+II. The good man is also conscious of it.+ He knows that it is so

because in the constitution of the universe good is made to rule

evil, because the head of the one kingdom--the kingdom of evil--is

compelled to acknowledge the authority of the head of the kingdom of

good. His own moral consciousness tells him that it must be so, and

he has the declaration of God to confirm it. _"No weapon that is

formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise

against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of

the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the

Lord"_ (Isa. liv. 17).

+III. What has been occasionally manifested in the outward life, and

what is always the inner experience, will one day be universally

visible to all the universe.+ The revelation of God tells us that

there will be a universally visible manifestation of the submission

of the evil to the good. And our sense of justice demands that it

should be so. A day will come when, at the name of Incarnate

Goodness, "every knee shall bow" (Phil. ii. 10), and the servants

will have a portion of like reverence. "The sons also of them that

afflicted Thee shall come bending unto Thee; and all they that

despised Thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of Thy feet"

(Isa. lx. 14).--See also Rev. xx. 4. It is also revealed to us _when_

this visible manifestation shall take place. _"In the end of this

world,"_ at the close of the present dispensation, _"the Son of Man

shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom

all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. . . . Then shall

the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father"_

(Matt. xiii. 40-43). "For this manifestation of the sons of God" they

wait with "earnest expectation;" "creation groans" for it; Christ

Himself awaits it at "the right hand of God" (Heb. x. 12, 13; Rom.

viii. 19-22).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

At one time or another, in one respect or other, the ungodly serve

and crouch to the godly. Sometimes they that fear the Lord are lifted

up to honour, and then the evil men bow themselves before them.

Sometimes, again, the righteous wax rich through God's blessing on

their labours, and then come the wicked to their gates for alms and

relief. Not only the poor ones, but the great ones, who yet are

wicked ones, seek and sue now and then with all submission to the

godly for their counsel and help. And I cannot tell how, but such a

majesty there is in the godly oftentimes, that most desperately

wicked men reverence their faces, and are silent or courteous in

their presence.--_Muffet._

There is not the general rule in the present dispensation. Righteous

Lazarus _bowed at the rich man's gate_ (Luke xvi. 20). . . . But "the

upright shall have dominion over the wicked in the morning" (Psa.

xlix. 14; Mal. iv. 1-3). "The saints shall judge the world" (1 Cor.

vi. 2).--_Bridges._

There have been instances in which this proverb was verified in a

very remarkable manner. The Egyptians bowed down before Joseph, and

Moses, and the Israelites. The proud king of Babylon almost

worshipped the captive Daniel, and Elisha's favour was solicited by

three kings, one or two of whom were bad men.--_Lawson._

The wicked serve the righteous; and whether they do it knowingly,

they do it wholly, and through eternal ages.--_Miller._

In times of worldly prosperity, and while the wicked flourish, there

is none more lifted up in pride and bravery of outward shows than

they are; there is none, then, less esteemed, and more despised, than

the good and righteous are. They shall give long attendance before

the gates give way to them, and when they are entered a proud eye

shall mightily overlook them, a scornful language shall throw them

down at their feet. Wherefore Augustine calleth riches wings, by

which men in pride fly not only above others, but themselves also.

But if the time alter, and either some storm of common calamity beat

upon them, or else the hand of God privately seize on them, then none

are more dejected than the wicked, none then more esteemed than the

righteous are by them. Then their ways are to the gates of the

righteous, and much bowing there is to entreat their prayers unto

God, and to obtain help and comfort from them. Then Dives, but

fearing hell only, already sees Lazarus in heaven, and fain would

come unto him.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 20 _and_ 21.

AN AGGRAVATED CRIME, A QUESTIONABLE VIRTUE, AND A PRESENT BLESSING.

+I. A fourfold sin.+ A man who despises or hates his neighbour

sins--1. _In the simple exercise of the feeling._ Hatred, or even the

act of despising another, is in itself a sin. Here we must

distinguish between hatred of the _person_ and hatred of his

_practices_--between despising _a man himself_ and despising his

_actions._ God Himself hates and abhors evil character, but He makes

a distinction between a man's character and the man. To hate or to

despise any human creature is devilish. 2. _By hating or despising

him for his poverty._ Poverty is a calamity often--always a burden

and a cross. It is that for which a man should be pitied, and on

account of which he should receive the sympathy of his fellow-men.

Poverty is a burden heavy enough in itself, to add to it in any way

is diabolical. 3. _Because he hates and despises his

fellow-sufferer._ It is not a man beneath him, of whose trials he is

ignorant, but his _neighbour,_ one with whom he is on a level. The

proverb speaks of one poor man hating another. Cases are not uncommon

in which men who have risen from poverty to wealth hate and despise

the class from which they have risen even more than those do who were

born to rank and wealth. And sometimes men who have risen are hated

by those whom they have left behind in the race. But for a poor man

to dislike and to despise another poor man for his poverty, is a most

unnatural and aggravated crime. A common calamity generally makes men

feel a kinship for each other. Those who partake of a common lot

generally feel a common sympathy. The poor do not generally hate and

despise the poor. The poor man who does commit this sin against his

neighbour commits a double sin against himself, for he knows himself

the trials of his poor brother, and, therefore, does not sin through

ignorance or inconsiderateness. 4. _Against God._ God "putteth down

one, and setteth up another" (Psalm lxxv. 7). It is His ordination

that "the poor shall never cease out of the land" (Deut. xv. 11).

They are His especial care (Psalm xii. 5, etc.), and He will count

any addition to their burden as a wrong to Himself.

+II. A questionable virtue.+ "The rich hath many friends." Friendship

with a rich man may spring from _social equality._ There is a natural

tendency in men who are equals in anything to form friendships with

each other. Men of the same moral standing do so, men of the same

intellectual attainments are attracted to each other, and men who are

equals in social rank and in wealth are, by the force of

circumstances, often thrown into each other's society, and so a

friendship which is real _may_ be formed. But it is a more

questionable bond than that which unites men in the two

first-mentioned cases. It may be only a counterfeit of the genuine

article, and it is nothing more if wealth is the only bond.

Friendships formed upon similarity of intellectual and moral wealth

have a far firmer foundation, because they rest upon what is

inseparable from the man himself, while friendship founded upon

riches has for its foundation what may at any time take to itself

wings and fly away. Or the friendship may be one of _social

inequality._ A poor man may attach himself to a wealthy man. This,

too, _may_ be genuine. The friendship _may_ be built upon something

which both value more than wealth; but if the friendship of the rich

with the rich is regarded with doubt, and requires adversity to test

it, much more does the friendship of the poor for the rich. The proof

of the genuineness of the metal is the fire, the proof of the

seaworthiness of the vessel is the storm, and it is an universally

recognised truth that the proof of friendship is power to come

uninjured through the fire and storm of adverse circumstances.

+III. A present blessedness.+ "He that hath mercy on the poor, happy

is he." 1. Happy because "it is more blessed to give than to receive"

(Acts xx. 35), because gladness always comes to the heart when an

effort has been made to lighten another's burden. 2. Happy in

possessing the gratitude and confidence of his poor brother. 3. Happy

because he wins the favour of God. (See on verse 31.)

_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 20.

The bees were haunting the flowering trees in crowds, humming among

the branches, and gathering honey in the flowers. Said Gotthold,

"Here is an image of temporal prosperity. So long as there is blossom

on the trees, and honey in the blossom, the bees will frequent them

in crowds, and fill the place with their music; but when the blossom

is over, and the honey gone, they too will disappear." Temporal gain

is the world's honey, and the allurement with which you may entice it

whithersoever you will; but where the gain terminates, there likewise

do the love and friendship of the world stop.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verse 20. Alas! it is a mystery of knowledge to discern friends:

"Wealth maketh many friends" (chap. xix. 4); they are friends to the

wealth, not to the wealthy. They regard not _qualis sis,_ but

_quantas,_ not how good thou art, but how great. They admire thee to

thy face, but inwardly consider thee only a necessary evil, yea, a

necessary devil. . . . Worldly friends are like hot water, that when

cold weather comes, are soonest frozen. Like cuckoos all summer they

will sing to thee, but they are gone in July at furthest; sure enough

before the fall. They flatter a rich man, as we feed beasts, and then

feed on him.--_T. Adams._

How former friendship between two persons may be transformed into its

opposite on account of the impoverishment of one of them, is

impressively illustrated by our Lord's parable of the neighbour who a

friend asks for three loaves (Luke xi. 5-8).--_Lange's Commentary._

The same word in the original which signifieth a friend signifieth a

neighbour also, because a neighbour should be a friend. But though a

rich man has friends far and near, a poor man is hated even of his

neighbour. He that best knoweth his wants and should most of all pity

them, doth least regard him and use him worst. He that is nearest at

hand to help him is farthest off from helping him. Wherefore the

neighbourhood of men being so bad, God becometh his neighbour, and as

it is in the Psalms (cix. 31). _"He standeth at the right hand of the

poor man to save him."--Jermin._

Verse 21. The impenitent is the _poorest_ among men; and he who

neglects him, and lets him go on in his iniquity, of course, is a

cruel sinner. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the

firmament, and they that lead many to righteousness, as the stars for

ever and ever." He who despises his neighbour "sins," literally

"misses," "blunders." He wastes a splendid opportunity, not only for

his neighbour, but for himself. The appeal is to _self,_ and is made

more intense where, instead of _"despising"_ our neighbour, we

actually "devise evil" against him (See next verse).--_Miller._

1. _There is a sin against the arrangements of God's providence._

2. _Against the frequent and express commands of His Word_ (Deut.

xv. 7-11; Luke xii. 33; xiv. 12-14). 3. _Against the manifestations

of His distinguishing love._ God has not only avowed Himself jealous

for the poor, but "to the poor the gospel is preached," and of those

who become the subjects of God's grace, and heirs of glory, a large

proportion belong to this class. 4. _In the contempt of God's

threatened vengeance against all who neglect them, and of His

promised special favour to all who treat them with

kindness.--Wardlaw._

We show our contempt of the poor, not only by trampling upon them,

but by overlooking them, or by withholding that help for which their

distress loudly calls. The Levite and the priest that declined giving

assistance to the wounded traveller on the way to Jericho, were

notorious breakers of the law of love in the judgment of our Lord.

The Samaritan was the only one that performed the duty of a

neighbour.--_Lawson._

Through the gate of beneficence doth the charitable man enter into

the city of peace. . . . God makes some rich, to help the poor; and

suffers some poor to try the rich. The loaden would be glad of ease:

now charity lighteneth the rich man of his superfluous and wieldy

carriage. When the poor find mercy they will be tractable; when the

rich find quiet, they should be charitable. Would you have your goods

kept in peace? First, lock them up by your prayers, then open them

again with your thankful use, and trust them in the hands of Christ

by your charity.--_T. Adams._

He that hath mercy on the poor maketh the other's misery to be his

own happiness, and as the other is comforted by it, so is he blessed

by it. Blessed he is by the poor and his prayers for him, blessed he

is by God and His favours upon him. Tabitha had reached out her hand

to give unto the poor, and Peter reached out his hand in delivering

her from death. She had bestowed clothing on the poor, and life is

bestowed upon her. Wherefore the exhortation of Chrysostom is, "those

things which God hath given us, let us give Him again, that so with

advantage they may be again made ours."--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 22.

A FATAL ERROR AND A CERTAIN GOOD.

+I. The mistake of devisers of evil.+ 1. _They err in relation to the

success of their plans._ They think that their wicked devices will

succeed, so they would not go to the labour and trouble of devising

them. But they make a fatal mistake, because they ignore another

plan, which embraces theirs. They forget that there may be a circle

of action outside their circle, which may circumvent all their

schemes. A man may look at the sea from the lower deck of a vessel

and think he can see all that is to be seen. But his thinking so

would only prove him to be a fool. The man at the masthead can see

much further. A traveller on a plain may have an extensive view, but

he who is on the mountaintop takes in all that he can see, and much

besides. So it is with the man who devises evil. He can see a little

way before him and around him, he thinks, therefore, that he can take

in the whole situation at a glance, and can see what is needful for

him to do and what can be accomplished to bring his plans to pass.

