CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Instructions,+ "discipline" or "disciplinary
instruction." +2. Obtaineth,+ literally "draws out." +4. Virtuous,+
literally "strenuous," "capable" (used in Ruth iii. 11).
+5. Thoughts,+ or "purposes." +Right,+ "judgment," "justice."
+7.+ Wordsworth here reads, "When the wicked turn themselves," etc.,
_i.e._, on any reverse of their fortunes, however slight, they
perish. +9.+ This verse is read in two ways. Zöckler reads, "Better
is the lowly that serveth himself than he that boasteth and lacketh
bread." Wordsworth agrees with this view. Delitzsch and Stuart render
as the Authorised Version (see comments on the verse).
+10. Regardeth,+ literally "knoweth." Delitzsch reads, "knoweth how
his cattle feed." "Cruel is singular, denoting that each one of his
mercies are cruel" (Fausset). +11. Vain persons,+ or "vanity,"
"emptiness." +12. Net.+ Delitzsch, Zöckler, and Miller translate this
word "spoil" or "prey." The Hebrew word means also a "fortress."
Maurer, therefore, translates it "defence," and understands it to
mean that the evil combine for mutual protection. This agrees with
Zöckler's rendering of the second clause, "the root of the righteous
is made sure." +16. Presently,+ literally "in that very day," _i.e.,_
"at once." +Covereth shame,+ or "hides his offence." +17. Speaketh,+
literally "breathes." +18. Speaketh,+ literally "babbles." +Health,+
"healing." +19. A moment,+ literally "while I wink." +20.+ Delitzsch
reads, "cause joy." +26. Is more excellent than his neighbour,+
rather "guides his neighbour." Delitszch reads, "looketh after his
pastures." The Hebrew word signifies "abundance" (see Miller's
remarks in the comments on the verse). +27.+ The word translated
+roast+ does not occur in this sense elsewhere. In the Chaldee of
Dan. iii. 27, it is used in this sense. It may be read "catcheth not
his prey." The second clause should be, "a precious treasure is
diligence," or "a diligent man." +28. No death,+ literally
"no-death," _i.e.,_ "immortality."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.
THE LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE PROOF OF IT.
True knowledge is to be loved--
+I. For what it can do for him who loves it.+ 1. _It refines a man._
Gold when it is in its natural condition is valuable because it is
gold, but when it has been purged from its impurities by the refining
process it is more to be valued and is more beautiful. So a man may
be sterling gold without much knowledge, but when the dross of
ignorance is removed, he is worth more and is more attractive. If
this be true of knowledge in the general, it is pre-eminently true of
the knowledge which comes from above. If any knowledge exercises a
refining influence upon the human mind, much more does the highest
knowledge--the knowledge of God. 2. _It will open up sources of
enjoyment that would otherwise be hidden._ The blind are deprived of
many enjoyments by lack of sight. There is an abundance of beauty all
around them, but their want of vision makes it useless to them.
Intellectual ignorance is intellectual blindness; the ignorant man is
a stranger to a thousand pleasures which are enjoyed by a
well-informed man. Especially ignorance of Divine things shuts a man
out from the highest, the only lasting unalloyed source of joy.
3. _It makes a man less dependent on the outward and visible._ A man
who has stored up knowledge will be good company for himself. He can
find refreshment by meditating on what he has within him, and need
not be ever seeking it in external things. The contemplation of
Divine and eternal truths especially, will ever be "within him a well
of water" (John iv. 14).
+II. For what it will do for others.+ If a man makes money only to
dig a grave and bury it, he sins against himself and all whom he
might bless by its use. So there are men who seem to have no other
end in getting knowledge than to bury it. Such a man is an
intellectual miser, and a sinner against human kind. There ought to
be a love of giving, as well as a love of getting. For a man who
possesses any kind of knowledge can bless others by its use. And this
being true of all useful knowledge, how much more true is it of the
knowledge which makes "wise unto salvation?" Christ insists that no
Christian make himself a grave in which to bury this knowledge, but a
medium to communicate it (Matt. v. 16). And the influence of
knowledge which has been acquired is not limited to the short life of
a man upon the earth. How much are we indebted to the knowledge
gained by earnest seekers in every department of knowledge long
before we were born? One earnest seeker may gain a knowledge that
will be a light to men as long as the world lasts. Especially those
who have been earnest seekers after Divine truth leave a legacy of
blessing behind them, the influence of which will outlive the world.
For all these reasons men ought to love knowledge.
+III. The proof of loving knowledge.+ He will seek instruction. This
is the only way to knowledge. If a man loves the object of his
pursuit, he will show his love by the use of means. 1. Seeking
instruction is a confession of ignorance, and to be convinced that we
are ignorant is the first step to becoming wise. Self-conceit is the
fatal barrier to a man's gaining knowledge. 2. It involves
self-denying labour. Little that is worth having can be obtained
without labour. The gold-digger has to labour long and painfully
before he finds the precious nuggets. If men would drink of a
springing well of pure water they must dig deep down for it. The
student must plod over dry details if he wishes to taste the sweets
of learning. 3. It generally involves correction by the instructor.
If a man sets out to dig for gold or to dig for water, he will most
likely make mistakes while he is a novice. If he is really in earnest
about his work he will receive "reproof," although it will not be
altogether palatable. So with the scholar, he must suffer the reproof
of the master. Doubtless the main reference here is to that knowledge
which regenerates the character; and certainly the man who loves this
highest knowledge will confess his ignorance, will not shrink from
labouring to attain it, will accept that "reproof" which is an
indispensable element in Divine instruction. If the man of God is to
be "thoroughly furnished" or "perfected" he must accept "reproof" and
"correction," as well as instruction (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).
+IV. The character of the man who does not love reproof.+ He is
"brutish." The great difference between a man and a brute is that the
one can grow intellectually and morally and the other cannot. Many
animals possess great sagacity, and to a certain extent that can be
developed. They sometimes, too, possess admirable qualities, but they
are not capable of _soul-enlargement._ But man is, and in order to
attain it he must submit to the instruction and reproof of those who
are wiser than himself. He must stoop before he can rise. If he will
not do this, he will never attain to the high destiny for which he
was created--ever to be rising higher and higher in the scale of
being. His lower nature will rule his spirit, and he will be little
better than the beast. He must submit to the correction and
instruction of His God if he would not be classed with "the horse and
the mule, which have no understanding" (Psa. xxxii. 8, 9). The man
who will not take reproof will certainly have to submit to it, and
this not only from those who are wiser than himself, but from his
companions in ignorance. A terrible reproof will be administered by
Divine Wisdom to those who refuse reproof (chap. i. 24-31). And he
will not escape upbraidings from those who are involved in the same
sentence. Ungodly men are the first to upbraid their companions in
ungodliness when they are all involved in the same penalty.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Here is shewed that adversity is the best university, saith an
interpreter. Corrections of instructions are the way of life. Men
commonly beat and bruise their links before they light them, to make
them burn the brighter. God first humbles whom He means to
illuminate; as Gideon took thorns of the wilderness and briars and
with them he taught the men of Succoth (Judges viii. 16). M. Ascham
was a good schoolmaster to Queen Elizabeth, but affliction was a
better, as one well observeth. He that hateth reproof, whether it be
by the rebukes of men, or the rod of God, is fallen below the stirrup
of reason, he is a brute in man's shape; nothing is more irrational
than irreligion.--_Trapp._
The most we can attain to in this life is, not to know, but only to
have a love of knowledge; we know in part, and a partial knowledge is
not to know indeed. If we can love knowledge entirely, that is the
entireness of knowledge in this life. Now as knowledge cometh from
instruction, so the love of knowledge from the love of instruction.
He that is servant to the one, will soon be a master to the other. A
loving obedience in receiving doth even command love to keep what is
received. . . . There is the reproof of an _enemy_ and there is the
reproof of a _friend,_ the one seeketh reproach, the other amendment,
but neither is to be hated, for howsoever reproof be used it is a
profitable thing.--_Jermin._
Reproof is not pleasant to nature. We may learn its value from its
results, but it will never be sweet to our taste. At the best it is a
bitter morsel. The difference between a wise man and a fool is not
that one likes it and the other loathes it; both dislike it, but the
fool casts away the precious because it is unpalatable, and the wise
man accepts the unpalatable because it is precious.--_Arnot._
The grand secret of life is to hear lessons, and not to teach
them.--_Haliburton._
It is the property of all true knowledge, especially spiritual, to
enlarge the soul by filling it; to enlarge it without swelling it; to
make it more capable, and more earnest to know, the more it
knows.--_Bishop Sprat._
Ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven.--_Shakespeare._
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The name "Hottentot" originally
referred to particular African, tribal people. It may be
considered offensive. Dr. Miller does not use it as a
compliment in his remarks.
