CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. A good name.+ Literally _"a name."_ +Loving
favour,+ or _"grace," "goodwill."_ +3. Are punished,+ rather _"must
suffer injury."_ +4. By humility,+ rather _"The end or reward of
humility,"_ etc. Delitzsch reads _"The reward of humility_ IS _the
fear of the Lord,"_ etc. +5. Shall be,+ etc. or +Let him keep,+ etc.
+6. Train up a child,+ etc. Miller reads _"Hedge in a child upon the
mouth of his way;"_ Delitzsch, _"Give to a child instruction
according to his way," i.e.,_ conformably to the nature of youth.
+8. The rod of his anger,+ or as Zöckler, the _"staff of his
haughtiness."_ +16.+ Zöckler reads this verse _"One oppresseth the
poor only to make him rich," i.e.,_ "the oppression which one
practises on a poor man rouses his moral energy, and thus, by means
of his tireless industry and his productive labour in his vocation,
he works himself out of needy circumstances into actual prosperity."
Here begins the third main division of the book of Proverbs. (See
Introduction.) Its contents are styled in verse 17 "The words of wise
men," and they differ from the second division in consisting for the
most part of much longer sentences, comprising, as a general rule,
two verses, but sometimes many more. Zöckler remarks that "there is
prevalent everywhere the minutely hortatory, or, in turn, admonitory
style, rather than that which is descriptive and announces facts."
Delitzsch and other modern Bible students infer from verse 17 that
this portion of the book contains "no inconsiderable number of
utterances of wise men of Solomon's time." (See Introduction to the
Book of Proverbs, Lange's Commentary.)
+21. Them that send unto thee,+ rather _"them that send thee."_ "The
senders here," says Zöckler, "are naturally the parents, who have
sent their son to the teacher of wisdom, that he may bring back
thence to them real culture of spirit and heart." +29. Diligent,+
rather _"expert," "apt."_
Additional CRITICAL NOTES for Chapter 22 (after verse 16).
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 1.
BETTER THAN GOLD.
The second clause of the proverb explains the meaning of the _name_
in the first clause--it is evidently a good reputation that is gained
by uprightness and unselfishness--that loving esteem of others which
is the fruit of _"looking not only upon their own things, but also
upon the things of others"_ (Phil. ii. 4). Such a name is better than
wealth.
+I. Because the one may come by inheritance, and the other must be
the result of personal character.+ The man who is born to wealth
deserves no credit for being rich--he may be destitute of all
personal excellence--he may, indeed, be a morally bad man, and may
neither possess nor deserve the goodwill of his fellow creatures. But
if a man does possess the confidence and love of others it is because
there is that belonging to him that wins men to trust in him and to
love him--if he has a _"good name"_ and deserves it he is in some
respects a _good man._
+II. Wealth is often a transitory possession, but "loving favour"
often outlives the present life.+ Many mere temporal gifts belong
more truly to a man than his riches--his good looks or his handsome
figure may long outlive his wealth, for they are more truly his. The
uncertainty of riches is the subject of many a proverb, and therefore
any possession which is more certain to last is better than they. A
_"good name"_--the well-deserved reputation which is the result of
loving our neighbour as ourself--is quite independent of the changes
and chances of mortal life--it goes with a man to his grave, and
embalms his memory long after he has passed away.
+III. A good name belongs to a higher region of life than wealth.+
Even when wealth has been honestly earned, and is the reward of moral
excellence, and even if its possession could be assured to its owner,
a good name is a more precious gift. Much skill and industry are
required to build up a fortune, but skill and industry are not
qualities of so high an order as those which are needed to acquire
the loving favour of our fellow-creatures. He who possesses the
latter must be a more excellent man than the merely honest and
skilful seeker after riches, and the possession is itself of a far
more precious nature. The gold and the silver are of the earth,
earthy, but love and trustful confidence are good things which belong
to the soul, and which are in consequence far more truly satisfying
to man's higher nature. When one man possesses both these good things
he is able to compare their power to bless, and none who has
experimental knowledge of the worth of both would sacrifice his good
name to retain his riches. They must bring him much outward
deference, but he knows full well that this would cease if he became
a poor man--that there are many who love not the man but only his
money. But if he is so blest as to have won men's hearts he is fully
assured that adversity will not deprive him of this good gift. To
possess a "good name" is to be rich with the riches which constitute
the most precious wealth of God. He is rich in material riches, for
_"all the beasts of the forest are his and the cattle upon a thousand
hills,"_ yea, _"the world and the fulness thereof"_ (Psa. l. 10, 12).
But this wealth is inferior to the mental power which produced it.
God is great in intellectual wealth. _"With whom took He counsel, and
who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught
Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding?"_ (Isa.
xl. 14). But His real wealth is His _name_--that name which He
proclaimed to Moses--_"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth"_ (Exod. xxxiv. 5,
6), which makes Him the object of the reverential love of all the
good in the universe. And so it is with His creatures--in proportion
as they have those spiritual characteristics which are possessed in
perfection only by God Himself, their reputation for mercy, and
goodness, and truth becomes their most precious and prized possession.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
We are not good judges of value in the public markets of life. We
make grievous mistakes, both in choosing and refusing. We often throw
away the pearl and carefully keep the shell. Besides the great
disparity in value between the things of heaven and earth, some even
of these earthly things are of greater worth than others. The
valuables in both ends of the balance belong to time, and yet there
is room for choice between them. There is the greater and the less
where neither is the greatest. A trader at his counter has a certain
set of weights which he uses every day and all day, and for all sorts
of commodities. Whatever may be in the one scale, the same invariable
leaden weight is always in the other. This lump of metal is his
standard, and all things are tried by it. Riches practically serve
nearly the same purpose in the markets of human life. . . . This is a
mistake. Many things are better than gold, and one of these is a good
name. A good conscience indeed is better than both, and must be kept
at all hazards; but in cases where matters from a higher region do
not come into competition, reputation should rank higher than riches
in the practical estimation of men. . . . The shadows are not the
picture, but the picture is a naked ungainly thing without them. Thus
the atmosphere of a good name imparts to real worth additional body
and breadth. As a substitute for a good conscience a good name is a
secret torment at the time, and in the end a cheat, but as a graceful
outer garment with which a good conscience is clothed it should be
highly valued and carefully preserved by the children of the
kingdom.--_Arnot._
One is more valuable than the other as a means of usefulness. Riches,
in themselves, can only enable a man to promote the temporal comfort
and well-being of those around him. But character gives him weight of
influence in matters of higher moment,--in all descriptions of
salutary advice and direction,--in kingly instruction and
consolation,--in counsel for eternity. It not only fits its possessor
for such employments, but it imparts energy and effect to whatever he
says and does. His character carries a recommendation with it,--gives
authority and force to every lesson and every admonition; and
affords, by the confidence it inspires, many opportunities and means
of doing good, which, without it, could not be enjoyed. Riches,
again, bring with them many temptations to sinful and worldly
indulgences, such as are injurious to the possessor himself and to
his family--both temporally and spiritually. Character, on the
contrary, acts as a salutary restraint,--keeping a man back from many
improprieties and follies, and even outward sins, by which it would
be impaired and forfeited. And this restraint is felt, and properly
felt, not for his own sake merely, but for the sake of all those
objects with which his name stands associated; and especially from a
regard to usefulness in connection with the truth, and cause, and
church of Christ.--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 2.
LEVELLING DOWN AND LEVELLING UP.
+I. The rich and the poor have much in common.+ They have, in fact,
everything in common which is independent of silver and gold. At
first sight this seems to include almost everything worth having, and
it does include the best and most lasting good, and often much
beside. We rejoice in the thought that many a poor man has as large a
share of God's blessed air and sunshine as his richer neighbour--that
his bodily frame is as healthful and his house as full as love. But
alas! we cannot forget that poverty in many cases shuts out men and
women from the gladdening and healthful influences of pure air and
sunlight, and consequently shuts them up to bodily disease, and tends
to produce moral unhealthfulness. As civilisation advances, and
countries become more populous, the gulf between poverty and wealth
in this respect seems to widen, and when we consider how many
advantages, not only material but intellectual and moral, the very
moderately rich possess over the very poor, we do not find so much in
common between them as appears upon a slight view of the case. It is
indeed true that all the blessings of life that money cannot buy are
as much within the reach of the poor as of the rich; but how many
good things--not only for the body, but also for the mind and
heart--are not to be gotten without gold and silver. There is,
however, one platform upon which they all meet, even in this
life--one levelling force which brings them into an absolute
equality. In the plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, and in all
the blessed effects which flow from it, the rich man has no advantage
over the poor man--the brother of low degree is shut out from nothing
that his rich brother enjoys. In this sense, as in many others, we
may use the prophet's words: _"every valley shall be exalted, and
every mountain and hill made low"_ (Isa. xl. 4). It does this: 1. _By
declaring their common and universal sinfulness._ Disease of body is
a levelling power--fever makes no distinction between king and
subject--between master and servant; while they are under its
dominion the one has no immunity from the weakness and pain of the
other. So the Gospel plan declares concerning sin what experience
testifies--that _"there is no difference,"_ that _"all have sinned"_
(Rom. iii. 22-23), and that its debasing and destroying power is
alike in prince and peasant. 2. _By offering the same conditions of
redemption to all._ A physician, when he visits his patients with the
intention of doing his best to heal them, does not prescribe one kind
of treatment to the rich and another to the poor. The conditions of
recovery are not regulated by their rank, but by their disease. So
with the Gospel Remedy for the sickness of the soul. It is the same
for every man. The strait road is not made wider for the man with
money bags, the gate is opened as wide for the pauper as for the
emperor. 3. _By providing the same inheritance for all who accept the
conditions._ Every man who accepts the way of salvation has an equal
right to claim God as his Father--has an equal liberty of access to
Him (Ephes. iii. 12), at all times--is sealed with the same Spirit of
promise, and his the same hope of blessedness beyond the grave. To
each and to all it is said, _"All are yours, and ye are Christ's"_
(1 Cor. iii. 22-23).
