it tendeth to life (John vi. 27).

"Occupy till I come"--"Do all to the glory of God" (Luke xix. 13;

1 Cor. x. 31)--this is the standard. Thus the duties even of our

daily calling tend to life. God works in us, by us, with us, through

us. We work _in_ and _through_ Him. Our _labour,_ therefore, is His

work--wrought in dependence on Him; not _for_ life, but _to_ life

(Rom. viii. 13; 1 Cor. xv. 10; Phil. ii. 12, 13).--_Bridges._

The words are fitly chosen: "labour" in honest industry is the

righteous man's ordinary way of living. "Revenue" (fruit) not gained

by honest labour is frequently the wicked man's

livelihood.--_Fausset._

It is not directly said, as the previous clause might lead us to

expect, that the "fruit" of the wicked tendeth to "death," but to

"sin." This, by the wise man, is considered as the same thing. It

"tendeth to sin," and, consequently, to _death_. Thus it is said,

"When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is

finished, bringeth forth death" (Jas. i. 15). Between the two there

is an intimate and inseparable connection.--_Wardlaw._

The righteous are laborious, as knowing that to be the end of their

life. For themselves they labour, to lead their lives with comfort

here, to get the life of glory hereafter. For others they labour, to

supply the wants of their disconsolate life on earth, and to help

them forward to the blessed life of heaven. Wherefore St. Bernard

saith well, "When we read that Adam in the beginning was set in a

place of pleasure to work in it, what man of sound understanding can

think that his children should be set in a place of affliction for to

play in it."--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.

THE INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE.

We take here the rendering of all recent commentators as given in the

Critical Notes, and understand the verse to set forth the truth that

"no man liveth to himself." His character is reproduced in others.

+I. A good man is a way, because he is the means to an end.+ The way

to the city is the road by which we reach it. The life of a holy man

is a way to spiritual and eternal life, because it is the means by

which men come home to God. If there were no good men in the world,

there would be no means by which sinners could be brought from death

unto life. Christ is pre-eminently "_the way,_" because His life is

the great means by which men learn to know and to return to God. "No

man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John xiv. 6). The longer a

path is trodden the more distinctly it proclaims itself as a way. So

a good man becomes a more evident way the longer he lives. A good

life is so distinct in its teachings that both sage and savage are

compelled to admit its influence, and the longer it exerts its power

for good the more pronounced it becomes. The Son of God has for ages

been the way to life, and the longer He continues to be so the more

distinctly is He seen to be the means to this end.

+II. The conditions to be fulfilled in order to become a way of

life.+ 1. _The man must keep instruction._ It is not enough to

_receive_ it. The Word of God must not only be _heard,_ but must be

_kept._ "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John

xiii. 17). 2. _He must submit to discipline even when it takes the

form of reproof._ This is implied in the last clause of the verse,

"He that refuseth reproof causes to err." The man who has attained a

position in any profession, and has thereby become qualified to lead

others, has done so because he has submitted to discipline even when

it has been in the unpalatable form of reproof. Such a man can well

exhort others to submit to that by which he has become fit to be

their guide. Even the Son of God "_learned obedience_ by the things

which He suffered" (Heb. v. 8).

+III. An ungodly man injures others as well as himself.+ He not only

wanders from the path himself, but he "causeth (others) to err." We

often hear it said of a godless man--of one "who refuseth

reproof"--that "he is nobody's enemy but his own." This cannot be. It

has been truly said that "nothing leaves us wholly as it found us.

Every man we meet, every book we read, every picture or landscape we

see, every word or tone we hear, mingles with our being and modifies

it." This being so, every man makes every man with whom he comes in

contact better or worse, and as every good man draws others into the

path of life, so every man who refuses to submit to Divine discipline

drags others with him in the broad road that leads to destruction.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

St. Basil, answering the question, "With what mind anyone ought to

receive the instructions of reproof administered unto him," giveth

this answer, "With the same mind that befitteth him who, being sick

of some disease and troubled for the preserving of life, receiveth a

medicine, namely, with the greatest desire of recovering his health."

For there is a way of life though a man be not _sick_ but _dead_ unto

sin. And the hand that putteth into this way is instruction, and that

which must keep us in the way is the keeping of instruction: for he

that refuseth reproof erreth, erreth in refusing, erreth more by

refusing.--_Jermin._

This is the idea of other verses (11-13): that a man going to heaven

blazes a path for others. He _is_ a way. Others travel upon him in

his prayers and in his example.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 18.

THREE DEGREES OF MORAL FOOLISHNESS.

+I. A liar.+ 1. _A liar is a fool because he fights for a weak

cause._ When a case can only be made out by lying it is manifestly a

bad one. A man who will strive to uphold such a cause reveals his

folly. 2. _Because he makes use of a weak weapon._ Among tribes

ignorant of the methods of civilized warfare we find weapons which

are little better than slim rods, and, although their points are

sharp and poisoned, yet they proclaim their weakness when they come

into collision with an experienced swordsman. Lying is such a weapon,

and its use reveals the utter folly of him who wields it. It can no

more stand against truth than the wooden spear of a savage can turn

aside the thrust of a Damascus blade. 3. _Because by lying he

degrades his moral character._ The serpent lost his upright position

by being linked with lying, instead of going erect, God passed upon

him the sentence--"Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou

eat all the days of thy life" (Gen. iii. 14). The liar finds that

this is his doom. He can no longer hold up his head like an honest

man among his fellow-men, he must henceforth crawl and wind his way

through the world, and eat the dust of ignominy and scorn. Men turn

from a liar as they do from a serpent. It is assuredly the height of

folly for a man thus to throw away that which alone makes him worthy

to be called a man.

+II. A liar who conceals hatred by lying.+ This man displays a higher

degree of iniquity and folly. There are those who lie simply to serve

their own purposes and have no dislike to the person whom they

deceive. There is often much lying when there is no special malice.

But when lying is used to conceal hatred--which is murder (1 John

iii. 15)--there is a double folly because there is a double sin. The

lying of the "father of lies" is simply a blind to conceal his

intense hatred of the human race, and this makes him the greater

sinner.

+III. A liar who utters slander.+ When malice finds vent in lying

slander we have an exhibition of greater iniquity and therefore of

greater folly. It is bad to be a liar, it is worse to conceal hatred

by lying, but it is worse to let the hatred of the heart break forth

into false accusations of the innocent. The tree that is most richly

laden with the ripest fruit is the one upon which the birds will

congregate. We never find them passing by such booty to peck at green

fruit. The pirates lay in wait for vessels with a rich cargo, empty

vessels pass by unmolested and secure from attack. So it is always

the best men who attract slanderers, men of little or no moral worth

are not considered foemen worthy of their steel. God declared Job to

be the best man in all the earth, "perfect and upright, one who

feared Him, and eschewed evil" (Job i. 8). And it was because he

stood thus pre-eminent that the tongue of the great slanderer was

used against him; being from the beginning a liar and a murderer of

character he gave one of the most complete exhibitions of his real

nature when he pointed his lying hatred against the best man of his

day. The Holy One of God did not escape the tongue of the slanderer.

He was a "man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber" (Matt. xi. 19), "one

that perverteth the people" (Luke xxiii. 14). When "He bore our

griefs and carried our sorrows" He was esteemed "smitten of God and

afflicted" (Isaiah liii. 4). All lying and malice, whether concealed

or manifested, becomes the most palpable folly when looked at in the

light of the "coming of the Lord, who both will bring to light the

hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the

hearts" (1 Cor. iv. 5).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

If we desire the credit of wisdom let us use better means to obtain

it than artificial disgracings of our brethren, for that cometh not

from above; it is no gift of God; it is sensual, carnal, and

devilish. Do not hearken to the reports of such wicked persons as

seek to defame others and detract from their good name; they are but

foolish and base pedlars that utter such infectious wares, and

therefore they cannot be wise chapmen that traffic with them and

receive them at their hands. Here is consolation for them that are

molested and vexed unjustly for the Gospel's sake by clamorous and

false accusers; let them consider what account God maketh of their

malicious adversaries; He calls them fools and derideth their

practices, and, therefore, in the end it shall be seen that when they

have spat all their venom they have but shot a fool's bolt and

procured shame and sorrow to themselves.--_Dod._

+The folly of slander.+ 1. _If this practice be proved extremely

sinful it will thence be demonstrated no less foolish._ And it is

indeed plainly the blackest and most hellish sin that can be; that

which giveth the grand fiend his name, and most expresseth his

nature. He is the _slanderer,_ _Satan,_ or _dragon_ spitting forth

the venom of calumnious accusation, the _accuser of the brethren,_

_the father of lies,_ the great defamer of God to man, of man to God,

of one man to another. And highly wicked that practice must be

whereby we grow namesakes to him. 2. _The slanderer is plainly a fool

because he makes wrong judgments and valuations of things,_ and

accordingly driveth on silly bargains for himself, in result whereof

he proveth a great loser. He means by his calumnious stories either

to vent some passion boiling within him, or to compass some design

which he affecteth, or to please some humour that he is possessed

with; but is any of these things worth purchasing at so dear a rate?

Can there be any valuable exchange for our honesty? Can anything in

the world be so considerable that for its sake we should defile our

souls? 3. _Because he uses improper means and preposterous methods of

effecting his purposes._ As there is no design worth the carrying on

by ways of falsehood and iniquity, so there is scarce any (no good

and lawful one at least) which may not more surely, more safely, more

cleverly be achieved by means of truth and justice. . . . He that is

observed to practise falsehood will be declined by some, opposed by

others, disliked by all. 4. _The slanderer is a fool, as bringing

many great inconveniences and troubles upon himself._ (1.) By no

means can a man inflame so fierce anger, impress so stiff hatred,

raise so deadly enmity against himself, and consequently so endanger

his safety, ease, and welfare as by this practice. Men will rather

pardon a robber of their goods than of their good name. (2.) And he

is not only odious to the person immediately concerned, but generally

to all men who observe his practice; every man presently will be

sensible how easily it may be his own case to be thus abused. (3.) He

also derogateth wholly from his own credit, for he that dareth thus

to injure his neighbour, who can trust him in anything that he

speaks? (4.) This practice is perpetually haunted with most

troublesome companions, inward regret, and self-condemnation.