This is a great text. We may expect great texts where there is a look
of commonplace. The thought raises itself two stories at least in the
respect of doctrine. He that, instead of fretting at that mysterious
Providence of God that we call _evil,_ enters into the deep
experiences, and learns to value it as precious to his soul--that man
loves light, or Gospel "knowledge." That is the first story. But,
now, he who takes a much wider view, and looks at all the gains from
evil to the universe--how impossible would be high forms of
knowledge, how utterly unconceived by anyone not Infinite, without
the foil of either observed or experienced misery--that man
acquiesces in all the evils that are seen in the creation, _loving
discipline because he loves knowledge,_ and acquiescing even in hell
itself, because he suspects its absolute necessity in the
providential system. Mourning over our griefs, which seems to be the
work often of a refined and delicate nature, is here asserted to be
"_brutish._" He is but a Hottentot in the ways of the Almighty who
does not see that the crushing of his hopes has been one of the
tenderest methods of his redemption.--_Miller._
He, and he only, that loves the means, loves the end. The means of
knowledge are "instruction" in what is right, and "reproof" for what
is wrong. He who is an enemy to either of these is an enemy to the
end.--_A. Fuller._
Is there any man so like a beast as not to love knowledge? Solomon
tells us, that those who hate reproof are brutish. Let us, therefore,
examine ourselves by this mark. . . . He is surely not a rational
creature who has swallowed poison, and will rather suffer it to take
its course than admit the necessary relief of medicine, lest he
should be obliged to confess his folly in exposing himself to the
need of it.--_Lawson._
It was when Asaph recovered from that strange temptation, under the
power of which he seemed to forget the eternity of man's being, and
to confine his estimate to the present life, that he exclaimed, "So
foolish was I, and ignorant; I was _as a beast_ before Thee" (Psa.
lxxiii. 22). And the same comparison is repeatedly used respecting
the ungodly. They sink themselves even below the level of the brutes,
for _they_ fulfil the ends of _their_ being, under the impulse of
their respective instincts and appetites; but the man who forgets his
immortality and his God, does _not_ fulfil the end of _his._ There
may also be comprehended in the expression, the absence of what every
rational creature ought to have--_spiritual discernment and taste;_
the destitution of all right sentiment and feeling in reference to
God and Divine things. This is the character of him whom Paul
denominates the "natural" or animal "man," who receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
him.--_Wardlaw._
The subject of Verse 2 has been treated in previous chapters. See
Homiletics on chap. iii. 1-4; xi. 21, etc.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 2. Or "hath what he will of God." Thus it is written of Luther,
that by his prayers he could prevail with God at his pleasure. When
gifts were offered him, he refused them with this brave speech, "I
solemnly protested to God that I would not be put off with these low
things." And on a time praying for the recovery of a godly useful
man, among other passages, he let fall this transcendent rapture of a
daring faith, "Let my will be done," and then falls off sweetly; "My
will, Lord, because Thy will." Blessed is he that hath what he will
and wills nothing but what he should. If an evil thought haunt his
heart, it is the devise of the man, he is not the man of such
devices.--_Trapp._
A man can no way be so happy as by being in God's favour. If any
other thing were better than this, it would here be named; for His
purpose is to promise and perform the best. Good men do set their
wits to work to find the way whereby they may best please Him, and He
doth set His wisdom to work to frame a recompense that may best
pleasure them. It is precious--1. In regard of the rareness of it, it
is a flower which groweth only in God's own garden. It is a privilege
and freedom peculiar to the children of God. 2. In regard to the
continuance of it, it is not worn out by time, it vanisheth not away,
it is never taken from them upon whom it is bestowed. 3. In regard to
those good effects wherewith it is always accompanied--defence from
enemies, safety from danger, gladness of heart, the love and favour
of God it doth minister to everyone that partakes of it.--_Dod._
Were the goodness of the godly such as it should be, it would from
God's goodness even deserve praise, not stand in need of remitting
favour, it would carry favour with it, it would not be put by seeking
to obtain it. But in the best, so little it is, that he must even
fetch it out from the Lord with many prayers, earnest suit, and at
last it is the great mercy of God that he doth obtain it. But yet,
such is the mercy of God toward the good, that however He dealeth
with the good man he still obtaineth favour from Him. St. Augustine
saith, "Thou receivedst benefit both from His coming and His going;
He cometh to the increase of thy comfort, He goeth to the increase of
thy care. He goeth away sometimes lest continual presence should make
Him despised, and that absence should make Him more
desired."--_Jermin._
A man of wicked devices may be artful enough to disguise his selfish
plans under the mask of religion and benevolence, like the old
Pharisees; but the eyes of the Judge of the world are like a flame of
fire, they pierce into the secrets of every soul, and there is no
dark design harboured which shall not be completely disclosed in the
day of Christ.--_Lawson._
Let blind reason condemn God. (see on ver. 1.) He who has Gospel
light will see Him as one out of whom he can draw favour. A man not
only pure himself, but doing good to others, looks upon God as a
fountain of blessing.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 3.
A RIGHT DESIRE AND THE MEANS OF ITS ATTAINMENT.
+I. There has always been a desire in men for establishment--for
fixedness.+ 1. _It is a good and God-given aspiration, and manifests
itself in many ways._ Men rightly desire to have a settled home--a
spot on earth to which they may attach themselves and from which they
cannot be driven. This is a desire especially strong in the western
and northern nations, and has been a powerful element in their
development. Men desire a permanent and certain income, and the
desire to obtain it is a great motive power to induce them to acquire
knowledge of mechanical arts and professions. Men desire to earn a
fixed reputation, and the desire acts as a moral power in the world.
2. _It is a desire very old in its manifestation._ Very early in the
history of our race we have an instance of man's desire for fixedness
of position on the earth, and for a permanent reputation. It was this
that prompted the men of Shinar to say one to another, "Go to, let us
build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let
us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the
earth" (Gen. xi. 4). They desired to have a centre of unity in the
world--a spot where they could settle down together and establish a
name that would outlive them. The building of Babel is a parable of
what has been going on ever since, and will go on until the end of
time. The building is not of bricks and mortar, but the desire is the
same.
+II. Men can only have this desire satisfied in one way.+ The man who
purposed to build the tower of Babel used wrong means to fulfil a
lawful desire. It was right to aspire towards reaching the fixedness
of heaven, but that cannot be done with _bricks_ were they never so
many or so well burnt. They did "make a name," but not the name they
desired. And so it is with men now. They want to gain for themselves
a permanent resting place and a lasting name, and they think to
attain their desire by linking themselves with something belonging
only to earth, they desire to reach the heavenly with the earthly.
And if they could use all the clay upon the globe to make their
bricks they would find their tower fall far short of reaching heaven.
All life without God is a life of wickedness, and such a life cannot
be an _establishment_ because it is contrary to Divine law. But this
desire towards the immutable is intended by God to lead man to turn
his face towards "those things which cannot be shaken" (Heb.
xii. 27), that righteous character which fits a man for the "house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. v. 1), which can
be obtained by union with Him who is immutable--"The same yesterday,
to-day, and for ever" (Heb. xiii. 8). Men may build upon a foundation
which shall not be removed, they may send their roots deep down into
an eternal abiding place by falling in with the conditions laid down
by Christ Himself in Matt. v. 24, 25.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_Established_ may have reference not to the stability of his
_fortunes,_ but to that of his _mind_--to tranquil self-possession
and firmness. Even if, in the providence of God, his substance should
fail, he himself remains unshaken and entire in all his best
blessings, and in all his hopes.--_Wardlaw._
A man, being wicked, how shall he expect anything, except that he
shall be disturbed? While the saint, though "_shaken_" in leaf and
bough, and storm-tossed, and, perhaps, broken in his branches, yet
"_shall not be shaken_" in his "_root._"--_Miller._
Ahab strove to establish himself in despite of the threatened curse
of God. He increased his family, trained them with care under the
tutelage of his choicest nobility. And surely one, at least, out of
seventy, might remain to inherit his throne. But this was the vain
"striving" of the worm "with his Maker." One hour swept them all away
(1 Kings xxi. 21, with 2 Kings x. 1-7). The device of Caiaphas, also
_to establish his nation by wickedness,_ was the means of its
overthrow (John xi. 49, 50, with Matt. xxi. 43, 44).--_Bridges._
A man shall not be established by wickedness, for he lays his
foundation upon firework, and brimstone is scattered upon his
housetop: if the fire of God from heaven but flash upon it, it will
all be aflame immediately. He walks all day upon a mine of gunpowder;
and hath God with His armies ready to run upon the thickest bosses of
his buckler, and to hurl him to hell. How can this man be sure of
anything? Cain built cities, but could not rest in them; Ahab begat
seventy sons, but not one successor to the kingdom. Sin hath no
settledness. But the righteous, though shaken with winds, are rooted
as trees; like a ship at anchor, they wag up and down, yet remove
not.--_Trapp._
We shall lose our labour in seeking any sinful helps. We shall but
make quicksand our foundation, and mud our stonework, and stubble and
reeds our strongest timber. It is time for us to pull down our own
ruinous building, lest it should fall upon our heads. For though it
be so slight, and as weak as a cobweb, to be a cover over us, yet it
is very heavy, and as weighty as a mountain to press us under
it.--_Dod._
Many are established in wickedness, and cannot be removed from it,
but none shall ever be established by it.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 4.
A HUSBAND'S CROWN.
+I. A woman possessed of a quality which time will not destroy or
impair.+ Virtue is not a mere negative good--it is not simply an
absence of evil. A virtuous person is one who has _overcome_
evil--one who is prevented from being a worker of evil by being a
worker of good. Virtue is a thing of growth--human nature has to
struggle to acquire moral excellence--to attain that strength of
goodness which we call virtue. It has its seat in the regenerated
heart. The river that is always flowing with pure, living water, is
not fed from a cistern, but from a living spring which is in
communication with the parent of waters. So virtue is not a native of
this fallen world--it is of celestial birth--it is derived from the
source of all goodness and consequently partakes of the
indestructibility of all eternal things. There is no annihilation of
virtue. Stabbing cannot kill it. Burning cannot destroy it. It will
break the bonds of calumny and rise from the dead. Virtue adorns
either sex, but it is especially attractive in a woman. It is _her_
crown, and because she is so crowned, she crowns her husband.