+II. To God must be referred the lot to which each man is born.+ He,
as the Creator, calls each man into being, and determines the sphere
in which he finds himself when he awakens to consciousness and to a
sense of responsibility. Man, as a free agent, has much to do with
determining his lot in life when he arrives at mature years, but the
circumstances surrounding his birth and earlier years, and the mental
gifts with which he is endowed, have much also to do with it, and
these are determined for him by God. So that He is not only the Maker
of the man's personality, but largely also of his position in the
world.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
In the distinction between the rich and the poor there is something
not altogether pleasant to the human mind. We are apt to recoil from
it. Without much thought, by the mere spontaneous promptings of our
feelings, we are apt to have some dissatisfaction as we behold the
advantages of riches so unequally distributed among men. And
frequently the dissatisfaction increases, as we can discover no just
_rule_ of this distribution; and as we behold more and more of the
contrasted advantages and disadvantages of this distinction between
rich and poor. Something like this was, in my opinion, the feeling of
the writer of this text. He saw the distinction between rich and
poor; he felt amazed; he had a disliking for it which set his mind at
work. He thought the matter over patiently and religiously. And when
he had done he gathers up the whole substance into this single
aphorism and writes it down. That was his satisfaction. There he left
the matter. . . . He had studied it as he studied botany: _From the
cedar-tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the
wall._ He had contemplated the loftiness of the rich and the
lowliness of the poor, wherein they differed, and wherein they
agreed, and especially _who made them to differ._ . . . His faith in
God and constant recognition of Him would lead him to take along with
him in all his contemplations the idea of the one Great Maker of all;
and then, when he found things strange, dark, or revolting to him
growing out of the distinctions between rich and poor, he leaves all
that with God. But _before_ he comes to this, and while he is engaged
amid things which he _can_ understand, he finds another side of the
question which at first disquieted him. . . . Coming to examine the
matter, he finds that _distinction_ is not the real affair after all;
that there are more _agreements_ than _distinctions_--more
_resemblances_ than _differences_: the Maker of all has made the all
more alike than unlike. . . . They meet together in their _origin and
their situation_ as they enter the world. They are equally dependent,
helpless, miserable. . . . The two classes are very much alike in
their _amount of happiness._ . . . The rich man is not necessarily
happy nor the poor unhappy. . . . The passions which make men
miserable are exercised by both classes without any visible
difference in their effects. . . . There is a substantial agreement
in all the organs of perception and enjoyment, and much of our
felicity here depends upon the organic constitution that makes us
men. . . . In intellectual faculties there is the same strong
resemblance. The perception, memory, imagination, reason, which God
has given, He has been pleased to give with an impartial hand. . . .
There is _one common end_ to our humanity; . . . among dead men's
bones you can find nothing to minister to human vanity. The rich and
poor meet together in the tomb and at the _final bar of God.--Dr.
Spencer._
They _meet often;_ yea, often is the rich forced to send for the
poor, needing as much the help of his labour as the other doth the
help of his money. But this maketh them to meet nearer yet, by
causing the same who was rich to become poor, and he that was poor to
become rich. . . . And they meet _everywhere_--there is no place that
hath not both of them, and as there are many of the one, so there are
many of the other.--_Jermin._
For Homiletics on verse 3 see on chap. xiv. 15-18, page 363; on
verse 4 see on chap. iii. 1-18, pages 29, 34, 39.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 6.
A HEDGED-UP WAY.
+I. God will hedge in the way of the froward man.+ As we have seen in
considering former proverbs, men in a fallen condition have a
tendency to break loose from restraint--especially from Divine
restraint--and to mark out a path for themselves of their own
devising. (See on chap. xxi. 8.) Every human creature shows more or
less wilfulness in regard to their relations to God and His
law--choosing rather to fashion his life according to his own ideas
than accounting to the Divine idea and desire concerning him. And
this wilfulness, if unchecked, grows with a man's growth and
strengthens with his years, until his frowardness becomes the
distinctive feature of his life. But he will not have it all his own
way. He will not find the crooked path which he has chosen altogether
pleasant and safe. Thorns will prick his feet and pitfalls will
endanger his life. He will find himself confronted and fenced-in by
laws of retribution which God has set about him to admonish him to
forsake his rebellious way. For all the pain of body or mind which
men suffer, and all the obstacles they meet with in the way of
frowardness are intended to keep them from a deeper pain and a
heavier punishment. A thorn-hedge is set by the side of the highway
to admonish the traveller to keep the path, and so avoid, may be, the
precipice or the bog on the other side. If he attempts to climb the
hedge he will be wounded, and if he is a wise man the thorn-pricks
will lead him to abandon his intention, and so to escape more serious
harm. If the hedge does this if fulfils the end for which it was
planted. So with the pains and penalties with which God hedges in the
present way of the wicked man--they are intended to lead him into a
better and safer way.
+II. It is a parent's duty to hedge in the way of his child.+ The
father stands in the place of God to his young children in this
respect, for his discipline in their early years is the best possible
preparation for the discipline of God later on in life. Indeed the
wiser the training of the earthly father the less are his children
likely to need the corrective discipline of their Heavenly Parent.
The child that accustomed to bend its will to the will of a good
father will not find it so hard to yield obedience to the Will of God
as he who has had no such training. He will grow upon the practice of
sinking his will in that of a wiser will, and it will not be irksome
for him so to do. Having found his father's yoke an easy one, and
having in the path of filial obedience tasted pleasures unknown to
the rebellious child, he will the more readily accept the yoke of
God, and find in His service perfect freedom. But this blessed result
will not be attained without much anxious and sometimes painful
effort on the part of the parent. For the natural waywardness of man
in general manifests itself in very early life. A child would like to
be trained in the way it _would_ go, rather than in the way that it
_should_ go. But this would in effect be no training at all. For the
training of anything implies a crossing of the natural tendency--a
repression in one direction, and an effort towards development in
another. The training of the vine does not mean a letting it put
forth its branches just where it wills or a twining of its tendrils
around any object it chooses--it implies a free use of the
pruning-knife and of the vine-dresser's other implements and methods
of restraint and guidance. Every child, like every unwise man, would
like to set up its own hedge, and put up its own fences, and
prescribe the limits and bounds of its own conduct. But as we have
already seen, God lets no man do this beyond certain limits, for He
Himself sets "thorns and snares in the way of the froward." It is,
therefore, cruel neglect in a parent to allow a child to do it, for
thus the tendency to go in the wrong say is strengthened by
indulgence, and every year the path of obedience to God becomes more
difficult, and looks less inviting. If the parent does not set a
hedge about his son's path, he is only making it certain that he will
encounter thorns and shares further on in life. As to the promise
attached to the command in this proverb, it can hardly be said to be
of universal application. Solomon himself seems to have been an
exception to the rule. We have every reason to believe that his
father, after his birth, would train his son most carefully and
enforce his precepts by example. We must believe that David's own
bitter experience of the thorns and snares in the path of sin made
him very anxious to preserve his son from wandering as he had done,
and led him to train him most carefully. It is also said of the sons
of a man whose life was outwardly stainless--of Samuel--that his sons
"walked not in his ways" (1 Sam. viii. 3). Yet we cannot suppose that
Samuel, who had seen in Eli's family the miserable fruits of
non-restraint, had neglected to train his sons. Yet the exceptions
are doubtless very few in number compared with the rule,--that a
rightly-trained child does not depart from the right way in his riper
years, though, in Bishop Hall's words, "God will let us find that
grace is by gift, not by inheritance."
"Lord, with what care hast Thou begirt us round!
Parents first season us: then schoolmasters
Deliver us to laws; they send us bound
To rules of reason, holy messengers.
Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin,
Afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes,
Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in
Bibles laid open, millions of surprises.
Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness,
The sound of glory ringing in our ears;
Without our shame, within our consciences,
Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears.
Yet all these fences and their whole array,
One cunning bosom--sin blows quite away."--_Herbert._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 5. A forcible image to show that nothing stands so much in a
man's way as the indulgence of his own unbridled will. The man who is
most perversely bent on his purposes is most likely to be thwarted in
them.--_Bridges._
The ungodly finds nothing in his path to hell but thorns and snares,
and yet he presses on in it! A sign of the greatness and fearfulness
of the ruin of man's sin.--_Lange._
Verse 6. Three different meanings have been found of the
interpretation, "according to his way." (See Critical Notes.) It may
be--1. His way in the sense of his own natural characteristics of
style and manner,--and then his training will have reference to that
for which he is naturally fitted; or--2. The way of life which he is
intended by parents or guardians to pursue; or, 3. The way in which
he ought to go. The last is moral, and relates to the general Divine
intention concerning man's earthly course; the second is human and
economical; the first is individual, and to some extent even
physical. Yet although the third presents the highest standard and
has been generally adopted, it has the least support from the Hebrew
idiom.--_Tr. of Lange's Commentary._
He learneth best any way that knoweth no other, and he best keepeth
any way that groweth in it. Two children that are bred and grow up
together, are settled in affection the one to the other. Now, it can
be but a childish goodness that is in a child; but if the childhood
of goodness shall be bred and grow up with the childhood of man, it
will settle the stronger union between them. Aristotle saith, it is a
matter of chiefest moment for a man _to be accustomed_ this way or
that.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 7.
AN ANALOGY AFFIRMED AND A CONTRAST SUGGESTED.
+I. The contrast between the poor man and the borrower.+ The proverb
at least _suggests_ that the poor man and the borrower are not
necessarily convertible terms--that a poor man may owe no man
anything, and that a man may be in debt without being a poor man in
the common acceptation of the word. 1. The poor man and the borrower
may occupy different social relations; indeed, as a rule this is the
case. The poor man may have been born to poverty, and consequently
may be inured to its hardships, one of which is its subjection to the
will of the rich. But the borrower may have been born to wealth, and
himself accustomed to rule over the poor. The one may be so ignorant
and degraded by reason of his poverty as scarcely to be conscious of
the yoke he wears; whereas the servitude of the other will be galling
in proportion as his education renders him sensitive to his position.
2. They may be unlike in the fact that the poor man may have had no
choice but poverty--he may have been born in it, and may have had no
opportunity of altering his condition; but the borrower may not have
been absolutely obliged to borrow--he may have borrowed merely to
speculate or to waste.
+II. The point of resemblance between them.+ They are alike in being
both dependent upon the same person--upon the rich man. This rich man
may be unlike his poor brother in nothing save in his possession of
gold; he may be as uneducated as he is, and morally, far beneath him.