(5.) The consequence of this practice is commonly shameful disgrace,

with an obligation to retract and to render satisfaction; for seldom

doth calumny pass long without being detected and confuted. (6.) The

slanderer doth banish himself from heaven and happiness. For, if none

that "maketh a lie" (Rev. xxii. 15) shall enter the heavenly city,

assuredly the capital liar, the _slanderer,_ shall be far excluded

from felicity. All these things being considered, we may, I think,

reasonably conclude it most evidently true that "he who uttereth

slander is a fool."--_Barrow._

Better. _He who hideth hatred is of lying lips._ The alternative is

offered with a delicate touch of irony. He who cherishes hatred must

choose between being a knave or a fool--a knave if he hides, a fool

if he utters it.--_Plumptre._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 19-21.

SPEECH AND SILENCE.

+I. The wisdom of not always using the tongue when we might.+ "He

that refraineth his lips is wise." The reputation of a good man may

be much injured by even speaking the truth at certain times and to

certain persons. The silence of a man who can speak wisely and

eloquently is a revelation of self-control, and often adds more to

the dignity of his character than words can. The Son of God "opened

not His mouth" before His false accusers, and thus revealed His power

of self-control--His moral majesty. That He could be silent in such

circumstances is a manifestation of the deep ocean of conscious

innocence within Him, and is an unparalleled exposition of His own

precept, "In patience possess ye your souls." 1. _Silence is wisdom

when we feel that speech would be useless to convince._ When we feel

that a foregone conclusion has been arrived at which no argument or

appeal could shake. This has been the case in the history of the

confessors and martyrs of the Church in all ages, and was

pre-eminently so when the Lord Jesus Christ stood to be tried before

men who had determined to murder Him. 2. _Silence is sometimes more

convincing than speech._ Men are often more impressed by acts than by

words, by a spirit of forbearance than by a passionate vindication of

our rights. 3. _Silence does not necessarily imply acquiescence._ The

Eternal Himself is sometimes silent from displeasure. "These things

hast thou done and I kept silence" (Psalm lv. 21).

+II. The blessing of using the tongue when we ought.+ "The tongue of

the just is as choice silver." The lips of the righteous feed many

because they supply a need. Man needs a medium by which to express

the value of his labour or his merchandise, and silver supplies this

want. And he likewise needs a medium by which to express his

thoughts, and speech is this medium. But unless it is the speech of a

_just_ man it will be a curse and not a blessing. It must convey

_good thinking_ if it is to be as choice silver to a needy man. The

prisoner who stands at the bar charged with a crime of which he is

innocent feels that the tongue of the man who pleads his cause is

more precious to him than much silver. To the man who is seeking

after God, the tongue of one who can tell him "words whereby he shall

be saved" is as choice silver (Acts xi. 14). The words of Peter were

so esteemed by Cornelius. The heart of the Ethiopian eunuch was more

rejoiced by the preaching of Philip the Evangelist than it would have

been by the possession of the treasure of his mistress (Acts

viii. 26-39). The words of Him who was "the Just One" (Acts iii. 14)

are and ever will be "a strength to the needy in his distress" (Isa.

xxv. 4); more precious to those who are conscious of their

soul-poverty "than thousands of gold and silver" (Psalm cxix. 72);

and it is in proportion as men are like Him in character and

disposition that their speech will bless the world.

+III. The sin of using the tongue too much.+ The shell and the kernel

of the fruit were intended by God to grow together; the latter cannot

grow to perfection without the former, yet the shell only exists for

the kernel. The soul and body are ordained to grow together; the body

only exists for the soul, yet the soul can only manifest itself

through the medium of the body. But the body without the soul is

worthless. Man's thought and word were intended by God to act

together; thoughts are useless without speech in which to clothe

them; words without thoughts have no reason for existence, they are

shells without kernels, bodies without souls, and their use is a sin

against God's ordained method. Where there is a "multitude of words"

there is not much thought, and therefore there is sin.--1. _Against a

man's self_, because "every idle word that men shall speak they shall

give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matt. xii. 36).

2. _Against society_, because the man utters sounds which contain

nothing to benefit. God has ordained thought to feed the soul as He

has ordained bread to feed the body. Where there are words men have a

right to expect thoughts upon which to feed, as they have a right to

look for the kernel within the shell. When they get the first without

the last they are robbed of what is their due.

+IV. The origin of idle and worthless talking.+ "The heart of the

wicked is little worth." "Fools die for want of wisdom." Where there

is no moral wisdom there can be no real worth; no thoughts can be

generated in the heart that is not under the influence of Divine

teaching that will supply the needs of needy men. As is the fountain

so must be the stream. "The tree is known by its fruit. O, generation

of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the

abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 33-34).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 19. A man of inordinate talk runs inordinate risk. He must be a

God that can talk all the time and never trespass. And, therefore, as

blunders "come home to roost," he is a _prosperous_ man who reduces

the volume of his speech.--_Miller._

The fool talks for ever upon nothing, not because he is full, but

because he is empty; not for instruction, but for the pure love of

talking. . . . The sphere of social intercourse that stimulates the

conversational powers at the same time teaches the wholesome

discipline of the tongue--that beautiful accomplishment of silence

which, however, alike with its opposite grace, derives its chief

loveliness as the fruit of Christian humility and kindness. The

_wisdom_ is especially valuable under provocation (1 Sam. x. 27;

2 Kings xviii. 36). And even in the unbending of innocent recreation

the discipline of godly sobriety is of great moment. The sins of this

"little member" are not trifles.--_Bridges._

"Refraineth" as with a bridle, for we must by force bridle our tongue

as an untameable member (Jas. iii. 2-8). _Xenocrates,_ in "Valerius

Maximus," says, "I have been sometimes sorry that I spoke; I never

have been sorry that I was silent."--_Fausset._

If thou be master-gunner spend not all

That thou canst speak at once, but husband it,

And give men turns of speech; do not forestall

By lavishness thine one and others' wit,

As if thou mad'st thy will. A civil guest

Will no more talk all than eat all the feast.--_George Herbert._

+I. The general vice here referred to is not evil speaking from

malice, nor lying or bearing false witness from indirect selfish

designs, but it is talkativeness:+ a disposition to be talking,

abstracted from the consideration of what is to be said, with very

little or no regard to, or thought of doing, either good or

harm. . . . Those who are addicted to this folly cannot confine

themselves to trifles and indifferent subjects: they cannot go on for

ever talking of nothing, and, as common matters will not afford a

sufficient fund for perpetual continued discourse, when subjects of

this kind are exhausted, they will go on to scandal, divulging of

secrets, or they will invent something to engage attention: not that

they have any concern about being believed otherwise than a means of

being heard. . . . The tongue used in such a licentious manner is

like a sword in the hand of a madman: it is employed at random, it

can scarce possibly do any good, and, for the most part, does a world

of mischief. +II. The due government of the tongue.+ The due and

proper use of any natural faculty or power is to be judged of by the

end and design for which it was given us. The chief purpose for which

the faculty of speech was given to man is plainly that we might

communicate our thoughts to each other in order to carry on the

affairs of the world; for business, and for our improvement in

knowledge and learning. But the good Author of our nature designed us

not only necessaries, but likewise enjoyment and satisfaction. There

are secondary uses of our faculties: they administer to delight as

well as to necessity, and the secondary use of speech is to please

and to be entertaining to each other in conversation. This is in

every respect allowable and right: it unites men closer in alliance

and friendship, and is in several respects serviceable to virtue.

Such conversation, though it has no _particular_ good tendency, yet

it hath a _general_ good one; it is social and friendly, and tends to

promote humanity, good nature, and civility. . . . The government of

the tongue, considered as a subject of itself, relates chiefly to

conversation, and the danger is, lest persons entertain themselves or

others at the expense of their wisdom or their virtue. The cautions

for avoiding these dangers fall under the following particulars:

1. _Silence._ The wise man observes that "there is a time to speak,

and a time to keep silence." One meets with people in the world who

seem never to have made the last of these observations. But the

occasions of silence are obvious, namely, when a man has nothing to

say, or nothing but what is better unsaid: better either in regard to

particular persons he is present with, or from its being an

interruption to conversation itself, or to conversation of a more

agreeable kind, or better, lastly, with regard to himself.

2. _Talking upon indifferent subjects._ Be sure that the subject is

_indifferent,_ that it be in no way offensive to virtue, religion, or

good manners; that it be in no way vexatious to others, and that too

much time be not spent in this way. 3. _In discourse upon the affairs

and characters of others._ Consider, first, that though it is equally

of bad consequences to society that men should have either good or

ill characters which they do not deserve, yet when you say some good

of a man which he does not deserve, there is no wrong done him in

particular; whereas, when you say evil of a man which he does not

deserve, here is a direct formal injury done to him. Secondly, a good

man will, upon every occasion, and often without any, say all the

good he can of everybody, but, so far as he is a good man, will never

be disposed to speak evil of any, unless there be some other reason

for it besides barely that it is the truth.--_Bishop Butler._

Verse 20. If, as regards this world's wealth, the Lord's poor must

say, "Silver and gold have I none," at least they may scatter _choice

silver_ with a widely extended blessing. "As poor, yet making many

rich" (Acts iii. 6; 2 Cor. vi. 10).--_Bridges._

_A wicked man hath his worst side inward._ Though sinful persons make

never so great a show on the outside, yet there is nothing within

them worth anything. To that purpose tend the words of the Apostle

collected out of the Psalms: "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the

wise to be but vain." If the point had stood upon man's opinion there

might easily have been an error in it; but he bringeth the testimony

of God, upon sure and infallible knowledge, to confirm it. . . .