+II. Man needs such a woman to complete, or crown his life.+ Even the
first man in his sinless condition, with all the peculiar joys
springing from his sinless nature, felt his existence incomplete
until God gave him the woman as the filling up--the crown and finish
of his life. But this woman was crowned herself with innocence and
purity or she could not have crowned her husband. If man in his
sinless condition needed a wife to complete his life, how much more
does he need now a virtuous woman to be a helpmeet for him. 1. _He
needs her because he needs help from virtue outside himself._ The
most perfect of imperfect men must lean upon some human support, and
they will consciously or unconsciously do so. A man who has a
virtuous wife has ever about him an atmosphere which is strengthening
to his own virtue. She will help him to preserve his integrity more
effectually than any other person because she is so constantly about
his path. She will give him that moral sympathy which is so helpful
to men struggling to keep a good conscience in an evil world, which
is like oil to the wheels of life, and makes what would otherwise be
very difficult easy and pleasant. 2. _He needs an intellectual
companion._ He must have a rational and intelligent spirit in his
home if his life is to be what God intended it to be--one with whom
he can converse and to whom he can impart his thoughts on things
human and divine. He cannot be _crowned,_ in the full sense of the
word, unless he has such a wife, and the word virtue may embrace
intellectual vigour as well as moral excellence. (See Comments on the
verse.) When a man has such a wife as we have described his life is
completed or crowned. The word among the Hebrews was also symbolic of
joy and gladness (Cant. vi. 11), and such a woman is of necessity a
joy to her husband.
+III. The man who would be thus crowned must be wise in his choice of
a wife.+ The most precious things are not generally to be obtained
without some amount of seeking. Pebbles can be gathered upon any
shore, but diamonds are only to be had for patient seeking. Pinchbeck
ornaments are to be had for a trifle, but a golden diadem costs much
money. There are plenty of women who may be won without much seeking,
but a wife who is virtuous in the sense of the text is not to be met
with every day or in every place. To find such an one he must ask
counsel of Him who provided the first man with the woman who supplied
his need in this respect. Though we have no record that Adam asked
God for a helpmeet for him, yet we do not know that he did not. This
we do know, that God's best gifts, as a rule, are only had for
asking. And when we reflect upon the terrible blight that an ungodly,
unsympathetic, incapable wife is to a man, causing him such shame as
is "rottenness to his bones," we can fully see the need of seeking
Divine guidance in forming a relationship which has so much to do
with "making" or "marring" a man.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Here we have a king and a crown, a _holy woman_ the _crown;_ a _happy
man,_ the _king._ I. _Inasmuch as a woman of grace is here called her
husband's crown we learn that a good wife is the husband's best
outward blessing, the worthiest mercy that a man may have in this
world._ It follows: 1. That as he who would be introduced into the
crown of any kingdom or monarchy must match himself into the king's
race, so, he that would be sure to have a crown for his wife must
take the same course, he must marry into the house of heaven, with
some one to whom the King of Kings is a father, and who is by grace
of the lineage and offspring of the Lord of Hosts. 2. The wife being
the husband's crown must be much respected by her husband. Crowns are
no contemptible things. The Apostle Peter is exact in commanding this
(1 Pet. iii. 7). She is called the "glory of the man" (1 Cor. xi. 7)
and his companion (Mal. ii. 14) his second-self (Ephes. v. 28, 29).
If in these regards God hath made a woman an honour to a man, the
Lord looks that man should give honour to a woman. 3. A wife being a
crown, requireth maintenance as much as her husband's estate will
afford. The crown must be maintained, it is for the honour and safety
of the king, and for the content of the subjects that it have meet
support. II. _If the wife be the crown, the husband is the king._
Therefore: 1. She must acknowledge him and obey him in all
matrimonial loyalty and love. The proverb is, there is no service to
compare with that of a king, but, certainly there is no king's
service to this. Kings can give the greatest about them, but
_rewards_ when they have done their best; but the husband gives the
wife _himself_ for her obedience. 2. It is her duty to grace him. To
be a woman, and to be a wife, is not enough to be a crown, a man may
have both these and yet she that he hath may be a shame unto him.
There go more than _two_ words to this bargain; to be a woman, a
wife, and _gracious,_ and she that is so cannot fail of her
glory.--_John Wing_ (1620).
Man, though made for the throne of the world, was found unfit for the
final investiture until he got woman as a help. . . . When the
relations of the sexes move in fittings of truth and love, the
working of the complicated machinery of life is a wonder to an
observing man and a glory to the Creator God. . . . We need not be
surprised by the announcement of the horrid contrast. It is according
to law; the best things abused become the worst. Woman is the very
element of home. When that element is tainted, corruption spreads
over all its breadth and sinks into its core.--_Arnot._
The word implies the virtue of earnestness, or strength of character,
rather than of simple chastity.--_Plumptre._
The weakness of women is never a reproach unto them, but when it
appeareth in not resisting sin. And therefore the original is _a
woman of strength,_ such a woman as is by God's grace strong enough
to withstand sin: a _manlike_ woman, the Syriac hath it, in spiritual
courage. But contrariwise she, who is not ashamed of her sinful
weakness in yielding unto sin maketh him ashamed for whom she was
created, and as rottenness in his bones destroyeth his strength,
making him weak through grief, as she is through folly, for such
grief enters deeply, and it is the bones that it wasteth, when she is
naught who was made of man's bone.--_Jermin._
Let man learn to be grateful to woman for this undoubted achievement
for her sex, that it is she--she far more than he, and she, too
often, in despite of him--who has kept Christendom from lapsing back
into barbarism, kept mercy and truth from being utterly overborne by
those two greedy monsters, money and war. Let him be grateful for
this, that almost every great soul that has led forward, or lifted up
the race, has been furnished for each noble deed, and inspired with
each patriotic and holy inspiration, by the retiring fortitude of
some Spartan--some Christian mother. Moses, the deliverer of his
people, drawn out of the Nile by the king's daughter, some one has
hinted, is only a symbol of the way that woman's better instincts
outwit the tyrannical diplomacy of the man. Let him cheerfully
remember, that though the sinewy sex achieves enterprises on public
theatres, it is the nerve and sensibility of the other that arm the
mind and inflame the soul in secret. Everywhere a man executes the
performance, but woman trains the man.--_Anon._
The figure in the second clause is strong. We may consider it as
conveying _two_ ideas! 1. The "bones" are the _strength_ of the
frame. Upon them the whole is built. There is, therefore, in the idea
of _caries,_ or rottenness in them, that of the _wasting_ of the
vigour of body and mind, and the bringing of the man prematurely to
his grave; and that, too, by means which cost him, ere this result is
effected, exquisite suffering. 2. The "bones" are _unseen._ The poor
man is pierced with inward and secret agony, which he cannot
disclose; pines in unseen distress--distress of which the cause is
hidden, while the _effects_ are sadly and rapidly visible.--_Wardlaw._
"Capable;" sometimes "virtuous," literally _strong._ "It is well
observed by Michaelis (Supp. No. 17), that in the early stages of
society, when the government and laws had little influence, fortitude
was the first and most necessary virtue; and might therefore
naturally give its name to the other virtues. Hence _virtus_ in
Latin, and ɑρετη in Greek, which, according to their etymology,
denote mainly strength and fortitude, came, at length, to signify
virtue in general (Holder)." "_Crown,_" that is (1) _ornament,_ and
(2) _source of power._ A virtuous woman is both to her husband. A
spendthrift, drunken, or adulterous wife is so entrenched in our
being, that our very bone, that is, our dearest interests (Psalm
xxxv. 10; John xix. 36), are rotten, when these qualities begin their
influence. A man, linked with such disorders, cannot complain of his
inevitable reproof (ver. 1). Does he link himself with evil, he must
partake of the storms that buffet it. Women, however, in all this
book, seem to be types of qualities;--of Grace (xi. 16); of Wisdom
(xiv. 1); of Folly (ix. 13). The "virtuous woman" has not stood
before us in all her true light, till she stands as Wisdom; nor "One
that causes shame," till we make her Impenitency. "The virtuous or
capable woman" is our "_crown,_" for, with faith, all things are
ours; and her great rival is our shame, for, with unbelief, there is
"rottenness" in our very "bones." This disposition always to see a
figure must not be set down as fanciful, till the Woman of Grace, of
Folly, and of Wisdom, and other still more artificial cases (Rev.
xii. 1), have been thoroughly considered.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 5-8.
THOUGHTS AND WORDS AND THEIR RESULT.