He may be much less polished and refined than the man who borrows of
him, but, whatever he is or is not does not alter the case, his money
makes him the master--both the poor man and the debtor must submit to
his dictation, must acknowledge their dependence on him. Both often
have the painful consciousness that he holds in his hand all that
makes their existence of any value to them--both often alike feel
that he could at any time deprive them of their very bread.
+III. The lesson of the proverb.+ The wise man, by thus showing how
two men who are unlike in almost every other respect may be reduced
to the same level in this, is probably reading a lesson against
borrowing. The poor man's subjection to the rich is a matter which it
is not in his power to alter, but a man goes into debt generally of
his own free will. He may often be very hardly pressed by necessity
to do so, or as a matter of business it may be advisable, but the
proverb at least suggests that the step should not be taken without
well weighing the consequences. It is doubtless mainly directed
against borrowing when a man has not resources to repay, and is not
likely to have them.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
1. _The responsibility of the rich._ How great the power of wealth.
In this world it is a talent often more influential for good than
intellect or genius. . . . 2. _The temptation of the poor._ . . . To
become servile, cringing in spirit. Flunkeyism is the greatest curse
of the people. . . . 3. _The wisdom of the diligent._ The industrious
man is a wise man. Why? Because the more industrious he is, the more
independent he becomes of wealthy men.--_Dr. D. Thomas._
Very important it is to maintain an independence of mind, quite
distinct from pride, which elevates the mind far above doing or
conniving at evil, for the sake of pleasing a patron. Many have been
forced to great entanglement of conscience, perhaps to vote contrary
to their conscience, rather than lose the great man's smile. Often
also the influence of capital is an iron rule of the rich over the
poor. Many, who profess to resist conscientiously state-interference,
have little regard for the conscience of their dependants. The monied
master exercises a control over his workmen, which shows too plainly
his purpose to make them the creatures of his own will. This gigantic
tyranny should be denounced with the most solemn protest. The true
Christian line is to shun that proud independence, which scorns the
kindly offer of needful help; but at the same time to avoid all
needless obligations. "Sell not your liberty to gratify your luxury."
If possible, "owe no man anything but love" (Rom. xiii. 8). "Guard
against that poverty, which is the result of carelessness or
extravagance. Pray earnestly, labour diligently. Should you come to
poverty by the misfortune of the times, submit to your lot humbly;
bear it patiently; cast yourself in child-like dependence upon your
God."--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 8.
A WORTHLESS SEED AND A ROTTEN STAFF.
+I. The seed sown.+ It is iniquity. All kinds of deeds and every
manner of dealing that are out of harmony with the principles of
justice are acts of iniquity. The least deviation from the path of
moral right is in its measure an iniquitous step. Sowing iniquity is
an expression that covers very much ground, and includes many degrees
of moral wrong, from the withholding of the smallest act of justice
to the inflicting of the greatest act of injustice. Now, whenever a
man deliberately and knowingly does either the one or the other he
does it with a purpose. He has an end in view as much as the farmer
has when he sows seed in the field. Men do not generally act unjustly
and commit crime out of mere love of sin--they generally expect and
desire to gain something by it that they think worth having. Solomon
here declares that they will be disappointed. He has before dwelt
upon the retribution that will follow sin, he is here speaking of its
deceptive character. Men do not get from it what they expect--they
are disappointed either _of_ the harvest or _in_ it. This has been
the experience of all sowers of iniquity in the world since Eve cast
in the first seed. In a certain sense she got what she was promised,
but how different the crop from what she hoped for. She _"reaped
vanity."_
+II. The staff depended upon.+ Haughtiness or pride. (See Critical
Notes.) This pride of heart and haughtiness of demeanour is born of a
man's imagining that he has gained for himself a position and a name
that will defy the changes and vicissitudes of life. This idea bears
him up; he leans upon it, as men lean upon a rod or staff. The rich
man often makes a staff of his riches, and uses it to "rule over the
poor," as in verse 7. The man of talent sometimes makes his talent a
staff, and walks among his intellectual inferiors with a proud and
haughty step. The great conqueror says in his heart, _"I will ascend
unto heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . . . I
will be like the Most High"_ (Isa. xiv. 13-14), and with the rod of
his power he smites the nations and tramples upon the rights of his
fellow-creatures. But all these rods of haughtiness shall be broken,
and those who lean upon them shall find they have been trusting to a
broken reed, and the objects of their oppression shall say unto them,
_"Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?"_
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The proverb takes two terms for iniquity, one meaning _crookedness,_
the other meaning _nothingness._ It paints one as only breeding the
other. It intends a positive law. Wheat breeds wheat. So iniquity
breeds only worthlessness. A man may live a thousand years and yet
the harvest will be unvarying. And then to meet the fact that the
dominion that his ambition gives does make him ruler over the saints
themselves, he employs a verb which expresses high action, but action
that _exhausts itself._ Its literal sense is to _consume._ The idea
is as of a fever which wears down the patient and itself
together. . . . The impenitent seem to have the whole _"rod,"_ or
_sceptre,_ of our planet, the true solution is this, that the _"rod"_
is just budding out its strength.--_Miller._
Often may oppressors prosper for a time. God may use them as his
chastening rod. But the _seed-time of iniquity_ will end in the
harvest of _vanity;_ and when they have done their work, _the rod of
their anger shall fail._ Such was Sennacherib in olden time, such was
Napoleon in our own day. Never has the world seen so extensive _a
sower of iniquity,_ never a more abundant harvest of _vanity._ The
rod of anger was he to the nations of the earth. But how utterly was
the rod suffered to _fail,_ when the purpose was accomplished!
despoiled of empire, shorn of greatness--an exiled
captive.--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 9.
THE BOUNTIFUL EYE.
+I. The eye is an index of the soul.+ This is true, not only of the
_expression_ of the eye but of its _direction._ What is in the mind
can often be read in the eye; both evil passions and Divine
affections reveal themselves through it, but sometimes both depend
very much upon where the eye looks--upon the objects towards which
the glance is directed. Perhaps the text refers both to the eye that
softens at the sight of another's woe, and to the eye which makes it
its business to look around and search for objects which the hand can
help. For if the expression of the eye reveals the character so does
the direction which it habitually takes. There is many an eye that
readily moistens with sympathy at the tale or the spectacle of sorrow
which can hardly be called a _"bountiful eye,"_ for it is only by
accident that it ever encounters anything to call forth its sympathy.
But the eye that is ever on the watch for opportunities of doing
good, of feeding the hungry and raising the fallen, is a much surer
index of a godlike disposition. For such an eye has something in
common with the eye of Him who looked upon the bond slaves of Egypt
and said, _"I have seen the affliction of My people and am come down
to deliver them,"_ and who, manifest in a human body, _"was moved
with compassion"_ at the sight of _"people who were as sheep not
having a shepherd"_ (Mark vi. 34). He whose bountiful eye brings down
a blessing upon him is not one who now and then meets a needy brother
and relieves him; still less is he one whose sympathy is shown only
by the look. His is evidently one whose glance of pity is followed by
a deed of kindness and whose habit it is to look out for
opportunities of succouring the needy.
+II. The soul is blest by the ministry of the hand.+ He who gives of
his bread to the needy will have the gratitude of the needy, and
there is not a more exquisite joy perhaps on the earth. But the
blessing of God will be his in an especial manner. Upon both kinds of
blessing see Homiletics on chap. xi. 25, page 234, and on chap.
xix. 17, page 576.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Perhaps the expression--"he giveth _of his bread_ to the poor," may
mean, that he is ready even to share his own provision with them; not
merely to give a small portion of his superfluities, but to stint
himself for their supply. And this is the spirit of true
charity.--_Wardlaw._
Some that have a bountiful eye have no bread to give, but they will
give what will turn to as good an account to the donor, and sometimes
will be as pleasing to the receiver; tears and attention, and offices
of tenderness and prayers to Him that is able to help.--_Lawson._
This _bountifulness_ is a privilege, which earth possesses above
heaven. Many a rich _blessing_ is sealed to it. "Beneficence is the
most exquisite luxury; and the good man is the genuine epicure." He
"hath a continual feast," because his objects are always before
him.--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 10.
A MAN WHO OUGHT TO DWELL ALONE.
+I. The scorner should be dismissed from social bodies for his own
sake.+ It is better for the man himself that his power to do evil
should be as limited as possible. If we could know beforehand that a
man intends to commit a great crime, and so render himself liable to
heavy punishment, and bring guilt upon his conscience, the kindest
thing that we could do for him would be to deprive him of the power
of doing as he intends. We should thereby save him from the misery of
becoming a greater transgressor. If the other disciples of Our Lord
could have foreseen what was passing in the mind of Judas, and could
have prevented his becoming the betrayer of his Master, how great a
blessing would they have conferred upon that unhappy man! Whatever
might have been his other sins, he would not have been stung with
that agony of remorse at having betrayed innocent blood. But many
sins are of such a nature that it is impossible to hinder men from
their committal--the steps which lead to them are hidden from those
around, and no one suspects that the guilty one has any such
intention. The scoffer, however, is not a sinner of this kind--his
transgression is not a single act, but a habit of life; it is not a
secret purpose hidden in his heart until the moment of its
accomplishment, but is manifested in his words. Men can therefore, to
some extent, hinder him from increasing his own guilt by depriving
him of the opportunities of indulging in his sin--if they "cast him
out"--if they shun his society, and dismiss him from their midst, he
will have fewer opportunities and temptations to indulge in scoffing,
and so will be kept from going to such great lengths in sinning. A
man who loves to turn into ridicule all pure and holy things, uses to
his own condemnation and degradation influences which were intended
to bless and elevate him, and it is better for himself that they
should be placed beyond his reach than that he should so abuse them
and increase his own guilt.
