With this chapter begins the fourth main division of this book,
consisting, as its introductory words inform us, of sayings and
perhaps writings of Solomon, which were placed together in their
present form by men appointed to the work by King Hezekiah. Zöckler
remarks that "while the first and larger section of the book purports
to be essentially a book for youth, this is evidently a book for the
people, a treasury of proverbial wisdom for kings and subjects--as is
indicated by the first introductory proverb. . . . Whether as the
source from which the transfer or compilation of the following
proverbs was made, we are to think simply of one book or of several
books, so that the transfer would be the purely literary labour of
excerpting, a transcribing or collecting by copying; or whether we
have to consider as the source simply the oral transmission of
ancient proverbs of wise men by the mouth of the people, must remain
doubtful. It is, perhaps, most probable that both the written and the
oral tradition were alike sifted for the subjects of the collection."
(_Zöckler,_ in Lange's Commentary.)
CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Copied out,+ rather _"collected."_ See the
remarks above. +2. Honour,+ rather _"glory,"_ as in the first clause.
+3.+ The word _is_ should be omitted; unsearchable applies equally to
the three subjects of the sentence. +4. The finer,+ rather the
_"founder,"_ or _"goldsmith."_ +6. Put not forth,+ literally _"bring
not thy glory to view, do not display thyself."_ +7. Whom thine eyes
have seen.+ There is some difference of opinion as to the person to
whom this sentence refers. Fleischer understands it as referring to
the king, and to the additional humiliation felt when it comes upon
one who has pressed so far forward that he can be perceived by the
king. Delitzsch refers it not specially to the king, but to "any
distinguished personage whose place he who has pressed forward has
taken up, and from which he must now withdraw when the right
possessor of it comes and lays claim to his place. . . . Thine eyes
have seen him in the company, and thou canst say to thyself, this
place belongs to him, according to his rank, and not to thee; the
humiliation which thou endurest is thus well deserved, because, with
eyes to see, thou wert so blind." (Delitzsch.) +8. Lest thou know
not,+ etc. As will be seen from the Italics in the English version,
this sentence is very elliptical. Zöckler reads, _"lest_ (it be said
to thee) _what wilt thou do,"_ etc. Delitzsch, _"That it may not be
said,"_ etc. Miller, _"Lest what thou doest, in its after
consequence, by thy neighbour putting thee to shame."_ +9. A secret
to another.+ Rather _"The secret of another."_ +11. Pictures of
silver.+ Literally _"sculpture,"_ or _"figures"_ of silver. Delitzsch
translates _"salvers,"_ Zöckler _"framework."_ Stuart says, _"The
idea is that of a garment of precious stuff, on which is embroidered
golden apples among picture-work of silver. Costly and precious was
such a garment held to be; for, besides the ornaments upon it, the
material itself was of high value."_ +Fitly spoken.+ Literally,
_"in,_ or _upon its time."_ +12. An obedient ear.+ Literally _"an ear
that heareth."_ +13. The cold of snow,+ etc. _"The coolness of snow
is not that of a fall of snow, which in the time of harvest would be
a calamity, but of drink cooled with snow, which was brought from
Lebanon, or elsewhere, from the clefts of the rocks; the peasants of
Damascus store up the winter's snow in a cleft of the mountain, and
convey it in the warm months to Damascus and the coast towns."_
(Delitzsch.) +14. A false gift.+ This gift is generally understood to
be one bestowed by the boaster, but which is worth nothing, or the
mere promise of a gift which is never fulfilled. +15. Prince.+ Rather
_"Judge."_ +16. Filled.+ Rather _"Surfeited."_ +17. Withdraw.+ Rather
_"Make rare."_ +18. A maul.+ An instrument or weapon shod with iron,
probably a war-club. +19. Foot out of joint.+ Rather _"An unsteady
foot."_ +20. Nitre.+ _"Not the substance we now understand by
nitre--i.e., nitrate of potassa (saltpetre), but the natron or native
carbonate of soda of modern chemistry."_ (Smith's Dictionary.) The
combination of the acid and alkali would, of course, produce
effervescence. +23. Driveth away.+ Rather _"Brings forward the
rain-clouds."_ Most modern commentators adopt this rendering of this
verb, and read the latter phrase to suit the metaphor--_"So a secret
or slanderous tongue, a troubled countenance."_ +26. Falling
down+--_i.e., "yielding"_ or _"wavering."_ +Corrupt.+ Rather
_"Ruined."_ +27.+ The last phrase in this verse is variously
rendered. The words _is not_ are not in the Hebrew. Stuart reads,
_"Searching after one's own glory is burdensome"--i.e.,_ Honour, like
honey, is good only when sought in moderation. Zöckler renders _"To
search out the difficulty, brings difficulty"--i.e.,_ "Too strenuous
occupation of the mind with difficult things is injurious." Delitzsch
translates:--_"But, as an inquirer, to enter on what is difficult is
honour"--i.e.,_ To overdo oneself in eating honey is not good, but
the searching into difficult things is nothing less than an eating of
honey, but an honour. The word translated _glory_ is literally
_weight,_ and is often used to mean excellence and honour. But it
will bear the opposite meaning of a burden or difficulty.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-3.
GOD'S MYSTERIES AND MAN'S RESEARCH.
+I. There is much connected with God's nature and with His government
that will never be revealed to man in his present state.+ This is in
accordance with the greatness of God and the littleness of man in
comparison with Him. There are many things connected with God which
man in his present state could not comprehend, and there are others
which he might comprehend, but of which it is better he should remain
in ignorance. The parent conceals many things from a child because
the concealment is more consistent with a wise training than the
revelation of them would be. Some of them the child could not
understand, and others it is better that he should not know until he
attain to riper years. When he has become a man he will adore the
wisdom of his parent in thus withholding from him what he did. God,
as the infinitely wise Parent and Trainer of human creatures, often
doubtless conceals much from us for similar reasons, and we shall one
day see that the concealment was to the glory of His gracious
character. When a physician is called to treat a man whose life is
hanging upon a thread, he is not expected to enter into an
explanation of the nature of the remedies he uses or to give a reason
for all the treatment he prescribes. Such an explanation would be
unworthy of the dignity of his profession and hurtful to his patient.