But there is more beyond; God takes a higher position and has a wider

outlook. He takes in not only all that the wicked man has seen, but

much that he does not see. _"He taketh the wise in their own

craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong"_ (Job

v. 13). The device of Haman was so well planned that it seemed to him

certain of success. But Mordecai's God had a plan which embraced and

out-flanked that of the murderer. The device of Joseph's brethren

seemed to embrace all that was necessary to accomplish his ruin, but

it was utilised by the righteous Ruler of the Universe to bring to

pass his exaltation. The device of evil against the Divine Son of God

is the most palpable instance that the universe has ever seen of the

short-sighted error of wicked men. 2. _He errs because he will meet

with retribution in his own person._ Human rulers are sometimes

involved in much perplexity because, although they know that plots

are being woven against their government, they are not only at a loss

to find a plan by which to bring home the crime to the conspirators,

but feel they have no force strong enough to punish them if they are

convicted. But God is never at a loss either for means to defeat the

purposes of those that devise evil, or to punish them for their

devices. He is never driven, by want of power, to yield to those who

oppose the good--who work iniquity. (See Homiletics on chap.

xii. 12-14, page 268.)

+II. The reward of devisers of good.+ "Mercy and truth." 1. _Even a

deviser of good needs mercy._ The very act of devising good sometimes

brings a man to need mercy of his _fellow-man._ Daniel devised

nothing but good to the king of Babylon, but his very uprightness

made him an object of envy and brought him into a condition to need

mercy. Or a deviser of good may err in judgment. The best intentioned

man is liable to make mistakes. No human being, however benevolent

his life, can claim to be exempt from moral infirmities which will

sometimes mislead him. Every man therefore needs that his fellow

creatures should mingle charity with their judgment of him and with

their conduct towards him. And he always needs mercy from _God._ No

saint of ancient or modern times has ever been beyond the need of

God's mercy, although their very name implies that they are devisers

of good. 2. _He equally needs truth._ He needs to be able to depend

upon the _word_ of another, he needs a certainty of being justly

dealt with. A man's success in business largely depends upon his

being able to rest upon the fair dealing of others. He wants truth in

others to meet his own truthfulness--as he strives to deal justly,

and to love mercy, so he desires to be dealt with justly as well as

mercifully. 3. _Both these needs shall be met. Sometimes_ by men,

_always_ by God. Experience and history furnish us with many

exceptions to the first. Those men of God who have been most eminent

devisers of good have often met with anything but mercy and truth

from those whom they have desired to benefit. Ignorance or envy has

risen up against them, and so the missionary has been slain by the

club of the savage abroad, and the reformer has been made the mark of

slanderous tongues at home. But everyone has found the testimony of

the inspired Word to be true in his own experience: _With the

merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful. With an upright man Thou

wilt show Thyself upright_ (Psa. xviii. 25).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

If wicked men employ their thoughts to contrive mischief, and show so

much diligence in the service of sin, although they have such a

miserable reward, let God's people exercise the same diligence in the

service of righteousness, by seeking out and seizing opportunities of

doing good, and their labour shall not be in vain in the

Lord.--_Lawson._

Scripture traces actions to principles. Wicked as it is to _do evil,_

it is far more hateful to _devise it_ (see verse 17). _Devising

evil,_ therefore, if it comes not to the act, shows the purpose

(chap. xxiv. 8).--_Bridges._

To him who lays himself out in planning and executing designs of

benefit to others, there shall be _"mercy and truth."_ From his

fellow-men he shall experience universal love and esteem. He shall

find sympathy in his distresses and reverses, faithfulness in dealing

(for if anything will secure a man from being cheated and defrauded,

it will be a character for disinterested kindness), and the general

exercise of practical gratitude. And the Lord will make him to

experience His love, and will fulfil to him faithfully all His

"precious promises."--_Wardlaw._

Solomon here is no lawgiver, but an evangelist, leading us unto Jesus

Christ. For we can obtain no mercy but in Him only. For "the promises

of God are yea and amen in Him."--_Cope._

Can any one see any flaw in _"Mercy"_ and _"Truth?"_ _Mercy_ is pure

benevolence; and _truth_ is that other quality of the good, which is

commanded in the first table of the law, and answers to a love of

holiness. Is there anything right, outside of _"Mercy and Truth?"_ Is

there anything wrong that the vilest rebel can detect in either one

of them? Must "they not err that devise evil," if for no other cause

than that _"Mercy and Truth"_ stand on the opposite side, and,

through eternal ages, are busy in _devising good?--Miller._

Aristotle relateth of Socrates that he affirmed all virtues to be

sciences, all sins to be ignorances. And Aquinas saith of it, that

therein he judged in some sort rightly because the will never would

incline to evil, unless it were with some ignorance and error of

reason. The question, therefore, is not here asked of him that

deviseth evil, for he thinketh himself to be right, he doth not think

that to be evil which he doth, nor himself to err in doing of it. He

attaineth to the end at which he aimeth, and that persuadeth him that

he aimeth aright. But so to be in the right way, is quite to wander

from the right way; and howsoever such an one may not err in his

plans and plots, yet doubtless he erreth from the ways of

life.--_Jermin._

Mercy and truth were the best that David could wish for his fast

friend Ittai (2 Sam. xv. 20). These two attributes of God shall cause

that good devices shall not miscarry. His mercy moves Him to promise,

His truth binds Him to perform. "For Thy word's sake, and according

to Thine own heart Thou hast done all these things" (2 Sam.

vii. 18-21). "According to Thine own heart," that is out of pure and

unexcited love, Thou didst give Thy Word and promise, and "for Thy

Word's sake," Thou hast performed it.--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.

THE PROFIT OF LABOUR.

1. _The profit of social honour._ It is both natural and right that a

man should desire the respect and good-will of those around him.

Nothing is more certain than that he who lives without working in

some form or another, either for himself or for others, will not

receive this reward. Those who are poor, and do nothing, sink into

beggary and consequent dishonour; those who are rich, and have

nothing to do--or rather, who do nothing--are not held in honour,

either in life or after death. "Pray, sir, of what disease did your

brother die?" said the Marquis Spinola one day to Sir Horace Vere.

"He died, sir," was the answer, "of having nothing to do." "Alas!"

said Spinola, "that is enough to kill any general of us all." Honour

cannot come from idleness, but labour brings not only honour while

living, but gives us a title to be regarded with respect after we

have left the world. Of no man who has lived to any purpose can it

ever be said that _he died of having nothing to do._ 2. _The profit

of bodily health._ A body which does not labour, either with brain or

hand, is an easy prey to disease. The brain if used becomes

strengthened for further use. The whole bodily frame is kept in

health by wholesome work. 3. _Profit to the moral nature._ Labour

calls for some form of self-sacrifice. It develops habits of

painstaking and diligence which are helpful to a man's moral nature.

It helps the spiritual part of the man by helping the bodily,

inasmuch as a strong and healthy body is the best instrument for a

morally healthy soul. 4. _The profit of material gain._ In all free

countries a man gets some wages for work. It may not be a fair

remuneration, but there is some profit of this kind attached to it.

There are, of course, exceptions to this proverb, as for instance,

the labour of the man who devises evil in the former verse, or that

of those whose poverty compels them to work, even to the injury of

soul and body, for a miserable pittance which is not worthy the name

of wages. Such, alas, is the lot of many even in our own country. The

antithesis of this proverb, simply states that talk will not do

instead of work. When men do nothing but talk, their talk is certain

to be of that worthless kind condemned in chapter x. 19. (See

Homiletics on page 168.)

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Get leave to work

In this world--'tis the best you get at all;

For God, in cursing, gives us better gifts

Than man in benediction. God says "Sweat

For foreheads," men say "Crowns" and so we are crowned,

Ay, gashed by some tormenting circle of steel

Which snaps with a secret spring. Get work, get work;

Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.

* * * * * *

Be sure, no earnest work

Of any honest creature, howbeit weak,

Imperfect, ill-adapted, fails so much,

It is not gathered as a grain of sand,

To enlarge the sum of human action used

For carrying out God's end.--_Mrs. Browning._

There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness in work. Were he

never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always

hope in a man that actually and earnestly works: in idleness alone is

there perpetual despair. Work, never so mammonish, mean, _is_ in

communication with nature: the real desire to get work done will

itself lead one more and more to truth, to nature's appointments and

regulations, which are truth. The latest gospel in this world is,

Know thy work and do it. "Know thyself:" long enough has that poor

self of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to "know" it, I

believe! Think it not thy business, this of knowing thyself; thou art

an unknowable individual; know what thou can'st work at, and work at

it, like a Hercules! That will be thy better plan. It has been

written, "an endless significance lies in work," a man perfects

himself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seed-fields

rise instead, and stately cities; and withal the man himself first

ceases to be a jungle and foul unwholesome desert thereby. Consider

how, even in the meanest sorts of labour, the whole soul of a man is

composed into a kind of real harmony, the instant he sets himself to

work! Doubt, Desire, Sorrow, Remorse, Indignation, Despair itself,

all these like hell-dogs lie beleaguering the soul of the poor

day-worker, as of every man: but he bends himself with free valour

against his task, and all these are stilled, all these shrink

murmuring far off into their caves. The man is now a man. The blessed

glow of labour in him, is it not as purifying fire, wherein all

poison is burnt up, and sour smoke itself thereby is made bright

blessed flame?--_Carlyle._

Industry need not wish; and he that lives upon hopes will die

fasting. There are no gains without pains, then help hands, for I

have no lands, or, if I have, they are smartly taxed. He that hath a

trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of

profit and honour; but then the trade must be worked at, and the

calling followed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable us

to pay our taxes.--_Franklin._

He that labours is tempted by one devil; he that is idle by a

thousand.--_Italian Proverb._

As in religion, it is not the man who speaks but the man who does

that gives proof of his sincerity; so in earthly business, it is not

the man who talks fluently, and lays down plausible schemes of

business, but the man who labours and does all his work that has

reason to expect the blessing of Providence. Those that wear their

working instruments in their tongues are always the most useless, and

sometimes the most hurtful members of society.--_Lawson._

A busy tongue makes idle hands. If the mouth _will_ be heard, the

noisy loom must stop; and he who prefers the sound of his tongue to

that of his shuttle, had need at the same time be a man who prefers

talk to meat, hunger to fulness, starvation to plenty.--_Wardlaw._

Rich beyond conception is the profit of spiritual labour (chap.

x. 16). "The Son of Man gives to the _labourer_ enduring meat. The

violent take the kingdom of heaven by force. The _labour_ of love God

is not unrighteous to forget" (John vi. 27; Heb. vi. 10). But _the

talk of the lips_ gives husks, not bread. While there are only

shallow conceptions of the Gospel, and no experimental enjoyment of

Christian establishment, it is "all running out in noise." Says

Henry: "There is no instruction because there is no 'good treasure

within' (Matt. xii. 35)." "What manner of communications are these

that ye have one to another?" is a searching question (Luke

xxiv. 17). Ministers, doctrines, the externals, circumstantials,

disputations on religion--all may be the mere skirts and borders of

the great subject, utterly remote from the heart and vitals. . . . A

religious tongue without a godly heart tendeth _only to

penury.--Bridges._

This is a difficult sentence. We have found it hard to vindicate its

sense. The grammar is all obvious, and on the very account the

reading is singularly fixed. But _"all labour"_ is anything else than

_"profitable;"_ and the _"talk of the lips"_ (chap. xxxi. 26) is one

of the grandest ways of doing good among men. We understand it in a

religious sense. All these proverbs might be worldly maxims, some of

them actually in use; all of them with a show of wisdom; some of them

utterly unsound; but all of them, when adopted by the Holy Ghost, and

turned in the direction of the Gospel, true, in their religious

aspect. So, now, in this particular instance, _"all labour"_ might

seem to promise well among the thrifty, but sometimes ruins men, even

in this world, and is sure to ruin them, if worldly, in the world to

come. But now, as a religious maxim, it is without exception. _"All

labour,"_ of a pious kind is marked, and will be gloriously rewarded

out of the books of the Almighty. _"All labour"_ of the impenitent,

for their soul's salvation, has _"profit;"_ literally, _something

over._ It brings them nearer. If continued long enough, it will bring

them in; that is, if it be honest (Heb. xi. 6); while _"the talk of

the lips,"_ or, possibly, _"an affair of the lips,"_ that is, _mere

intention,_ does _"only"_ mischief. Mark the balance between _"all"_

and _"only."_ Seeking is _"all"_ of it an advance. Intending is

"only" a retreat. One gains a step, the other loses one. Starting up

actually to work, if honest, is an advance towards wealth; while

intention, which is but _an affair of the lips, tends only_ to make

us poor indeed.--_Miller._

When God gave man this curse, in labour thou shalt eat, he gave

labour this blessing, to increase and multiply. It is a plant that

prospereth in any soil, it is a seed that taketh well in any ground.