+II. He should be cast out for the sake of his fellow-creatures.+
There are certain diseases of the human body which are not only most
dangerous for the patient himself, but expose to a like danger all
who come in contact with him. The leper is not only a great sufferer
himself, but he is a centre of a deadly disease which will spread
itself to those with whom he dwells. It is therefore necessary to
remove him from the society of other men--so long as he is a leper he
must dwell alone, must be denied the privilege of citizenship and the
joys of social life. So it ought to be with the scorner--the habit of
scoffing is one which is very infectious--very easily communicated by
one man to another; and seeing that it is so soul-destructive, those
who indulge in it ought not to have the opportunity of communicating
the moral pestilence. But there is another aspect of leprosy which
renders it necessary to isolate as far as possible those who are
suffering from it from the abodes of other men. Even if it were not
so infectious, it is most loathsome; and this alone would render some
separation necessary. Now, there are societies of men in which the
words of the scoffer would be quite powerless to do harm--there are
those whose love of that which is true and holy is strong enough to
withstand all such evil influence. But to such men a scorner is a
most repugnant character--they loathe his irreverent treatment of
that which is to them most sacred. It is not required that they
expose themselves to the pain of his society--they are at liberty to
cast him out of their midst.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
There is no cure but _"casting out."_ Such men are the Jonahs of
churches, and of the coteries of social life. As long as they are
there, there will be nothing but the bluster and commotion of the
storm--"toiling in rowing," incessant distress, vain exertion, and no
progress. The sea cannot "cease from its raging," till they are
thrown overboard.--_Wardlaw._
This _thought_ occurs also in the Psalms (Ps. lxviii. 6). Only the
rebellious, says the Psalmist, shall come to mischief. There are, it
is true, great mountains of wickedness; but take away this one
element of scorn--that is, make a man submissive and the causes of
strife have flown. Christ manages afterwards. Take away the
rebelliousness of the heart, and great monstrous sins will slowly be
corrected and disappear. . . . Scorning is not itself the cause of
the quarrel, and therefore ceasing to scorn does not remove it
directly. Christ must remove the _cause._ Scorning expels Christ.
Ceasing to scorn admits Christ. And, therefore, it is literally
true--"Cast out the _scorner_ (it may be thine own scornful heart),
and the cause of quarrel passes away, and strife and shame
cease."--_Miller._
It is always the disposition of the scorner, that wheresoever he is,
he scorneth to stay, and it is always the best usage towards a
scorner to cast him out, and not suffer him to stay. For whosoever
keepeth him shall be sure to keep strife and contention with him, and
where they are, reproach and shame are the attendants of them. If any
good be done a scorner he disdains that it is so little; if any wrong
be done him he complains that it is very great. If he be used in
anything, he disdains to be a servant; if he is not used he complains
that he is neglected. Still he is discontented, and still his
discontent breeds quarrelling and debate. But cast out the firebrand
and the fire goes out; cast out Jonah and the storm shall cease. Cast
out the scorner from thy house, and then there shalt be quiet. For
whence are all suits of contention. Whence is all strife, but because
the heart scorns to bear this, scorns to take that, scorns to let it
go?--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 11.
A ROAD TO ROYAL FRIENDSHIP.
+I. The pure in heart deserve to be honoured with the friendship of
the king.+ Where there is purity of heart, the springs of moral life
are healthy--the whole man is an embodiment of truth and goodness.
Such a man is worthy of the honour and confidence of those who stand
in the highest positions, inasmuch as purity of heart belongs to the
man himself, and is a possession that is counted precious by the best
beings in the universe, whereas power and rank are often but
accidents of birth, and in themselves alone are valueless in the
sight of God, and in the eyes of the greatest and noblest of His
creatures.
+II. The king consults his own interest when he shows favour to such
men.+ A man of pure heart is a great blessing to any community. His
very life is in itself a light which scatters moral darkness--a well
which makes a fertile spot wherever it springs forth. And it is in
proportion to the number of such men in a kingdom that the realm
enjoys peace and prosperity. If we could find any earthly
commonwealth composed entirely of such citizens, we should find a
place where the kingdom of God had "come"--a heaven upon earth. But
where there is purity of heart there is grace of lips--there is
active effort to spread truth and righteousness. The well does not
confine itself to the spot where it first issues from the earth, but
sends forth health-giving streams far and near. Seeing, then, that
such men are the real pillars of a state, he only is a wise king who
seeks them out and delights to do them honour.
+III. Some kings have recognised their obligations and interest in
this matter.+ Pharaoh discerned the purity of Joseph's heart by the
grace of his lips, and made him the second ruler in the kingdom, and
Darius promoted Daniel to the highest office in the realm. David's
resolution was--_"Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he
shall serve me"_ (Psalm ci. 6).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_Pureness of heart_ describes not the natural, but the renewed man.
It is no external varnish, no affectation of holiness; but sincerity,
humility, shrinking from sin, conformity to the image of God. He who
hath fully attained this _pureness_ is before the throne of God. _He
who loveth it_ is the child of God on earth. His desire is
perfection, constant progress, pressing towards the mark (Philip.
iii. 12-15).--_Bridges._
What Solomon says is rather an encouragement to love and cultivate
"pureness of heart," than a motive to be directly regarded, and
allowed to influence us to this duty. It is only one of those
indirect results which may be enjoyed as a testimony of the higher
approbation of God. . . . While we thank God for the favour He may
give us in the sight of men,--we must see that we seek no
friendships, whether among the greatest or the least, the highest or
the lowest, by any other means whatever than the "pureness of heart,"
and the consistency of life here recommended.--_Wardlaw._
Grace in the lips is necessary to recommend pureness of heart. We
ought always to speak the words of truth, but we ought to speak it in
the most pleasing manner possible, that we may not render it
unacceptable by our manner of representing it. Daniel showed his
integrity and politeness at once, by the manner of his address to
Nebuchadnezzar, when he was called to give him very disagreeable
information.--_Lawson._
He that _hath_ pureness of heart cannot choose but _love_ it, such is
the exceeding beauty and amiableness of it; and he that _loveth_
pureness of heart cannot choose but _have_ it, for that it is which
purifieth and cleanseth the heart. Many there be who love a
cleanness, and neatness, and pureness of apparel; many there are who
love a clearness and pureness of countenance and complexion. No
washing or purifying is thought to be enough to make this appear, so
that often the heart is defiled by it. And with such puritans the
courts of princes are much attended, wooing with this bravery the
favour of the court and prince. But it is to the pure in heart that
God inclineth in favour the heart of the king. And because the heart
is not discernible by the king, God therefore giveth grace unto the
lips, in which the purity of the heart shining, tieth the heart of
the king as a friend unto him.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.
THE PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE.
+I. God preserves knowledge by preserving the man who possesses the
knowledge.+ The preservation of the life of the man of science who
has discovered some secret of nature is a preservation of the
knowledge that he has gained. If the discovery has been made by him
alone, and he dies before he has revealed it, the knowledge is lost
to the world. When a physician is acquainted with a special remedy or
method of treatment for a certain disease which is known only to
himself, the preservation of his life is the preservation of this
special knowledge. If he leaves the world without imparting what he
knows to another man, his secret dies with him--the abstract
knowledge is not left behind when the man who possessed it is gone.
All knowledge is preserved to us from age to age by its being
communicated from one human being to another, as one generation
succeeds the other, and the hand of God is to be recognised in its
preservation. But this is especially true of the knowledge of God. In
the days of old, God long preserved a knowledge of Himself in the
world by preserving the life of Noah, of Abraham, of Isaac and of
Jacob. They stood almost alone in the world in this respect, and were
like lighthouses on a dark and stormy ocean, sheltering and
preserving a moral light in the moral darkness. If the lighthouse is
destroyed the light goes out; and if these men had died without
transmitting to others the light which they possessed, the world
would have been left in ignorance of God. As the ages have rolled on,
there have been more of these spiritual lighthouses, and God has
always preserved a sufficient number upon the earth to bear witness
of Himself.
+II. God has preserved knowledge by causing special care to be taken
of His written Word.+ Holy men of old wrote as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost, and the record of the truths which were revealed to them
is with us until this day. The knowledge of the way of salvation
through Jesus Christ has thus been preserved for nearly nineteen
centuries, and to-day we can become as familiar with the events of
the Incarnation, and with the teachings of the Apostles, as if we had
lived in the first century of the Christian era. Although many
efforts have been made to destroy the Scriptures of truth, they are
with us still, preserved by the providence of their Divine author, in
order that men may not be without the means of becoming wise unto
salvation through believing the truths which they contain. There have
been dark days when the living guardians of Divine truth were hardly
to be found; but if they had quite died out after the Bible was
written we should still have had this source of spiritual knowledge
with us, like a seed-corn, preserving within its husk the living
germ, ready to burst forth and grow when it found a congenial soil.
God, as the preserver of the knowledge of Himself, has made its
safety doubly sure by not only committing it to the living man, but
by causing it to be communicated to the written page.
+III. The preservation of knowledge by the Lord counteracts the evil
and false words of wicked men.+ Acquaintance with truth concerning
anything overthrows all false ideas and teachings concerning it. The
coming of the morning light scatters all the darkness of night, and
with it many false conceptions as to what is around a traveller on an
unknown road. So a knowledge of Divine truth scatters error, and
overthrows false conceptions concerning God and godliness, and
convicts their enemies of falsehood, thus rendering them powerless to
do harm. Our Lord, by His knowledge, thus overthrew the words of a
great transgressor in His temptation in the wilderness, and it is by
the spread of this knowledge of God which He has Himself preserved to
us that the final overthrow of evil will be accomplished.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
There is still another sense of the words,--which they _may_ bear;
though by some, perhaps, it may be regarded as fanciful:--"The eyes
of the Lord _keep_ knowledge:"--they _retain_ it. What He sees, be it
but for a moment, does not, as with _our_ vision, pass away. It
remains. _We_ see, and having seen, what passes from the eye passes
also from the memory. Not so is it with God's vision. The sight of
His eye is no uncertain or forgetful glance. It is unerring and
permanent. All that His eyes have ever seen is known as perfectly now
as when it passed before them,--as when it existed or happened!--And
in the exercise of this permanent and perfect knowledge, "He
overthroweth the words of the transgressors." All their evil desert
remains before Him. They can neither elude His knowledge, nor bribe
His justice, nor resist His power. They shall be made to learn by
fearful experience, "whose words shall stand, _His,_ or
_theirs!_"--_Wardlaw._
When _knowledge_ seemed on the eve of perishing, a single copy of the
Scriptures, found as it were accidentally, _preserved_ it from utter
extinction (2 Chron. xxxiv. 14-18). For successive generations the
Book was in the custody of faithful librarians, handed down in
substantial integrity (Rom. iii. 2). When the church herself was on
the side of the Arian heresy, the same watchful _eyes_ raised up a
champion (_Athanasius_) to _preserve_ the testimony. Often has the
infidel _transgressor_ laboured with all the might of man for its
destruction. Often has Rome partially suppressed it, or committed it
to the flames, or circulated perverted copies and false
interpretations. Yet all these _words_ and deeds of _the
transgressors have been overthrown._--_Bridges._
The eyes of the Lord are His knowledge, and it is in Him, in His
knowledge that knowledge is preserved. That is the bottomless
treasure of it; from thence issue out all the veins of knowledge,
wherewith the world is enriched. It is He that preserveth knowledge
for the seekers of it, it is He that preserveth knowledge in the
teachers of it. . . . His eyes shall watch over it, and though
blindness put out the eyes of many, yet in Goshen it shall shine and
bring comfort to His people.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 13.