Concealment is often an essential and necessary part of his plan, and
when the sick man is restored to health he acknowledges that it was
to the glory of his healer that he kept him for a time in ignorance.
God is the great Physician and Healer of human souls, and it would
neither befit His majesty nor further His purposes of mercy to reveal
the reasons of all He does to His fallen creatures. When they have
attained to perfect moral health they will give glory to Him for all
that He concealed as well as for all that He revealed.
+II. But there is much that is hidden that will be revealed to the
diligent seeker.+ If it is God's prerogative and a part of His Divine
plan to conceal much from man, it is His purpose and desire to reveal
much to him if he will only seek after it. How many of God's
operations in nature are full of mystery to one who only looks upon
the surface of things, but how far diligent and earnest searchers
have penetrated into the secret workings of the Divine wisdom in this
direction. Although there is much hidden from them, still there is
much that was once a mystery that is now made plain. And it is
doubtless the same also in relation to God's working in higher
regions--in His dealings in providence and in His plan of redemption.
Although there is much here that must remain a mystery to the human
mind, he who diligently and reverently seeks to know the mind and
purpose of God in relation to these things will not lose the reward.
+III. While then, it is God's prerogative to determine what He will
reveal to+ +man it is man's glory and duty to be ever seeking to know
more of God's ways and works.+ The third verse seems to institute a
comparison between the Divine and human rulers. These latter have
their state secrets--sometimes for arbitrary purposes and in other
cases from necessity they conceal their plans until their ends are
accomplished. If the government is a despotic one this secrecy is to
be feared and deprecated; if, on the other hand, the ruler or rulers
are merciful and just their subjects may safely trust them when their
plans of action are for a time hidden. But however it may be with
human kings, there is no questioning the right of the King of Kings
to hide what He pleases from His creatures, and no reason for His
creatures to doubt either His wisdom or His love in so doing. But man
has a duty to perform in relation to this concealment. His Maker and
his Ruler does not desire to see him sit down in indolent
indifference, making no effort to penetrate the secrets of the world
around him, or to apprehend in some degree some of the deep things of
God's "unsearchable dealings" (Rom. xi. 33). The veil seems to have
been cast over some of these problems for the very purpose of
stimulating man to search and to test the depth of his interest in
them. While, then, the pursuit of knowledge of any kind is good,
there is none so elevating, none that brings so rich a reward, and
none that man is so bound to follow after, as the knowledge of God in
His works of creation, and providence, and redemption. Solomon, as
the greatest monarch of his day, counted this his first duty and his
highest glory, and there have been many uncrowned kings in all ages
of the world who have set this before them as the aim and end of
their life, and in so doing have set a diadem upon their own brows
and have won the homage and love of multitudes of their race.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verses 1 and 2. It was a good saying of a pious divine, "Lord
preserve us from a comprehensible God." It is our duty to venerate
and wonder, and not to pry with curious eyes into the secrets of God.
The history of the fall is an everlasting warning to the sons of Adam
to prefer the tree of life to the tree of knowledge.--_Lawson._
1. Taking it in contrast with the latter part of the verse--"but the
honour of kings is to _search out a matter,"_--there is implied the
idea that the Divine knowledge is universal, perfect, and free from
everything of the nature of inquiry, investigation, effort, in the
acquisition. His acquaintance with all things is, in the strictest
sense, _intuitive,_ and, in the strictest sense, _complete._ He
requires no _"searching out"_ in order to discover anything; nor is
it possible to make any addition to His knowledge. The past, the
present, and the future are alike before His all-comprehensive mind.
He sees all the present. He remembers all the past. He _foresees_ all
the future. His knowledge is "light without any darkness at all;" and
it is light that is equally clear through the immensity of the
universe, and through all time and all eternity! 2. The language
implies God's entire _independence and supremacy,_ as a part of His
glory. He "giveth not account of any of his matters," further than,
in sovereignty, He sees meet to do. He conceals when He
pleases:--"Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His
counsellor?" and who can demand the disclosure of any one of the
secrets of the infinite and independent Mind? 3. The _impenetrable
depth_ of His counsels is a part of God's glory. His "judgments are a
great deep." What line of created wisdom can fathom them?--
"Not angels, that stand round his throne,
Can search His secret will!"
"Canst thou, by searching, find out God? canst thou find out the
Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do?
deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth, and broader than the sea." "O the depth of the
riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out!" This is fitted to inspire
us, His intelligent creatures, with "reverence and godly fear." In
the sovereign secrecy, the unapproachable reservation, the
unfathomable mysteriousness of the Divine counsels--in the very
requirement that we humbly bow, in adoring submission, where we
cannot comprehend, without asking a question, or urging a further
disclosure:--in all this, there is something that gives the Creator
His proper place. There is in it a sacredness, and awfulness, that
makes us feel, as we ought to do, our infinite distance. This is
God's glory.--_Wardlaw._
Verse 3. There is no searching the height or the depth of the King's
heart, any more than the height of heaven, or the depth of the earth,
(which in those unastronomic days meant blankly not at all). Give God
a universe to rule; and what He must do in that great compass, as a
King, is quite unsearchable.--_Miller._
For Homiletics of verses 4 and 5 see on chap. xx. 26 and 28, page 596.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 6 _and_ 7.
SELF-PROMOTION.