Therefore, do not too much magnify and admire them, nor too far

depend on them. For better things are not certainly to be expected

from them than are in them.--_Dod._

The antithesis runs through every word of both clauses. The tongue,

the instrument of the mind, is contrasted with the mind itself; the

just with the wicked; the choice silver with the worthless "little."

In each case there is implied an _a fortiori_ argument. If the tongue

is precious, how much more the mind! If the heart is worthless, how

much more the speech!--_Plumptre._

As pure and choice silver giveth a clear and sweet sound, so the

tongue of the wise soundeth sweetly and pleasantly in the ears of

men. It is also as choice silver, because therewith he is ready to

buy the hearts of men to virtue and goodness. But the heart of a fool

being of little worth, hence it is that he buys it not. . . . Now if

the tongue of the just be as choice silver, his heart must needs be

of fine gold. And if the heart of the wicked be little worth, his

tongue must needs be worth nothing at all. Well therefore it were, if

that the wicked would get the just man's tongue to be his heart; or

else get the tongue of the just to infuse some of his metal into his

heart; for that is able to put worth into it, and from thence to

derive worth into his tongue also. The proverbial sense is, that the

excellent words of wisdom work not upon a foolish heart, that having

not worth to value the worth of it.--_Jermin._

+I. By a just man is meant+--1. _A renewed man,_ for naturally our

lips are polluted. "I am a man of unclean lips," etc. (Isa. vi. 5).

Sin of the tongue is most frequent, and that not without difficulty

avoided. The corruption of men by nature is described (Rom. iii. 13).

This is man's true character, as he is in his natural estate. The

pure lip is the fruit of God's converting grace (Zeph. iii. 9). 2. _A

man furnished with knowledge of the things which concern his duty;_

for every renewed man is an enlightened man (Prov. xv. 2). Unless a

man understand his duty, how shall he speak of it? 3. _The renewed

man is a mortified man;_ for otherwise he will only stickle for

opinions, and be one of the disputers of this world, but will not

warm men's hearts and excite them to practise. That must be first

upon the heart which will afterwards be upon the tongue; and unless

the heart be cleaned the tongue will not be cleansed. If the heart be

upon the world, the tongue will be upon the world (1 John iv. 5).

4. _This renewed man must be biassed with a love of God and Christ

and heaven before he can edify others._ To restrain the tongue from

evil is not enough, we must do good. To heartwarming discourse, faith

is necessary. +II. His discourse is as choice silver.+ 1. _For

purity._ Choice silver is that which is refined from all dross, and

there is much evil bewrayed by the tongue, such as lying, railing,

ribaldry (Eph. iv. 29), cursing, idle discourse, etc. 2. _For

external profit._ Money is very profitable for worldly uses, the

discourse of a good man is very profitable to others. +III. By a

wicked man is meant one that is not regenerate or renewed by the Holy

Spirit.+ They are of several sorts. 1. _Some have great natural

abilities,_ as Ahithophel (2 Samuel xvi. 23), yet his heart was

nothing worth. 2. _Some have plausible shows of piety,_ but that will

not help the matter (Matt. xxiii. 27, 28). 3. _Partial obedience

availeth not_ (2 Chron. xxv. 2). Amaziah was right in the matter, and

he did many things right, but his heart was nothing worth. 1. _What

is in the heart of such a man?_ See Gen. vi. 5. This is the mint that

is always at work; sin worketh in the heart all day, and playeth in

the fancy all night; there is no truce in this warfare. 2. _What

cometh out of such a heart?_ See Mark vii. 21, 22. 3. _In what sense

is it little worth?_ (1.) As to acceptation with God. (2.) As to the

benefit and profiting of others. Observe--1. _That the heart of the

wicked is spoken of in the softest terms._ Elsewhere it is said to be

deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. xvii. 9). And

this teaches us that it is not enough to do no harm by our speech,

but it must benefit others. 2. _Till we make conscience of our

thoughts, we cannot well order our words._ 3. _Familiar converse with

those whose hearts are nothing worth, will tend to our hurt._ 4. _Be

sure that you get another heart._ For though it be not in our power

to make ourselves a new heart, it is our duty to get it.--_Manton._

Verse 21. A great housekeeper he is, hath his doors ever open, and,

though himself be poor, yet he "maketh many rich" (2 Cor. iv. 10). He

well knows that to this end God put "honey and milk under his tongue"

(Cant. iv. 11), that he might look to this spiritual lip-feeding. To

this end hath he communicated to him those "rivers of water" (John

vii. 38) that they may flow from him to quench that world of

wickedness, that, being set on fire of hell would set on fire the

whole course of nature (Jas. iii. 6). They are "_empty_ vines that

bear fruit to themselves" (Hosea x. 1).--_Trapp._

This bread of life which the disciples distribute is not like common

bread. The more you give of it to the needy, the more remains for

your own use. It is the bread which Jesus blesses in the

wilderness--the bread from heaven, which Jesus is; and when from His

hand, and at His bidding, you have fed three thousand on five loaves,

you will have more bread remaining in your baskets than the stock you

begin with. . . . Fools, so far from being helpful to other, have

nothing for themselves. They have taken no oil in their vessels, and

the flames of their lamp dies out.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.

The Source of True Riches.

This proverb cannot be understood to assert that a man needs nothing

but God's blessing to make him a wealthy man in the ordinary sense of

the word, because we know that there are many cases in which men

would never have been rich if they had not toiled hard to obtain

riches. Industry has been joined to the blessing of the Lord, and so

they have become rich. God's favour does not generally make a man

rich except he works; it is presumptuous sin to expect God to make us

rich without honest toil. But the lesson to be learnt is evidently

this--that diligence cannot command riches, that God must be taken

into account in all our efforts to make money, that the "race is not"

_always_ "to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet

bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding" (Eccles.

ix. 11), even when the runners and the warriors are men after God's

own heart. Placing the words beside our experience, we learn--

+I. That when a good man gains riches through hard toil, it is by

reason of the Divine blessing on his labour.+ There are among us many

possessors of vast wealth who have risen early and sat up late, and

eaten the bread of carefulness, but have acknowledged that, after

all, it was the blessing of the Lord that had made them rich. They

can point to others equally diligent, and, in some respects, superior

to themselves, who have fallen in the race and have died

comparatively poor. Such examples are admonitions not to trust to

one's own wisdom or effort to the exclusion of the will of God. Jacob

worked hard for his riches for twenty years; "in the day the drought

consumed him, and the frost by night--and the sleep departed from his

eyes." But he declares that his wealth was a gift from the God of his

fathers--"I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all

the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant, for with my staff

I have passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands" (Gen.

xxxi. 40; xxxii. 10). A good man cannot use unlawful means of getting

rich, therefore he may enjoy the amount of success which follows his

efforts as a token of Divine favour.

+II. That when men inherit, or become possessed of wealth for which

they have not laboured, it is by the blessing of the Lord.+ The

riches of Solomon were bestowed upon him without so much as the

expression of a desire on his part, and were a token of the Divine

approval. "Because . . . thou hast asked for thyself understanding to

discern judgment . . . I have also given thee that which thou hast

not asked, both riches and honour" (1 Kings iii. 11-13). Looked upon

as God's gift, wealth will be rightly used, and will be the blessing

that it was intended to be.

+III. That there is a moral truth contained here which has nothing to

do with material riches or poverty.+ Solomon has, over and over

again, directed his hearers to riches which are far more precious

than silver or gold (see chap. iii. 14-15; viii. 11-19; also

Homiletics and Comments of those verses). The blessing of the Lord is

_itself_ wealth. 1. _Because it enriches us with Divine knowledge_

(1 Cor. i. 5). Solomon's knowledge was a higher kind of wealth than

all his gold and precious stones, how much more a knowledge of Him

whom to know is "life eternal" (John xvii. 3). 2. _Because by means

of it men obtain a Divine character_ (2 Pet. i. 2-4). This wealth men

can claim as theirs in other worlds beside the one upon which they

now live; this is their perpetual untransferable property.

+IV. That when sorrow comes to men who have been enriched by God, it

springs from some other source than the riches.+ The text does not

apply in any sense to ill-gotten gain; that is dealt with elsewhere

(chap. i. 19; xv. 27). It refers only to that which a man may

lawfully call his own. 1. _But this may be the occasion of sorrow._

Solomon's great wealth was the occasion of sorrow, insomuch as he

used it for sinful purposes, but this sorrow was added by himself and

not by God. The misuse of riches, or of any other gift of God, will

be followed by a penalty which will bring sorrow; but this is man's

work, and not God's. 2. _Or sorrow may spring from another, and an

independent source._ Sorrow in one form or another is the lot of

fallen man. The incarnate Son of God was a "Man of sorrows."

God-given and sanctified sorrow is often a token of greater Divine

favour than temporal prosperity (chap. iii. 12). But there is no

necessary connection between wealth and sorrow.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 22. The sluggard looks for prosperity without diligence; the

practical atheist from diligence alone; the sound-hearted Christian

from the _blessing of God_ in the exercise of diligence. This wise

combination keeps him in an active habit; humble, and dependent upon

God (John vi. 27). For, "except the Lord build the house, they labour

in vain that build it" (Psa. cxxvii. 1). . . . He addeth at least no

sorrow but what turns to a blessing. Accumulation of riches may be

the accumulation of sorrows. Lot's covetous choice was fraught with

bitterness. . . . Gehazi was laden with his bags, but the plague of

leprosy was upon him.--_Bridges._

There is no sorrow added to them which is not a blessing, and, being

a blessing, it cannot well be said to be sorrow. Now thus the verse

may be understood as well as temporal as of spiritual riches; for it

is the blessing of God, with which sorrow cannot stand. . . . It is

God's blessing alone which, being true riches, doth truly make rich.