AN ACTIVE IMAGINATION.
+I. Inactivity of will may cause a too great activity of the
imagination.+ Man is made for action, and if he refuses to employ his
powers in doing some useful and real work, it is probable that he
will put forth some morbid effort in another direction. If his limbs
are not at work, his mind will probably be active, and if he does not
occupy it with objects which are worthy, it will be filled with
thoughts that are sinful, and imaginations that are false. It will be
especially apt to invent excuses for sloth, by magnifying the
difficulties which stand in the way of effort. Every obstacle will be
magnified into an insurmountable hindrance, and little risks will be
looked at through a medium which will make them look like dangers to
be avoided at any sacrifice of duty. The wish is often father to the
thought, and the slothful man welcomes and nurses the deception which
is born of his own indolence. And the sluggard is an easy prey also
to the suggestions of the tempter, who will not be slow to do what he
can to inflame the imagination and distort the judgment.
+II. The sluggard rightly apprehends danger, but mistakes the source
whence it will come.+ There is a devouring enemy which will slay him
if he do not take care, but it is not without him, but within him. He
has a foe who endangers his life, but that foe is his own sloth; or,
as we say on chap. xxi. 25, his own unsatisfied desire. While his
eyes are turned on the highway, and he is seeking to avoid the lion
which he fancies is there, he is nursing in his bosom the indolence
which will be his ruin. He has more to fear from himself than from
the most terrible manslayer that ever crossed the path of any human
being. But it is with him as with slaves to other forms of sin--he is
ready to lay the blame of his disobedience to God's commands
anywhere, rather than upon his own unwillingness to comply with them.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_"Saith,"_ really a preterite. These proverbs have usually the
future. The future is a present continuing forward. Here we have a
future tracing itself backward. The impenitent have always been
saying the same thing. Age has not changed. Men have stuck to it for
near a century. . . . "There is a lion" at the mercy-seat. So that
the minister quits answering the sluggard's cavils, and tells each
man plainly--"These cries are symptomatic." There is no lion in the
case. And a heart that will shape these phantoms would shape others,
if these were laid. The difficulty is sloth. In truth, there is a
"lion," but it is a bad heart, crouching against itself, and lurking
to destroy the poor unwary sinner.--_Miller._
This is a very odd excuse for his laziness. Lions are seldom found in
the fields in the day time, and it is a very extraordinary thing if
they be found in the streets. Does the sluggard himself believe there
is any truth in it? If he does, why does he sleep in his house, since
it is possible that it may be set on fire by some accident in the
night? Why does he ever take a meal, for some have been choked by the
bread which they put into their mouths? When we are employed in the
duties of our calling, we need not vex ourselves with the
apprehension of lions. "I will give mine angels charge over thee,"
says God, "and they shall keep thee in all thy ways." Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt
thou trample under thy feet. But let the sluggard remember that there
is a lion in that bed where he dozes away his time, and in that
chamber where he sits folding his arms together. The devil goes about
like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and he rejoices
greatly when he lights upon a sluggard for he looks upon him to be a
sure prey. We are safe from the lions in the way of duty, and never
safe when we avoid it. Lions, when they met David feeding his sheep,
were torn in pieces by him like kids. A lion unexpectedly came upon
that young man of the sons of prophets, who declined his duty when he
was commanded to smite his neighbour, and rent him in
pieces.--_Lawson._
Here is no talk of Satan, "that roaring lion" that lies couchant in
the sluggard's bed with him, and prompts him to these senseless
excuses. Nor yet of the "Lion of the tribe of Judah," who will one
day send out summonses for sleepers, and tearing the very caul of
their hearts asunder send them packing to their place in hell. But to
hell never came any as yet that had not some pretence for their
coming hither. The flesh never wants excuses, and needs not to be
taught to tell her own tale. Sin and shifting came into the world
together; and as there is no wool so coarse but will take some
colour, so no sin so gross that admits of a defence. Sin and Satan
are alike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own
likeness.--_Trapp._
The tongue is seldom slothful, even in the slothful man himself. That
will bestir itself to find excuses, and to plead pretences for the
defence of sloth. That will be diligent to allege reasons that the
sluggard may be negligent. . . . If the lion had been within, if the
courage and nobleness of the lion had been in the sluggard's heart,
he would never have talked of a lion without. No, it was the cold
snail that was within; and unless the slothful man's house may be
removed with him, he will not stir to go out of it. Thus he that
feareth to be slain, without cause, delighteth to be slain by his own
laziness.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.
A DEEP PIT.
This verse treats of two classes of character, both of which have
been depicted before. (See on chaps. ii. 16-19, page 24, vi. 24, page
89, vii. 5-27, page 95.)
+I. The tempter.+ The _strange_ woman--the woman who has been so deaf
to the voice of all that is womanly as no longer to be worthy of the
name, who instead of being man's helpmeet and endeavouring to win him
to tread the path to heaven, is his curse and makes it her aim to
drag him down to hell. Notice the main instrument of her destructive
power--the _mouth._ It is by her words of flattery and deception and
persuasion that she ensnares her victim and compasses his ruin.
History and experience confirm Solomon's words, for, although
external beauty is often a powerful ingredient in the temptation, it
is not always so, and counts for very little if it is unaccompanied
by that fascination of manner and of speech which have been used by
so many bad women with such fatal effect. If we look at the portraits
of some of those women who have exerted so mighty a power for evil in
the world, we can seldom see sufficient beauty to account for the
spell which they seemed to cast around their victims, and we must
conclude therefore that it was rather to be found where Solomon puts
it,--who may be hear speaking from bitter personal experience--viz.,
in the tongue. This proverb adds one more testimony to the many that
have gone before of the immense power for evil or for good that is
exerted by that "little member" of our bodily organism.
+II. The tempted.+ He is here depicted as an unwary traveller along
life's highway easily deceived by the appearance of things, and, too
careless or too unsuspecting to look beneath the surface, following
the bent of his inclination and yielding to the voice of the charmer
until he finds the ground giving way beneath his feet, and darkness
and hopelessness all around him. Notice the fearful _name_ here given
to such an one--to one who is led away by such a tempter. He is
_abhorred of the Lord._ Here is full evidence that God does not look
upon human creatures with indifference as to their moral
character--that merciful Father though He is, He does not extend to
men that indiscriminating and therefore worthless tenderness which
some would have us believe is His main attribute--that if _men_ look
upon sin as mere obedience to the dictates of nature, and therefore
blameless, He does not so regard it. And if men will not attach any
weight to the words of Scripture--not believing them to be
infallible--they can read the same truth in their every-day
experience. The terrible retribution which comes upon those who
listen to the words of the "strange woman" is a sufficient testimony
to the abhorrence in which the Creator of men holds the sin to which
she allures the unwary and the licentious man.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
To what do the fearful words amount? To this: that in His righteous
displeasure, there is not a heavier curse which an offended God can
allow to fall upon the object of His wrath, than leaving him to be a
prey to the seductive blandishments of an unprincipled woman:--that
if God held any one in abhorrence, _this_ would be the severest
vengeance He could take on him.--_Wardlaw._
The mouth of a strange woman is but the mouth of a far deeper pit,
the pit of hell into which it openeth. The one is digged by the
wickedness of men, the other by the justice of God.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
A FACT STATED AND A DUTY INFERRED.
+I. Human nature in its most attractive form contains latent
depravity.+ The flower of the thistle is beautiful to look upon, and
its downy seed is an apparently harmless object, and one worthy of
admiration, as it rears its head among the corn. But how much power
of mischief is wrapped up in that ball of soft down, if it is allowed
to scatter its seed unchecked. A young lion is as pretty and harmless
a creature as a kitten, but what ferocious instincts lie dormant
there. A child is the most attractive and innocent of human
creatures. As we look upon its guileless face we can hardly connect
the idea of sin with its nature, and hardly believe it possible that
the most depraved man or woman in the world was once as pure and
stainless. But the Book of God tells us that even that young soul is
tainted with the disease that infects all our race, and what the Book
says is confirmed by the experience of all who have had anything to
do with training children. The foolishness of self-will very soon
shows itself, and the little one early gives proof that he or she is
a true child of Adam by rebelling against the restraints with which
it is lovingly surrounded, and desiring at all risks to eat forbidden
fruit. In the fairest child-form now living upon the globe there may
be hidden seeds which, when fully developed, will fill the world with
terror and misery.
+II. That this depraved tendency is deeply rooted in the child's
nature.+ It is "bound" in or "fettered" to it by a cable of many
strands, or a chain of heavy links--it is not a slight preference for
the wrong which can easily be overruled--not a garment put on which
the wearer can easily be persuaded to put off again, but a part of
the very nature--a bent of all the faculties of the soul.