+I. The thoughts of the righteous or godly man are right.+
1. _Because he has the best material out of which to build his
thoughts._ The kind of building which is reared will depend mainly
upon the quarry from which the stones are hewn. The man of God gets
the material of his thoughts from the revealed Word of God. He obeys
the Divine command.--"This book of the law shall not depart out of
thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Josh.
i. 8). 2. _Because his thinking is under the rule of law._ He does
not allow his mind to dwell upon every suggestion that comes into it,
he forbids certain things to enter there, or if they enter in an
unguarded moment, he will not give them a dwelling place. He does not
give unqualified assent to the boast that "thought is free." The
righteous man does not aspire to be a "_free_-thinker," if he did he
could not be a _good_ thinker. He rules his thoughts according to the
legislation of Christ (Matt. v. 28; xv. 18), and endeavours to bring
_every thought_ into obedience to Him (2 Cor. x. 5).
+II. The speech of the righteous.+ A man's words are never worse than
his thoughts. In a good man they are the outcome of his thoughts. As
the child is the undeveloped man, and the seed the undeveloped tree,
so thought is the seed of speech. If the child's constitution is good
and the seed is good, the man and the tree will be healthy and
vigorous. If the thought is healthy and wise the speech will be so
likewise, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"
(Matt. xii. 34).
+III. The thoughts of the wicked.+ They are such as spring
spontaneously from the human heart, which is, according to the
estimate of One who knows, "deceitful above all things" (Jer.
xvii. 9). In such a heart counsels or thoughts of deceit must be
generated. His own life-work will be a deceit (chap. xi. 18), and he
will deceive others. The verse evidently refers to thoughts which
purpose harm to other people. When a man's thoughts are not in
subjection to the law of God, they have a tendency to go from bad to
worse. The ungodly man, either directly or indirectly, injures others
as well as himself.
+IV. The words of the wicked.+ The ungodly are here represented, as
in chap. xi. 21, as combining to injure the godly (see Homiletics on
that verse). Their words are the outcome of their evil and malicious
thoughts. Most ungodly men try to lessen the influence of the good by
depreciating their character when they do not dare to attack their
property and their lives. This lying in wait for blood may cover all
schemes to bring about the downfall of the good. The two characters
now stand before us. Let us look at what is in store for each. I. For
the righteous. 1. _Deliverance from the machinations of the wicked._
This is effected by means of the godly man's own words. He is able to
refute what his enemies bring against him. This proverb cannot of
course be taken to assert that the righteous are always delivered
from death at the hands of their persecutors. They are delivered as
Christ was delivered from the counsels of deceit, and from the bloody
plans of the Scribes and Pharisees. The words here used exactly
describe their character, and the deliverance of the righteous is
such a deliverance as our Lord wrought for Himself by the words of
truth and wisdom with which He silenced them Take the instance of the
tribute-money as recorded by Matthew (chap. xxii. 15). "Then went the
Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk.
And they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians,
saying, Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of
God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man; for thou regardest not
the person of men. Tell us, therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it
lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Jesus perceived their
wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the
tribute money. And they brought Him a penny. And He saith unto them,
Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him, Cæsar's.
Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which
are Cæsar's, and unto God the things which are God's. When they had
heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way."
Two other instances of Christ's delivering Himself by His "mouth" are
given in the same chapter. And many of His followers have in like
manner defeated the plans of their enemies. 2. _The establishment of
his family._ His thoughts and words bless his own house--they are the
means of reproducing other characters whose thoughts and words are
like his own. This of itself is a good reason why his house should
stand. Each member of it thus becomes a centre of influence for good,
and in this way the world is preserved from moral corruption and
ruin. And it is a law of God's kingdom that the godliness of the head
of a family or race should bring a blessing upon his posterity. God
defended the people of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah for "His
servant David's sake" (Isa. xxxvii. 35). He blessed Isaac for "my
servant Abraham's sake" (Gen. xxvi. 24). And the same law is at work
in New Testament times, "The promise is unto you and to your
children" (Acts ii. 39). 3. _General commendation._ The wise and the
righteous are synonymous in the book of Proverbs, the wisdom of the
8th verse is, doubtless, _moral_ wisdom. Paul calls his Corinthian
converts, whom he had begotten by his holy thoughts and wise words,
his "letters of commendation" (2 Cor. iii. 1-3). Every godly man has
some such commendatory epistles in the living souls who his life and
words have blessed. Men can but acknowledge that he is a blessing to
his fellow-creatures while he lives, and after he has left the world
he is praised by, and because of, those whom he "turned to
righteousness" (Dan. xii. 3). II. But for the wicked there must
be--1. _Overthrow._ They entered the lists against a power must
stronger than their own, and must therefore come to ruin. The stubble
of the field can contend for a time against the fire, but the latter
grows stronger the longer it burns, and the stubble is less and less
able to resist its power, until presently there is nothing left but a
few ashes which are soon scattered by the winds, and the place that
once knew them knows them no more, _"For behold the day cometh, that
shall burn as an oven, and all the proud and all that do wickedly
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch"_
(Mal. iv. 1). 2. _General contempt._ The wicked or "perverse of
heart" will not be able to respect himself, how then can he expect
others to hold him in honour? And in the day of his overthrow the
contempt or indifference with which both he and his fate will be
regarded will not come from those who he has striven to injure, but
from those who are like himself. Those who have already met with
their overthrow will be those who will meet him with the taunt, _"Art
thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?"_ (Isa.
xiv. 10). And those whose time of judgment is yet in the future will
not stoop to pity or succour him.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 5. That thoughts are free, is his lesson, by which we are made
slaves unto sin. For if the thoughts be corrupted, the affections
will soon be polluted, and then the actions are easily perverted. If
the flies of Egypt get into our eyes, the frogs of Egypt will soon
get into our chambers, the caterpillars of Egypt will soon destroy
our fruits, the actions of our lives. The counsels of the wicked are
deceit--they deceive God of His honour, their neighbour of his right,
themselves of their salvation.--_Jermin._
The stress lies upon the words, "thoughts" or "purposes," and
"counsels." Habits of good and evil reach beyond the region of
outward act to that of impulse and volition.--_Plumptre._
To the righteous are ascribed simple and clear thoughts, to the
godless, prudently thought through schemes and measures, but on that
very account not simple, because of their tendency.--_Delitzsch._
If good thoughts _look_ into a wicked heart, they _stay_ not there,
as those that like not their lodging; the flashes of lightnings may
be discerned into the darkest prisons. The light that shines into a
holy heart is constant, like that of the sun, which keeps due times,
and varies not the course for any of these sublunary
occasions.--_Trapp._
At the first creation man was made to excel brute beasts more by the
reason and gifts of the soul than by the fashion and shape of the
body, so at the second, a Christian is made to excel sinful men more
by the holiness and working of the soul than by those of the
body.--_Dod._
The mere _thoughts_--the unpremeditated _resolves_ of a righteous
man--are _right;_ the _deliberate counsels,_ the very _deliberations_
of the wicked, are _deceit._--_Burgon._
Many indeed are the deviations of the righteous. But there is an
overcoming law within that, in despite of all opposition, fixes _his
thoughts_ with delight on God and His law (Pas. cxxxix. 17, 18; Rom.
vii. 15, 23), and gives to them a single bias for His service. Widely
different are the thoughts of the wicked, ripening into _counsels_
fraught with _deceit._ Such were those of Joseph's brethren to
deceive their father; of Jeroboam, under a feigned consideration of
the people; of Daniel's enemies, under pretence of honouring the
king; of Herod, under the profession of worshiping the infant
Saviour.--_Bridges._
This verse has been rendered, _"The policy of the just is honesty;
the wisdom of the wicked is cunning."_ The righteous man deals in
rectitude, and from his actions you know his thoughts. It is not so
with "the wicked." He thinks one way and acts another. His words and
deeds are not the fair index of his thoughts.--_Wardlaw._
_"The plans of the righteous are a judgment."_ This word, which is
very common in the Bible, means a judicial decision. The "judgment"
of the wicked is a verdict of the Almighty consigning them to hell.