Other things esteemed in the world may be added together in great

heaps of plenty; but, having sorrow added with them, they cannot be

that weal of man which truly makes wealth. It is the blessing of God

which, taking away sorrow, giveth true riches unto man. And,

therefore, when Job wisheth "that he were as in the months past"--the

months of his plenty and prosperity--it is with this addition, "as in

the days when God preserved me." He desireth God's blessing with the

things of this world, or else he careth not for them. For that it is,

as St. Gregory speaketh, which so bestoweth the help of earthly

glory, as that thereby it exalteth much more in heavenly

happiness.--_Jermin._

Those three vultures shall be driven away that constantly feed on the

wealthy worldling's heart--care in getting, fear in keeping, grief in

losing the things of this life. God giveth to His, wealth without

woe, store without sore, gold without guilt, one little drop whereof

troubleth the whole sea of outward comforts.--_Trapp._

The truth here is twofold. The cord, as it lies, seems single, but

when you begin to handle it, you find it divides easily into two. It

means that God's blessing gives material wealth, and also that they

are rich who have that blessing, although they get nothing

more. . . . It is a common practice to constitute firms for trade,

and exhibit their titles to the public with a single name "and

company.". . . Reverently take the All-seeing into your commercial

company and counsels. If you cast Him out, there is no saying, there

is no imagining, whom you may take in. . . . One peculiar excellence

of the riches made in a company from whom councils God is not

excluded, is, that the wealth will not hurt its possessors, whether

it abide with them or fly away. A human soul is so made that it

cannot safely have riches next it. If they come into direct contact

with it, they will clasp it too closely; if they remain, they wither

the soul's life away; if they are violently wrenched off, they tear

the soul's life asunder. Whether, therefore, you keep or lose them,

if you clasp them to your soul with nothing spiritual between, they

will become its destroyer.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.

A TOUCHSTONE OF CHARACTER.

The painter uses the dark background of his picture to set off the

bright foreground. Sunlight never looks so beautiful as when shining

upon a black thunder-cloud; it is the power of contrast. Solomon in

his character-painting is constantly making use of this power. He is

ever setting the dark and the light side by side--making the foolish

or wicked man a dark background upon which to portray the moral

features of the truly wise. The fool looks more foolish, and the good

man more wise, by the contrast.

+I. That which is an object of mirth is a touchstone of character.+

The fool makes sport out of mischief, out of that which does harm to

his fellow-creatures, and consequently involves them in misery. If we

saw a man making merriment over the burning of his neighbour's house,

we should conclude that he was either a maniac or utterly without a

heart. A man who realised the meaning of such a calamity, and had any

sympathy within him, could but be grieved at the sight. But men find

occasions of mirth in matters that are far more serious moment. The

wise man tells us in chap. xiv. 9, that "fools make a mock at

_sin_"--that great "mischief of the universe." The saint is made sad

by that in which the sinner finds an occasion of mirth. "Oh that my

head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might

weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people" (Jer.

ix. 1). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and

lament; but the world shall rejoice" (John xvi. 20). But the fool not

only makes sport _at_ mischief, it is his sport to _do_ mischief; the

one leads to the other. The fool who thinks sin is a laughing matter

will not hesitate to commit sin himself, or to do his brother the

irreparable mischief of leading him in the path of sin and death.

+II. Men cease to make light of sin in proportion as they have

"understanding."+ The text implies that a man who has any right

comprehension of the end of life, the value of the soul, the reality

of Divine and eternal things, will not, _cannot,_ make a sport of

mischief in any shape or degree, especially of the mischief of moral

wrong. A baby might laugh at a blazing house, although its own mother

might be enwrapped in the flames, but this would only be an evidence

of his want of understanding. Nothing proclaims a man to be a fool so

plainly as his mockery of sin. A man of wisdom has too just a sense

of its terrible and ruinous consequence to feel anything but sad when

he thinks of it. He knows what mischief it has worked, and is working

in the universe, and his understanding of those things makes that

which is the sport of the fool the subject of his most solemn thought.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The difference between the lost and the saved is, that to one it is

but trifling to life; to the other it is the gravest

"_wisdom._"--_Miller._

That man has arrived at an advanced stage of folly who takes as much

pleasure in it as if it were an agreeable amusement. This, however,

is to be expected in its natural course. Sinners at first feel much

uneasiness from the operation of fear and shame, but they are

hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, till at length they not only

cast off all restraints, but become impudent in sin, and think it a

manly action to cast away the cords of God, and to pour insult and

abuse on their fellow-men. But it were safer far to sport with fire

than with sin, which kindles a fire that will burn to the lowest

hell. It may now be a sport to do mischief, but in the lake of fire

and brimstone, it will be no sport to have done it.--_Lawson._

When a man diveth under water he feeleth no weight of the water,

though there be many tons of it over his head; whereas half a tubful

of the same water, taken out of the river and set upon the same man's

head, would be very burdensome unto him, and make him soon grow weary

of it. In like manner, so long as a man is over head and ears in sin,

he is not sensible of the weight of sin: it is not troublesome unto

him; but when he beginneth once to come out of that state of sin

wherein he lay and lived before, then beginneth sin to hang heavy

upon him, and he to feel the heavy weight of it. So, so long as sin

is in the will, the proper seat of sin, a man feeleth no weight of

it, but, like a fool, it is a sport and pastime unto him to do evil.

And it is therefore a good sign that sin is removed out of his

seat--out of his chair of state--when it becomes ponderous and

burdensome to us, as the elements do when they are out of their

natural place.--_Spencer's Things New and Old._

The fool is then merriest when he hath the devil for his playfellow.

He danceth well in his bolts, and is passing well afraid for his

woful bondage.--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.

THE INHERITANCE OF FEAR AND DESIRE.

These words treat of things desired and of things not desired coming

to be possessed.

+I. Ungodly men have fears concerning the future.+ These fears

proceed from a consciousness of past sin and present guilt, and prove

the existence within man of a moral standard of action. In the

natural world, we know that certain effects invariably follow certain

causes. Sunlight and genial rain produce fertility and beauty, the

hurricane and the flood leave behind them desolation. There are

certain particles whose action, if diffused abroad in the air, breed

disease and death; there are others whose effects are most refreshing

and healthful to the body frame. Coming into the region of human

action and moral responsibility, there are certain actions of men

which clothe the spirit with gladness, making the soul as a field

which the Lord God hath blest, and there are acts which leave behind

them a sting which brings utter desolation. There are deeds done by

moral agents which are followed by the disapprobation of conscience

in proportion as conscience is educated by moral light, and there are

those which are well-springs of joy in the human heart. It is to

conscience that we must refer the fears of the wicked in relation to

the future.

+II. The certainty that the fears of the wicked will be realised.+

1. _From the inequality of rewards and punishments in the present._

There are men whose characters seem to be almost perfect who have not

the reward at present which their integrity and uprightness deserve.

There are many men who sit, as it were, like Lazarus, at a rich man's

gate in poverty, who are much better men than the rich man himself.

The difference in the character of the man who passed the sentence of

death upon Paul, and Paul himself calls for a more manifest

impartiality on the part of the Divine Ruler in the eternity to come.

We feel certain that elsewhere a just sentence has been passed upon

Paul and Nero. The inequality in the present dealings of God with the

righteous and the wicked demands that in the future the "fear of the

wicked shall come upon him." 2. _From the admonition of conscience._

Although the mariner's compass is sometimes unsteady, its direction

is always towards the north. And the human conscience, however it may

occasionally waver, points to a future judgment. It is not an

_occasional_ occurrence but so _universal_ as to be a prophecy of a

fact. 3. _From the necessity that God should fulfil His own

appointment._ Revelation declares that, "He hath appointed a day, in

which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He

hath ordained" (Acts xvii. 31). The Righteous Judge of all the earth

must keep His own appointment, therefore every wicked man must have

what he does not desire, viz., a fair and impartial trial.

+III. Good men have had desires which have not been granted.+ The

gratification of such desires would have been an injury to themselves

and others. Moses desired to see God in the sense in which the

Incarnate Son tells us He had seen Him. But if this desire had been

granted Moses must have died, the Hebrew nation would have lost the

only man who could lead them, and he would have missed the completion

of the glory of his life (Exod. xxxiii. 20). Peter desired that His

Master should not suffer at the hands of the chief priests and

scribes (Matt. xvi. 21). But what a calamity this would have been for

Peter himself and the human race.

+IV. But that which a righteous man desires above all other things

shall be granted.+ 1. _For himself in the present life, he desires a

holy character._ This he regards as the "one thing needful" above all

other personal possessions. And God desires this for him, therefore

this desire shall be granted on the fulfilment of the pre-ordained

conditions (1 Thess. iv. 3). 2. _For the world he desires that God's

kingdom may "come," that right may in the end triumph over wrong._

Now this desire also must be granted, because Christ has taught His

disciples to pray for its accomplishment, and because He Himself at

the right hand of God is "henceforth expecting, till His enemies be

made His footstool" (Heb. x. 13). 3. _He desires for himself in the

future a complete redemption of both soul and body from the curse of

sin_ (2 Cor. v. 1-4). But this desire is implanted within him by that

God who can fulfil his desire, and who has already given an earnest

of its fulfilment. This alone is a guarantee that it shall be

granted. "Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God,

who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (2 Cor. v. 5).

He has also the direct promise of Him who is "the Resurrection and

the Life," the assurance of His inspired apostle that this desire of

the righteous shall be granted (John v. 28-29; 1 Cor. xv. 49-54).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

But _if our desires be granted,_ and even exceeded (Gen. xlviii. 2;

1 Kings iii. 13; Ephes. iii. 20), faith and patience will be tried in

the very _grant._ Growth in grace is given by deep and humbling views

of our corruption. Longings for holiness are fulfilled by painful

affliction; prayers are answered by crosses. Our Father's

dispensations are not what they seem to be, but what He is pleased to

make them.--_Bridges._

The best way to have our will satisfied is to be godly. For to such

there is a promise made. Wherein yet these rules are to be observed:

_First,_ that our will be agreeable to God's will, the desire must be

holy, and seasoned with the Spirit; and not carnal and corrupted by

the flesh. _Secondly,_ that sometimes lawful desires are not

performed in the same kind, but exchanged for better, and that which

doth more good is bestowed instead of them. Moses desired to enter

into the land of Canaan; he was denied that, but he entered sooner

into the heavenly and blessed rest of everlasting life. _Thirdly,_

that we tarry the Lord's leisure, and depend on His hand, to

minister, in fittest time, all those good things which our souls

desire, and so we shall not fail to receive them when He seeth that

they will be most expedient for us.--_Dod._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.