+I. A wise man will let others judge of his qualifications for a high
place or position.+ Men who consult their happiness and reputation
are not so anxious to rise in the world as they are to qualify
themselves for rising. A wise man knows well that it is not merely
the position he occupies which raises him in the estimation of
others, but the ability which he shows to fill the post, and the
fitness which men recognise as existing between him and his high
place. He has no desire to step into a position which he could not
fill with some credit to himself and advantage to others, knowing
well that he would then be like the jackdaw in the peacock's borrowed
plumes, an object of derision to all beholders. He would rather
occupy a low place with abilities to fill a higher, than be in one
which was above his abilities, and he therefore gladly leaves the
question of his social advancement in the hands of others.
+II. Self-promotion is not likely to result in satisfaction to the
only actor in the transaction.+ 1. _It is generally short-lived._ If
a man is really fit for advancement, some one or some number of
people are generally to be found to say to him, "Friend, go up
higher." The interests of men in general, are concerned in having the
best men in the foremost places; and such men, in the end, are
generally placed in them by common consent. But when a man without
this call steps into a place of honour, it is very common for others
to resent his self-conceit, and to call upon him to give place to a
more worthy person. And so his self-constituted triumph is soon over.
2. _It often ends in humiliation._ It is hard to be obliged to take a
lower place under any circumstances, but when we are thus retracing
steps which our self-esteem alone prompted us to take, the chagrin is
great indeed. And as the ascent in such a case is generally made
before the eyes of many onlookers, so the descent will be equally
public, and this adds much to the disappointment and the shame.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Ambition is to the mind what the cap is to the falcon, it first
blinds us, and then compels us to lower by reason of our
blindness.--_E. Cook._
Now, it is not a little said in praise of him to whom it is said,
"Come up higher." For, first, it showeth his modest humility, which
is the praise of all other virtues. Secondly, it showeth the worth of
his quality, which deserveth advancement. Thirdly, it showeth that to
be due unto him which is bestowed upon him. On the other side, it is
not a little reproach unto him that is put lower. For, first, his
pride is objected to him; the overthrow of all that is praiseworthy.
Secondly, his unworthiness is rejected with an upbraiding of it.
Thirdly, the due punishment of being placed lower is justly
inflicted. . . . And as if he were one unworthy for the prince to
look upon, it is not said, _by whom thou art seen,_ but _whom thine
eyes have seen,_ as noting also the proud presumption of the unworthy
intruder.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 8-11.
TWO WAYS OF TREATING AN ENEMY.
It us undoubtedly helpful, and sometimes indispensable, that a man
who has been wronged by another should seek redress from the
offending person. These verses seem to refer to an injury done to
character and reputation, and seeing that these are a man's most
precious possessions, he has certainly as much right to seek
restitution from him who has sought to rob him of this wealth, as he
has to try and capture the thief who has stolen his money or his
plate, and make him give back his unlawful gain. Solomon does not
condemn all interference with a neighbour who puts us _"to shame,"_
but sets before us two opposite courses of action, either of which
may be taken in such a case. He gives the consequences of both.
+I. There is the way of inconsiderate passion.+ This is a bad way,
because--1. _It may lead us to overstep the bounds of right and
justice._ A man under the power of anger has no ear open to the
counsels of reason and prudence, and under such an influence he will
very likely become as great an offender against his neighbour as his
neighbour was against him. He in his turn may become a slanderer and
a betrayer of secrets (verse 9), and so lose all hold on his
opponent; and even be put to shame by the very person whom he
intended to bring to shame. He is like a blindfolded man who rushes
hastily down a steep path without considering what will be the end of
so mad an act. 2. _It is the least likely way to convince the
offender of his fault._ Words of angry recrimination, or deeds which
savour of the spirit of revenge, will almost certainly make an enemy
tenfold more of an enemy. If he disliked us before without any
reason, his dislike will now have some foundation to rest upon, and
the gulf of separation will be widened instead of bridged over. The
end to be aimed at when a brother man has trespassed against us is
clearly defined by Christ. We are to try to _"gain our brother"_
(Matt. xviii. 15), that is, we are to try and win his esteem and
love. This can never be done if we "go forth hastily to strive." But--
+II. There is the way of personal and wise remonstrance.+ 1. _The
complaint of our wrongs is to be made first to the person offending._
Here the teaching of the wise man and the "greater than Solomon" are
identical. _"If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him
his fault between thee and him alone"_ (Matt xviii. 15). To speak of
it to a third person is to expose our neighbour unnecessarily, and,
perhaps, to blacken his character far beyond his deserts. For,
although we may give a plain unvarnished tale of his offence, he to
whom we give it may colour it when he repeats it to another, and so
what was but a molehill at the first may grow into a mountain before
long. But if we go directly to the transgressor himself, we make it
plain to him that we have no desire to make him suffer for his
offence, and only ask him to deal with us in the same spirit of
brotherly love in which we deal with him. Our willingness to cover
his fault will go a long way towards persuading him to confess and
forsake it. 2. _We are to reason and persuade rather than to
upbraid._ The discourse is to take the form of a calm debate. We are
to ask for the grounds of his attack upon us, and not to be too proud
to enter into explanations of any act that he may have misconstrued.