+III. The disease is one which will yield to proper treatment.+ We do
not suppose that Solomon's words teach that any corrective rod will
be potent enough to drive out all tendency to do wrong, inasmuch as
experience and observation contradict it, but the same experience and
observation confirm the truth that wise correction in youth is mighty
in its moral power, and may so bring the child round to the love of
the true and the good, that its own efforts will second the efforts
of the parent, and it will itself turn upon the enemies within, being
fully convinced that the self-will that is bound up in its own heart
is the greatest folly to which it is liable. There are many who,
looking back upon the wise and loving chastisement of a tender
parent, can bear testimony to the truth of this proverb. On this
subject see also on chap. xiii. 24, page 334.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The rod of correction is proper to drive away no other foolishness
than that which is of a moral nature. But how comes wickedness to be
so firmly bound, and so strongly fixed, in the hearts of children, if
it be not there naturally.--_Jonathan Edwards._
_Bound,_ or _fettered. . . . Firmly knit, closely settled; well tied
in;_ that is, fixed in the childish spirit; this is the sense of
nearly all the commentators. Of course, there are great difficulties
at once. The fact theologically is just the opposite. "Folly" is not
fixed in the childish heart; but stronger and stronger in periods
afterwards. Why not, _pro vero,_ "bound?" In much the majority of
texts it means simply "tied down," or "fettered." _"Folly is fettered
in the heart of a child,"_ that is, _tied down,_ and, in many ways,
_repressed._ This is literally the case. It is weak, and hemmed in,
and easier to grapple with and drag out of the soul in youth than at
any other period.--_Miller._
Observe--it is _foolishness,_ not childishness. _That_ might belong
to an unfallen child. No moral guilt attaches to the
recollection--"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child" (1 Cor. xiii. 11). "A child is to
be punished"--as Mr. Scott wisely observed--"not for being _a child,_
bur for being _a wicked_ child." Comparative ignorance, the imperfect
and gradual opening of the faculties, constitute the nature, not the
sinfulness of the child. The holy "child increased in wisdom" (Luke
ii. 52). But _foolishness_ is the mighty propensity to evil--imbibing
wrong principles, forming bad habits, entering into an ungodly
course. It means the very root and essence of sin in a fallen
nature--the _folly_ of being revolted from a God of love.--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.
OPPRESSION AND SERVILITY.
+I. Opposite actions proceeding from the same motive.+ This proverb
seems to be directed against a man whose mastering passion is the
unworthy one of amassing material gain and ministering exclusively to
his own enjoyment. This is the commonest source of oppression.
"Covetousness," says Dreyden, "is itself so monstrous that nothing
else is like it except it be death and the grave, the only things I
know which are always carrying off the spoils of the world and never
making restitution." This is a true picture of the avaricious man who
regards none of the needs and rights of his fellow-creatures, but
only asks himself with regard to them how they can best be made to
serve his interests. This leads him to grind down those who are
poorer than himself, and use them as so many stepping-stones, by
means of which he can mount higher in the social scale, forgetting
that though their poverty makes them weaker than himself, they have a
Friend who is far stronger than he is. But the same man who thus
oppresses his needy brother will make it his business to propitiate
the rich, and for the same end, viz., to advance his own interests.
"Tyranny and flunkeyism," says Dr. Thomas, in his comment on this
verse, "generally go together. Both are the children of avarice. He
that proudly domineers over the poor will servilely bow his knee to
the rich."
+II. Opposite actions meeting with the same retribution.+ Although
these actions are so different, they can both be traced to one
fountain-head, and therefore one sentence is passed upon both. The
man who lives for himself shall not get anything worth having; or if
he do, things will be mixed with the cup of his prosperity, which
will make it an unpalatable one after all. He may get wealth, and may
come to want health; he may be rich and healthy, and yet suffer in
his family relationships. He will certainly come to want peace of
conscience, the goodwill of his fellows, and the favour of God, and
no gain can balance such a loss.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Sin pays its servants very bad wages, for it gives them the very
reverse of what it promised. Whilst the sin of oppression or
injustice promises mountains of gold, it brings them poverty and
ruin. "Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar?" said
the prophet to Jehoiakim. It could not be, for he used his
neighbour's services without wages, and gave him nought for his
work. . . . We are not proprietors but stewards of the gifts of
Providence, and must distribute that which He has entrusted to our
care according to His will. And it is His pleasure that we should
make to ourselves friends by the mammon of unrighteousness, not of
the rich but the poor.--_Lawson._
The covetous wretch and the vain prodigal are of quite contrary
dispositions, and take quite contrary courses, and yet they both meet
at last, for both come to want. . . . He that being rich taketh a
little from the poor (for how little must it needs be that is taken
from them) shall surely find that he taketh a great deal from
himself, even all that he hath. And he that giveth much to the rich
(for it must be much, or else it is not regarded by them) will wish
he had given it to the poor, when being made poor, he will give
himself little thanks for it, and find as little help from them to
whom he has given his riches.--_Jermin._
A reference to the Critical Notes at the beginning of this chapter
will show that we have entered the third division of this book. One
or two additional notes are subjoined.
+17.+ Miller reads the second clause, _"And thou shalt incline thine
heart,"_ etc. +18. They shall withal be fitted in thy lips,+ rather
_"let them abide together upon thy lips."_ +20. Excellent things.+
Some here render _"thrice repeated things,"_ the French translation
is _"things relating to rulers or governors,"_ and Stuart reads "Have
I not written to thee _heretofore,_" understanding Solomon to refer
to the previous portions of the Book. Upon the first two Wardlaw
remarks that they both contain the idea of superiority or excellence,
for "why are things repeated but for their excellence? and _princely_
or _royal_ things"--which the French translation may yield when
analysed--is but a figurative way of expressing transcendent
superiority.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 17-21.
TRUST FROM KNOWLEDGE, AND BLESSEDNESS FROM TRUST.
+I. Knowledge of God must go before faith in God.+ There must be a
knowledge of the existence, character, and power of any person before
there can be any trust in him. God is not so unreasonable as to
expect men to put trust in Him unless they have some grounds for
their trust. Hence the Bible especially aims to make men acquainted
with the Being upon whom they are called to exercise faith, by
declarations concerning His character, and by a history of His doings
in the past, and reminders of what He is doing in the present.
Sometimes God points to the _visible creation_ as a source whence man
may obtain knowledge concerning Him, and come to exercise trust in
Him. This is the drift of the sublime passage in Isaiah xl., in which
Jehovah seeks to bring Israel, by a consideration of His creative
power and wisdom, to confide in His Almighty strength. (Verses
27-31.) Sometimes He appeals to _His dealings in the past_ as a
ground of faith in His character and purposes in the present. _What
iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone from me?_
(Jer. ii. 5.) The Son of God appeals to His Father's love as a basis
of faith in Himself (John iii. 16). Paul speaks of the way of
salvation as a _"knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ"_ (2 Cor. iv. 6), because without knowledge there can be no
faith, and an enlightened knowledge will certainly lead to faith. The
preacher here points to the necessity of gaining this true wisdom,
the knowledge of Jehovah, as the means of begetting trust in Him.
+II. Real blessedness will follow faith in God.+ A child can have no
lasting and real joy in its life, unless it has faith in his father's
love and wisdom. He feels instinctively that he is dependent upon
that father, that much of his future well-being depends upon what
that father is and does, and if he cannot be sure that he has his
real welfare at heart, it will throw a dark shadow over his young
life, which will deepen as he becomes more and more capable of
realising his position. It is a worm at the root of all our peace of
mind to distrust where we must depend. All men must feel that they
are dependent upon God, and yet most men live, and perhaps most die,
without giving Him that trust which alone can give them peace, and
which those who know Him will testify that He fully deserves. The
testimony of those who knew is _"blessed is the man that trusteth in
the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is"_ (Jer. xvii. 8). And it is
because of its trust-begetting character that Solomon here declares
that true knowledge--knowledge concerning Jehovah--is _"pleasant"_ to
the soul.
+III. Faith in the heart will manifest itself in the lip.+ A perfume
may be hidden in the casket, but whenever the lid is lifted it will
make its presence known. The tongue will speak sometimes of that
which fills the heart, and when it does not do this in a direct
manner there will be a tone in the conversation which will tell men
what the soul prizes most. Knowledge in the heart will bring wise
words to the lips--the love of truth will result in the _answer_ of
truth.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 17. This sounds like the opening of the earlier Proverbs, chap.
v. 1; viii. 1. The repetition is significant. The life of the soul is
attention. If that be persevered in, all things follow. God only can
give saving light. And yet by laws like the planetary system, He will
give it on the bending of the ear. Alas for us! we will not even do
this much without His influence. Nevertheless He urges the promise.
(See Miller's rendering in the additional notes at the beginning of
this paragraph.) It is a law, though it be a law of grace. God has
framed it. Hear outwardly, and thou shalt feel within. Such is our
nature (chap. ii. 1-5), and it is shrewd to use it. The _inclining_
is from Him; but the _advice_ also is from Him! Shrink not from the
advice because His strength is needed to make it His chosen
instrument.--_Miller._
We may mark that, whereas in the beginning of Proverbs the Wise Man
had often called on his son to fasten attention on him, saying, "My
son, my son;" now, after so much said, he supposeth that he needeth
not to be called upon, and therefore speaketh unto him, without his
usual compellation. And surely when much hath been said, to need
still much calling on, sheweth much neglect of what hath been said,
and much unworthiness to have been an hearer of it. And yet because
in the best some rousing of attention is requisite, the Wise Man here
lifteth up his voice, to cause a careful bowing down of the ear to
his words. He would therefore have attention so to bow down the ear,
as to make it as it were a bed, wherein the words of the wise might
rest; because that is it which will bring true rest unto the
heart. . . . But we may further note, that whereas he would have him
to _hear the words of the wise,_ it is to _his knowledge_ that he
would have him _apply his heart._ For we may hear the words of the
wise men of this world, we may hear the words of human learning and
understanding, and much good is to be gotten from them; but we must
apply our hearts unto the knowledge of God's Word, and so far receive
the other as they agree with that, or are not repugnant unto it. Or
else _hear the words of the wise,_ whosoever they be, if they be the
words of wisdom which they deliver. But if their actions teach
otherwise than their words do, apply not thine heart to follow their
example. Let rather _my knowledge_ instruct thee, that the heart may
be as well applied to doing, as the ears to hearing.--_Jermin._
Verse 18. It will last when we get it. This is the wonder to others.