For the labourer's hire is never kept back by God. . . . Talking is

not truly labour, and labour is rather to hold one's peace. According

as St. Ambrose speaketh "It is a harder thing to know how to be

silent than how to speak. For I know many to speak, when they know

not to hold their peace." But it is a rare thing for any man to hold

his peace, when to speak no way doth profit him. But no labour is so

well spared as this, and sitting still is nowhere so commendable as

in the lips.--_Jermin._

They that painfully and conscientiously employ themselves in any

vocation, how base and contemptible soever it seems to be, are in the

Lord's work, and Him they serve, as the apostle speaketh even of

bondmen, and is it possible that His workmen shall work without wages

or sufficient allowance? He reproveth those men which neglect to give

to the hireling his recompense for his travail, or fail in due time

to discharge it, and shall we think then that He will be careless of

His own servants Himself? They have God's Word for their security

that they shall not be unprovided of so much as is expedient for

them. If He say once that in all labour there is profit, they shall

never have cause to contradict Him.--_Dod._

It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by

thought that labour can be made happy; and the two cannot be

separated with impunity.--_Ruskin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 24.

WEALTH WITH AND WITHOUT WISDOM.

+I. Both a wise man and a fool may attain to wealth.+ The

intellectually wise, and the man who lacks mental ability, may both

possess great riches. There are many who have vast estates and no

more wisdom to manage them than an infant, and there are those whose

ability is equal to their wealth and position. So with moral wisdom.

Abraham, the friend of God, "was very rich in cattle, in silver, and

in gold" (Gen. xiii. 2). Job, who had the Divine testimony to his

"perfectness" and "uprightness," was "the greatest of all the men of

the east" (Job. i. 3). But many godless men like these mentioned in

our Lord's parables (Luke xii. 16, 20; xvi. 19-24) have "much goods

laid up for many years," and "are clothed in purple and fine linen,

and fare sumptuously every day." God is no respecter of persons in

the distribution of temporal good in the shape of riches, but if

there is any leaning to one class of character more than to another,

He would seem rather to favour the ungodly. Because such "have their

portion in this life" (Psa. xvii. 14) and in this life _only;_

because they have only this heaven upon earth; because they have no

desire and conception of anything higher; it seems as if the Ruler of

the universe often gives them the only good they are capable of

appreciating. Some of the most miserable specimens of humanity that

the world has ever seen have sat upon thrones, and a few of the

greatest of God's human children have likewise wielded sceptres. So

with the crown of wealth; it has been and is worn by men quite

irrespective of moral character, but the preponderance seems to be in

favour of the moral fool. Looked at in the light of eternity there is

no injustice or even mystery in this.

+II. But wealth is an adornment to the wise man only.+ If you dress

an Ethiopian in pure white linen you will not change the colour of

his skin. The man is what he was though his raiment is changed, and

the whiteness of his garments makes his skin look all the blacker. If

a tree is barren, the most costly and perfect artificial fruit placed

among its leaves will not add to its beauty. It will only produce an

incongruity which will be altogether distasteful to the spectator.

Its barrenness is only made the more conspicuous. So no wealth can

give any dignity to a mental and moral fool. Wealth will not hide the

intellectual barrenness, nor cover the black stains upon the man's

moral character. Nay, the wealth only brings them more prominently

into view. However rich a fool is "the foolishness of fools is

folly," and nothing else. But a man who is wise enough to know how to

use wealth--especially if he is good enough to put it to the highest

and best uses--even though he be neither intellectually great or

highly polished, will make his riches a crown--will so use them as to

merit and receive the respect and goodwill of his fellow-creatures.

Wealth looks best upon the head of one who possesses both

intelligence and goodness, but whenever it is studded with the gems

of a wise and sympathetic liberality it is a royal diadem--it makes

its wearer a king.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The Christian is rich in this world. We read in the 18th verse of the

"prudent making a crown of knowledge." Aladdin was rich when he had

nothing but his lamp. If a ray of faith put creation in bondage to a

saint, then not only is his "knowledge a crown," but "his crown is

his wealth." What needs Aladdin further than his lamp? The

sovereignty of saints, even in a forlorn world, makes a perfect

opulence; while _"the folly of fools,"_ seeing that it could give

place to this; seeing that he also could have the lamp; seeing that

the crowned princes, the very best of them, were fools like him; and

therefore, that it can only be _because he is a fool_ that he does

not throw off his folly;--all this explains the closing clause, which

is terse in its very quaintness; for, for the very reason that "the

crown of the wise is their wealth, the foolishness of fools is

folly."--_Miller._

Though, as a fearful temptation (Matt. xiii. 22; xix. 23), no _wise_

man would desire riches; yet as a gift of God (1 Kings iii. 13; Psa.

cxii. 3)--the gift, indeed, of His left hand (chap. iii. 16)--they

may become His _crown._ What a _crown_ they were to David and his

wise son, as the materials for building the temple (1 Chron.

xxix. 1-5; 2 Chron. v. 1); and to Job, as employed for the good of

his fellow-creatures (Job xxix. 6-17). So that, though wisdom under

all circumstances is a blessing, it is specially pronounced to be

"good _with an inheritance_" (Eccles. vii. 11, 12). It is necessary

to distinguish between the thing itself and the abuse of it. Wealth

is in fact a blessing, when honestly acquired and conscientiously

employed. And when otherwise, the man is to be blamed, and not his

treasure.--_Bridges._

What is the most gorgeous and dazzling earthly crown compared with a

diadem of which the component parts are the blessings of the

destitute relieved, the ignorant instructed, the vicious reclaimed,

the afflicted comforted, the dying cheered with the hope of life, the

perishing rescued from perdition and brought to God!--_Wardlaw._

If good men are spoiled of their wealth, they need not lament, as if

they had lost their crown. For riches are an ornament of grace to the

head of wise men, even when they are lost. Job's patience in the loss

of everything, did as much honour to him as his extraordinary

beneficence whilst he was the richest man in the East. We honour his

memory still more, when he sewed sackcloth upon his skin, and defiled

his horn in the dust, than at the time when judgment was his robe and

his diadem.--_Lawson._

As a horse is of no use without the bridle, so are riches without

reason.--_Cawdray._

Not riches but wisdom gives a crown of glory (chap. iv. 9). "The

prudent are crowned with _knowledge,_" not with riches; therefore,

the sense is, "_Wisdom_ (the opposite of folly), being the crown of

the wise constitutes their true riches," and results in the heavenly

riches; but the foolishness of fools is not riches to them, as the

wise man's crown of wisdom is to him, but is, and continues folly,

_i.e.,_ emptiness--neither an ornamental crown nor enriching

wisdom.--_Fausset._

The seeming tautology of the second clause is really its point. "The

foolishness of fools is . . . ." We expect something else, but the

subject is also the predicate. "The foolishness of fools is

foolishness." That is the long and the short of it. Turn it as you

will, it comes to that.--_Plumptre._

Wisdom in a poor man is but a petty lord. He may rule himself well,

but he shall have little command or power over others. Riches make a

wise man a king, and as they crown him with honour by being well used

by him, so do they extend his dominion far and wide. Many are subject

to the law of his discretion, and the force of his wise authority

prevaileth many ways. Well, therefore, doth the crown of riches sit

upon his head, whose wise head it is that makes them to be riches.

But riches in a fool are his bauble, whereby he maketh himself and

others sport. . . . The wise being crowned by them are kings over

their riches. They command them to their pleasure and use them to

their honour. Whereas it is the folly of fools that they are

galley-slaves to their own wealth.--_Jermin._

Give riches to a fool and you put a sword into a madman's hand; the

folly of such fools will soon be foolishness. Why, was it not

foolishness before? Yes, but now, it is become egregious foolishness.

To what end is a treasure, if a man have lost the key that leads to

it.--_Trapp._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.

DELIVERANCE BY TRUTH.

+I. What is implied in a witness bearer.+ A witness is supposed to

give light. Those who have to decide upon a matter seek for the

evidence of those who are personally acquainted with the facts. They

are expected to testify as to what they have seen and heard, and by

thus throwing light upon the subject to further the cause of truth

and justice. A witness can only give light by speaking the truth. The

words of a truth-teller are like rays of sunlight falling upon an

object that was before indistinct, they make plain things which

without their aid would be incomprehensible. On the other hand the

testimony of a lying witness surrounds everything about which he

bears witness with a mist and a darkness, and so foils the efforts of

those who are desiring to get a right view of the subject.

+II. Life and death are often in the power of those who bear

witness.+ The evidence of a truthful man delivers from death--or from

worse than death--those who are innocent, whereas a false witness may

deliver them up to punishment. The one is like a lighthouse which

enables the sailor to bring his vessel safely into port, the other is

like the false light of the wrecker, by means of which the ship is

dashed to pieces on the rocks. The first witness for God in Eden who

did not belong to the heavenly family was a "false witness who spoke

lies." He testified to Eve that God was a hard master, that He had

imposed upon her restrictions from a selfish motive, that the

punishment which had been threatened would not follow disobedience to

the Divine commands. Since this first false witness led our first

parents on to death, many a human witness has, in like manner, given

to the world false views of the Divine Father which have ended in

like results. Both Satan and his servants murder character by bearing

false witness. The Incarnate Son of God was pre-eminently "The True

Witness" (Isa. lv. 4; Rev. i. 5). He came to deliver men by bearing

witness of the true character of God from His own personal knowledge

(John xvii. 25, 26). _"To this end was I born, and for this cause

came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth,"

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"_

(John xvii. 37; viii. 32). "The truth which Christ taught was chiefly

on these three points--God, man, immortality. . . . He exhibited _God

as love,_ and so the fearful bondage of the mind to the necessity of

fate was broken. . . . He taught the truth about the _human soul,_

that it is not in its right place, that it never is in its right

place in the dark prison-house of sin, but that its home is freedom,

and the breath of God's life. . . . He taught truth concerning

_immortality,_ that this life is not all; that it is not only a

miserable state of human infancy."--_(Robertson.)_ By such testimony

this "true witness delivered souls"--_"proclaimed liberty to the

captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"_

(Isa. lxi. 1). On this subject see also on chap. xii. 17, pages

274-276.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

We noticed that what crowned the wise was _"truth"_ or _"knowledge"_

(verse 18). _Truth_ to become _knowledge_ must get into the heart. To

do so it must be _"witnessed."_ We noticed under the second verse

that a man staggered, that is, he did not _walk in levelness,_

because he did not see clearly. But, _per contra,_ if a man sees

clearly he walks in _level ways;_ and then, according to our present

proverb, he _"saves"_ unconsciously the souls of others. This is most

clear when the view is negative. Let there be no _witness of truth,_

and where are the saved? No sinners are rescued in a dead nation.