We are to try and convince him of the harm he will do to himself if
he persist in trying to injure another, and we are to seek to clothe
all our arguments and entreaties in language which is the least
likely to offend and most calculated to win. Such words are compared
by Solomon to a beautiful work of art which is precious and admirable
not only for the skill displayed in the workmanship, but for the
costly nature of the material out of which it is fashioned. (See
Critical Notes on verse 11.) It may be a robe of costly material
embroidered with gold and silver, or it may be a basket of wrought
silver holding fruits of gold, but whatever the exact form of the
production, it reveals skilful design on the part of the artist, and
bears witness to his painstaking skill. A carefully framed appeal to
lay before an offending brother is a work of art in a higher
sphere--it calls forth all the tact and wisdom that we possess to
fashion such a garment--to carve such a piece of work, but it is
worth all the labour and pains that can be spent upon it, and will
bring to its author the goodwill of others and the approval of his
own conscience.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 8. For the sake of illustration, to suppose two or three
varieties of this result:--1. The _hasty_ man meets his supposed
adversary,--some word or act of whom has just reached him. He is all
full of the fuming pride of offended self-consequence; very big; very
wrathful. In this spirit he makes his charge, and finds it is a mere
idle unfounded rumour that has come to his ears; that there is
actually nothing in it; that nothing of the kind has ever been either
said or done; that there is no ground whatever for all his excitement
and transport!--How foolish he looks, when his imagined enemy,
against whom he has been breathing out the vehemence of passion, all
collected and cool, stands wondering at his agitation,--unable to
divine what has come over him!--And how is he laughed at for having
stirred himself up to all this heat and hurry,--all this violence and
emotion--_for nothing!_--2. It turns out that in the cause between
him and his neighbour, which he has so hastily taken up, _he is in
the wrong_--that, after all his froth and bluster, truth and justice
are clearly on the other side, with all the solid and satisfactory
argument; while on his there is little or nothing beyond the noisy
and vehement protestations of self-sufficiency, and he is quite
unable to withstand the proofs against him--the verdict of all
impartial persons being in favour of his opponent. In this case, he
must either, after having his pride keenly mortified, cool down, and
own himself in the wrong--which is the best thing he can do, but far
from easy to a man of his temper; or the more he is overpowered by
the evidence of facts and by sound argument, the more must the sense
of conscious defeat, and consequent feeling of inferiority, inflame
him to rage; by which he will only render himself the more
ridiculous, and give cause of more lasting mortification and shame.
3. The same things are true of a controversial dispute on any
subject. Generally speaking, the hastiest and most self-confident is
the most likely to fail. Such confidence very often accompanies
partial information and superficial and one-sided views. The
petulant, consequential disputant _"goes forth hastily to strive,"_
in the full assurance that his arguments are such as cannot be
resisted, and in the full flush of anticipated triumph--of victory
before the battle. But objections meet him, of which he had never
thought. Arguments are arrayed and urged on the opposite side, such
as had never occurred to his own mind, and such, therefore, as he did
not at all expect, and cannot refute. . . . He is abashed,
confounded, stupefied.--_Wardlaw._
It is he that liveth in peace that doth enjoy himself. It is he that
is at home, and findeth the comfort of what God hath bestowed upon
him. He that falleth into strife _goeth_ from his rest and
contentment, _goeth forth_ from himself, so that he is hardly himself
while the strife continues. . . . Therefore let not strife be a thing
into which thou art carried of thine own accord; but either let thine
adversary drive thee into it, or else let necessity or some good
reason either draw thee or force thee.--_Jermin._
Verse 11. The beauty of the texture sets off the fruit with
additional charms. So does a lively medium enhance the attractiveness
of truth. "The preacher should strive to find out acceptable
words"--_words fitly spoken_--giving to each their proper meat--and
_that_ "in due season" suited to their ages and difference of
temperament. "How forcible are right words!" (Job vi. 25). Our Lord
witnessed of Himself, as "gifted with the tongue of the learned, that
He might know how to speak the word in season" (Isa. l. 4)--_a word
upon the wheels_--not forced or dragged, but rolling smoothly along,
like the chariot-wheels. His discourses on the living water and the
bread of life arose naturally out of the conversation, and therefore
were full of arresting application. Paul powerfully charged
superstition on the Athenians and strengthened his reasoning by
quoting from one of their own poets (Acts xvii. 22-28). To a corrupt
and profligate judge he preached "righteousness, temperance, and
judgment to come" (Acts xxiv. 25).--_Bridges._
That words may deserve this character, they must be the words of
truth; for falsehood and error are on no occasion fit to be spoken.
And therefore Job reproves his friends for endeavouring, by false
doctrine, to comfort him, and direct his exercise in the time of his
distress. But words may be true and yet unfitly spoken, for although
nothing is to be spoken but truth, yet truth is not always to be
spoken. Doeg the Edomite was guilty of murder before he killed the
priests of the Lord, by telling the enraged tyrant that David had
received bread and a sword from Ahimelech. Jonathan was a man of a
very opposite spirit, and discovered it by the seasonable mention he
made to his father of David's exploit in slaying Goliath. By putting
Saul in mind of this noble action, he disarmed for a time his angry
resentments.--_Lawson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 12.
GIVING AND TAKING.
+I. To give reproof effectually needs--+1. _A character which
deserves respect._ An iron pin when cold may by the exercise of much
strength and the expenditure of much time be driven through a plate
of iron, but if it be _red hot,_ it goes through it with speed and
ease. A blunt axe may fell a tree, but if it has a good edge the work
is done far more quickly and effectually. So a very faulty man may
obtain a hearing when he reproves, and his reproofs may do good, but
the same reproof from the lips of one who possesses a high moral
character will be far more likely to reach the conscience of the
listener and lead him to repentance. 2. _A knowledge of the character
and disposition of him whom he reproves._ It is indispensable that
the physician who ministers a powerful drug to a patient, or who
subjects him to a critical operation, should first know something
about his bodily constitution, should ascertain if there is tendency
to disease which his treatment might strengthen, or exceptional
weakness of any organ which would make it unable to bear the strain
he is about to put upon it. If he does not make some preliminary
investigation on these matters he may be developing an evil as great
as the one he seeks to eradicate. A reprover should remember that all
men are not alike in their temperament and moral development, and
that consequently what would do real good to one transgressor would
only harden another, and that, therefore, there must be acquaintance
with the patient before the medicine is administered. 3. _A sincere
desire to benefit the offender._ He who reproves without a real
feeling of pity and a wish to help him whom he reproves will find
that his words will do almost as much good as water does to a rock
when it falls upon it. It may drop day and night for years, but the
rock is rock still--no moisture penetrates it and no verdure clothes
it. So reproof that is not dictated by love will never reach the
heart, and no fruits of repentance will result from fault-finding for
its own sake. 4. _A due regard to a fitting time and place._ He must
not rebuke his child when he is suffering pain, or charge home a
fault upon the father of a family before his children. We are not
likely to reform a drunkard by upbraiding him when he is under the
influence of drink, or to convince a proud man that he is wrong by
putting him to shame before others. A wise reprover will not only see
to it that his medicine is suited to his patient, but will consider
when it is most fitting to administer it.