The "judgment" of the righteous, by what Christ has wrought out, is a
verdict of eternal reward. . . . The "plans of the righteous,"
however disastrous they may seem, "are a judgment." And, as the
"judgment" of the righteous is in his favour, his plans, however bad,
are shaped in him for his good. Whatsoever storms they may lead to,
they are from a most prosperous verdict, and have been allowed to
supervene, for his highest, and well-graduated good. Mark now the
climax (as in ch. xiv. 11). It says, the _plans_ of the righteous,
leading us to suppose they might be very wretched But it says "the
_helmsmanship_ (counsels, see on chap. xi. 14) of the wicked,"
leaving us to suppose they are very shrewd. The keenest calculations
of the wicked, where a cool eye is at the _helm,_ and where instead
of marrying a foolish wife (ver. 4), he has built grandly for the
world; still, as a _judgment,_ I mean by that, as the whole verdict
in his case, his very _helmsmanships_ are a deceit. (1) His own
wisdom cheats him in ordering his life; and (2) God Himself, as a
part of His award, takes care that he be deceived as to his total
well-being.--_Miller._
Verse 6. The law of parallelism leaves it open to us to refer the
pronoun at the end of this verse to the righteous themselves, or to
those, the unwary and innocent, for whom the words of the wicked lie
in wait.--_Plumptre._
The fiercer ebullitions of humanity may, indeed, be softened down and
restrained. But the principle remains the same. The fiery elements
only lie in slumbering cover, and often break out, wasting the very
face of society.--_Bridges._
_The words._ Speech is the great instrument of man. Talking is his
trade. Wall Street and Lombard Street make their fortunes by the
tongue. The "words of the wicked" are, therefore, their highest
activities, and our proverb declares that these high acts are "a
lying in wait for blood." We would not deny that this may include the
blood of others; but in the light of the last verse the grand victim
is themselves (chap. i. 18). Each order on change is for a man's last
discomfiture.--_Miller._
Though nature hath denied man the weapons of his teeth, yet
wickedness giveth to some such _words_ as are more bloody beasts. The
false witness will frame his tale so cunningly as if he intended
nothing but a clearing of the truth, whereas he seeketh nothing but
the shedding of blood. The corrupt judge will couch his words so
closely, as if he meant nothing but to have justice executed, whereas
they are nothing but ambushments to surprise innocent blood. But
there are words which issue from the mouth of the upright, as making
a sally out of some adjoining fort, whereby the prey is rescued, the
pillagers are defeated, the innocent are delivered, the upright as
victorious is crowned with the diadem of his judgment as in Job it is
called (ch. xxix. 14); and which St. Gregory saith is rightly called
a diadem, because by the glory of an excellent work it leadeth to the
crown of a glorious reward. Now such were the words of Job's mouth,
who brake the jaws of the wicked and plucked the spoil out of his
teeth, being eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the
poor.--_Jermin._
The prayers of God's people ascend up to God's presence for His help,
and those mouths prevail mightily that seek for redress of wrong at
His hands. Herod thought it would be too late for all the friends
which Peter had to minister help to him when he had clapped him in
prison. But he remembered not how swift the godly be to prayer and
how soon a prayer can come to God.--_Dod._
Verse 7. The _persons_ of the wicked are _overthrown and are not,_
the _house_ of the righteous (the very roof that sheltered him) shall
_stand._--_Burgon._
He that is strong may be overthrown and may rise again, he that
riseth not to what he was may rise in part to something, he that
riseth not at all, may lie where he has fallen; but in the overthrow
of the wicked all hope is gone of anything, for they themselves are
_nothing._ They _were not_ in goodness, they _are not_ by their
wickedness. They are not to be recovered from their overthrow,
because they are not changed to repentance by their overthrow. On the
other side, not only the righteous shall stand, their family, their
posterity shall stand, for God shall stand by them, and then no fear
of falling can be unto them.--_Jermin._
When a change of the estate of the ungodly is made from prosperity
unto adversity, their utter destruction is commonly wrought, for
their house being built upon the sand, the tempests and the winds
arise and quite overthrow it. The whole manner of the overthrow is
described in Job xviii. 15.--_Muffet._
The righteous shall "have a place in the Lord's house," immovable
here (Isa. lvi. 4, 5), and in eternity (Rev. iii. 12).--_Bridges._
Solomon had a signal exemplification of this in the case of _Saul_
and his father _David._ Possibly this instance might be in his eye at
the time.--_Wardlaw._
Eventually there must be _overthrow,_ even if it be no overthrow but
death. When the wicked do fall, there is positively _nothing of them
left._ While in the deepest disasters of the righteous, nothing is
not _left. "His house,"_ and by that is meant every possible real
interest (1 Sam. ii. 35) shall stand for ever.--_Miller._
Verse 8. Sometimes, and very often, the wicked shall commend him,
commonly the righteous, and always the Lord Himself, but most of all
at the last day, before all men and angels. They that are not void of
uprightness shall not be destitute of praise and honour. Though some
be blind that they cannot discern their understanding and graces, yet
others have their eyesight and behold them. Though some be dumb and
will not speak of their virtues, yet others have their lips open to
commend them.--_Dod._
And all wisdom consists in this, that a man rightly know and worship
God. Apollonius, Archimedes, and Aristotle were wise in their
generations, and so accounted, but by whom? Not by St. Paul, he hath
another opinion of them (Rom. i. 22). Not by our Saviour (Matt.
xi. 25).--_Trapp._
_According_--"in exact proportion;" such as the meaning of the
Hebrew. A man is more applauded for good sense than perhaps anything
else. _Wisdom_--"shrewdness;" that attribute that leads to success.
Therefore it sometimes means success (2 Kings xviii. 7). Successful
shrewdness is a very positive sort. Such is the shrewdness of the
righteous man (ver. 7). _Perverse heart_--"crooked sense," literally
_heart;_ though heart contains more of sense (νοʊς) than we ascribe
to it. If a man whose mind works crookedly every time becomes an
object of contempt, why ought not the wicked to become so, whose very
helmsmanships are a deceit? (ver. 5).--_Miller._
How thrilling will be the _commendation of wisdom_ before the
assembled universe! (Luke xii. 42-44). Who will not then acknowledge
the _wise_ choice of an earthly cross with a heavenly
crown?--_Bridges._
This is capable of two interpretations. It may refer to commendation
by _men,_ or to commendation by _God._ In the one case it may mean
mere _secular discretions,_ in the other it must mean _religious
principle,_ according to the invariable testimony that "the fear of
the Lord, that is wisdom." This is not the wisdom that secures the
eulogy of men; but it will ever secure that of the infinitely Wise,
the Infinitely Good. And, indeed, the two things may be united. A man
who fears God will always be a _faithful_ counsellor, and if at the
same time he have sound discretion in regard to the affairs of life,
this will form the perfection of character, and there will be
commendation both from _men_ and _God._ . . . In the pride of your
hearts, you may affect to hold very cheap the contempt of men; though
even that is often mere pretension than reality, disappointment
rankling at the heart, while scorn is curling the lip. But what must
it be to be "lightly esteemed" at last, to be "despised" by that God
who has in his hands the destinies of the universe!--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.
SHOW AND REALITY.
Whichever rendering we adopt of this verse the subject is the
same--that of one man's allowing his vanity, his love for
appearances, to rob him of all real comfort, and that of his wiser
brother's preference of comfort to outside show.
+I. The wise man who is despised.+ Men who have the moral courage to
live in a simple style, and to labour with their own hands, will
certainly be regarded with contempt by some, but by whom? By those
whose good opinion and honour is not worth having. Children are taken
with what is showy on the surface--they have little regard for what
lies underneath. They will be more delighted with a soap-bubble than
with a diamond. But _men_ look on things with different eyes. So it
is only men and women of childish minds who estimate a man by his
clothes, his house, or his establishment, and it is only such who
will despise the first man mentioned in the text. If we take the
common rendering of the verse, then this man is more useful to
society than the other; for, instead of spending all his money on
himself, he keeps a servant, and so gives another a means of living.
For as it is implied that he does not lack bread himself, so he will
not let those in his employ want the necessaries of life. Other
things being equal, the man who, by a judicious use of his means,
gives employment to others, is a greater benefactor to his race than
he who spends his money in selfish luxury. At any rate, this man is a
wiser man than the other, for he has the good sense to prefer the
greater to the less. It is only obeying a natural instinct to satisfy
the bodily wants, and to supply ourselves with all the substantial
comforts of life before we spend money on things which do not, after
all, add in the least to our real enjoyment, and yet the majority of
men do sacrifice some of the former to the latter. He who has the
moral courage not to do so shows his real wisdom. And by such a
course of conduct he blesses others as well as himself--he does
something to stem the tide of passion for keeping up appearances
which in our age and country is the fruitful source of so much crime
and misery--he, and he only, is the truly honest man, for he is
content to pass for just what he is as to wealth.
+II. The foolish and wicked man who "honours himself."+ 1. _He is a
fool._ Vanity is one of the most despicable passions that can possess
a man--it often leads a man to the most childish actions. No man of
modern times was more entirely under its dominion than Voltaire,
whose only aim in life seemed to be to gain that unsubstantial homage
which afforded his spirit at the last such an unsatisfying portion.
He did not literally lack bread, but he did find himself in his old
age without anything which could give him any real comfort. The man
mentioned in our text is so bent upon obtaining this false honour
that he will "lack bread"--suffer positive bodily discomfort--rather
than not obtain it. 2. _He is a sinner._ He lies in action, if not in
word. While he is resorting to the meanest shifts in secret he is
trying to make people believe that he is much better off than he
really is. By stinting himself in the common comforts of life he sins
against his own body and against his creator, for "the Lord is for
the body" (1 Cor. vi. 13), and it is man's duty to feed that house of
the soul which is so "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psa.
cxxxix. 14). He therefore sins against himself and against society.