THE WHIRLWIND AND THE SURE FOUNDATION.

+I. The resemblance of a wicked man to a whirlwind.+ 1. _They are

both destructive forces._ A whirlwind passes over a district and

everything that resists its advance is either overthrown, broken, or

made to bend to its fury. Every wicked man in his sphere is a

destroyer of human happiness and of moral life, but the image is

especially applicable to tyrants who have been destroyers of the

lives of thousands of their fellow-creatures, and have ruined the

happiness of thousands more in their unscrupulous onward march for

the attainment of their own selfish ends. Isaiah describes such a one

when he says, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that

did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and

destroyed the cities thereof?" (chap. xiv. 16, 17). 2. _They often

burst forth with sudden fury, and seem beyond the control of ordinary

laws and methods of operation._ A whirlwind often descends upon a

peaceful valley without any warning, and its fury is the more

terrible by reason of its suddenness, and because of the

impossibility of foretelling its course and where it will fall in its

most destructive power. So a wicked man is a lawless man, he is not

guided by principle but by passion and impulse, none of his

fellow-creatures can foretell what will be his next act of violence,

or who will be the next victims of his selfish ambition. It is this

lawless, uncontrollable destructiveness which makes both the moral

and the physical whirlwind the terror of the human race, and leads

men instinctively to avoid them if possible. 3. _The triumph of both

is short._ How soon nature rights herself after the passage of a

whirlwind. She covers the broken rocks with verdure, the trees put

forth branches clothed with fresh leaves, others grow up in the

places of those which were uprooted, grass and corn spring again, and

all looks lovely as before the visitation. The whirlwind "passeth,"

and so does the wicked man. It is soon written of him that he is "no

more," and men who have trembled at his name take heart, and nations

and peoples whom he seemed to have annihilated spring into existence

again, and the world rights itself. How many such instances stand

recorded in history from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to those of

Napoleon. How many times has the experience of the Psalmist been

repeated: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading

himself like a green bay tree, yet he passed away, and lo, he was

not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found" (Psalm xxxvii. 35,

36). How often has the world had occasion to repeat the song, "How

hath the oppressor ceased! . . . The Lord hath broken the staff of

the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in

wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is

persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is

quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at

thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no

feller is come up against us" (Isa. xiv. 4-8).

+II. In what respects a righteous man is "an everlasting

foundation."+ 1. _His character is something to build upon._ Nothing

can be built upon a whirlwind, but a substantial structure can be

raised upon a good foundation. Men may build hope upon the word and

character of a righteous man. A promise given by him is a solid

ground of confidence upon which the heart of the brother-man may rest

securely. Thus righteousness is a constructive force in the world--a

foundation without which society cannot exist. Especially is this

true of the ideal man, Christ Jesus. Because He is the Righteous One

(Isa. xi. 4) His promises are as anchors of the soul to the children

of men. In resting upon His word His disciples build upon a "sure

foundation" (1 Cor. iii. 11). Upon His character rests all their

hopes for their own blessedness in the future, and for the

restoration of a fallen world. Every man is a _foundation_ if

"righteousness" is the chief element of his character. 2. _Because

for his sake the world stands._ The owner of a house may let it stand

if there is a good foundation of solid rock, although the

superstructure may be comparatively worthless. Our Lord tells us

concerning the tribulations which he foretold, that "except those

days should be shortened, there would no flesh be saved; but for the

elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt. xxiv. 22). This

teaches us that the righteousness of the godly is the power which

averts the destruction of the wicked, and keeps the world in

existence. In this sense, therefore, the righteous are a foundation.

3. _The righteous are an "everlasting" foundation, because

righteousness is the basis of confidence in eternity as it is in

time._ The blessedness of the life to come is founded upon

righteousness. The Kingdom of God in both worlds is "established in

righteousness" (Isa. liv. 14). The immutable character of the

heavenly world is founded upon the righteousness first of its

righteous King, and then upon that of His righteous servants.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The righteous may be poor, and, in his sinful state, anything but a

stately building to the Lord, but in his meanest infancy he is a

"_foundation._" Very little appears above the surface. But he is a

basis of all that is to be built, and that basis is to be

"_eternal._"--_Miller._

The proverb reminds us of the close of the Sermon on the Mount, and

finds the final confirmation of its truth in this, that the death of

the godless is a penal thrusting of them away, but the death of the

righteous a lifting them up to their home. The righteous who often

enough perish in times of war and of pestilence; but the proverb, as

it is interpreted, verifies itself, even although not so as the poet,

viewing it from his narrow Old Testament standpoint, understood it;

for the righteous, let him die when and how he may, is preserved,

while the godless perishes.--_Delitzsch._

The continuance of the wicked is but while they dig the pit of their

own destruction.--_Jermin._

The Lord will lay "a more sure foundation," and "he that believeth

shall not make haste" (Isa. xxviii.16). These two promises lie

together in the Scripture. When your heart's hope is fixed on that

precious corner-stone, you need not be thrown into a flutter by the

fiercest onset of the world and its god.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.

THE VEXATIOUSNESS OF A SLUGGISH SERVANT.

+I. He is as smoke to the eyes.+ Smoke in the eyes prevents the

accomplishment of a man's purposes, or at least it hinders and annoys

him in their execution. The eye is the light of the body; if vision

is in any way obstructed or impaired, delay and vexation must ensue.

So the employer of a sluggish servant must be the victim of

perplexity and annoyance. He sends him on an errand, or entrusts him

with a work which is important should be done within a certain time.

But he lingers over it until the time is long past, and perhaps an

opportunity is lost which can never be recalled. Much often depends

upon the performance of duties _up to time._ The want of punctuality

sometimes is as disastrous as not doing the thing at all. How many

plans have been frustrated, how many sufferings have in various ways

been entailed upon men, by delay in the performance of duty. A master

who has to depend upon a sluggard is like a man in the midst of the

smoke of a burning house; he is uncertain as to his present

whereabouts, and ignorant of what mishap may befal him next.

+II. He is as vinegar to the teeth.+ He is most irritating to the

temper. As vinegar sours everything with which it comes in contact,

so a sluggard sours the temper of those with whom he has to do, and

makes them sometimes not only irritable with him who is the offender,

but with the innocent also.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Does, then, the sluggard disappoint and provoke his earthly master?

See that we be not such sluggards to our Heavenly Master. Laodicean

professors are especially hateful in his sight (Rev. iii. 16). The

slothful minister carries in a tremendous account to _Him that sent

him_. No more pitiable object is found that the man who has time to

spare, who has no object of commanding interest, and is going on to

the end as if he had spent his whole life in a children's play, and

had lived to no useful purpose. . . . Why "standeth he idle in the

market-place?" It cannot be--"No man hath hired him." His master's

call sounds in his ears--"Go ye into the vineyard." And at his peril

he disobeys it (Matt. xx. 7-30).--_Bridges._

Sluggishness is a cutting, vexing thing. If we are Christ's, we

should crucify this self-pleasing affection of the flesh. . . . It is

a sin to waste another man's time, so much as to waste his property.

"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." No doubt it is the

natural disposition of some people to be slovenly and unexact. But

what is your religion worth if it does not correct such a

propensity? . . . If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. If

the new life is strong in the heart, it will send its warm pulses

down to the extremest member. . . . He who is a Christian in little

things is not a little Christian; he is the greatest Christian, and

the most useful. The baptism of these little outlying things shows

that he is full of grace, for these are grace's overflowings; and

they are ever the overflowings of the full well that refreshes the

desert. The great centre must be fully occupied before the stream can

reach that outer edge.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.

LONG LIFE.

This verse must be looked at--

+I. Generally.+ The fear of the Lord prolongs life because, other

things being equal, godliness tends to bodily health. A good man

governs his life by some kind of law, his passions and inclinations

do not play the lord over his conscience and will. This has a

beneficial influence upon his bodily health. He has contentment with

his present lot, trust in his God amid all the anxieties of life, and

hope for the future. Such a state of mind tends to soundness of

bodily health, whereas the manner of life of a godless man is opposed

to health and consequently to long life. If a complicated machine is

permitted to work with some of its parts improperly adjusted and

fretting against each other at every turn of the wheel, the friction

will soon wear away the parts, and ere long they will cease to act. A

soul without godliness is a complicated mechanism which has never

been rightly adjusted. There is no ruling principle, no guiding hand,

one passion wars against another, the man bears the burden of life

alone, he is at times a prey to the fears spoken of in verse 24, and

the rule of all these devils in the soul has a tendency to wear out

the body before its time. This is a truth universally admitted. But

the words must also be regarded--

+II. Relatively.+ That is, with a due regard to other circumstances.

The length of a good man's life does not always depend upon himself,

but upon the age in which he lives--upon the people by whom he is

surrounded. The godliness of Abel shortened his life very materially.

If his works had not been righteous, his brother would not have

murdered him. The first Christian martyr met with an early and a

violent death because he was a "man full of faith and of the Holy

Ghost" (Acts vi. 5); and the fear of the Lord has shortened the days

of millions since then. The ranks of the "noble army of martyrs" have

been filled up by volunteers of every age and many nations since

Stephen fell asleep, testifying to the fact that, so far as life in

this world is concerned, other things must be taken into consideration

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

There is no such wholesome air--there is no such kindly physic--there

is no such sovereign cordial--as the fear of the Lord. That makes the

_days_ of the godly as long as the _years_ of the wicked.--_Jermin._

The righteous' days are _great_ and _noble,_ and the wicked's days

are _mean_ and _small._ And this is the meaning of the Proverb. "Made

little," literally, "shortened" (E.V.). We thought at first that this

was decisive against our sense, and against our rendering of all the

verses expounded in chap. iii. (verses 2-16). Our thought of this was

increased by Job xvi. 1, and by all the expositions. But when we

turned to Psalm cii. 23, our own sense was wonderfully confirmed.