+II. To take reproof meekly--+1. _Reveals a man under the control of
reason._ It is only the delirious patient or the child who angrily
resists the surgeon's knife and looks no further than the present
pain. A reasonable man may cry out under the operation, but he knows
that his future health depends upon it, and he therefore submits
patiently, although he suffers acutely. If a man looks at reproof in
the same light, he will receive it in the same spirit, and give a
convincing proof that he is not ruled by passion but by reason.
2. _Reveals a man governed by true self-love._ Love for our own true
interests prompts us to welcome every hand stretched out to help us,
and every means afforded us of becoming better and wiser. A wise
reprover is a true friend, and he who does not recognise him as such
shows that his own advancement is not the aim of his life and the
object of his desire. But no greater proof of a sincere regard for
our own moral and spiritual growth can be given than that of lending
an obedient ear to a wise reproof.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The wise reprover or instructor, who lovingly and seasonably telleth
his neighbour of his fault or duty, may fitly be likened unto a jewel
of pearl; for he lighteneth and enricheth him that is instructed with
knowledge and the gifts of God's Holy Spirit. The attentive and
obedient hearer who desires to increase in learning, and who
receiveth the Word of God with meekness, may also be aptly resembled
to a golden earring; for he is transformed from glory to glory, by
the ministry and instruction of the prudent and learned
teacher.--_Muffet._
When a reproof is both administered in wisdom and received in
humility and in good part,--then there is a union of two equal
rarities. A reproof well-administered is rare; and not less so is a
reproof well taken. We may remark, however, that the rareness of the
latter arises, to no small extent, out of the rareness of the former.
It is because reproof is so seldom well-_given,_ that it is so seldom
well-_taken.--Wardlaw._
An earring is fastened to the ear, and that it may be fastened, it
pierceth the ear, and being so fastened, it is an ornament to the
whole face; so likewise is a reproof upon an obedient ear. First, it
pierceth it, and is received willingly into it; secondly, it is
fastened upon it, so that it stays with it; thirdly, it is an
ornament to his whole life, which is thereby reformed.--_Jermin._
For Homiletics on the subject of verse 13, see on chap. xiii. 17,
page 321.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 14.
CLOUDS WITHOUT RAIN.
+I. Those who promise and do not perform are wantonly cruel.+ To
raise expectations without fulfilling them is one of the greatest
unkindnesses of which men can be guilty. For however sorely the gift
or the service desired may be needed, if the needy brother has never
had any hope of possessing it, his sense of loss is not nearly so
keen as it is if, depending on the word of another, he has felt as if
the coveted good was almost in his grasp. The thirsty traveller in
the desert feels his thirst more terribly after the deceitful mirage
has led him to believe that a refreshing lake is just within his
reach. He thinks he sees the sparkling water but a few paces distant,
and is already in fancy drinking his fill when all his hopes are
destroyed by the vanishing of the deception, and he is in a far worse
condition than he was before its appearance. There are many men who
are as deceitful and as disappointing as the mirage of the desert.
Their large promises awaken bright hopes in the breast of some
wayfarer on the journey of life, and he looks forward with confident
joy to the time when he shall possess the promised gift. But his
heart is gradually made sick by the deferred hope (chap. xiii. 12)
until at last he becomes aware that he has been cruelly deceived, and
finds himself a far more wretched man than he was before the promise
was made to him.
+II. As a rule he who promises most will perform the least.+ Those
who bestow most upon others are those who do not spend much time in
talking about what they will do. Sometimes a heavy cloud is seen in
the heavens, which seems as if it would every moment fall in
refreshing showers. But a few drops only fall on the parched earth,
and while the husbandman is looking with confident expectancy it
vanishes from his sight. On another day a cloud which seems to
promise far less falls in abundance upon the thirsty land. This is
not the rule in nature, but it is in relation to the promises and
performances of men. The loud boaster is well-nigh certain to be a
cloud without rain, and should therefore never be relied upon, and
the greatest givers are generally those who promise least.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
This verse may be understood, either of God's gift to man, or man's
gift to God, or else of man to any other man. For many there are who
boast of those gifts which God never bestowed on them; and though God
be infinite in His bounty, yet by their lying do make Him more
bountiful than He is. Many there are who boast of their gifts to God,
either in regard of the church or the poor, whereas His church or His
poor have them as little as God Himself needs them. Many boast of
their kind gifts to others, whereas their not performing them makes
them more unkind than if they never had promised. . . . Their false
gifts are as the clouds, and their boasting as the winds. Their false
gifts do lift them up, as the clouds are; their great boasting maketh
a great noise as the wind doth. The winds drive the clouds and
scatter them; so doth their boasting spread abroad the fame of their
false gifts; and as the clouds without rain darken the heavens
without watering the earth; as the dry wind troubleth the air without
refreshing the ground; so these boasters even darken the heaven with
their naughtiness, and trouble the earth with their brags, but
satisfy none with their deeds.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 15.
FORBEARANCE AND PERSUASIVENESS.
+I. Patience without speech is an overcoming power.+ The strongest
smith will find a piece of cold iron too much for him--if he attempt
to bend or break it he will be met with a resistance which he cannot
overcome. But he places that apparently unconquerable bar upon the
coals, and by degrees it seems to assume altogether another nature,
and is ready to be fashioned to any shape or form. He gets this
victory by _waiting,_ and he finds it a far more effectual method
than attempting to subdue the metal by physical force. Forbearance
will sometimes do as much for the stubborn human will as the fire
does for the iron. Many men who cannot be threatened into compliance
with our wishes, may be overcome by patient kindness. A prince may be
here put by Solomon as a type of all men in authority and high
position, who by reason of their position are less under the power of
others and consequently are less likely to yield to any other force
than persuasion. With such men high-handed dealing and efforts to
intimidate generally provoke a more stubborn resistance.