Every Christian is a centre of light. The Church is but a body of

Christians. Where there is no Church, where are the penitents? The

truth intended to be conveyed is, that he who sees the truth spreads

it. While he who sees only _"lies,"_ which is an exact portrait of

the unredeemed, serves in spite of himself as a delusion to his

friends, and deceives them into unbelief just in proportion to his

influence upon them. Woe be to the wife or child where the husband is

a _"deceived witness"_ (verse 5). _"Witness"_--not in this case one

who bears witness, but one who _witnesses,_ in the sense of

_seeing.--Miller._

While true testimony may condemn, false testimony may acquit; while

the former may destroy life, the latter may save it. It is probable,

therefore, that the intended antithesis relates not so much to the

_actual fact_ of truth saving and falsehood condemning, as to the

_dispositions and intentions_ of the faithful witness on the one hand

and the lying witness on the other. The faithful witness delights in

giving testimony that may save life, that will be salutary and

beneficial to his fellow-creatures. The lying witness will, in

general, be found actuated by a malevolent and wicked purpose; having

pleasure in giving testimony that will go to condemn the object of

his malice. The sentiment will thus be--_that truth is most generally

found in union with kindness of heart, and falsehood with

malevolence._ And this is natural; the former being both good, the

latter being both evil, falsehood being naturally more akin to

malice, and truth to love.--_Wardlaw._

Here again there is something like tautology in the second clause. We

expect "destroyeth life" as the antithesis to "delivereth souls." But

in this case also there is an emphasis in the seeming absence of it.

"A deceitful witness speaketh lies." What worse could be said of him?

All destruction is implied in falsehood.--_Plumptre._

It is the honour of God to be a deliverer of souls, and that is the

honour of a true witness. He delivers his own soul and another's: his

own from the wrath of God, another's from the injustice of men: his

own from wickedness, another's from injury. The deceitful man

speaketh not one lie, but many. The lie of perjury to God, the lie of

injustice to the judge, the lie of falsehood to the master. Not one

but many lies, because one lie usually bringeth many others with

it.--_Jermin._

The special work for which Christians are left in the world is to be

witnesses (Acts i. 8). . . . Christ does not send his angels to

proclaim His word or to wield His power. . . . The evidence by which

the Spirit will convert the world is His truth, uttered from the

Word, and echoed, still and small, from the meek and quiet

life-course of converted men. . . . Two qualifications are required

in a witness, _truth_ and _love_ (Ephes. iv. 15): these are needed,

but these will do. . . . A witness, in contested cases, after giving

evidence in chief, is subjected to cross-examination. A Christian's

profession is, and is understood to be, his direct and positive

testimony that he is bought with a price, and that he is bound to

serve the Lord who bought him: but as soon as this testimony is

emitted, the examination begins. If he be not a true witness, he will

stumble there. Either or both of two persons, with very different

views, may subject a witness to cross-examination--the judge or the

adversary. It is chiefly done by the adversary, and in his interests.

The Supreme himself puts professing disciples to the test before the

court of the world; but when He so tries His children, the truth

comes forth purer and brighter by the trial. He who goes about as a

roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, tempts to destroy. He puts

the witness to the question in order to break him down. . . . We

speak of the evidences of religion, but, after all, Christians are

the best evidence of Christianity. . . . Let no man who bears

Christ's name lay the unction to his soul, that if he does no good he

does no evil. One of the heaviest complaints made in the prophets

against Jerusalem for her backsliding, is that she was a "comfort" to

Samaria and Sodom (Ezek. xvi. 54); that those who had the name and

place of God's people, so lived as to make the wicked feel at

ease. . . . If Christians live as like the world as they can, the

world will think itself safe in its sin; and those who should have

been the deliverers, will become the destroyers of their

neighbours.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.

A SURE REFUGE.

+I. What is found in the fear of the Lord?+ "Strong confidence." The

confidence is in the Divine character, and is based upon a knowledge

of it, in contrast to a false security which has its foundation in

ignorance. There is a reverence of one being for another which is the

outcome of ignorance, but this cannot generate that strong confidence

which can be a sheet anchor to the human soul. The old Romans, in the

early days of their history, had a reverence for their divinities,

but it was a reverence of ignorance, it was a reverence for

unrealities, and could never yield them that confidence which all men

in all ages need to comfort them in trial and inspire them with hope

in the mysteries of human life. There are men now who are quite

ignorant of the Divine character and yet seem to possess great

confidence that all will be well with them--that God, in fact, will

not do what He has said He will do in relation to them. But this

confidence is also false; it is based, not upon fear of the Lord,

arising out of acquaintance with Him, but upon want of knowledge, and

consequently upon disregard of His claims. But the strong confidence

of our text is the fruit of a reverence which has its foundation in

acquaintance with the holiness of the Divine Father, which is the

outcome of a knowledge of His laws, of His threatenings, and of His

promises. It is the confidence which a child reposes in a good

parent, because it knows from experience--from an every-day

contemplation of that parent's life--what good grounds it has to

reverence and to trust him. This confidence is strong enough to

inspire the soul with courage to face the difficulties of human life

and to vanquish them. Confidence in a fellow-creature is often

inspiration. A soldier's confidence in his general, a seaman's

confidence in his captain, inspires to the performance of deeds of

heroism. And confidence in the living God, in that King who can do no

wrong, in that leader who can make no mistake, has been the

inspiration of millions of men and women in all ages and under all

circumstances. It has been found strong enough to enable them to be

heroes through a long life of poverty, of ignominy, of sickness, and

it has sustained all in the hour of death, and many in the death of

martyrdom. By the strength born of this "strong confidence," they

have _"subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,

stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,"_ etc.

(Hebrews xi. 33-38).

+II. This confidence gives men God for a refuge.+ 1. _He is a present

refuge from conscious guilt._ This is a need which every man feels as

soon as his conscience is awakened as surely as the man-slayer felt

his want of a stronghold of defence from the avenger of blood. The

God against whom man has sinned becomes, when His character is

understood, the object of hope for pardon. The sinner can only "flee

from God, by fleeing to God." 2. _He is a present refuge from all

foes, whether spiritual or human._ "Who is he that will harm you, if

ye be followers of that which is good?" (1 Pet. iii. 13) is a

question which can never be answered. It is impossible that the

children of God can ever be without a resource in whatever peril of

soul, body, or estate they find themselves, for--"If God be for us,

who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31).

_ILLUSTRATION._

The Rev. J. W. Fletcher had a profligate nephew, who was dismissed

from his post as an officer in the Sardinian army. One day, by

presenting a pistol to his uncle, General de Gons, he extorted from

him a draft for 500 crowns. With this he called on Mr. Fletcher, and,

as he exhibited it with exultation, Mr. F. took it, folded it up and

put it into his pocket, saying: "It strikes me, young man, that you

have possessed yourself of this note by some indirect method; and in

honesty I cannot return it but with my brother's knowledge and

approbation." Instantly the pistol was at his breast, and he was

told, as he valued his life, to return the draft. "My life," replied

Mr. Fletcher, "is secure in the protection of the Almighty power who

guards it." This led the nephew to remark that his uncle De Gons was

more afraid of death. "Afraid of death!" rejoined Mr. Fletcher, "do

you think I have been twenty-five years the minister of the Lord of

life to be afraid of death now? No, sir, thanks be to God who giveth

me the victory! It is for you to fear death who have every reason to

fear it. You are a gamester and a cheat, yet call yourself a

gentleman. . . . Look, there, sir, look there! See the broad eye of

Heaven is fixed upon us. Tremble in the presence of your Maker, who

can in a moment kill your body, and for ever punish your soul in

hell." The youth was disarmed, and the interview ended in his uncle

praying with him, and promising to give him a hundred crowns to

relieve his immediate necessities.--_From "The Proverbs Illustrated."_

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Fear is anything but a refuge in itself. But as faith was imputed to

the patriarch for righteousness (Rom. iv. 22), so this need not cloud

Christ's merit. Christ has so saved us that _fear_ becomes our hope.

He who has experienced _"fear"_ has gone into a retreat; nothing can

dislodge him from it. If the lost tremble, let them learn to _fear;_

for by _fear_ they become children of God, and as _children of God_

they have an eternal _refuge.--Miller._

Fear hath torment (1 John iv. 18; Acts xxiv. 25). It is the trembling

of the slave (Rom. viii. 15); the dread of wrath, not of sin. There

is no _confidence_ here. It is pure selfishness. It ends in self.

There is no homage to God. But the true _fear of God_ is a holy,

happy, reverential principle (see Psa. cxii. 1; xxxiii. 18;

cxlvii. 11); not that which love "casts out" (1 John iv. 18), but

which love brings in. We fear, because we love. We fear, yet we are

not afraid (Psa. cxii. 1-7). The holiest and humblest is the most

fixed and trusting heart. The fear of man produces faintness (Jonah

i. 3; Gal. ii. 12). The _fear of the Lord_--such is the Christian

paradox--emboldens. Its childlike spirit shuts out all terrors of

conscience, all forebodings of eternity. Abraham sacrificed his son

in the _fear of the Lord;_ yet fully _confident_ "that God was able

to raise him up from the dead" (Gen. xxii. 12, with Heb.

xi. 17-19).--_Bridges._

What confidence shall be strong, if this is not strong? He confides

in that which is all infinite:--the truth, the love, the wisdom, the

power of his covenant God! Whatever the love of God has induced Him

graciously to promise, no power or combination of powers in existence

can stay from being done.--_Wardlaw._

It does not mean that the fear of God is something on which one can

rely, but that it has (xxii. 19; Jer. xvii. 7) an inheritance which

is enduring, unwavering, and not disappointing in God, who is the

object of fear; for it is not faith, nor anything else subjective,

which is the rock that bears us, but this rock is the object that

faith lays hold of (Cf. Isa. xxviii. 16).--_Delitzsch._

Gregory, writing upon those words in Job iv. 6, "Is not this thy

fear, thy confidence?" etc., saith that although Eliphaz did

wrongfully reprove Job, yet he doth rightly set down the order of the

virtues, when he joineth fortitude to fear. For in the way of God we

must begin with fear that we may come to fortitude. For as in the

course of the world boldness breedeth courage, so in the way of God

it breedeth weakness, and as in the course of the world fear

begetteth weakness, so in the way of God it bringeth forth

confidence.--_Jermin._

The fear which brings a sinner submissive and trustful to the

sacrifice and righteousness of the Substitute is itself a

confidence. . . . Those who went early to the sepulchre and looked

into the empty grave where the Lord lay, departed from the place with

"fear and great joy." A human soul made at first in God's image has

great capacities still. In that large place fear and great joy can

dwell together. . . . The filial fear of the children may be known by

this, that it takes in beside itself a great joy, and the two

brethren dwell together in unity. . . . "His children shall have a

place of refuge." They "are kept by the power of God.". . . There are

two keepings very diverse from each other, and yet alike in this,

that both employ as their instruments strong walls and barred gates.

Great harm accrues for confounding them, and therefore the

distinction should be kept clear. Gates and bars may be closed around

you for the purpose of keeping you in, or of keeping your enemy out.