It is worth while to inquire whether anybody will honour him after
all his foolish efforts. God cannot, for He hates all hypocrisy. Men
may, for their own interest, flatter him, and feign to respect him,
but he will obtain no real honour, either from men like him in
character, or from those who are better and wiser. "I have read,"
says Thomas Adams, "of Menecrates, a physician that would needs be
counted a god, and took no other fee of his patients than their vow
to worship him. Dionysius Syracusanus, hearing of this, invited him
to a banquet, and, to honour him according to his desire, set before
him nothing but a censer of frankincense, with all the smoke whereof
he was feasted till he starved, while others fed on good meat." Such
smoke as this is all the return such a man as the one pictured in
this proverb will get for starving himself, and for sinning against
his own body, against society, and against God.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
We give a few of the many renderings of this verse:--
Better is he that laboureth and aboundeth in all things than he that
boasteth himself and lacketh bread.--_Wordsworth._
This proverb, like xv. 17, commends the middle rank of life with its
quiet excellencies. A man of lowly rank, who is, however, not so poor
that he cannot support a slave, is better than one that boasts
himself and is yet a beggar. The first necessity of an Oriental in
only moderate circumstances is a slave, just as was the case with the
Greeks and Romans.--_Delitzch._
Better is the condition of the poor man, who has the means under his
control of aiding his exertions for sustenance, than the nobleman,
real or fancied, who is in a state of starvation.--_Stuart._
Each interpretation is tenable grammatically. (1) He whom men
despise, or who is "lowly" in his own eyes (the word is used by David
himself, 1 Sam xviii. 23), the trader, the peasant, if he has a
slave, _i.e.,_ if he is one step above absolute poverty, and has
someone to supply his wants, is better off than the man who boasts of
rank or descent, and has nothing to eat. Respectable mediocrity is
better than boastful poverty. (2) He who, though despised, is a
servant to himself, _i.e._ supplies his own wants, is better than the
arrogant and helpless.--_Plumptre._
Some do think it more miserable to be known to be miserable than to
be so, and are more grieved to be disesteemed for it than to be
pinched by it, wherefore they will feed the eyes of others with a
show of plenty, although they have not bread to feed themselves. But
he is better who, disesteeming the esteem of others and being servant
to himself, does get his own bread, and is contented with it. For as
he is servant, so is he master also; and howbeit he serveth, yet it
is at his own pleasure. And this is his comfort, that while he
serveth himself he hath to serve his need and occasions, when he that
_honoureth himself_ is fain at last to live by others. Or else take
the meaning thus: the ambitious itch of many is so great, and so
disquieteth their hearts, that they can lack anything, even bread
itself, rather than honour and preferment; so that when they are
swollen big in greatness and dignity they are even starved in their
estate, and have not of their own the next meal to feed themselves.
But better is he, especially if he be a good man, who--having to keep
himself and a servant--doth keep within his means; and though he be
_despised_ by them that overlook him, yet he looks upon himself with
thanks to God that it is so well with him. And, indeed, how can this
man but be better than the other, when his servant is better than the
other is. For as Chyrsostom speaketh, it cannot be but that he who is
the slave of glory should be servant of all, yea, more vile than all
other servants. For there is no servant commanded to do such base
things as the love of glory commandeth him.--_Jermin._
The son of Sirach, who may well be called an interpreter of this book
of the Proverbs, hath a very like saying to this where he speaketh
thus, "Better is he that worketh and aboundeth with all things, than
he that boasteth himself, and wanteth bread" (Ecclus.
x. 27).--_Muffet._
When men are such slaves to the opinion of the world, they rebel
against Him who makes no mistake in His allotments and often appoints
a descent from worldly elevation as a profitable discipline (Jas.
i. 10, 11; Dan. iv. 32-37). Yet it is hard, even for the Christian,
as Bunyan reminds us, "to go down the valley of humiliation and catch
no slip by the way." We need our Master's unworldly elevated spirit
(John vi. 15) to make as safe descent. . . . "Let our moderation be
known unto all men," under the constraining recollection, "The Lord
is at hand" (Phil. iv. 5). How will the dazzling glory of man's
esteem fade away before the glory of His appearing!--_Bridges._
Paul travelling on foot, and living on the wages of a tent-maker, was
more respectable than the pretended successor of his brother apostle,
with a triple crown upon his head.--_Lawson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.
CARE FOR ANIMALS AND CRUELTY TO MEN.
Even the animal is benefited by being related to a righteous man.
+I. The righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.+ 1. _Because
of the entire dependence of the creature upon him._ Animals which are
the property of man are entirely at his mercy. They have no power to
change a bad master for a good one--no voice to utter their
complaints--no means of getting redress for their wrongs. All these
considerations tend to make a good man care for them, for the
righteous man's sympathies are always drawn out in proportion to the
need of the object. And with regard to the animal creation, it may be
that the present life is the only opportunity a man may have of
showing kindness to them. If, on the other hand, animals live in
another world, it may be all the better for men to treat them well
here. 2. _Because of his dependence upon his beast._ Men are very
largely indebted to animals for the sustaining of their life--it
would be very difficult for the work of the world to be carried on
without their help; man would certainly have to labour much harder if
they had it not. Therefore, the righteous man feels that he is paying
_a debt_ when he "regards the life of his beast." 3. _Because the
animal is an object of Divine care._ The Bible has many references to
the brute creation, and many passages which show that "_God_
regardeth the life of the beast." Christ tells us that not a
_sparrow_ falls to the ground without His Father's notice, and God
has given special commands with reference to the care of dumb
creatures. _"Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the
corn"_ (Duet. xxv. 4). Seeing, then, that "God doth care for oxen," a
righteous man will do likewise. 4. _Because of the lessons that may
be learned from the animal creation._ God often sends man to learn of
them (see Isa. i. 3; Jer. viii. 7), and much suggestive teaching may
be got from observation of their dispositions and habits. It would be
ingratitude not to repay them with considerate care.
+II. The wicked man is cruel.+ Wickedness is, in its nature,
destitute of kindliness. The sea is by nature salt, and its saltiness
makes it unfit to sustain human life. The father of wickedness is a
cruel being--his only aim is to increase the misery of the universe.
All his children have partaken more or less of his character since
the first human murderer killed his brother. It is said here that
even his acts of mercy are cruel. History gives many instances of men
whose so-called acts of mercy were only refined cruelties. It follows
that if wicked men are cruel to their fellow-creatures--to men and
women of their own flesh and blood, they will be even more
indifferent to the welfare of creatures below man.
_ILLUSTRATIONS._
Sir Robert Clayton, as commander of a troop of British cavalry, which
after service on the Continent was disbanded in the city of York, and
the horses sold, could not bear to think that his old
fellow-campaigners, who had born brave men to battle, should be
ridden to death as butcher's hacks, or worked in dung-carts till they
became dogs' meat, he therefore purchased a piece of ground upon
Knavesmire heath, and turned out the old horses to have their run for
life. What made this act to be the longer had in remembrance, was the
curious fact, that one day, when these horses were grazing, a
thunder-storm gathered, at the fires and sounds of which, as if
mistaken for the signs of approaching battle, they were seen to get
together and form in line, almost in as perfect order as if they had
their old masters on their backs.
Sir James Prior tells us, in the last year of the life of Burke, that
a feeble old horse which had been a favourite with young Richard--now
dead--and his constant companion in all his rural journeyings and
sports, when both were alike healthful and vigorous, was turned out
to take the run of the park at Beaconsfield during the remainder of
his life, the servants being strictly charged not to ride or in any
way molest him. This pour worn-out steed it was that one day drew
near to Burke, as the now childless and decrepit statesman was musing
in the park, and after some moments of inspection, followed by
seeming recollection and confidence, deliberately rested his head
upon the old man's bosom. The singularity of the action, the
remembrance of his dead son, its late master, and the apparent
attachment and intelligence of the poor brute, as if it could
sympathise with his inward sorrows, rushing at once into his mind,
totally overpowered his firmness, and throwing his arms over its
neck, he wept long and loudly.
John Howard writing home from the Lazaretto, himself sick and a
prisoner: "Is my chaise-horse gone blind or spoiled? Duke is well, he
must have his range when past his labour; not doing such a cruel
thing as I did with the old mare. I have a thousand times repented of
it."--_Jacox._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
What a cruelty of the wicked is, at its words, words might seem
wanting to show, after it has been said that the tender mercies of
the wicked are cruel. But "a righteous man regardeth the life of his
beast." Jacob, as flock-master, is studiously careful for his flocks
and herds as well as for his tender children; "if men should
over-drive them one day, all the flock would die;" so "I will lead on
softly," said he to Esau, "according as the cattle that goeth before
me is able to endure." The angel of the Lord standing in the way,
rebukes Balaam for smiting his ass three times: that unrighteous man,
wishing there were a sword in his hand, too literally regardeth not
the life of his beast. . . . We certainly ought not, pleads Plutarch,
to treat living creatures like shoes or household goods, which, when
worn out with use, we throw away; and, were it only to learn
benevolence to human kind, we should be merciful to other creatures.
To be kind to these our fellow-lodgers is common humanity. To be
cruel to them is to be below it. It is almost, if not quite, to be a
little lower than themselves. It is, maintains, Sir Arthur Helps, an
immense responsibility that Providence has thrown upon us in
subjecting these sensitive creatures to our complete sway, and he
avowedly trembles at the thought of how poor an answer we shall have
to give, when asked the question how we have made use of the power
entrusted to us over the brute creation. . . . The question of
interposing law has been a vexed one, upon which the humanest have
differed. . . . So hard-headed and cool-headed a thinker as Stuart
Mill is decisive and incisive in his arguments in favour of legal
intervention. Mr. Lecky's suggestion of a doubt whether cruelty to
animals can be condemned on utilitarian grounds, is met by the
obvious answer that a utilitarian may rationally include in his
definition of the greatest number whose happiness is to be the aim of
human beings, not only human beings themselves, but all animals
capable of being happy or the reverse; besides which it is urged
that, even if we limit our view to the good of our own species, the
argument is as strong as can be desired. "If the criminality of an
action were to be measured simply by its direct effects on human
happiness, we might probably urge that the murderer of a grown-up man
was worse than the murderer of a child, and far worse than the
torturer of a dumb animal. Yet, as a matter of fact, we should
probably feel a greater loathing for a man who could torment a beast
for his pleasure than for one who should ill-use one of his equals."