+II. Patience seconded by gentle speech is doubly powerful.+ The
smith's work is not done when by waiting he has given time for the
iron to become soft and impressible; he must then bring his skill and
activity to bear upon it and so mould it to his will. So after long
forbearance there must be wise and persuasive speech to finish the
work. The long-suffering patience, perhaps under trial and
provocation, has softened the hard heart or the stubborn will, and
now the gentle words are listened to and have their full weight. But
this would not have been the case if patience without speech had not
gone first to make way for them.
+III. Those who conquer by forbearance in deed and gentleness in word
walk in the Divine footsteps.+ In the dealings of God with the human
race, no attribute of His character is more manifest than _"the
riches of His forbearance and long suffering"_ (Rom. ii. 4), and it
is by this that He _"leads men to repentance."_ "Instead of coming
down upon man by storm," says Dr. Bushnell, "in a manner of direct
onset to carry his submission by storm, God lays gentle siege to him,
waiting for his willing assent and choice. . . . To redress an injury
by gentleness, and tame his adversary's will by the circuitous
approach of forbearance and a siege of true suggestion is not the
manner of men, only of God." It is not, alas! the manner of men in
general, but all those who call Him Master try to imitate Him in this
as in all other of His perfections that can be imitated by finite and
imperfect creatures.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The _soft_ member _breaking the hard bone_ may seem to be a paradox.
But it is a fine illustration of the power of gentleness above
hardness and irritation. Apply it to those who are set against the
truth. Many a stout heart has been won by a _forbearing,_ yet
uncompromising, accommodation to prejudice. In reproof Jehovah showed
what He could do in "the strong wind and the earthquake." But His
effective rebuke was in the "still small voice;" without upbraiding;
sharp, yet tender (1 Kings xix. 11-13). So powerful is the energy of
gentleness! Indeed, "among all the graces that adorn the Christian
soul, like so many jewels of various colours and lustres, against the
day of her espousals to the Lamb of God, there is not one more
brilliant than that of patience."
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 16.
USE AND ABUSE.
+I. The good gifts of God are to be enjoyed by men.+ _"Every creature
of God is good,"_ says the apostle, _"and nothing to be refused, if
it be received with thanksgiving"_ (1 Tim. iv. 4). God has filled the
world with gifts to minister pleasure to the bodily senses as well as
to the spiritual aspirations, and the first are given to use _"richly
to enjoy"_ (1 Tim. vi. 17), as much as the last. Our Great and
Beneficent Father, has not omitted to provide even for the
gratification of our palate, but has furnished us with an almost
infinite variety of natural productions, pleasant to the taste. His
kindness in this matter is not to be overlooked, and these good gifts
are not to be treated as though they were beneath our grateful
appreciation. The asceticism which refuses to partake of them is not
in accordance with the spirit of either the Old or New Testament.
+II. There is no material and temporal good which cannot be misused
by man.+ Honey may here stand for any or all the lower sweets of
life--for every blessing which is not of a purely spiritual
nature--and the greatest temptation to _misuse_ of these lies in the
direction of _over-use_--of indulging in them to the neglect of other
and more precious good, and so to the injury of the higher nature.
Honey is a delicious article of food, and wholesome and nutritious to
a certain extent, but if a man attempted to live upon it to the
exclusion of plainer fair he would find that his bodily health would
suffer. In like manner is there danger to spiritual health from an
undue indulgence of even the gifts of God, which minister only or
chiefly to the senses, or which belong to this life alone.
+III. The misuse of what is good in itself puts an end of all real
enjoyment of it.+ If a man eats immoderately of honey it soon ceases
to be pleasant to his taste, and the very sweetness that at first
attracted him produces loathing. The same nausea of spirit follows
immoderate indulgence in any merely temporal or material good--that
which, used lawfully, would always afford true and real enjoyment,
cloys upon the man who abuses it by over-use.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
The figure varies. In a former sentence we are commanded to eat honey
because it is good (chap. xxiv. 13), and that was very carefully
explained. It meant that piety was itself good, and we were to taste
and see (Psa. xxxiv. 8) that before we could be Christians. But now
the figure varies. There is a sweetness of eternal _hope,_ even when
we have not got down to the sweetness of a saving piety. We are to
put on the helmet of hope. So the Apostle tells us (1 Thess. v. 8).
But Solomon cautions us that we are to put on no more than is
_"sufficient."_ We are eating more than enough honey when we have no
right to eat any, and so we may be eating too much when we ought to
be getting more. There is such a thing as having more hope than
evidence. And if a man has too much confident hope of heaven for the
amount he has of piety, there certainly is a case of eating more than
is sufficient. . . . Blessed is the man that has _"found honey."_ Let
him eat so much as is sufficient for him in this dismal pilgrimage.
But, when he is once refreshed like Jonathan, let him sound for an
advance.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 17.
OBTRUSIVENESS.
+I. We may by indiscretion close a door which we have ourselves
opened.+ There are many things which are pleasant and wholesome
occasionally, which become not only unwelcome, but annoying, if we
have too much of them. We do not desire to hear the sweetest song
every day and all the day long--that which is refreshing and
delightful now and then become wearisome if constantly repeated. We
must apply this rule to ourselves in relation to our fellow-men.
While we rejoice to feel that there are those who love us so well as
to desire our presence upon all occasions, we must remember that most
of our acquaintances will not set so high a value upon us, and that
to be seen too often where we should be welcome if seen but seldom,
is by our own act to shut our neighbour's door upon us.