The one is a prison, the other a fortress. In construction and

appearance the two edifices are in many respects similar. The walls

are in both cases high and the bars strong. In both it is essential

that the guards should be watchful and trusty. But they differ in

this: the prison is constructed with a view to prevent escape from

within, the fortress to defy assault from without. In their design

and use they are exact contraries. The one makes sure the bondage,

the other the liberty of its inmates. In both cases it is a _keep,_

and in both cases the _keep_ is strong--the one to keep the prisoner

in, the other to keep the enemy out. The fear of the Lord to those

who are within, and have tasted of His grace, is the strong

confidence of a fortress to defend them from every foe; to those who

look at it from without, it often seems a frowning prison that will

close away the sunlight from all who go within its portals, and waste

young life away in mouldy dungeons. Mistakes are common on this

point, and mistakes are disastrous. . . . Though the refuge is

provided, and the gate standing open, and the invitation free, poor

wanderers stand shivering without because a suspicion clings to the

guilty conscience, that the "strong tower" offered as a safe dwelling

place will turn out to be a place of confinement from genial society

and human joys.--_Arnot._

FOR HOMILETICS ON VERSE 27 SEE ON THE PRECEDING VERSE AND ON CHAPTER

XIII. 14 PAGE 313.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Verses 26 and 27. The whole system of religion is expressed in the

_fear of God._ A religion which makes this fear the principle of

action implicitly condemns all self-confidence and presumptuous

security, enjoins a constant state of vigilance and caution, a

perpetual distrust of our own hearts, a full conviction of our

natural weakness, and an earnest solicitude for Divine assistance. It

keeps men always attentive to the motives and consequences of

actions; always unsatisfied with present attainments; always wishing

to advance and always afraid of falling away. The blessings it brings

in its train are--1. _Security._ "Strong confidence." "Place of

refuge." "Great is the confidence of a good conscience." "Our God

whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He _will deliver_ us" (Dan.

iii. 17). "None of these things move me" (Acts xx. 24). When they

told Numa that the enemy was at the gates, he simply answered, "But I

am sacrificing." When Antonius was threatened, he replied, "We have

not so worshipped, neither have we so lived, that we should fear

their conquering us" (_Trapp_). If such was the confidence of

heathens, what should be that of Christians? God's children "know in

whom they have believed" (2 Tim. i. 12). 2. _Consolation._ "A

fountain of life." So called from the constancy of its supply. A

confluence of the blessings, grace here and glory hereafter--present

and future--upper and nether springs. David combines both when he

says, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me

to glory" (Psa. lxxiii. 24). He refers to the future when he says,

"Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that

fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before

the sons of men!" (Psa. xxxi. 19). Here he speaks not only of what

God has _laid up,_ but of what He has _laid out_--not only of what he

has in prospect, but of what he has in experience. 3. _Deliverance

from dangerous temptations._ "To depart from the snares of death."

"The way of this world is like the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 19),

treacherous and slippery and full of snares" (_Trapp_). But he that

fears the Lord has many safeguards. "The integrity of the upright

shall guide them" (chap. xi. 3).--_S. Thodey._

Verse 27. "The law of the wise" is "the fear of the Lord," for of

both the same things are predicted (chap xiii. 14).--_Fausset._

Not only does Christian confidence open a cover from the guilt, but

it roots out the power of sin. For among the countless throngs of the

redeemed, not one finds a cover from condemnation, who is not

renovated into spiritual life.--_Bridges._

The fear of the Lord teacheth wisdom, and wisdom teacheth that an

evil feared is much the sooner avoided, and that it is a great safety

of life to fear death. Wherefore St. Cyprian saith, "Be ye fearful,

that ye may be without fear; fear the Lord, that ye may not fear

death." For the same fountain doth not send forth bitter waters and

sweet; life and death do not issue from the same spring.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.

A KING'S TRUE GLORY.

+I. Human rulers are dependent upon their people for honour.+ 1. _The

safety of the king's crown depends largely upon the number of his

subjects._ This was certainly the case in the days of Solomon, and is

so now to a large extent. Small kingdoms are very likely even in

these days to be engulfed by more powerful states--by those who can

bring into the field an overpowering number of warriors. Numbers hold

the diadems on the heads of the rulers of the great nations of

Europe. That Palestine was to some extent an exception to this rule

was due to the especial providence of Jehovah--that it was ever

overpowered by numbers was because its inhabitants forsook their

covenant God. But the general rule holds good. 2. _The prosperity of

their land depends upon its being well populated._ Other things being

equal, a populous kingdom will do more business with other

nations--will plant colonies and mix more with the inhabitants of

other lands; and all these things extend a nation's influence and so

make its ruler's position a more honourable one.

+II. It is therefore a matter of self-interest that a ruler should

govern his people righteously.+ There is a lesson which the

potentates of the earth have been slow to learn although the page of

history abounds with so many examples of the peril of disregarding

it. It would be the destruction of the head if it were to say to the

other members of the body, by which it is maintained in life and

health, "I have no need of thee." The existence of the one depends

upon that of the other. And it is not less so with the body politic.

The safety and honour of the king is bound up in the well-being of

his subjects. Where the one is dependent upon the many,

self-interest, as well as duty, point to his so ruling that his

people may enjoy peace and prosperity and so multiply.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

There is a natural tendency in the population of a country to

increase. When, therefore, population diminishes, there must be some

cause _counterworking nature._ The subjects of a country may be

wasted in destructive and depopulating wars; they may be driven by

oppression to quit their native land, and to seek a refuge in more

distant regions; they may be starved and reduced by measures that are

injurious and ruinous to trade--measures that keep up the price of

bread and depress the wages of labour. . . . The existence of a

thriving vigorous population is a mark of freedom, of wise and

impartial legislation, of paternal care--and it is the palladium of

all that is desirable in the results of human rule.--_Wardlaw._

A sentiment arrayed against feeble princes who nevertheless array

themselves with disproportionate splendour; and this, as also verse

34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not

external and seeming advantages, but simply and solely the inward

competence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the

members of a commonwealth, that are the conditions of its temporal

welfare.--_Lange's Commentary._

How great, then, is _the honour_ of our heavenly _King in the

countless multitudes of His people!_ How overwhelmingly glorious will

it appear when the completed number shall stand before His throne

(Rev. vii. 9, 10); each the medium of reflecting His glory (2 Thess.

i. 10); each with a crown to cast at His feet (Rev. iv. 10, 11), and

a song of everlasting joy to time to His praise (Rev.

v. 9).--_Bridges._

All grades depend upon their inferiors. The poor have us in their

power. To be kind to them is a dictate of common selfishness. Carried

into a spiritual light, the truth becomes much wider. Half of heaven

will be what we did for the poor. Solomon was familiar with this as a

king; but he marks the sentence as one for all humanity. If a man

wishes to be comfortable on earth, let him make his inferiors great.

And, if he wishes to be rich in heaven, let him cultivate with

assiduous zest the graces of the perishing.--_Miller._

The occurrence of this political precept in the midst of the maxims

of personal morality is striking. Still more so is its protest

against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings,

for the most part, have bowed down.--_Plumptre._

The people are the king's best treasury; in their scarcity he cannot

be rich. Worthy was the speech of that Goth, the king of Italy, who,

speaking of his subjects, saith, "Our harvest is the rest of

all."--_Jermin._

NOTE.--The population of England and Wales in 1700 was about

5,475,000. At the beginning of the present century it was between

eight and nine millions; it now exceeds twenty millions.

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.

GREAT UNDERSTANDING.

+I. There are times and occasions when wrath is not only allowable,

but right.+ A man who is incapable of being angry lacks an element of

perfection. Anger against wrong-doing is possible without any feeling

of vindictiveness or malice towards the wrong-doer. There is much in

the Bible about the "wrath of God" (Rom. i. 18), although He is

"love" (1 John iv. 8). A child does not honour a parent the less, but

the more, because he knows that parent can be angry when there is

just occasion. Neither could we reverence God if He was a Being who

could not be displeased.

+II. But a man who is slow to wrath shows--+1. _That he understands

himself._ Even the holy and all-perfect God is "slow to anger" (Neh.

ix. 17). Although He could not misjudge any creature, and although He

could never by any possibility allow His wrath to exceed the bounds

of perfect justice and righteousness, He is not "soon angry." The man

who understands his own frailty and short-sightedness will not allow

anger to take possession of his spirit in a hurry, if he is to "be

angry and sin not" (Ephes. iv. 26), he must only be angry after due

reflection upon the cause of his anger. 2. _That he understands

others._ Hasty and passionate anger never convinces the offender of

his guilt, but awakens wrath in his breast also. But the displeasure

which is the result of calm consideration may carry some weight with

it. On this subject see also Homiletics on verse 17.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

"He that is hasty of spirit _exalteth_ folly." He gives folly for the

time being the throne and sceptre of his mind, and fulfils her

preposterous and mischievous dictates. And when reason, for the time

deposed, resumes her vacated seat, she finds no easy task before her

to repair the evils which have been done in the brief but stormy

reign of passion.--_Wardlaw._

+I.+ The passion of anger is like wind to the ship: so it is to the

soul called to steer its course to Immanuel's land. 1. If there be a

dead calm, and the winds blow not at all, or very weakly, the ship

does not make way. And if men be so stupid, indolent, and

unconcerned, that their spirits will not stir in them, whatever

dishonour they see done to God, these are standing still in the way

to heaven. And many there be, who are all fire in their own matters,

but in those of God their hearts are dead as a stone. Such was the

case of Eli: _"His sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them

not"_ (1 Sam. iii. 13). It was not so with Paul: for _"his spirit was

stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry"_ (Acts

xvii. 16). 2. If the wind is brisk enough, but yet is contrary, the

ship will at best have much ado with it, and may be driven into a

shore which the crew desired not to see. So if men's anger be in

itself sinful, if their anger burn against what is good and just:

such anger cannot fail of an unhappy event. 3. Though the wind be not

contrary, yet if it be too impetuous and violent, it may dash the

ship on rocks and split it. So though men's anger may have a just

ground, yet if it prove excessive and boisterous, it may run men

headlong into great mischiefs. Oft-times reason lets anger into the

breast; but then anger turns out reason to the door, and carries on

all precipitantly without reason or discretion: like one that brings

in coal to his hearth, because of the cold, but unwarily lets it fall

on tow, which sets the house on fire. +II.+ He that is slow to wrath.

1. _Is slow to take up anger in his own cause._ It is wisdom indeed

to be very tender of God's honour, but more indifferent about our own

personal interests, as Moses was. 2. _Manages it warily when it is

taken up._ He finds himself on slippery ground, and is therefore slow

in his motions. 3. _Is easy to lay it down_ (Ephes. iv. 26-27). He

shuts it out when there is no more use for it. +III.+ The passionate

man proclaims his folly--he proclaims himself--1. _A proud man,_ and

the proud man is a fool in God's account and in the account of all

who understand themselves. 2. _A weak man._ He is a slave to his

passions. 3. _An unwatchful man,_ who has his enemies within him,

without him, round about him, and yet cannot be brought to stand on

his guard (Prov. iv. 23, 24).--_Boston._

Wise anger is like fire from the flint, there is a great ado to bring

it out; and when it does come, it is out again immediately.--_Henry._

The intoxication of anger, like that of the grape, shows us to

others, but hides us from ourselves.--_Southgate's "Many Thoughts on

Many Things."_

The heaviest body is slowest in going, but his treading is the

surest; in like manner, he that is slow to anger recompenses the

dulness of his steps with the soundness of his proceeding; for he

taketh leisure (as it were) to look of his ways. Tertullian says,

"Where the injury is little, there is no need of patience; but where

the injury is great, there is the help of patience more needful

against it. If they be small wrongs, contemn them for their

smallness; if great wrongs, by patience give way unto them in respect

of their greatness." The original of _hasty,_ is _short-winded._ For

as haste in going maketh the breath to be short, so the haste of the

soul to anger maketh that to puff and blow on every small occasion;

so that the soul is as it were climbing up a great hill, there to

_exalt her folly,_ for all to behold it.--_Jermin._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 30.

A SOUND HEART.

_The blessed effects of a contented spirit._ The "sound heart" being

here placed in contrast to "envy," shows that it means a spirit that

is content with its lot in life--that is not ever reaching after the

unattainable--that is not jealous of others who are in more

favourable circumstances. Such a quietness of spirit is--

+I. Favourable to bodily health.+ The mind of a passionate man wears

out the bodily frame, and no passion that can possess the soul is

more imperious and agitating, and consequently more injurious to

health than envy. Jealousy is said to be as "cruel as the grave"

(_Cant._ viii. 6), and it is cruel not only to the objects of it, but

also to him who allows it a dwelling-place in his spirit. Its

withering effects are felt even in the body, it is "rottenness of the

bones" in this sense. But a contented spirit goes a long way to

promote and to preserve bodily health. A quiet spirit is a stranger

to all those restless feelings which give sleepless nights and

anxious days to the envious man.

+II. It is indispensable to the attainment of a noble character.+

Calmness of spirit gives room for the development of all the graces

and virtues which go to make up the "perfect man" (Ephes. iv. 13).