That verse reads, "He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened

my days:" where "_shortened_" must have a sense coincident with

continued living. And what that sense is, such passages as these: "Is

my hand shortened?" (Isa. l. 2), "The soul of the people was (lit.)

_shortened,_" "The days of his youth hast Thou shortened" (Num.

xxi. 4; Psa. lxxxix. 45), and nearly all the other instances

strikingly confirm. The meaning is, Wisdom makes our days grander and

grander, and Impenitence makes them weaker, and always of less

account.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.

HOPES REALISED AND DISAPPOINTED.

+I. The righteous man's present possession--"Hope."+ We saw in

treating verse 24 that the righteous man possesses God-begotten

desires, and that he has good ground for believing that these desires

will be granted, therefore he _expects_ their fulfilment, and desire

and expectation constitute his hope. Hope is a fortune in itself. It

gives a present gladness, and therefore a present power. It is in

itself a tower of strength. Nothing upholds us so surely in present

difficulties as the hope of a brighter future. If in the hour of

darkness a man can say to his soul, "Why art thou cast down, and why

art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God" (Psalm xlii. 5), he

holds in possession a sheet-anchor which will prevent him from making

shipwreck upon the rocks of despair and infidelity. The hope of the

righteous is a present salvation. "We are saved by hope" (Rom.

viii. 24). It is "an anchor of the soul" (Heb. vi. 19).

+II. The righteous man's future inheritance--gladness.+ If the hope

of an expected good gives gladness, how much more its realisation! A

man is glad when the title deeds of an estate are handed over to him

even if he cannot at once enter upon its possession, how much more

glad is he when he enters into the full enjoyment of his inheritance.

The righteous man's hope is a more certain guarantee of his future

inheritance of gladness than the most indisputable deed ever written

upon parchment. It is as we saw before (see on verse 24) an earnest

of its own fulfilment. The hope begotten in the heart of a child, by

the inspiration of his father's character and genius, that he may one

day be like his parent, is a hope that the father himself will not

disappoint. Love for his child and a regard for his own honour will

impel him to do all that lies within his reach to satisfy the

desire--to fulfil the expectation--of his child. If, in addition, he

was able to promise the child that his hope should be realised,

nothing could acquit him of his obligation to perform his promise

except inability. The Eternal Father has by His Spirit and by His

promise begotten such a hope with His children and "begotten them"

unto the hope (1 Pet. i. 3). This is "the hope" of the righteous, and

the character and the omnipotence of Him who gave it birth is a sure

pledge that it shall be "gladness." Closely connected with it are the

hopes of the coming of God's kingdom, and of the "adoption of the

body" (Rom. viii. 23), noticed in considering "the desires of the

righteous."

+III. The doom of the expectation of the ungodly man.+ If the wicked

man has fears concerning the future (see on verse 24), he has also

vague hopes concerning it, although his desires and expectations are

chiefly in relation to the present world. As to his desires of a

state of happiness after death, they are not strong enough to lead

him to comply with the conditions of entering upon it. Any

expectation of this nature can be based upon nothing outside himself,

and it must therefore perish. His expectation of the results of his

own earth-born and devilish schemes will also perish. He may

apparently bring them to a successful issue, but the end will show

that it is not so. If he succeeds in gaining wealth or power, he will

not get what he expected out of them. Any expectation which he forms

as to the overthrow of the good will meet with the same doom. Pharaoh

expected to be able to retain the Hebrews in bondage, but his

expectation was broken to shivers upon the shield of Eternal

Omnipotence. The chief priests and scribes expected to stamp out the

name and influence of the Nazarene by crucifying Him, but the result

contradicted their expectations. In these instance may be seen a

reflection of the doom of every expectation which is out of harmony

with righteousness.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Christian! make sure the ground of your hope (2 Pet. i. 10). Then set

out its gladness as becomes an heir of glory. Let not a drooping

spirit tell the world the scantiness of your hope. But show that you

can live upon its gladness until you enter into its perfect and

everlasting fruition. Doubtfulness leaves believers and infidels

nearly upon the same level.--_Bridges._

The proverb means literally--"The hope of the righteous (itself)

turns to joy." Faith is the beginning of felicity. . . . The

expectation or "_assurance_" of the impenitent man, even if he finds

it well placed, "_perishes_" as of its very nature. "The world passes

away and the desire thereof." The lost may have had all he wished,

but his very wishes perish at the last day (1 John ii. 17).--_Miller._

All the hopes of the wicked shall not bring him to heaven; all the

fears of the righteous shall not bring him to hell.--_Bunyan._

It would be better for "hope" and "expectation" to change places.

Even the expectant waiting of the righteous is joyful at the time,

and ends in joy; the eager hope of the wicked comes to nought (comp.

Job viii. 13).--_Plumptre._

The wicked cannot choose but fear, and, therefore, Eliphaz says of a

wicked man, the sound of fear is in his ears (Job xv. 21). And in

Isaiah (xx. 17) they are compared to the troubled sea, which cannot

rest. And because where fear is, it is some ease to think, if not to

hope, that the evil feared may not fall upon them; this ease is taken

away, for the fear _shall come_. Come it shall, as it were of itself

without sending for, because it is most due unto them. An instance of

this is given in those who lived at the time of building of the Tower

of Babel, and who saying "Let us build it lest we be scattered abroad

upon the face of the whole earth," it followeth soon after, "and the

Lord scattered them upon the face of all the earth." On the other

side, the righteous having tasted of goodness cannot choose but

desire it; and because where desire is, it is some trouble to think,

if not to doubt, that the good desired may not be accomplished, this

trouble is taken away, for _He_ shall give who can give whatsoever

Himself will, whatsoever they can desire.--_Jermin._

Attachment to futurity has a remarkable influence on the operation of

the human mind. The present, whatever it be, seldom engages our

attention so much as what is to come. The present is apt to be

considered an evanescent scene, just about to pass away; and in the

midst of wishes and desires, of hopes and fears, which all respect

futurity, we may be said to dwell. As on these the life of man is so

much suspended, it becomes a material part of wisdom and duty to

attend to any regulations by which they may be properly conducted.

The anticipations of the _righteous,_ conducted by prudence, and

regulated by piety, mislead him not from his duty, and afford him

satisfaction in the end. While the expectation of the _wicked,_

arising from fantastic imaginary prospects, delude him for a while

and terminate in misery. Let us consider, what we may, and what we

may not, reasonably expect from the world. +I. We must not expect the

uninterrupted continuance of any measure of health, prosperity, or

comfort, which we now enjoy.+ +II. We are not to expect, from our

intercourse with others, all that satisfaction which we fondly wish.+

. . . Such is the power which the sophistry of self-love exercises

over us, that almost everyone may be assured that he measures himself

by a deceitful scale; that he places the point of his own merit at a

higher degree than others will admit that it reaches. . . . Were

expectations more moderate, they would be more favourably received.

If you look for a friend in whose temper there is not to be found the

least inequality, who upon no occasion is to be hurt or offended by

any frailties you discover, whose feelings are to harmonise in every

trifle with yours, whose countenance is always to reflect the image

of your own, you look for a pleasing phantom, which is never, or at

most, very rarely, to be found; and if disappointment sour your mind,

you have your own folly to blame. You ought to have considered that

you live in a region of human infirmity, where everyone has

imperfections and failings. +III. We are not to expect constant

gratitude from those whom we have obliged and served.+ I am far from

saying that gratitude is a rare virtue, but our expectations of

proper returns must be kept within moderate bounds. We must not

imagine that gratitude is to produce unlimited compliance with every

desire we indulge, or that those whom we have obliged will altogether

desert their own interest for the sake of their benefactors. I shall

next show what a good man may reasonably expect from human life.

I. _Whatever course the affairs of the world may take, he may justly

hope to enjoy peace of mind._ This to the sceptic and the profligate

will be held as a very inconsiderable object of hope. But, assuredly,

the peace of an approving conscience is one of the chief ingredients

of human happiness; provided always that this self-approbation be

tempered with due faith. II. _He has ground to expect that any

external condition into which he may pass shall, by means of virtue

and wisdom, be rendered if not perfectly agreeable, yet tolerably

easy to him._ The inequality of real happiness is not to be measured

by the inequality of outward estate. A wise and good man is never

left without resources by which to make his state tolerable. Seldom

or never do all good things forsake a man at once. What is very

severe of any kind, seldom lasts long. Time and continuance reconcile

us to many things that were at first insupportable. III. _We have

ground to expect that, if we persevere in studying to do our duty

towards God and man, we shall meet with the esteem and love of those

around us._ The world, as I have before observed, is seldom disposed

to give a favourable reception to claims based on superior talents

and merits. But, with respect to moral qualifications, the world is

more ready to do justice to character. Unaffected piety commands

respect. Candour never fails to attract esteem and trust. Kindness

conciliates love and creates warm friendships. I have considered only

what the righteous man has to hope for in the ordinary course of the

world. But--IV. _He has before him a much higher object of hope, even

the hope which is laid up for him in heaven; the assured expectation

of a better life in a higher and better world._ Put the case of a

servant of God being overwhelmed with all the disappointments which

the world can bring upon him, here is an _expectation_ which will

always be _gladness._--_Blair._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.

GOD'S WAY DESTRUCTION AND SALVATION.

+I. In common with all His intellectual and moral creatures, God has

a way, or plan of action.+ A skilful artificer has a _way_ by which

he brings forth a certain result in a work of skill. His way is the

out-come of his previous thought and purpose; he does not go about

his work in uncertainty as to what he is going to do, or how he is

going to do it. The architect proceeds to erect his building in

accordance with a certain plan, in a certain _way_ before determined

on. The public instructor has _ways_ of teaching which are the

out-come of previous thought; he would otherwise work at random.