+II. Our neighbour's objection to our constant visits may rise from
no unkindly feeling.+ Men who have work to do in the world cannot
give all their time, or much of it, to the entertainment of visitors.
There are those who, living to no purpose themselves, forget that
others feel themselves accountable to God for the use they make of
their lives, and such idle people often sorely vex and hinder their
busy neighbours by their thoughtless and unseasonable visits. The man
who enters a house and takes from a diamond necklace one precious
stone after another until he has taken the whole, is doubtless no
friend, but a thief and a robber, and is punishable by the law of the
land; but the man who enters his neighbour's house and robs him of
hour after hour, steals property which probably cannot be redeemed,
or redeemed only by encroaching upon the hours which ought to be
given to rest. So that such a thoughtless intruder steals not only
his neighbour's time, but indirectly his health and power to work.
Surely such pests of society ought not to have the name of _friend_
bestowed upon them, but deserve to be branded with a name more
befitting their character, and more in accordance with their actions.
For Homiletics of verse 18, see on chap xii. 18, page 274.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 19 _and_ 20.
MISPLACED CONFIDENCE AND UNSEASONABLE SONGS.
The day of adversity is, as we saw on chap. xxiv. 10, a testing time
for the man who is the subject of the calamity, and it is also a
season in which he tests the worth of those who have called
themselves his friends in the time of his prosperity. These verses
deal with two varieties among many who intensify his affection and
deepen his grief, instead of bringing him help and comfort. There is--
+I. The faithless friend.+ This phrase is a contradictory one, but it
is used for want of a better. The word friend, in its highest and
best sense, denotes one who is worthy of trust and who never fails in
the hour of trial. But there are many who assume the name who are
unworthy of it, and whose failure when they are most needed is one of
the most bitter drops in the cup of calamity. If the cable breaks in
a calm sea the vessel and the crew may escape serious injury; but if
it gives way amid storm and tempest, the consequences are most
disastrous. It is hard to find a professed friend failing us when we
are sailing in calm waters, but it may then be borne without entirely
crushing the spirit. But when such a discovery is first made in the
day of trouble, it is enough to break the stoutest heart.
+II. The undiscerning friend.+ There are many real friends who lack
the ability to discern how best to help the sorrowful and heavy
hearted. They sing a song with the intention of giving cheer when
tears, or at least silence, would be far more acceptable to the
wounded spirit. Songs of gladness, such as are doubtless here
intended, fit the spirit when it is walking in the sunlight, but they
aggravate the suffering of those who are in darkness of soul. He who
aspires to the name of friend must learn to rejoice with those who
rejoice and to weep with those that weep.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 19. The greatest disaster, in proportion to the number of men
engaged, that befel our arms in the Eastern insurrection, was the
direct result of confidence in an unfaithful man. At
Arrah-on-the-Ganges three or four hundred soldiers were sent to
attack a body of the rebels, and relieve some British residents who
were in danger there. A native was employed to ascertain the position
of the enemy. In consequence of his report, the man left the river
and made a night march into the interior. The messenger was false.
The little army fell into an ambush prepared for them in the jungle.
Two-thirds of their number were shot down in the dark by unseen foes.
The remnant escaped to their ship when the day dawned. As they lay in
that fatal valley getting their wounds in the dark, and helplessly
wishing for the day, how exquisitely bitter must have been the
reflection that a too ready trust in a faithless man had wrought them
all this woe.--_Arnot._
The God of nature hath placed the teeth in two jaws, that the one may
be helpful to the other; and he hath supported man with _two feet,_
that the one may be a succor to the other. From hence, to teach us
the help and support which one man ought to yield to another. It is
by means of this mutual support in the feet that we pass over the
blocks that lie in our way; for while the one foot is lifted up to
step over them, the other bears up the body. It is the mutual help of
the jaws, and by their meeting together, that we break hard things
and make the fit nourishment for us. In like manner, therefore, when
a block lies in the way of anyone, another should be ready to support
him until he get over it. When a hard distress lieth upon anyone,
another should be ready to help him for the better breaking through
it. But in this point too many are like a broken tooth, and he that
looketh to meet with them for help in his distress, findeth them not
to answer his expectation . . . and too many are like a foot out of
joint, and he that thinketh to rest upon them in time of need, is
sure to fall by them.--_Jermin._
Verse 20. He that taketh away a garment from another may think to
ease his burden, but it being done in cold weather, it addeth to his
coldness; he that putteth vinegar upon nitre may think only to break
the hardness of it, but he dissolveth it. In like manner he that
singeth songs to a heavy heart may think to ease the burden of
sorrow, may think to break the hardness of grief, but such is the
force of the sad contraposition, such is the power of the contrariety
between singing and sorrow of heart, that the ease of one's heart
being able to sing, increaseth the weight of the other's trouble that
he cannot do so.--_Jermin._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 21 _and_ 22.
A BLESSED RECOMPENSE.
+I. A recompense which is difficult.+ No one can affirm that it is an
easy thing to minister help and comfort to one who has done us an
injury, but it is more difficult in some cases than in others. Men
are not bound to us by equal ties: some are merely related to us
because they partake of the same common humanity; others are our
kinsmen according to the flesh; while others stand in an equal nearer
relation, and are brothers in a spiritual sense, being partakers with
us of what is called in Scripture language the new birth. According
to Christ's teaching this is the nearest and closest bond which can
unite men, and yet it cannot be denied that we sometimes have to
exercise the grace of forgiveness even towards these brethren. But
the motive power which prompts us to return good for evil is
certainly stronger in this latter case than in the others, or at
least it ought to be so. For when we reflect that the brother who has
wronged us stands in the same relation to Christ as we do ourselves,
it ought not to be at all difficult for us to feed him when hungry,
or in any other way in our power to minister to his needs. There will
also in most men be found more or less natural promptings to succour
an enemy who is related to them by ties of blood--the nearer the
natural relationship the more easy will it be, as a rule, to comply
with the command given by the Wise Man. But the greatest difficulty
will be found in obeying it when the enemy is one who is altogether
unlike us in character, and who is only related to us in the broad
and universal sense of being human. To be active and earnest in our
endeavours to relieve the necessities of such an one needs often much
Divine help, but it is demanded of us by Him who dies for a world at
enmity with Him.