Growth in nature demands some degree of quietness and calmness to

develop itself. The mighty forest oak of a hundred years has attained

its present noble dimensions by processes which have gone on for the

most part in days and nights of stillness. So a character of moral

strength and beauty can be formed only in the atmosphere of a calm

and well-governed spirit.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_"Envy,"_ excitement of any kind; _perturbation;_ a wise saw,

perhaps, of the old hygiene, but true spiritually. Religion rejoices

in peace. Mad passion may be overruled; but so can our lusts be. As

much as lieth in us, we should have peace. The soul is a temple

(1 Cor. iii. 17), and "holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, for ever"

(Psa. xciii. 5).--_Miller._

The word _sound_ signifies healthful, free from _moral

distempers_--the distempers of "the inner man," such as discontent,

malice, and envy. Strictly speaking a _"sound heart"_--a heart

entirely free from the evil passions that belong to fallen nature--is

not to be found. But in Scripture a _sound_ heart, and even a

_perfect_ heart, are phrases used to signify the real sincerity and

predominant rule of right principles and actions. Envy, perhaps the

most odious in itself, and the most corroding and torturing to the

spirit, is here called "rottenness of the bones"--not a mere _surface

sore,_ but a deep-seated disease; like _caries,_ or inflammation in

the substance of the bone itself.--_Wardlaw._

+I. The nature of envy.+ It is a pain, or uneasiness, arising from an

apprehension of the prosperity and good fortune of others; not

because we suffer from their welfare, nor that our condition may be

bettered by our uneasiness, but merely because their condition is

bettered. There is a strong jealousy of pre-eminence and superiority

implanted in our nature by Almighty God, for wise and noble purposes,

to excite to the pursuit of laudable attainments, and the imitation

of good and great actions. This principle is _emulation._ It is also

an uneasiness occasioned by the good fortunes of others; but not

because we repine at their prosperity; but because we ourselves have

not attained the same good success. Its effect is to excite us to

great designs, but when it meets with a corrupt disposition it

degenerates into envy, the most malignant passion in human nature,

the worst weed of the worst soil. So far from stirring up to

imitation, envy labours to taint and depreciate what it does not so

much as attempt to equal. +II. The cure for envy.+ 1. _That we

endeavour to take a right estimate of things._ The laws of God are

the eternal standards of good and evil; what they declare valuable,

or enjoin as wise, are truly so, and what they disclaim as hurtful or

worthless are, in fact, to be so regarded. 2. _That we try to make a

right judgment of our own worth and abilities._ If we do this, we

shall find that there are others in the world at least as wise and as

good as we are, and perhaps we shall also find, that if merit were

the standard of honour and affluence, we should not abound altogether

as much as we do. 3. _Reflect seriously upon the vanity of all

worldly advantage._ Shall we envy him _whose breath is in his

nostrils?_ whose glory _fadeth as the flower of grass?--Delany._

Envy is called a passion, and passion means suffering. The patient

who is ill of envy is a sinner and a sufferer too. He is an object of

pity. It is a mysterious and terrible disease. The nerves of

sensation within the man are attached by some unseen hand to his

neighbours all around him, so that every step of advancement which

they make tears the fibres which lie next his heart. The wretch

enjoys a moment's relief when the mystic cord is temporarily

slackened by his neighbour's fall; but his agony immediately begins

again, for he anticipates another twitch as soon as the fallen is

restored to prosperity. . . . The cure of envy, as wrought by the

love of Christ, is not only a deliverance from pain, it is, even in

the present world, an unspeakable gain. That man will speedily grow

rich who gets and puts into his bag not only all his own winnings,

but also all the winnings of his neighbours. . . . The Nile, contrary

to the analogy of other great streams, flows more than a thousand

miles without receiving the waters of a single tributary; the

consequence is, that it grows no greater as it courses over that vast

line. Other rivers are every now and then receiving converging

streams from the right and left, and thereby their volume continually

increases until it reaches the sea. The happiness of man is like the

flow of water in a river. If you enjoy _nothing_ but what is your

own, your tiny rivulet of contentment, so far from increasing, grows

smaller by degrees, until it sinks unseen into the sand, and leaves

you in a desert of despair; but when all the acquisitions of your

neighbours go to swell its bulk, your enjoyment will flow like a

river enriched by many affluents, growing ever greater as life

approaches its close. It is some such river that makes glad the city

of God.--_Arnot._

Socrates called envy the soul's saw; and wished that envious men had

more eyes and ears than others, that they might have the more torment

by beholding and hearing other men's happiness.--_Trapp._

Envy at last crawls forth from hell's dire throng,

Of all the direfull'st! Her black locks hung long,

Attired with curling serpents; her pale skin

Was almost dropped from her sharp bones within;

And at her breasts stuck vipers, which did prey

Upon her panting heart both night and day,

Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair,

Both day and night they left fresh poisons there.

Her garments were deep-stained in human gore,

And torn by her own hands, in which she bore

A knotted whip and bowl, which to the brim

Did with green gall and juice of wormwood swim;

With which, when she was drunk, she furious grew,

And lashed herself; thus from the accursed crew

Envy, the worst of fiends, herself presents,

Envy, good only when she herself torments.--_Cowley._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 31.

THE OPPRESSED AND THEIR OPPRESSORS.

+I. Those who are the objects of oppression--+"The poor." They are

made up of three classes. 1. _Those who have never known their

supplies to be equal to their positive needs--who have not only

always lived from hand to mouth, but whose hands have never been able

to obtain a sufficient supply for the mouth._ Such poor ones have

this advantage, they have never known better days--their life is like

a river whose shallow waters have never overflowed its banks--whose

channel has always been much deeper than the stream. There is no

force of contrast to add to the present bitterness. 2. _Those who

have been reduced from sufficiency to want._ To such poverty is a

greater hardship than to those just mentioned. The light and comfort

of the past makes the darkness and misery of the present harder to

bear. If their own wrong-doing or mistakes have been the cause of

their fall, the trial is all the heavier. 3. _There are those whom we

call poor who, though not actually in want, have to toil hard and

unceasingly for the necessaries of life, and who know nothing of the

luxuries of wealth and ease._

+II. The oppression of any or all of these is an insult to God.+ To oppress the

first is to oppress men for what they cannot help--for that for which they are as

irresponsible as for the colour of their skin, and therefore it is to reproach Him

who appointed them to their lot in life. To oppress the second is to insult God,

by afflicting them beyond the affliction which He has permitted to fall upon

them. Whether their present condition is retribution or chastisement, its

measure has been appointed by the hand of the All-wise Ruler of men, and it is

"reproaching" Him to add to it by oppression. If a child is being corrected

by its parent, or a criminal is paying the penalty which the judge has awarded

to him for his crimes, it is an impeachment of their judgment to add in any way

to the punishment that has been decreed. Those who oppress the third class

are guilty of a sin against those who have always been special objects of His

favour, and who make up a large proportion of the members of His kingdom.

(See Homiletics and Comments on verse 21.)

+III. Mercifulness to the poor reveals reverence for God.+ 1. _It

shows that the man regulates his conduct by Divine laws._ God, as we

have seen in considering the 21st verse, has been most explicit in

the revelation of His will in this matter. 2. _He sees in every man

some trace of his Divine Creator._

"Man is God's image; but a poor man is

Christ's stamp to boot."--_Herbert._

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

_"Oppression"_ means something more than the contempt and neglect

dealt with in verse 21. He who acts such a part "reproacheth His

Maker." For, _first,_ he acts as if the poor were of another

species--an inferior order of beings; whereas they have all the

attributes of the same manhood with him by whom they are condemned.

_Second,_ he acts as if the circumstances in which the poor are

placed were a warrant for him to imitate the Divine conduct and

depress them still further, which is a reproach of God, as if He

dealt with the poor in spirit of unkindness or partiality. . . . A

man may have mercy on the poor who does _not "honour God."_ Humanity

may, and often does, exist without godliness; but godliness cannot

exist without humanity.--_Wardlaw._

We treat God with no respect (1) when _"the poor,"_ who are His

children are not treated as such; (2) when the poor, who are his

dependents, are left unhelped, so as to seem to bring Him into

discredit, but (as is most intended, judging from the whole drift of

this part of the chapter) (3) when the poor, who are His instruments,

and are sent to exercise our virtues, are not treated as such, but

our _"Maker"_ thwarted in the work of _making us better_ by these

needy visitants. Life moves by such sort of influences.--_Miller._

God takes it for an honour, how should this prevail with us. How

exceedingly shall such be honoured in that great panegyris at the

last day, when the Judge shall say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, I

was an hungered, and ye gave me meat."--_Trapp._

He that reproacheth the poor reproacheth his own Maker, and showeth

himself unworthy to have been made by Him; reproacheth the Maker of

the poor, as if either He could not help him, or else as if He had

made him to be oppressed by making him poor. But God, who suffereth

thee to oppress the poor, will not suffer thee to be unpunished for

it, and seeing thou sparest not to reproach Himself, will not spare

to scourge thee. Tully saith, "Men in nothing come nearer God than in

giving," and Gregory Nazianzen goes further, and tells us, "Thou

mayest even by no labour be made God, do not, therefore neglect the

opportunity of obtaining a Deity. Make thyself God to the miserable,

by imitating the mercy of God."--_Jermin._

The ancient Church possessed in full the glorious truth, that of all

the real compassion which flows through human channels, the

fountain-head is on high. He who gets mercy shows it.--_Arnot._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 32.

THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.

+I. The wicked man dies unwillingly.+ He is "driven away." Our first

parents,--conscious of the severance of a moral bond between them and

God--knowing that they had fallen from their original position, in

which they would have gone fearlessly and joyfully to any part of

God's universe--ignorant of the unknown and dark future that lay

before them--left their first home unwillingly. They had to be

"driven out" of Eden (Gen. iii. 24). A man who is conscious of a

moral distance between himself and God, seldom quits this world

willingly. An _undefined_ dread, perhaps, but still a dread, of the

unknown state beyond death possesses him, and he is made subject to

the laws of death "unwillingly." As Adam had to be driven out of

Eden, so he quits his present abode, not from choice, but from

necessity. His unwillingness to go arises from his condition of

heart--from his moral standing. He "is driven away _in his

wickedness._" Adam's consciousness of guilt made him unwilling to

quit his abode in Eden. The same consciousness makes men fear to die.

"The sting of death is sin" (1 Cor. xv. 56). The man whose sins are

unpardoned is conscious that he has much to fear in the unknown

future. His spirit witnesses to the truth of the Divine Word, "After

death, the judgment" (Heb. ix. 27).

+II. But to the righteous man the hour of death is a time of hope.+

He does not die in his sin. A separation has taken place between him

and sin. He is conscious of having been delivered both from its guilt

and its dominion. The severance that has already been accomplished

has wrought a greater change than that which death can work. The

change of _relationship to God_ and of _character_ which he has

already experienced, has made a mere change of _place_ a matter of

small moment in itself, and the change from this world to the

heavenly city an occasion of hope and rejoicing. The angel of death

is no officer of justice to bring him before his judge, but a

messenger to guide him to his Father's house. The objects of this

hope have been considered in Homiletics on chap. x. 24, 28; pages 176

and 181.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

The righteous dies by his own consent. It is a glad surrender, not a

forcible separation (Psa. xxxi. 5). The tabernacle is not rent, or

torn away, but "put off" (2 Pet. i. 14).--_Bridges._

"The wicked is thrust lower by his evil" (see Critical Notes).

_"Death,"_ that is, the worst form of _evil._ Observe the _crescendo.