Those who are leaders of others must think and teach within the

limits of certain rules, in pursuance of some definite end, otherwise

there could be no result from their teaching. God, the skilful

Artificer and wise Architect of the material universe, the Great

Instructor of men, is no exception to this rule. 1. He works in

_nature_ according to a definite and pre-ordained rule or law. All

that we see around us reveals Divine forethought and intention,

proclaims that the Creator works for a definite end, that He walks in

a pre-arranged way. He has a way, or method, of producing day and

night, summer and winter, of developing the seed-corn into the full

ear, of watering the earth by clouds, and so fitting it for the

habitation of men. 2. He has a way in _Providence,_ and though here

it is far more difficult than even in nature to trace His working or

unravel His purposes, we know that He works in accordance with a

definite plan for the accomplishment of a certain purpose, and that

there is nothing of chance in the mysteries of life. A child may look

on while his father is putting together the works of a watch, he

cannot judge of the adaptation of certain processes and actions, but

he knows that his father has made many watches before, and he judges

from what _has been,_ of what _is,_ and what _shall be._ And so with

God's way of providence, we cannot trace the way of His operation, we

cannot see the issue of His actions while He is at work. The workings

are too complicated for us to trace the adaptation of the means to

the end. But from past results we conclude what will be the issue of

His present dealings, from what _has been_ we know what _shall be,_

viz., that all will be seen to be part of a great plan or way of

action, and that the verdict of the universe at last will be, "just

and true are Thy ways, Thou king of saints" (Rev. xv. 3). Clouds and

darkness have been around God's working in the past, but

righteousness and justice have come out of the darkness, and so we

know it ever shall be. 3. God has a _way_ of grace. Here His way is a

way of forgiveness through a Divine Atoner, and of sanctification

through a Divine Spirit, meeting human need if that human need is

felt and confessed. The need of a man who has broken God's law must

be felt and acknowledged before the way of forgiveness and

restoration is brought into operation. This is the law by which men

are loosed from the bonds of sin, "God was in Christ, reconciling the

world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor.

v. 19). This is Jehovah's "way of salvation."

+II. The opposite effects of the Divine way upon opposite

characters.+ "The way of the Lord is _strength_ to the upright, but

_destruction_ to the workers of iniquity" (see Critical Notes). All

men who are not numbered with the "upright," whose moral nature has

not been lifted up by contact with the Divine, are "workers of

iniquity." Dr. David Thomas says of iniquity, "The word is

negative--the want of equity. Men will be damned not merely for doing

wrong, but for not doing the right" (see "The Practical Philosopher,"

p. 132). We take the words therefore to signify the two great classes

into which Christ divides the world, "He that believeth and he that

believeth not" (John iii. 18), and consider the different effect upon

these two opposite characters of--1. _Jehovah's way of nature._ To

the upright there comes strength from the contemplation of God as

revealed in His material works. He feels that God is a necessity to

account for what he sees around him. All created things speak to him

of the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of their Maker and

Upholder, and his faith is strengthened by this manifestation of "the

way of the Lord." He obeys the injunction of the prophet, "_Lift up

your eyes on high and behold, who hath created these things, that

bringeth out their host by number; He callest them all by names, by

the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power, not one

faileth._" And thence he draws the prophet's argument, "_That the

everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,

fainteth not, neither is weary,_" that "_He giveth power to the

faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength,_" and

in thus "_waiting upon the Lord_" he "_renews his strength,_" he

"_runs and is not weary, he walks and does not faint_" (Isa.

xl. 26-31). But how different is the effect of the works of nature,

when the God of nature is not acknowledged. They harden men in

materialism, God's own laws are used to bow Him out of His own

universe, and their working becomes so many forces of destruction

because they drive men further from their only hope and help. As Paul

tells us, such men "_hold_ (back) _the truth in_ (or, by)

_unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest

in_ (or, to) _them; for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible

things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being

understood by the things that are made, even His Eternal Power and

Godhead._" But, "_professing themselves wise, they became fools, and

worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator_" (see Rom.

i. 18-32). This is destruction to any man. 2. _Of Jehovah's way of

providence._ Faith in a personal God, in a Divine Saviour, makes this

"way" also "strength to the upright." If a seaman has faith in his

captain, this gives him strength for his duty even in the roughest

weather. He feels that he is not altogether left to the mercy of the

blind elements, but that there is a strong and wise will guiding the

ship. So confidence in an All-wise Father, in a King who "can do no

wrong," is the stronghold of the upright amidst all the apparent

contradictions and mysteries of life. He knows who is at the wheel of

all human affairs, that

"When He folds the cloud about Him,

Firm within it stands His throne;"

and the knowledge that "God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at

all," makes what would otherwise overwhelm him in Doubt, and

consequently in weakness, a source of strength, a power of life. But

where God is not known, this confidence is absent, and nothing but

chance, or an arbitrary Judge, sits upon the throne of the Universe.

The terrible perplexities of life are like the rings of the wheels in

Ezekiel's vision, "so high that they are dreadful," and, as such a

man does not discern above them the "man upon the throne" (Ezek.

i. 18-20), they are to him only mighty and resistless engines of

destruction. 3. _Of Jehovah's way of grace._ The upright man has

gained his strength to be upright from the way of Divine forgiveness.

Even a child feels stronger when assured of his father's restored

favour, and the forgiveness of God sets a man upon his feet and gives

him that "joy of the Lord" which is "strength" (Neh. viii. 10).

Unforgiven sin breaks the bones of the soul. "When I kept silence, my

bones waxed old," but "I said I will confess my transgressions unto

the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." "Make me to

hear joy and gladness: that the bones which Thou hast broken may

rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine

iniquities" (Psa. xxxii. 3-5, li. 8, 9). And he gains strength to

continue in the way of uprightness by communion with an unseen

Saviour, by the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost. Christ is "the

power of an endless life" to all who believe in Him (Heb. vii. 16).

This is the "_way_" or _law_ of the kingdom of grace. "To as many as

received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even

to them that believe on His name" (John i. 12). But to those who

reject the way of grace, this "righteousness of God" (Rom. iii. 22),

this "way of salvation," becomes a power of destruction; that which

was ordained to be a "savour of life" becomes a "savour of death."

Christ crucified is a stumbling-block and foolishness to such (1 Cor.

i. 23). "Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken; but on

whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt.

xxi. 44). The way of Jehovah is in no instance the _cause_ of the

destruction of the wicked but it must be the _occasion._ The words

and works of Christ were the _occasion_ but not the _cause_ of the

great national sin of the Jewish nation. "If I had not come and

spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak

for their sin. If I had not done among them the works which none

other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and

hated both me and my Father" (John xv. 22-24). The knife in the hand

of the surgeon is an instrument to save life, but the patient may use

it to kill himself if he be so minded. A candle may be used to give

light and comfort to all in the house--this is its use with regard to

honest men--but the same light may be the means of the discovery and

punishment of a thief. The light and heat of the sun, falling upon a

bed of flowers fills the air with fragrance and the spirit of man

with delight, but if it fall upon a noisome stagnant pool, or a dead

body, it will hasten decomposition and spread the seeds of disease

and death. It is not the nature of sunlight to destroy, but the

objects upon which it falls turns the blessing into a curse. So with

"the grace of God which bringeth salvation" (Titus ii. 11). "It is

not true," says Maclaren, "that every man that rejects Christ does in

verity _reject_ Him, and not merely _neglect_ Him; that there is

always an effort, that there is a struggle, feeble, perhaps, but

real, which ends in the turning away. It is not that you stand there,

and simply let Him go past. That were bad enough; but it is more than

that. It is that you turn your back upon Him! It is not that His hand

is laid on yours, and yours remains dead and cold, and does not open

to clasp it; but it is that His hand being laid on yours, you clench

yours the tighter, and _will not_ have it. And so every man (I

believe) that ever rejects Christ does these things thereby--wounds

his own conscience, hardens his own heart, makes himself a worse man,

just because he has had a glimpse, and his willingly, almost

consciously, 'loved darkness rather than light.' The message of love

can never come into a human soul, and pass away from it unreceived,

without leaving that spirit worse, with all its lowest

characteristics strengthened, and all its best ones depressed, by the

fact of rejection. . . . If there were no judgment at all, the

natural result of the simple rejection of the Gospel is that, bit by

bit, all the lingering remains of nobleness that hover about the man,

like scent about a broken vase, shall pass away; and that, step by

step, through the simple process of saying, 'I will not have Christ

to rule over me,' the whole being shall degenerate, until manhood

becomes devilhood, and the soul is lost by its own want of faith"

(See Sermons, Vol. I. p. 7). And so it is all with man, and in no

degree with God, that "His way," which He intends to be the fortress,

the strength of every human soul, becomes a destruction to "the

workers of iniquity."

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

This promise implies help for our work, and not rest from our labour.

We shall have _strength_ for the conflict. But "there is no discharge

from the war." There is supply for real, not for imaginary, wants;

for present, not for future, need. The healthful energy of the man of

God is also supposed. He is alive in the way; his heart is set in it.

This makes it practicable. What before was drudgery is now meat and

drink. Indeed, the more godly we are, the more godly we shall be. The

habit of grace increases by exercise. One step helps on the next.