For such cruelty is held to indicate, as a rule, a baser nature. A
murderer, though generally speaking a man of bad character, is not of
necessity cowardly or mean; he may not improbably show some courage,
and possibly even some sensibility to the nobler emotions. The
tormenter of animals, on the other hand shows callousness of nature,
a pleasure in giving pain for the sake of giving pain, which has
about it something to be described as devilish. . . . John Foster
declared it to be a great sin against moral taste to mention
ludicrously, or for ludicrous comparison, circumstances in the animal
world which are painful and distressing to the animals that are in
them; the simile, for instance, "Like a toad under a
harrow."--_Jacox._
Lit. "knoweth." The Authorised Version gives the right application,
but the words remind us that all true sympathy and care must grow out
of knowledge. The righteous man tries to _know_ the feelings and life
even of the brute beast, and so comes to care for it. _"Tender
mercies."_ Better "the feelings, the emotions" all that should have
led to mercy and pity towards man. The circle expands in the one
case, narrows in the other.--_Plumptre._
When the pulse of kindness beats strong in the heart the warm stream
is sent clean through the body of the human family, and retains force
enough to expatiate among the living creatures that lie beyond. . . .
Cruelty is a characteristic of the wicked in general, and in
particular of antichrist--that one, wicked by pre-eminence, whom
Christ shall yet destroy by the brightness of His coming. By their
fruits ye shall know them. The page of history is spotted with the
cruelties of papal Rome. The red blood upon his garments is generally
the means of discovering a murderer. The trailing womanish robes of
the papal high priest are deeply stained with the blood of the
saints. The same providence which employs the bloody tinge to detect
the common murderer has left more lasting marks of Rome's cruelty.
The Bartholomew massacre, for example, is recorded in more enduring
characters than the stains of that blood which soaked the soil of
France. The pope and his cardinals rejoiced greatly when they heard
the news. So lively was their gratitude that they cast a medal to
record it on. There stands the legend, raised in brass and
silver--_"Strages Huguenotorum"_ (the slaughter of the Huguenots)--in
perpetual memory of the delight wherewith that wicked antichrist
regarded the foulest butchery of men by their fellows that this
sin-cursed earth has ever seen. That spot will not out with all their
washings.--_Arnot._
It is better to be the beast of a righteous man than the son of a
wicked man; nay, it is better to be the beast of a righteous man than
to be a wicked man. For the righteous will do right unto his beast;
the merciful man hath sense of mercy wheresoever is sense of misery,
and while in mercy he regardeth the life of the beast that is beneath
him, he is made like unto God, who is so far above him. But the
wicked man's tender mercies are "mercies of the cruel," or else his
tender mercies are cruel, hurting as much as severe cruelty; and
therefore many times a wicked father's fond affection is the utter
undoing of a petted child, and sparing pity, where evil should be
chastised, is the breeding nurse of mischief which cannot be helped.
The fond mercies whereby the wicked favoureth himself in sloth and
idleness, whereby he pleaseth himself with pleasures and delights,
whereby he pampereth himself with delicate and luscious meats,
whereby he restraineth not his lusts and desires--what are they but
cruelties whereby he tormenteth his body with sickness and quickly
killeth it, and whereby he wilfully destroyeth his soul.--_Jermin._
The worldly care of a high prosperous man may seem very tender to
those dependent on him and towards others; but the very tenderness of
an impenitent example is the higher snare, the tender mercies of the
wicked are cruel. . . . Religion has no austerities that make a true
saint careless of the life or feelings even of his _beast._ On the
contrary, it breeds the most pervading tenderness; whereas the wise
worldling, however careful of his home and tender towards all who
have any claim upon his care, yet in admitting that there is a hell,
and neglecting all prayer for his household, and all example, except
one that braves the worst, breeds children simply to destroy
them.--_Miller._
The tender mercies of the wicked are when base and guilty men are
spared that should be smitten with the sword of justice. Pity of this
sort is more cruel than cruelty itself. For cruelty is exercised upon
individuals, but the pity, by granting impunity, arms and sends forth
against innocent men the whole army of evil doers.--_Lord Bacon._
We have been used to hear much of the benevolence of infidels and the
philanthropy of deists. It is all a pretence. Self is the idol and
self-indulgence the object, in the accomplishment of which they are
little scrupulous about the means. Where self is the idol, the heart
is cruel. While they talk of universal charity, they regard not the
cruelty of robbing thousands of the consolations of religion. . . .
While they speak of harmless gaiety and pleasure they would
treacherously corrupt piety and pollute unsuspecting
innocence.--_Holden._
The word "regard" is of twofold application, and may either apply to
the moral or the intellectual part of our nature. In the one it is
the regard of attention; in the other it is the regard of sympathy or
kindness. But we do not marvel at the term having been applied to two
different things, for they are most intimately associated. They act
and re-act upon each other. If the heart be very alive to any
particular set of emotions the mind will be alert in singling out the
peculiar objects which excite them; so, on the other hand, that the
emotions be specifically felt the objects must be specifically
noticed. . . . So much is this the case that Nature seems to have
limited and circumscribed our power of noticing just for the purpose
of shielding us from too incessant a sympathy. . . . If man, for
instance, looked upon Nature with a microscopic eye his sensibilities
would be exposed to the torture of a perpetual offence from all
possible quarters of contemplation, or, if through habit these
sensibilities were blunted, what would become of character in the
extinction of delicacy of feeling? . . . There is, furthermore, a
physical inertness of our reflective faculties, an opiate infused, as
it were, into the recesses of our mental economy, by which objects,
when out of sight, are out of mind, and it is to some such provision,
we think that much of the heart's purity, as well as its tenderness,
is owing; and it is well that the thoughts of the spirit should be
kept, though even by the weight of its own lethargy, from too busy a
converse with objects which are alike offensive and hazardous to
both. . . . But there is a still more wondrous limitation than
this. . . . The sufferings of the lower animals may be in sight, and
yet out of mind. This is strikingly exemplified in the sports of the
field, in the midst of whose varied and animating bustle that
cruelty, which is all along present to the senses, may not, for one
moment, be present to the thoughts. . . . It touches not the
sensibilities of the heart, but just because it is never present to
the notice of the mind. The followers of this occupation are reckless
of pain, but this is not rejoicing in pain. Theirs is not the delight
of savage, but the apathy of unreflecting creatures. . . . We are
inclined to carry this principle must further. We are not sure if,
within the whole compass of humanity, fallen as it is, there be such
a thing as delight in suffering for its own sake. But, without
hazarding a controversy on this, we hold it enough for every
practical object that much, and perhaps the whole of the world's
cruelty, arises not from the enjoyment that is felt in consequence of
others' pain, but from the enjoyment that is felt in spite of
it. . . . But a charge of the foulest delinquency may be made up
altogether of wants or of negatives; and just as the human face, by
the mere want of some of its features, although there should not be
any inversion of them, might be an object of utter loathsomeness to
beholders, so the human character, by the mere absence of certain
habits or sensibilities which belong ordinarily and constitutionally
to our species, may be an object of utter abomination in society. The
want of natural affection forms one article of the Apostle's
indictment against our world; and certain it is enough for the
designation of a monster. The mere want of religion is enough to make
a man an outcast from his God. Even to the most barbarous of our kind
you apply, not the term of anti-humanity, but of inhumanity--not the
term of anti-sensibility; and you hold it enough for the purpose of
branding him for general execration that you convicted him of
complete and total insensibility. . . . We count it a deep atrocity
that, unlike to the righteous man of our text, he simply does not
regard the life of a beast. . . . The true principle of his
condemnation is that he ought to have regarded. . . . Our text rests
the whole cause of the inferior animals on one moral element, which
is in respect of principle, and on one practical method, which is, in
respect of efficacy, unquestionable: "A righteous man regardeth the
life of his beast." Let a man be but righteous in the general and
obvious sense of the word, and let the regard of his attention be but
directed to the case of the inferior animals, and then the regard of
his sympathy will be awakened to the full extent at which it is
either duteous or desirable. . . . The lesson is not the circulation
of benevolence within the limits of one species. It is the
transmission of it from one species to another. The first is but the
charity of a world; the second is the charity of a universe. Had
there been no such charity, no descending current of love and
liberality from species to species, what would have become of
ourselves? Whence have we learned this attitude of lofty unconcern
about the creatures who are beneath us? Not from those ministering
spirits who wait upon the heirs of salvation. . . . Not from that
mighty and mysterious visitant who unrobed Him of all His glories,
and bowed down His head unto the sacrifice, and still, from the seat
of His now exalted mediatorship, pours forth His intercessions and
His calls in behalf of the race He died for. Finally, not from the
eternal Father of all, in the pavilion of whose residence there is
the golden treasury of all those bounties and beatitudes that roll
over the face of nature, and from the footstool of whose empyreal
throne there reaches a golden chain of providence to the very
humblest of His family.--_Chalmers._
He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God that loveth us,
He made and loveth all.--_Coleridge._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.
SATISFACTION FROM TILLAGE.
+I. Satisfaction as the result of tillage depends--+1. _Upon the
performance of a Divine promise._ It is long ago since God gave Noah
the promise that "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not
cease" (Gen. ix. 22), and it has been so invariably fulfilled that
men have come to forget upon whom they are depending--in whom they
are exercising faith--when they plough the ground and sow the seed.