"Evil,"_ which is supposed to be a discipline, _"thrusts down the

wicked;" death,_ the very grimmest of the list, becomes to the

righteous a gracious refuge. _"Thrust lower,"_ this is an intensive

expression. If trouble thrusts a man lower, how much more must joy

and intoxicating wealth. The idea is--all hurts him. Even discipline

hurts the lost.--_Miller._

Oh, the different departures of the reprobate and the Christian! The

one knows he changeth for the better; the other mistrusts, for the

worse; to the one death is a gulf of sorrow, to the other a port of

liberty; he, because he is stripped for a scourging; this, because he

lays aside his clothes, after his toil, to go to bed. . . . All our

loathness to depart, and fears in departing, arise from our own

unsettledness; we have not made sure to ourselves a dwelling in these

glorious heavens; many mansions there be (John xiv. 2), we have not

provided ourselves one.--_T. Adams._

A Christian should be a volunteer in death. Many of the martyrs were

as willing to die as to dine; went to the fire as cheerful as to a

feast, and courted its pale and ghastly countenance as if it had been

a beautiful bride. . . . Cyprian said Amen to his own sentence of

death. Bradford, being told by his keeper's wife that his chain was

a-buying, and he was to die the next day, pulled off his hat and

thanked God for it. . . . Ann Askew subscribed her confession in

Newgate thus, "Written by me, Ann Askew, that neither wisheth for

death nor feareth his might, and as merry as one that is bound

towards heaven." Indeed it is said of a wicked man that his soul _is

required of him,_ and that God _takes away his soul_ (Luke xii. 20;

Job xxvii. 8); but of a godly man that he _giveth up the ghost,_ and

he _cometh to his grave_ (Gen. xxv. 8; Job xiv. 10). . . . Socrates,

and some of the wiser heathen, comforted themselves against the fear

of death with this weak cordial, that it is common to men, the way of

all the earth. Hence it was, when the Athenians condemned Socrates to

die, he received the sentence with an undaunted spirit, and told them

that they did nothing but what nature had before ordained for him.

But the Christian hath a greater ground for a holy resolution, and a

stronger cordial against the fears of death, even the hope of eternal

life; and surely, if he that exceeds others in his cordials be

excelled by them in courage, he disgraceth his physician. . . . It is

no marvel that they who lived wickedly should die unwillingly, being

"driven away in their wickedness," as a beast that is driven out of

his den to the slaughter, or as a debtor driven by the officers out

of his house, where he lay warm and surrounded by all sorts of

comfort, to a nasty, loathsome prison.--_Swinnock._

It is storied of Godfrey, Duke of Bouillon, that when, in his

expedition to the Holy Land, he came within view of Jerusalem, his

army, seeing the high turrets, goodly buildings, and fair fronts,

being even transported with the joyfulness of such a sight, gave a

mighty shout that the earth was verily thought to ring with the noise

thereof. Such is the rejoicing of a godly man in death, when he doth

not see the turrets and towers of an earthly, but the spiritual

building of a heavenly Jerusalem, and his soul ready to take

possession of them. How doth he delight in his dissolution, when he

sees grace changing into glory, hope into fruition, faith into

vision, and love into perfect comprehension.--_Spencer's "Things New

and Old."_

If this be true, it is a demonstration on the side of religion, and

that upon three accounts. (1) Because the principles of religion, and

the practice of them in a virtuous life, when they come to the last

and utmost trial, do hold out. The belief of a God, the persuasion of

our own immortality, and of the eternal recompense of another

world--that _Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners_--is

commonly more strong and vigorous in the minds of good men when they

come to die; they have then a more clear apprehension and firm

persuasion of the truth and reality of these things, than ever they

had at any time of their lives, and find more peace and joy in the

belief of them. . . . And the principles of infidelity and vice are

more apt to shrink and give back at such a time. (2) The principles

of religion minister comfort to us in the most needful and desirable

time. If it be true of every day of our lives, _sufficient unto the

day is the evil thereof,_ much more of the day of death. It is surely

enough to have that one enemy to encounter, at which nature startles

even when the sting is taken away. . . . If there were nothing beyond

this life, it were worth while to provide for a quiet death. There is

no man that calculates things wisely that would, for all the

pleasures of sin, forfeit the peace and comfort of a righteous soul,

going out of the world full of the hopes of a blessed immortality.

(3) When men are commonly most serious and impartial, and their

declarations are thought to be of the greatest weight, they give this

testimony to religion and virtue, and against impiety and vice. Even

Lucretius says, "Men's words then come from the bottom of their

heart, the mask is taken off, and things then appear to them as

indeed they are." In these circumstances men generally declaim most

vehemently against their sins and vices, and declare on the side of

piety and virtue. Surely this is a great testimony on the side of

religion, because it is the testimony not only of its friends, but of

those who have been its greatest enemies.--_Tillotson._

A clear testimony to a future state of rewards and

punishments.--_Wordsworth._

Though there was no revelation of immortality and resurrection then,

still the pious in death put their confidence in Jahve, the God of

life and of salvation--for in Jahve there was for ancient Israel the

beginning, middle, and end of the work of salvation--and believing

that they were going home to Him, committing their spirit into His

hands (Psa. xxxi. 6), they fell asleep, though without any explicit

knowledge, yet not without the hope of eternal life. Job also knew

that (xxvii. 8) between the death of those estranged from God and of

those who feared God there was not only an external, but a deep

essential distinction; and now the wise man opens up a glimpse into

the eternity heavenwards (chap. xv. 24), and has formed (chap.

xii. 28) (see Critical Notes) the expressive and distinctive word for

immortality, which breaks like a ray from the morning sun through the

night of the _Sheol.--Delitzsch._

We are not able to form a right conception of what it is to be and to

abide in wickedness. Because it is so near us, we do not know it. If

it were a body standing before us, we could examine its proportions

and describe its appearance; but because it is a spirit transfused

through us, we remain ignorant of its character and power. . . . A

ship is lying in a placid river when winter comes, and is gradually

frozen in. The process was gentle, and almost imperceptible. There

was no commotion and no crash. The ice crept round, and closed in

upon the ship without any noisy note of warning. . . . Her own

element closed and held her. . . The ship is not shaken. No creaking

is heard--no strain is felt. She feels firm and easy. Even when the

pines of the neighbouring forest are bending to the blast, she sits

unmoved in her solid bed. That bed she has made for herself, and it

therefore fits her. This is very like the wicked in his iniquity, and

before he is driven away. . . . He stands steady in his element, and

no ripple disturbs its surface. When the ice of the river goes away,

the embedded ship goes with it. It is a dreadful departure. The water

swells beneath; the ice holds by the crooked banks awhile; but, after

a period of suspense, the flood prevails and the trembling, rending

mass gives way. Reeling icebergs and foaming yellow waves tumble

downwards in tumultuous heaps, and the ship is swept away like a

feather on a flood. If we had a sense for perceiving spiritual

things, the most heart-rending sight in the world would be a sinner

set fast in his element, and the flood of wrath secretly swelling

from beneath. . . . But he who has been begotten again to a living

hope has it at the time when humanity needs it most. A friend in need

is a friend indeed. Stars are a grateful mitigation of the darkness;

but we do not want them by day. Hope, always lovely, is then sweetest

when it beams from heaven through the gloom that gathers round the

grave. . . . The ship has set sail, and kept on her course many days

and nights, with no other incidents than those that are common to

all. Suddenly land appears; but what the character of the coast may

be the voyagers cannot discern through the tumult. The first effect

of a new approach of land is a very great commotion on the water. It

is one of the coral islands of the South Pacific, encircled by a ring

of fearful breakers at some little distance from the shore. Forward

the ship must go. The waves are higher and angrier than any they have

seen in the open sea. Partly through them, partly over them, they are

borne at a bound; strained, and giddy, and almost senseless, they

find themselves within that sentinel ridge of crested waves that

guard the shore, and the portion of sea that still lies before them

is calm and clear like glass. It seems a lake of Paradise, and not an

earthly thing at all. . . . Across the belt of sea the ship glides

gently,--and gently soon touches that lovely shore. It is thus that I

have seen a true pilgrim thrown into a great tumult when the shore of

eternity suddenly appeared before him. A great fear tossed him for

some days; but when that barrier was passed, he experienced a peace,

deeper, stiller, sweeter than ever he knew before. A little space of

life's voyage remained after the fear of death had sunk into a calm,

and before the immortal felt the solid of eternal rest. On life's sea

as yet was the spirit lying, but the shaking had passed; and when at

last the spirit passed from a peaceful sea to a peaceful land, the

change seemed slight.--_Arnot._

The text looks like the cloud between the Israelites and Egyptians;

having a dark side toward the latter, and a bright side toward the

former. It represents death, like Pharaoh's jailor, bringing the

chief butler and the chief baker out of prison; the one to be

restored to his office, the other to be led to execution. The wicked

are driven from this world to the other--from the society of saints

on earth into that of the lost in hell; out of time into eternity;

out of their specious pretences to piety; away from all means of

grace. . . . The following circumstances make the godly in their

death happy and hopeful. 1. _They have a trusty good Friend before

them in the other world._ Jesus Christ, their best friend, is Lord of

the land to which death carries them. When Joseph sent for his father

to come down to Egypt, and Jacob "saw the wagons Joseph had sent to

carry him, the spirit of Jacob revived" (Gen. xlv. 27). He resolved

to undertake the journey. I think when the Lord calls a godly man out

of the world, He sends him such good tidings, and such a kind

invitation to the other world, that his spirit must revive when he

sees the wagon of death sent to carry him thither. 2. _They shall

have a safe passage to another world._ They have the Lord of the

land's safe conduct, His pass sealed with His own blood. . . . It is

safe riding in Christ's chariot. 3. _They shall have a joyful

entrance into the other world._ . . . Is the bird in worse case, when

at liberty, than when confined in a cage? Death comes to the godly

man, as Haman came to Mordecai, with the royal apparel and the

horse.--_Boston._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 33.

THE HIDDEN MADE MANIFEST.

+I. The God-ordained place for moral wisdom--+"the heart." The

Divinely ordained place for the sap of the vine is its _root._

1. _It has its centre and spring there, that thence it may diffuse

itself into every branch and leaf, and give life and health to the

whole tree._ So the Divinely-ordained place for moral wisdom is the

_heart_--the _affections_ of a man. If it has its seat there it will

certainly influence all his thoughts, and words, and deeds. 2. _It is

not only the most influential part of a man, but it is the most

secure._ There, if anywhere, it is out of the reach of harm. If it is

only in the _head_--the intellectual part of a man--temptation may

rob him of it--false reasoning or adversity may shake it from its

seat, but if it has hold of the heart, it will hold its own against

every foe. 3. _It is the only place from which it can reach and bless

other human hearts._ The sap of the tree must issue direct from its

root if there is to be fruit that will sustain and give satisfaction

to the eater. So a life will bring forth no fruit to feed others

unless its religion is a religion of the heart. There is no way to

the heart except from the heart, those who have only an intellectual

hold upon moral wisdom cannot feed hungry souls. 4. _It is the only

place whence one can issue glory to God._ The whole man, spirit and

soul and body, must be under the guidance of moral wisdom if he is to

render acceptable service to God. Nothing less will satisfy Him who

"searches the heart of the children of men" (Jer. xvii. 10). If the

heart is right, the external service will not be wanting. (See

Homiletics and Comments on chap. iv. 23.)

+II. Where this wisdom of the heart is lacking, the life will betray

it.+ In all natural life there is a law by which its hidden secrets

are manifested in outward signs. The health of the root is seen in

the health of the tree, the disease of the internal bodily organs

manifests itself in the outward appearance. So it is with moral

health and disease. However men may try to appear what they are not,

the natural tendency of human nature often proves too strong for the

artificial restraint that is put upon it, and sooner or later men

reveal what they really are. "That which is in the midst of moral

fools is made known," although time is needed for the folly fully to

develop itself.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

"Resteth" implies the tranquil and modest spirit of the wise, and the

permanence of their keeping of wisdom; and especially that it is the

fruit of the spirit from above descending and abiding on them (Numb.

xi. 25, 26; Isa. xi. 2; 2 Kings ii. 15). Contrast Eccles. vii. 9. The

wise does not draw forth his wisdom from its resting place within the

heart at random, but in proper place and time, as the occasion may

require. But fools cannot long disguise their folly (see chap. x. 14,

xii. 23, xiii. 16). The Hebrew adage says, "A vessel full of coins

will make no noise; but if there be only one coin in it, it will make

a rattle." The more learned one is, the more modest he will be; the

more unlearned, the more presumptuous and ostentatious.--_Fausset._

In the heart of the understanding wisdom remains silent and still,

for the understanding feels himself personally happy in the

possession, endeavours all the more to deepen it, and lets it operate

within.--_Delitzsch._

There she keepeth residence and there she ruleth, and thither she

bringeth her treasures and her comforts, and every good thing that is

to be wished for. And therefore she calleth for it, as most meet for

her to possess; and safest for every wise man to yield unto her. "My

son, give me thine heart."