Here one has been trying to be a better man, and begins to be one
from a sudden epoch. Others wrestle with their faults, and fall back
into them again. Nothing can be more fitful than all moral
reformations. But here, in spiritual life, a flash shoots up, and we
never return to darkness. Why is this? Because it is _pleasant,_ says
the proverb. It becomes fixed because of its principle as of a sound
nature. . . . When we _watch over right words,_ which
(_Orientaliter_) stands for all right actions, God rewards us by
making them _"pleasant,"_ and so, even as in heaven itself, they
become fixed as the very habit of our lips.--_Miller._
Many there are whose lips do speak the words of wisdom, but they are
not fitted upon their lips. . . . The reason whereof is, because the
words of wisdom are not seated in the heart. For though the lips may
give themselves motion and the head may furnish them with matter, it
is the heart that fitteth the lips.--_Jermin._
It will give thee most high satisfaction if thou dost so heartily
entertain them, and thoroughly digest them, and faithfully preserve
them in mind, that thou art able withal to produce any of them as
there is occasion, and aptly communicate for other men's
instruction.--_Bp. Patrick._
Verse 19.--1. The _particularity of address--"to thee, even to
thee."_ In the days of prophetic inspiration, it was no unusual thing
for the servants of God to receive express commissions to
individuals, in which they alone were concerned. But the whole Book
of God--the entire "word of His testimony"--should be considered by
_every one_ as addressed _to him;_ as much so as if there were no
other human being besides himself, and as if it had been "given by
inspiration" to himself alone. There is no room for any saying, as
Jehu did of old--_"To which_ of all us?" The answer would, in every
case, be--To _each of you all_--to thee--to thee--to thee. Not that
there is no such thing as, "rightly dividing the Word of Truth;" not
that there are no portions of it that have a special appropriateness
of application to the characters and circumstances of individuals.
Still, the great truths of the Word are alike to _each_ and to _all._
And speedily a man may be placed in one or other of the peculiar
situations to which the different portions of it are adapted! I know
of nothing more important than for every individual to bring Divine
lessons _home to himself._ Too often, alas! we forget _personal_
amidst _general_ application of particular truths. We think of them
as intended _for men,_ and forget that they are designed _for us._
Would you then profit by what you hear?--keep in mind that what is
addressed to all is addressed to each--_"to thee, even to
thee."_--2. Mark the emphasis on the time--_"this day."_ We set a
mark, in our minds, on days that have been rendered memorable by
events of special interest. Would Noah, think you, ever forget the
day of the year on which he and his family entered the ark, and when
"the Lord shut him in?" or the day on which he again stepped out of
it upon the green earth, to be the second father of mankind? Would
the shepherds ever forget on what night of the year the angelic
messengers, amidst the light of the glory of the Lord, announced to
them the Divine Saviour's birth, and when "the multitude of the
heavenly host," bursting on their sight, "ascended jubilant," saying
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men?" Or would Cornelius ever forget the day and the hour when the
angelic visitant directed him to that instruction whereby he and all
his house should be saved? _You,_ it is true, have many times heard
the words of truth. Let me, however, remind any of you who _have_
thus often heard, and who still neglect them, of the importance to
you of _each day_ that you enjoy the privilege. Every time you thus
hear them, your eternal all depends on the reception you give to the
message of God. _This day_ may be important indeed, for it may be the
last on which Divine truth shall sound in your ears. O that it may be
a day to be sacredly and joyfully remembered by every sinner now
present, as the day on which he first felt its inestimable
preciousness to his soul! If you thus hear, and thus improve the
opportunity, the day will not be obliterated from your memory by the
lapse of eternity. There is one thing of which with emphasis it may
be said to each individual sinner, It is _"to thee,_ even _to
thee:"_--I mean the message of the Gospel--the message of free mercy
through the Divine Mediator. There is no exception; there is no
difference. The law speaks to each, "to thee, even to thee"--its
sentence of condemnation. The Gospel speaks to each--"to thee, even
to thee"--its offer of free, full, immediate, irrevocable pardon on
the ground of the universal atonement. To every fellow creature we
can say--An adequate atonement has been made for all; therefore _for
thee_--"for thee, even for thee;" and on the ground of that atonement
does Divine mercy come near to thee--"to thee, even to thee"--with
the offer of forgiveness, acceptance, and life. _"This day"_ is the
message of life again "made known" unto thee, O sinner; and there is
no obstacle to thine acceptance and enjoyment of it, but what is _in
thyself;_--none in God; none in Christ; none in the atonement; none
in the Divine offer of its virtue to mankind. _"To thee_ is the word
of this salvation sent;" and "now is the accepted time, now is the
day of salvation."--_Wardlaw._
Only a Divine Word can beget a Divine faith, and herein the Scripture
excels all human writings, none of which can bring our hearts to the
obedience of faith. "I can speak it by experience," says Erasmus,
"that there is little good to be got by the Scripture, if a man read
it cursorily and carelessly; but if he exercise himself therein
constantly and conscionably he shall feel such a force in it, as is
not to be found in any other book whatsoever." "I know," saith Peter
Martyr, "that there are many who will never believe what we say of
the power of God's Word hidden in the heart; and not a few that will
jeer us, and think we are mad for saying so. But oh that they would
be pleased to make trial! Let it never go well with me--for I am bold
to swear in so weighty a business--if they find not themselves
strangely taken and transformed into the same image." The Ephesians
"trusted in God" so soon as they heard the word of truth. They
"believed" and were "sealed" (Ephes. i. 13). And the Thessalonians'
faith was famous all the world over, when once the Gospel "came to
them in power" (1 Thess. i. 5-8).--_Trapp._
Verses 20 and 21. How the preacher labours! Let us begin at his most
expressive terminus. We are to be _sent for!_ some certain day.
_"Those that send"_ is but the proverbial cast. _"Him that sends"_ is
the more perfect meaning. As sure as the stars we shall be _sent for_
one day; and one thing will be exacted from us, and one only in the
creation, and that is _light._ The man without light perishes.
Solomon says, his whole aim has been to press light on the
sinner. . . . "Have I not done," he says, "and that under Scriptural
promises, the very best things to secure my object? and is not that
object, now _that I might make thee to know the verity of the words
of truth!"_ This Hebrew is very peculiar. _"Words of truth"_ are
easily uttered. _"Counsels and knowledge"_ of the deepest sort may be
in the minds of infidels. We may teach a child the very intricacies
of faith. But there is a _"verity"_ at its deepest root that the
natural man cannot perceive (1 Cor. ii. 14). To express this, Solomon
uses a very infrequent word. It means (_in radice_) _to weigh out so
as to be exact._ That I might make thee to know the _exactness_ of
the words of truth. The meaning is that _verity_ which is seen by a
Christian eye.--_Miller._
Surely if anything be worthy of sending for, worthy of going for,
then are the words of knowledge and truth. If they may be had for
going or sending, who should not go, who should not send, whither
should we not go, whither should we not send? They are they which
must bring us to heaven and to happiness. Or else to take the sense
another way, and in a spiritual application of the words: Who are
they that send unto us? What are the words of truth that we must
answer unto them? They that send unto us are God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Ghost. God the Father sendeth His blessings,
God the Son His merits, and God the Holy Ghost His graces. The words
of truth that we must answer are the words of thankful
obedience.--_Jermin._
_The certainty of the words of truth._ The evidence of the divinity
of the Bible, instead of ever being shaken by all the efforts of
infidelity, has been augmenting from the beginning hitherto. Its
_external_ evidence has grown in the fulfilment of its predictions.
Its _internal_ evidence, though in one sense ever the same, has, in
another, been increasing also; inasmuch as it has stood its ground
amidst all the advances of human knowledge, and men have never been
able to improve upon it or to get before it:--and it is the _one only
book_ of which this can be affirmed. And its _experimental_
evidence,--the manifestation of its truth in its saving
influence,--in its power to dislodge and change the evil passions and
habits of the worst of men,--has multiplied by thousands and tens of
thousands of dead and living witnesses. In our own days, we have but
to point, not only to cases of revival in our own land, in which the
Gospel has proved itself "mighty through God" to the pulling down of
the strongholds of worldliness and corruption, and turning hearts
long alienated to God,--but to the lands of heathen idolatry and
cruelty and vileness, wherever Gospel truth has found its way and has
been embraced. _There,_ in the marvellous changes that have been
effected,--in the contrast between previous stupidity and pollution,
and heartless and murderous ferocity, to intelligence and purity and
virtue, and peace, and harmony, and happiness, we have the triumphs
of the Cross, and the manifestation of the _"certainty"_--the Divine
certainty--"of the words of truth." They have thus shown themselves
to be indeed "excellent things" by the excellence of their effects.
We call upon all to examine for themselves. The Bible _courts
examination._ It is the unwillingness and refusal to examine, that is
most to be deplored. The genuineness of its writings, the
authenticity of its histories, the reality of its recorded miracles,
the fulfilment of its prophecies, the sublimity and consistent
harmony of its doctrines, the purity of its precepts, the origin of
its commemorative ordinances, and its tendency to personal and social
virtue and happiness,--_all_ court examination. The testimony of the
celebrated Earl of Rochester, when converted from infidelity and
profligacy to Christianity and virtue, will be found the truth.
Laying his hand on the Bible, he would say--"_This_ is true
philosophy. _This_ is the wisdom that speaks to the heart. A bad life
is the only grand objection to this Book."--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 22 _and_ 23.
GOD THE SPOILER OF THE SPOILER.
+I. Robbery is of three kinds.+ 1. _There is the open and unlegalised
thief._ There are men who do not pretend to respect the rights of
others and who openly live in violation of Divine and human laws.