Thus was the way of the Lord strength to the upright Nicodemus. His

first step was feebleness and fear. Walking onwards, he waxed

stronger; standing up in the ungodly council, and ultimately the bold

confessor of his Saviour when his self-confident disciples slunk back

(John iii. 2, vii. 50, xix. 39). . . . Thus "the righteous shall hold

on their way, going from strength to strength," strengthened in the

Lord, and walking up and down in His name (Job xvii. 9; Psa.

lxxxiv. 5-7; Zech. x. 12). . . . No such resources support the

workers of iniquity. Captives instead of soldiers, they know no

conflicts; they realize no need of strength.--_Bridges._

The way of the earth doth weary them that walk in it, and doth take

away their strength: but _the way of the Lord is strength to the

upright,_ so that the more they go _in_ it, the more able are they to

go _on_ in it. Or else because he walketh in the ways of God's most

gracious providence over him, and that must needs be a strength unto

him. A strong staff, that is, to support him, a strong bulwark to

defend him, a strong arm to fight for him. The angel, therefore,

might well say to Gideon, "Thou mighty man of valour" when he had

first said, "The Lord is with thee." But as the way of the Lord is

upright the way of His gracious providence over them, so He hath

another way for the _workers of iniquity,_ and that is the way of

judgment.--_Jermin._

_Sin is man's destruction._ 1. Sin brings many evils upon man, from

which, if he were virtuous, he would be totally free, such as a

decayed body, a wounded conscience, a disconnected heart, vexation in

the present, fear for the future. 2. Fear puts man out of condition

to render tolerable those evils which he cannot avoid. He feels the

burden of them in all their pressure because he is destitute of the

supports of reliance and hope. He cannot perceive in his afflictions

the hand of a father, but is forced to confess them the punishment of

an offended sovereign. 3. Sin prevents man from the full enjoyment of

the good which outweighs the evil in the world. The Christian finds

pleasure in the works of creation, the methods of providence, in

beneficence, in friendship, in domestic happiness. Sin deprives us of

a taste for these pleasures by enervating the mind, by selfishness,

by pride. 4. Sin incapacitates us for the state of pure and perfect

happiness in the world to come.--_Zollikofer._

Sometimes, by the way of the Lord, the observing of God's law,

sometimes the course of God's providence is meant in Scripture, as

here in this place. It is said to strengthen the upright, not only

for that it fortifieth their hearts, but because it preserveth them

by sundry means from destruction. The manner of the Lord's desiring

with the wicked is quite contrary; for the Lord plagueth them and

crosseth them for their iniquities, and in their evil doing, even

throughout the whole course of their life, which is unfortunate and

full of many miseries.--_Muffet._

The "_way_" Jehovah personally walks in (as, for example, His way of

justice) "_is a fortress._" To Gabriel, for instance, it is the arch

that shelters him for ever; to the poor saint it is a sworn certainty

of defence; but to the wicked it is an eternal vengeance. The way of

mercy--that is, in the cross of Christ--is life unto life to the

saint, and death unto death to the rebellious sinner. Elihu pictures

this in the outward creation (Job xxxvi. 31); "For by them" (that is,

by the same elements of Nature) "judgeth He the people; He giveth

meat in abundance." The same showers fertilise the earth, or tear to

pieces with a deluge.--_Miller._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.

THE EARTH THE POSSESSION OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

+I. From their relation to God it is theirs now.+ The estate of an

English nobleman is the portion of all his family to a certain

extent. They all live upon it, and partake of its productions. But

the eldest son has a special inheritance in it--it is the perpetual

possession of the heir of the house, and it is therefore his in a

sense in which it is not the property of his brothers and sisters.

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof" (Psa. xxiv. 1),

and it is therefore the property of His children--of those who are

His sons and heirs (Rom. viii. 17). All men enjoy to some extent the

blessings of the earth, but _it belongs_ only to them whom Paul

addresses when he says, "All things are yours, whether . . . the

world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come"

(1 Cor. iii. 21, 22).

+II. From their relation to God it shall be theirs in the future.+

The regenerated earth is to be the eternal abode of the righteous.

The glorified body of the redeemed man will have enough of his

present body to enable us to identify each other. Although we have

not now the "body that shall be" (1 Cor. xv. 37), there will be such

a relationship between the present and the future as shall make them

the same individual man. So, although the earth is to be "a new

earth" (2 Pet. iii. 13), there will be that about it which will

enable the regenerated man to recognise his old home. And if in the

new earth there is to dwell "righteousness," it is because it is to

be the abode of righteous beings. On this subject see also Homiletics

on chap. ii. 21, 22.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 30. Love of home is an impulse and emotion natural to man; but

to no people was fatherland so greatly delighted in, to none was

exile and banishment from fatherland so dreadful a thought, as it was

to the people of Israel. Expatriation is the worst of all evils with

which the prophets threatened individuals and the people; and the

history of Israel in their exile, which was a punishment of their

national apostasy, confirms this proverb, and explains its

form. . . . In general, the proverb means that the righteous

fearlessly maintains the position he takes; while, on the contrary,

all they who have no hold on God lose also their outward position.

But often enough this saying is fulfilled in this, that they, in

order that they may escape disgrace, become wanderers and fugitives,

and are compelled to conceal themselves among strangers.--_Delitzsch._

The desire of the righteous is not to stay upon earth, neither is

that the reward which God hath appointed for them. They know a better

place to go unto, and where better things that the earth can afford

are provided for them. Hugo de Sancto Victore saith, therefore,

making three sorts of men, "He is very delicate whose own country is

delicious unto him; he is valiant to whom every country is his own;

he is perfect to whom the world is a banishment. The first hath

fastened his love upon the world, the second hath scattered his love

in the world, the last hath extinguished his love from the world."

And this is the _righteous man_ of whom it is here said that he shall

never be removed, because he shall never be taken hence with an

unwilling and reluctant mind. He having never set his affection upon

the world, can never be _removed_ from it. When he goeth hence, he

goeth cheerfully and gladly; it is not a _remove_ of him, but a

pleasant passage to him.--_Jermin._

_Moved,_ not _re_moved, but _shaken_ shall not be seriously

disturbed.--_Miller._

See also comments on chap. ii. 21, 22.

For Homiletics on Verse 31, see on Verses 13, 14, and 20, 21.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The figure here is of a _sprout_ or _seedling_ which has the capacity

to grow for ever. "_Wisdom_" is such a tree. It grows from the mouth

of the good man, and will grow for ever; that is, the good man will

incessantly spread abroad wisdom. God, who is invisible, spreads

abroad wisdom only through the creature. But the ungodly tongue,

literally "_the tongue of upturnings,_" overturning everything, and

being in this world the great instrument for leading others astray,

will be put in a condition to be foiled of such an influence: as the

inspired sentence expresses it, will be "_cut out._"--_Miller._

As a tree full of life and sap brings forth its fruit, so in Isaiah,

lvii. 19, the cognate word is translated "the fruit of the lips." The

froward tongue is like a tree that brings forth evil and not good

fruit. It "shall be cut down." What is meant is, that the abuse of

God's gift of speech will lead ultimately to its forfeiture. There

shall, at last, be the silence of shame and confusion.--_Plumptre._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.

ACCEPTABLE WORDS.

+I. The righteous man knows what words are acceptable to God from a

study of Divine laws.+ The courtier knows how to approach his

king--in what words to address him--because he has made himself

acquainted with the laws of the court. The righteous man is well

acquainted with the laws of the kingdom of God, and, being so, he

knows how to draw near to the Divine King--he sets his words in order

before Him as the wood is laid in order upon the altar for the

sacrifice. God has not left man in ignorance of what kind of words

are acceptable to Him (Hosea xiv. 2; Mal. iii. 16; Matt. vi. 9;

Ephes. v. 19, 20, etc).

+II. He knows what words are acceptable to men from a study of their

character.+ Man's character is a prophecy of the kind of words that

will be acceptable. The righteous man makes it his business, and

regards it as his duty to frame his speech--so far as it is

consistent with righteousness--in such a manner that those to whom he

speaks will be won to listen to his words.

+III. He speaks what are acceptable words from the habit of his

heart.+ It is natural for a good tree to bear good fruit, and it is

the nature of a righteous man to speak words of humility and faith to

his God and of kindness to his fellow-men. As the tree is, so is the

fruit. As the man's heart is, so, with rare exceptions, are his

words. (See on verse 20.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 32. The plain sense is, that the righteous speak those things

whereby they have the favour both of God and man, and whereby they

are in friendship and peace both with heaven and earth. But the mouth

of the wicked careth not to offend either God or man, and seeketh not

for love anywhere, being wholly pleased in perverseness. But many

know what is _acceptable_ to God and man, but their lips do not know

it. So the liar knoweth truth to be _acceptable_ to God and man, but

their lips _do not know it:_ the profane person knoweth prayer to be

acceptable, but his lips do not know it: the ill governor knoweth the

reproof of vice to be acceptable, but his lips do not know it: the

brawler knoweth mildness of speech to be acceptable, but his lips do

not know it. Yea, the lips also of many speak that which is

acceptable, but their lips do not know it; their speaking of it being

in such a manner as maketh that which pleaseth God and pleaseth man,

and he speaks it in a pleasing manner. Or else as _Clemens

Alexandrinus_ readeth, the lips of the righteous know high things in

speaking the high praises of the highest God, and in opening the

truth of high things unto men.--_Jermin._

How, what, when, to whom to speak, is a matter of great wisdom. Yet

this consideration of _acceptableness_ must involve no sacrifice of

principle. Let it be a considerate accommodation of _mode_ to the

diversities of tastes; a forbearance with lesser prejudices and

constitutional infirmities; avoiding not all offences (which

faithfulness to our Divine Master forbids), but all _needless_

offences, all uncalled-for occasions of design and irritation. "The

meekness of wisdom" should be clearly manifested in Christian

faithfulness (Jas. iii. 13). Thus Gideon melted the frowardness of

the men of Ephraim (Judg. viii. 2, 3). Abigail restrained David's

hands from blood (1 Sam. xxv. 23, 33). Daniel stood fearless before

the mighty monarch of Babylon (Dan. iv. 27). Their lips knew what was

acceptable, and their God honoured them.--_Bridges._

HOMILY ON THE ENTIRE CHAPTER. The pious and ungodly compared in

respect--1. To their earthly good; 2. To their worth in the eyes of

men; 3. To their outward demeanour in intercourse with others; 4. To

their disposition of heart as this appears in their mien, their

words, their acts; 5. To their diverse fruits, that which they

produce in their moral influence upon others; 6. To their different

fates as awarded to them at last in the retribution of

eternity.--_Lange's Commentary._

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