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 34.

NATIONAL SALVATION.

+I. Some standard of right and wrong is necessary to national

existence.+ There are men who have affirmed that there is no such

thing as virtue and vice--that they are only inventions of those who

desire to rule their fellow-creatures, and that the world could do

without them. But experience teaches the contrary. Every nation, if

it is to have an existence, even if it rejects a Divine revelation,

or is ignorant of it, must have some standard by which to judge human

actions. Without the recognition of such a standard, even if it is

only based upon the light of reason, not only would national

prosperity be impossible, but national existence. Rome and Greece had

such standards as well as Israel, although the first-mentioned

nations had no revelation from heaven except that of the natural

conscience, and if all the existing codes were abolished to-morrow

men would find it necessary to form others in order to preserve their

national, if not their individual existence.

+II. The prosperity and influence of a nation is in proportion to its

national righteousness.+ This is not the case of the individual man.

His present condition and circumstance, the measure of power that he

possesses, or the amount of the influence he exerts, is no index of

the amount of righteousness which he possesses. He may be a noble of

the land, or he may have no social standing; he may fare sumptuously

every day, or he may subsist on the crumbs that fall from the rich

man's table, and neither from the one lot or the other can any

conclusion be drawn as to what his moral standing is. There is

another world in which the righteous _man_ will be exalted, and the

unrighteous _man_ will reap the reward of unrighteousness; but

national righteousness and unrighteousness receive their reward in

this world. 1. _Righteous dealing in a nation promotes its commercial

prosperity._ If the merchants of a nation are known to be honest in

their transactions and truthful in their words, they will gain and

hold a high place in the markets of the world. 2. _It secures it an

influence among the governing powers of the world._ In proportion as

its intercourse with other nations is marked, not by a lust for

conquest or a desire to rule, no matter by what means--but by a

recognition of the rights of all--in that proportion will it acquire

a power far more real and far more lasting than that gained by its

ability to outdo other nations in the number of its soldiers or the

size of its navy.

+III. National reproach for sin will be in proportion to its

possession of a high or low moral standard.+ "Sin is a reproach to

_any_ people;" but it is the greatest reproach to those who possess

the greatest light. The sin of Israel was a greater reproach to them

than the sin of the Philistines was to them, because the one

possessed the light of a Divine revelation, and the other did not. So

in the present day, the nations who sin against the light of the

revealed Word of God are far greater sinners than those upon whom the

light has never shone. The principle to which the Divine Son gave

utterance concerning the Jewish nation is the one by which He judges

nations in the present day. _"If I had not come and spoken unto them,

they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin"_

(John xv. 24).

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

As there is nothing in religion to counteract the design of a wise

system of civil polity, so there is nothing in a wise system of civil

government to counteract the design of the Christian religion. The

exaltation of the nation is the end of civil polity. Righteousness is

the end of religion, or rather is religion itself.--_Saurin._

It is the nature of sin (1) to lessen and diminish a people; (2) to

sink and depress the spirit of a people; (3) to destroy the wealth of

a people; (4) to deprive them of the blessings of freedom; (5) to

provoke the displeasure of God and to draw down His

judgments.--_Emmons, in "Lange's Commentary."_

Righteousness is both "the prop to make it subsist firm in itself and

a crown to make it glorious in the eyes of others" _(Bp. Sanderson)._

Greece in her proud science, Rome in the zenith of her glory, both

were sunk in the lowest depths of moral degradation (Rom. i. 23-32

was a picture of the heathen world in the best ages of refinement).

Their greatness consisted only in the visions of poesy or the dream

of philosophy. Contrast the influence of _righteousness,_ bringing

out of the most debased barbarism a community impregnated with all

the high principles that form a nation's well-being. Thus to

Christianise is to regenerate, to elevate the community, the "exalt

the nation," and that not with a sudden flash of shadowy splendour,

but with a solid glory, fraught with every practical blessing. "Those

princes and commonwealths who would keep their governments entire and

uncorrupt, are, above all things, to have a care of religion and its

ceremonies, and preserve them in due veneration. For in the whole

world there is not a greater sign of imminent ruin than where God and

His worship are despised." Such was the testimony of the profligate

politician Machiavelli. . . . What an enemy an ungodly man is to his

country! Loudly though he may talk of his patriotism, and even though

God should make him an instrument to advance her temporal interest;

yet he contributes, so far as in him lies, to her deepest

_reproach.--Bridges._

Religion and virtue do naturally tend to the good order and more easy

government of human society, because they have a good influence both

upon magistrates and subjects. 1. _Upon magistrates._ Religion

teaches them to rule over men in the fear of God, because though they

be gods on earth, yet they are subjects of heaven, and accountable to

Him who is higher than the highest in this world. Religion in a

magistrate strengthens his authority because it procures veneration

and gains a reputation to it. And in all affairs of the world so much

reputation is so much power. 2. _Upon subjects._ First, it makes them

obedient to government, and conformable to laws; and that not only

out of fear of power, which is but a weak and loose principle of

obedience, but out of conscience, which is a firm, and constant and

lasting principle, and will hold a man fast when all other

obligations will break. Secondly, it tends to make men peaceable with

one another. For it endeavours to plant all those qualities and

dispositions in men which tend to peace and unity, and to fill men

with a spirit of universal love and goodwill. It endeavours likewise

to secure every man's interest, by commanding the observation of that

great rule of equity, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto

you, do ye even so to them."--_Tillotson._

We find the great general principle of Divine Providence, in regard

to nations, thus laid down by Jehovah Himself to the prophet

Jeremiah--"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and

concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to pull down, and to destroy

it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their

evil, I will repent of the evil which I thought to do unto them. And

at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a

kingdom, to build and plant it; if it do evil in My sight, that it

obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I

would benefit them" (Jer. xviii. 7-10). This was a principle, not

applicable to _Israel_ exclusively--for we find it expressly applied

to the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the inhabitants of Sodom and of

Nineveh. And the Old Testament bringing before us specimens of the

Divine administration, the Spirit of God letting us so far into the

secrets of its principles and laws, we have every reason to believe

that in the government of God over the world, the same principle is

still in operation, that _we_ may not be able to trace it--that, had

we only an inspired record of what takes place now, we should see it

clearly in all cases; and even without such a record there are cases

in which it would be equal impiety and blindness not to discern and

own it.--_Wardlaw._

_"Righteousness"_ means _saving righteousness,_ and _"Sin-offering"_

is literally _sin._ (See Critical Notes.) _"Righteousness"_ lifts to

the very skies. _"The mercy of nations,"_ as the words literally are,

is not wealth, or peace, or a good king, or broad lands of plenty,

but an interest in Christ, "the sin-offering," and a home amongst the

happy.--_Miller._

_"Peoples"_ is plural, whereas _"a nation"_ is singular, implying the

paucity of the nations observing _righteousness._ The Hebrew word for

reproach meaning also mercy, Gejer translates, "Mercy is an

expiratory sacrifice for sin." Not that mercy puts away sin before

God, but before men, who are by _mercy_ reconciled to those who had

before been unmerciful to them.--_Fausset._

_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 35.

A WISE SERVANT.

In this verse we adopt Miller's translation as being the more

probable meaning. See Critical Notes and also his Comment.

+I. The law of kindness is a law of power.+ Whether a man be the

ruler of a nation or the ruler of a family, if he would acquire real

power over those whom he rules, he must obey this law himself. Human

nature is in a fallen condition, and it cannot be lifted into a state

of obedience even to wise and good laws except they are enforced in a

spirit of kindness. Kindness will bind men to loyal devotion with a

far firmer chain than any force. There is, indeed, no principle in

obedience to the latter; it rules only the bodily actions, and is

powerless over the heart. Those who desire more than the service of

half the man must issue their commands--must exercise their

authority--in the spirit of mercy. The king, the master or the

father, who is a despot, is only obeyed because he has power to

punish. Consequently the obedience will only last as long as the

power. This is a thought which parents especially should lay to heart.

+II. The law of kindness is a law of policy.+ He who rules to-day may

one day be at the mercy of him whom he rules. Kings have often needed

favour of their subject--the master has often been at the mercy of

his servant; and what has happened before will happen again in the

changes and chances of life, and those who have shown mercy will be

the most likely at such times to receive it. "With what measure ye

mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matt. vii. 2) holds good in

this case. Therefore, the "kindness of a king is a wise servant; but

his wrath becomes one that bringeth shame." For remarks on the text

as rendered in the Authorised Version, see below.

_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._

Solomon gets back to his king-craft. These maxims were familiar to

him. It is rarely wise for "a king" to get in a passion with his

people (see verses 29, 30). "If thou wilt be a servant unto this

people" was said to the successor of this very man (1 Kings xii. 7);

if thou wilt "answer them, and speak good words to them, then they

will be thy servants for ever." But, more than king-craft, it is a

rule for saints. The law of "kindness" should be on our lips. The

power of gentleness is irresistible. If _"the mercy for nations is

the sin-offering"_ (see last verse), then we are all sinners

together, and modesty forbids that we should go among the lost with

anything but tenderness. The English version is due to the presence

of a preposition. "The king's favour is towards a wise servant." But

that proposition becomes idiomatic in certain cases. I say, "I want

such a thing _for_ a shelter." "The kingdom of a king is _for_ a wise

servant," _i.e.,_ serves as one. There is no preposition before the

words "brings shame;" but, on the contrary, the word _is_ is written

out, and, as usual in that case, means _"becomes;"_ all of which

state of facts is in favour of our new version.--_Miller._

These words state what _ought to be._ No one ought to be the king or

the queen's servant who is not wise; and toward every such wise

servant the royal favour should be specially extended. And who _is_ a

_wise_ servant? Not a servant who flatters royal vanity; accommodates

itself to royal foibles; indulges royal prejudices; chimes in with

royal caprices; tolerates and connives at royal vices, whether

personal or official. No; a wise servant must be a servant of

conscientious principle, and of bland but unflinching fidelity. He is

one who gives prudent and faithful counsel; who "speaks truth as he

thinks it in his heart;" whose counsels are dictated by a right

understanding of the times, and knowledge of what such times require,

not by a wish to ingratiate the minister with the prince, and so to

promote his own personal advantage, but by the principles of genuine

patriotism as well as loyalty. . . . That servant "causeth shame" by

whom that is encouraged from which reproach arises--who gives counsel

to his prince which must prove either prejudicial or abortive; such

as can hardly fail to render him unpopular with his subjects, and

expose him, by their failure, to the derision of foreign states--a

derision in which the kingdom as well as the throne, the people as

well as the monarch, are involved.--_Wardlaw._

Thus it is with the great King. All of us are His _servants,_ bound

to Him by the highest obligations; animated by the most glowing

encouragements (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; Matt. xxiv. 44-46, xxv. 21-23).

All of us have our responsibilities, our talents, our work, our

account. Towards the "faithful and _wise_ servant," who has traded

with his talents, who has been diligent in his work, and who is ready

for his account--_His favour_ will be infinitely condescending and

honourable (John xii. 26). But _against him that causeth

shame_--reflecting upon his Master, neglectful in his work,

unprepared for his account--His _wrath_ will be tremendous and

eternal.--_Bridges._

Surely well is favour bestowed, where it reflecteth unto the giver's

honour: worthily is favour received, where wisdom's hands are the

receivers of it.--_Jermin._

* * * * * *