They differ somewhat in their methods and in the description of their
plunder--some seeking to gain an entrance in to the mansion and lay
hands on the jewels of the wealthy, and others being content with
what they can find in the cottage or on the wayside--but they are
alike in pursuing their profession without any pretence that they
fear God or regard men. But these are not the robbers against whom
the sentence is passed which is contained in this proverb. 2. _There
is the legalised thief._ There are governments under which iniquity
is established by law--kingdoms in which wholesale robbery is carried
on in the name of justice. There were many such in the days of
Solomon and there is not a few in this nineteenth century. Perhaps,
however, the Preacher was not referring so much to a government as a
whole as to individuals who, sitting in the seats of justice, were
regardless of the rights of those over whom their position gave them
authority. The _"oppressor in the gate"_ is probably a judge who
disregards the rights of the poor man if he conceives it will further
his own interest so to do, while he all the time pretends to be an
administrator of justice and does all in the name of the law of the
land. Under this class may be placed those who hold in trust property
which has been given for the use of the poor and who disregard the
claims of the really needy and so defeat the good intention of the
donor. There is an immense amount of this misappropriation of money
even in England, and although those who are guilty of it distribute
their favours with a pretence of impartiality, and in the name of law
they are as truly robbers in the sight of God as the burglar or the
pickpocket. 3. _There is the negative robber._ A man may be a thief
without taking anything from his fellow-man or without holding any
official position and abusing his power and privileges. If a man or
woman who is brought in contact with others poorer than himself or
herself withholds from these poorer brethren anything simply because
they cannot retaliate or enforce their rights, such a man or woman is
a robber of the poor. And this may and is often done unconsciously--a
man who would be indignant at being branded as unjust withholds from
those whom poverty has placed in his power rights which belong to
every rank and station but which are not always looked upon as the
equal heritage of the poor and the rich. For it is quite possible to
rob the poor without taking or withholding money from them. Some, who
would not do this, rob them of their rest and leisure and withhold
from them consideration and sympathy.
+II. Defenceless though the poor may seem, Almighty power is on their
side.+ Although the robbery may be legalised on earth, it is contrary
to the law of heaven, and although the judge who oppresses can be
brought before no human tribunal, he will one day stand before the
bar of God. The Judge of all the earth was Himself once a poor man,
and can sympathise with the oppressed poor as well as avenge their
wrongs. He will spoil the oppressor of his soul's comfort, and cause
him to faint, and be afflicted for want of spiritual sustenance. Many
a poor man's soul is made sad by legalised injustice, and Christ as
man's judge will bring legalised justice to bear upon him who offends
in this matter (Matt. xxv. 41-46). See also Homiletics on Verse 16,
and on Chap. xiv. 30, page 389.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
After so promising a preface, and such wooing of attention, we looked
for some fresh matter, and that of best note, too. But, behold, here
is nothing but what we had before. "It is truth," saith the wise man,
and yet I must tell you that "to write the same things to me indeed
is not grievous, but for you it is safe" (Phil. iii. 1).--_Trapp._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 24 _and_ 25.
AN INFECTIOUS AND DANGEROUS DISEASE.
+I. Friendship influences habit and thus moulds character.+ The
reason given here for avoiding the companionship of an angry man is,
_"lest thou learn his ways."_ This subject has been treated at length
in chap. xiii. 20, page 326. There is great need when pestilence is
abroad to avoid needless contact with infected persons and things. In
every man there is more or less liability to disease which sometimes
only needs a slight exposure to unhealthy influences to develop into
a fatal activity. We are always living and moving amidst unhealthy
and infectious moral influences which are hurtful to us, because of
the tendency there is within us to go wrong; and it is therefore the
mark of a wise man to avoid as much as possible all intimate contact
with those who are manifestly under the dominion of sin. This proverb
does not of course forbid such intercourse as is sought for the
purpose of benefitting the vicious man.
+II. A man's anger hurts himself more than those whom it leads him to
injure.+ We should have expected that Solomon would advise us to
avoid the angry man because of the injury he might do us when under
the dominion of his passion, but instead of that he commands us to
shun him because of the injury we shall do ourselves if we become
like him. The wise man loses sight of the lesser danger in looking at
the greater, and counts as nothing the harm an angry man can do to
the body of a fellow-creature, in comparison with the grievous hurt
he inflicts upon his own soul. And this is manifestly a correct view,
whether we look at the present influence of passion or its remoter
consequences. The man who receives an unmerited insult or injury may
sustain no loss of dignity, nor suffer in any way in his spirit. But
he who inflicts the injury becomes a meaner man in the very act, and
creates a tempest of unrest within his own breast. And a blow which
deals even death to an innocent man does not necessarily deprive him
of any real good, but it creates a very hell of remorse for him whose
anger prompted the deed. While Abel exchanged a blighted home here
for an Eden in a brighter world, Cain wandered a fugitive and a
vagabond upon the earth.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Lest thou be infected by his example, or provoked by his passion to
return the like to him. Either (1) a mischief which is often the
effect of unbridled rage, or (2) an occasion of sin, either by
drawing thee to an imitation or requital of his rage, or by tempting
thee to unfaithfulness in performing the great office of a friend--to
wit, admonition or reproof, which, by reason of his furious temper,
thou either canst not or wilt not do.--_Matthew Poole._
It may seem strange that we should be supposed in danger of learning
what we feel to be so very disagreeable. And yet we may. As already
hinted, a passionate man may have interesting and attractive
qualities otherwise. Now, in proportion as we either admire or love
him for these, will be the hazard of our thinking the less evil of
his one defect, and trying to palliate and to smile at it. And there
is no little truth in the saying, that we either _are_ like our
friends and intimates, or _will soon be._ But more than this. The
sudden and often unreasonable heats of the passionate man are ever
apt to fret and irritate our spirits, and thus to form a habit of
resemblance by the very reaction upon ourselves of his hot and hasty
temper.--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 26 _and_ 27.
SURETYSHIP AND ITS DANGERS.
+I. A command to avoid a perilous habit.+ We cannot, in the light of
the spirit of Bible teaching--especially that of the New
Testament--regard this proverb as forbidding all suretyship. It
cannot mean that one honest man when he has ample means at his
command is never to become security for another man of honesty. We
know that there are cases in which it is the greatest kindness that
one friend can do another, and that it is often the means of giving a
poor or unfortunate brother a fair start in life. We are commanded to
_"bear one another's burdens"_ (Gal. vi. 2), and _"to do good unto
all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith"_
(Gal. vi. 10), and this is sometimes the most effectual way of
carrying out these precepts. But Solomon here warns men against the
unwisdom of choosing for companions those men whose habit it is
lightly to become a surety for another--who lend their name and
credit without considering the responsibility they undertake or
asking themselves whether they are doing any real good to the person
they oblige. Although it may be a man's duty sometimes to become a
surety for another it is perilous and wrong to make it a habit of
life, and thereby encourage thriftlessness and perhaps dishonesty.
+II. A warning as to the probable consequences of such a habit.+
Solomon regards it as certain that a man who habitually becomes a
"surety for debt" will come to ruin. This is obvious if we reflect
that for one honest man who asks such a favour there are twenty who
have little or no moral sense in such a matter; that although a good
and true man is often found in circumstances of such need, the great
majority who are so found are rogues.
For an illustration and comments on this subject see on Chap. vi. 1,
page 76, and on page 216. Also Homiletics on Chap. xx. 16, page 589.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
We are commanded to "love our neighbour _as_ ourselves;" but to do
for him what might expose us to having our very bed sold from under
us, is to love him _better_ than ourselves, which is a step beyond
the Divine injunction.--_Wardlaw._
Seeing by taking suretyship upon him, he put himself under the
creditor, and made himself to be, as it were, the bed on which the
trust of others did rest, and seeing by not paying he hath taken away
the creditor from the bed of his rest, it is but like for like if the
creditor take away his bed from under him. And yet the wise man
asking the question seemeth to me to imply in some sort that he
should not do it. For though the other doth justly deserve it, yet in
so much need let mercy spare.--_Jermin._
For Homiletics on verse 28 see on chap. xxiii. 10, page 666.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 29.
THE DESTINY OF THE DILIGENT.
+I. The diligent man meets with Divine approval.+ The repeated
commendations of diligence and condemnations of slothfulness which we
meet with in this book show the estimate which God sets upon
rightly-directed industry. 1. _The diligent man is in harmony with
God._ The Divine Father is ever working for the good of His
creatures, and no being who ever trod this earth laboured so
continuously and earnestly as the Divine Son. With Him during His
public ministry the completion of one work was the beginning of
another. He was ever about His Father's business, diligently carrying
on and seeking to finish the work which His Father had given Him to
do. The man who is diligent in business is in this respect a follower
of his Lord and Master. 2. _He is in harmony with creatures both
above Him and beneath Him._ Angels are doing the will of their King
with promptitude and despatch--Gabriel _"flies swiftly"_ (Dan.
ix. 21) when sent on a message to the earth. Heaven is a world of
activity, the cherubim around the throne _"rest not day nor night"_
(Rev. iv. 8). Many of the creatures below man set him an example of
industry. (See on chap. vi. 6-11, page 78.) Even inanimate nature
seems to rebuke the idle man. (See a comment by Dr. Perry on page
425.) 3. _He is in harmony with the needs of humanity._ The world
calls for diligent workers, and without them all civilisation would
soon cease and men sink to the condition of the savage. We have
around us many proofs of this. The home of the indolent husband or
wife is destitute of all refining influences and is often a nursery
of crime. The land where the people are all thriftless is a land of
degradation and poverty. We can well understand, therefore, that
God's approval rests upon those who make the best use of the time and
opportunities which He gives them.
+II. The diligent man will reap some reward for his diligence.+ It is
not, of course, possible to take this proverb in an absolutely
literal sense, because many diligent men never saw the face of a
king. But without diligence it is hardly possible for any man to
obtain any position of honour, or if he do he is not likely to retain
it. But there is another sense in which diligence may bring a man
before kings. Caxton was a diligent man, and by his diligence came
literally to stand before the King of England. But he has, by his
invention of the printing-press, stood before kings and princes from
that hour to this, for they have all learned to honour his name, and
to acknowledge their obligation to him. Every time a royal traveller
takes his seat in a locomotive James Watt stands before him, for his
ability to move with ease and speed from place to place is the result
of that man's diligence, and his name is held in honour in
consequence. And instances might be multiplied indefinitely, in which
diligence has caused a man to stand before not only the kings of his
own time, but of succeeding generations.
On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. xii. 24, page 285.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Of all the qualities which kings especially look to and require in
the choice of their servants, that of despatch and energy in the
transaction of business is the most acceptable. . . . There is no
other virtue which does not present some shadow of offence to the
minds of kings. Expedition in the execution of their commands is the
only one which contains nothing that is not acceptable.--_Bacon._
God loves nimbleness; "What thou doest, do quickly," said Christ to
Judas, though it were so ill a business that he were about.--_Trapp._
* * * * * *