God's regularity in His performance has bred in men a contempt for
the promise and the promise maker. Men speak of the laws of nature
and ignore the fact that it is by the Word of the Lord that the "rain
cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but
watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may
give seed to the sower and bread to the eater" (Isa. lv. 10). But so
it is. The promise is the power that set the laws in motion at first
and that have kept them in motion ever since. There can be no tillage
without dependence upon God either acknowledged or unacknowledged.
The promise is an absolute one, and implies power in God to fulfil it
to the end of time. It can never fail unless God's power fail, or
unless He break His Word; these are blessed impossibilities with Him.
Therefore, so far as God is concerned the _shall_ of the text is
absolute. But it depends likewise--2. _Upon man's fulfilment of their
duties._ First, it is not _all_ tillage that will satisfy a man with
bread, the tillage must be painstaking and intelligent. The promise
of God does not set aside the necessity for the man to be very
laborious and to study carefully the nature and needs of the soil
which he tills. Agriculture is a science which must be acquired--a
man must learn how to till the ground. God claims to be man's
instructor in this matter (Isa. xxviii. 26). Then, again, it must be
_his_ land that he tills, not land taken by fraud or violence from
another. Neither if a man tills the land of another as his servant is
he always paid sufficient wages to be satisfied with bread. But this
is the greed of man interfering with God's ordination.
+II. The promise suggests symbolic teaching.+ We may look at it in
relation to the human spirit. As land must be ploughed and sown with
painstaking intelligence if a man is to have the satisfaction of
reaping a harvest, so the human soul must be the object of spiritual
tillage if it is ever to yield any satisfaction to God or man. There
is very much to be got out of the land, but no man can obtain the
full blessing unless he cultivate it. So it is with the man himself.
A human soul left to lie barren can never become as a "field which
the Lord hath blessed." 1. It must be prepared to receive the words
of God. The "fallow ground" must be broken up, lest the sowing be
"among thorns" (Jer. iv. 3), or the seed fall where it can find no
entrance (Hosea x. 12; Matt. xiii. 4). 2. Good seed must be sown. The
word of God (Mark iv. 14), that "incorruptible seed" by which men are
"born again" (1 Pet. i. 23). 3. And the spiritual sower must be
persevering and prayerful. It is true of natural tillage that "He
that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the
clouds shall not reap" (Eccles. xi. 4); it is equally so of
soul-husbandry. The world, the flesh, and the devil will be always
putting difficulties in the way of a man's caring for his "own soul."
But these obstacles must be surmounted, and if the seed is watered by
prayer God will assuredly send down the rain of the Holy Ghost.
4. And in spiritual tillage there is also a certainty of
satisfaction. This also depends upon not _one_ Divine promise but
upon many--upon the revelation of God as a whole. (Upon the opposite
character--him "that followeth vain persons," or vanity, instead of
tilling his land or his spiritual nature--see Homiletics on chapters
vi. 11 and x. 5, pages 79 and 147.)
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
We might have expected that the antithesis of the second clause would
have ended with "shall lack bread," but the real contrast goes
deeper. Idleness leads to a worse evil than that of
hunger.--_Plumptre._
Vain persons or "_empty people_"--most signally the impenitent--for
they are empty of all good. "That follows after empty people" is a
fine characteristic of the impenitent man's decline. Following others
is the commonest influence to destroy the soul.--_Miller._
Special honour is given to the work of tilling the land. God assigned
it to Adam in Paradise. It is the employment of his eldest son. In
ancient times it was the business or relaxation of kings. A blessing
is ensured to diligence, sometimes abundant, always such as we should
be satisfied with.--_Bridges._
Of all the arts of civilised man agriculture is transcendently the
most essential and valuable. Other arts may contribute to the
comfort, the convenience, and the embellishment of life, but the
cultivation of the soil stands in immediate connection with our very
existence. The life itself, to whose comfort, convenience, and
embellishment other arts contribute, is by this sustained, so that
others without it can avail nothing.--_Wardlaw._
The only two universal monarchs practised husbandry. . . . Some
people think that they cannot have enough unless they have more than
the necessaries and decent comforts of life: but we are here
instructed that bread should satisfy our desires. Having food and
raiment, let us be therewith content. There are few that want these,
and yet few are content. . . . To be satisfied with bread is a happy
temper of mind, and is commonly the portion of the man of industry,
which not only procures bread, but gives it a relish unknown to men
that are above labour.--_Lawson._
Sin brought in sweat (Gen. iii. 19), and now not to sweat increaseth
sin. . . . _"But he that followeth vain persons,"_ etc. it is hard to
be a good fellow and a good husband too.--_Trapp._
Here is encouragement to those who travail in husbandry. They are of
as good note with God for their service, if they be faithful, as
others whose trades are more gainful, and better esteemed among men.
The merchants, and goldsmiths, and others of such places, are not so
often mentioned in Scripture as they be, nor animated with so many
consolations as they are. The grand promises for blessing on their
labour are made to them in special, and the rest must deduct their
comforts from thence by proportion.--_Dod._
In a moral point of view the life of the agriculturist is the most
pure and holy of any class of men; pure, because it is the most
healthful, and holy, because it brings the Deity perpetually before
his view, giving him thereby the most exalted notions of supreme
power, and the most fascinating and endearing view of moral
benignity.--_Sir B. Maltravers._
Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made:
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.--_Goldsmith._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-14.
THE DESIRE OF WICKED MEN AND THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
+I. Concerning wicked men we have--+1. _A blessed instance of their
inability to do all they desire._ Verse 12 speaks of their "desiring
the net of evil men"--of their reaching out after larger
opportunities of ensnaring their fellow-creatures than they have at
their command at present. The desires and abilities of _good_ men are
not always equally balanced. They have more desire to be good and to
do good than they have ability to be or to do. The first teachers of
Christianity desired a "net" that should enclose all to whom they
preached the gospel, and this has been the desire of godly men ever
since. They desire a "net" in which to catch their fellow-creatures
for their good, but their ability always comes short of their
desires. This is a saddening truth, but there is no denying the fact.
But "the net of evil men" desired by the wicked is one in which to
entrap men to their hurt. In this case it is a matter of rejoicing
that their desires and their ability are not balanced. If ungodly men
had their desires fulfilled they would soon transform the world into
a mirror in which they would see them reflected in every human
creature. We ought ever to give thanks to God that wicked men lack
power to do all they desire to do to good men, and that they cannot
even go to the length of their aspirations even with other ungodly
men. They hate each other often with deep hatred, and human and
Divine law alone prevents the world from being turned into a hell by
the fulfilment of their desires against each other. There are
outstanding debts always waiting to be settled whenever a net can be
found large enough to entrap the victim, but God's providence is a
larger net, and so arranges the events of human life that wicked men
are often prevented from committing greater crimes then they do
against each other. 2. _Retribution falling upon them._ A net is
laid, and prey is ensnared, but it is he who desired to entrap his
brother who "is snared by the transgression of his own lips" (ver.
13). It is as certain as that water will find its level that men who
lay traps for others will be entrapped themselves (see chap. xi. 8).
And this will come about not by another man's laying a net for them
but by their own plans being turned against them. Thus Haman made a
snare for his own feet by the "transgression of his own lips" when he
sought to persuade Ahasuerus that "it was not for his profit to
suffer the Jews" (Esther iii. 8). He thought this net would enclose
Mordecai, but it enwrapped himself in its meshes. So when Daniel's
enemies laid their plans against him. Many a time has a godly man had
occasion to sing David's song, _"The heathen are sunk down in the pit
that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot taken"_
(Psa. ix. 15). It is a law of God's government. _"He that leadeth
into captivity shall go into captivity"_ (Rev. xiii. 10). This is the
"recompense which shall be rendered unto" the man who lays plans to
injure others (ver. 14).
+II. Concerning righteous men we have--+1. _A godly character
springing from a root of piety._ The principal thing to be aimed at
in building a house is to get a good foundation; if the foundation be
insecure, the house will be worthless. That which makes a healthy
fruit-bearing tree is a healthy, strong root; however fair the
branches may at present look, they will soon betray any disease at
the seat of its life. The root of a man's character is his _desire;_
if the desire is righteous, he is a righteous--though not a
perfect--man. As the wicked man was made by his evil desire, so the
good man is made by his desires after that which is true and
benevolent. 2. _That which is yielded by such a root._
(1) _Deliverance._ He is delivered from the net laid for him by the
evil counsels of the wicked. His character is often the means of
bringing him _into_ trouble, but the same character is a guarantee
that he shall come _out_ of it. The time of trouble is by permission
or by appointment of God, and it is only for a limited time. Job and
Joseph were both brought into trouble because their characters
awakened the envy--the one of angelic, the other of human sinners;
but their histories are left on record to show to all just men, who
find themselves in similar circumstances from the same cause, what
the "end of the Lord" is, and will be to them (Jas. v. 11). There
must come a final and blessed deliverance from all trouble for those
who yield the fruit of a holy life from the root of a holy character
(Rev. xxi. 4). (2) _Satisfaction_ (verse 14). One of the fruits of a
righteous man will be his holy and wise speech--speech which blesses
men in opposition to that "transgression of the lips" which is meant
to injure them (verse 13). From this "fruit of the mouth" he shall be
"satisfied with good"--he will have the reward of knowing that his
words bless others, and this will be to him a source of satisfaction.
Or his wise speech may be the means of bringing him material good and
temporal honour.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._