+II. A retaliation which is blessed in its results.+ We understand
with Zöckler, the figure here used to "describe the deep pangs of
repentance which one produces within his enemy by rewarding his
hatred with benefits." This is a result most desirable and blessed
for him who has been the offender. For it is the only road by which
he can regain peace of mind and self-respect, as well as the esteem
of all right-minded people. This restoration of an erring brother
would in itself be a great reward to the good man, but it is not,
according to Solomon, the only one which is accorded to him who thus
recompenses good for evil. A special reward for the special act is
promised by Jehovah. There is one which is the outcome of the laws by
which He governs men. If a traveller in a cold region finds a fellow
traveller lying benumbed and forsaken by the roadside, and does what
he can do to raise and restore him, the effort makes his own blood
circulate more quickly, and his own frame glow with warmth. This it
the outcome of a natural law of God, and there is the spiritual one
akin to it. For whenever an effort is made to raise and restore one
who has morally fallen, he who makes the effort feels a reflex glow
of moral life and health in his own spirit. This is the certain
effect which must follow every act of goodwill towards an enemy, as
surely as the shadow follows the substance. But there are probably
other rewards of an external nature--many blessings that come to a
good man's life may be direct and special gifts from His Father above
for deeds which, like the one now under consideration, are especially
pleasing to Him.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
We may profess our goodwill towards our enemy, that we forgive and
pray for him from our heart. But unless we are ready with the
practical exercise of sympathy, we are only the victims of our own
moral delusion.--_Bridges._
It is action, not affection, that is here spoken of--not the
disposition of the heart, but the deeds of the hand; and if it be a
more practicable thing that we should compel ourselves to right
bodily performances than call up right mental propensities, this may
alleviate somewhat our dread of these precepts, as if they were
wholly unmanageable or incompetent to humanity. Before, then, taking
cognisance of what should be the inward temper of Christians towards
those who maltreat or oppress them, we would bid you remark that the
outward conduct towards them is that which forms the literal
subject-matter of the commandments here given. The disciples are in
this place told that . . . hard as it may be under their cruel
provocations to keep unruffled minds and to _feel_ peaceably, they,
as much as in them lies, are to _live_ peaceably . . . while it may
not be the tendency of nature so to _desire,_ our bidden obligation
is so to _do,_ for in _so doing_ thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
head.--_Chalmers_ on Rom. xii. 20.
Now, we know that if a coal or two of fire be laid on the hearth of
the chimney below, he that is cold cannot be wholly warmed, or
receive much good thereby; but if one basketful be poured on the fire
after another, so that the coals are heaped up to the mantel-tree, or
are as high as his head that fain would warm him, then he waxeth
thoroughly hot and beginneth even to burn. It seemeth then that by
this borrowed speech is meant, that if a man shall be very bountiful
even unto his enemy, and heap upon him one good turn after another,
this will cause his affection, which before was cold, to burn within
him. Thus dealt David with Saul, who spared his life when he might
have slain him, and only cut off a piece of his coat when he might
have cut off his head.--_Muffett._
I take for granted, that I believe to be the truth, that the words
_"for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,"_ have reference,
not to the fires of Divine-vengeance, but to the influence of kindly
treatment melting down the enemy to conciliation, as fuel heaped on
the ore fuses it from the hardness, and sends it forth in liquid
streams, to take the features and impress of the mould.--A certain
prince, on leading his generals and his army against an advancing
host of invaders, declared his resolution not to leave a single enemy
alive. He sent an embassy to treat with them. He made proposals such
as subdued and attached them, and rendered them valuable allies. On
astonishment being expressed that he should have thus failed in his
determination and promise, his ready reply was--"I have not failed: I
have kept my word. I engaged not to leave a _living enemy;_ nor have
I. They are enemies no longer--they are _friends._" He had "heaped
coals of fire on their head."--_Wardlaw._
For hunger and thirst are common enemies, both to thee and him. And
therefore, as where a common enemy invadeth, particular enmity is
laid aside, and all join there to help and withstand him; so here
lend a hand to resist these common enemies, which though now have
seized on thine enemy may quickly seize on thee. Besides he is hungry
as a man, he thirsteth as a man--not as an enemy--and therefore as a
man give him bread to eat, give him water to drink. This may also
quench the hunger of his enmity, and satisfy also the hunger of his
hatred.--_Jermin._
If anyone desires to try this work, he must bring to it at least
these two qualifications, modesty and patience. If he proceed
ostentatiously, with an air of superiority and a consciousness of his
own virtue, he will never make one step of progress. The subject will
day by day grow harder in his hands. But even though the successive
acts of kindness should be genuine, the operator must lay his account
with a tedious process and many disappointments. . . . The miner does
not think that his coals of fire are wasted, although he has been
throwing them on for several successive hours, and the stones show no
symptoms of dissolving. He knows that each portion of the burning
fuel is contributing to the result, and that the flow will be sudden
and complete at last. Let him go and do likewise who aspires to win a
brother by the subduing power of self-sacrificing love.--_Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 23.
THE WAY TO TREAT A BACKBITER.
It will be seen from a reference to the Critical Notes, that nearly
all modern commentators render this verse quite differently from the
common version, and so reverse the meaning. It will, however, bear
the common rendering, "I confess," says Wardlaw, "that if the word
will bear it at all, our version seems decidedly preferable. There is
something tame, commonplace, and of little practical
consequence--hardly worth forming the subject of a proverb--in saying
that as the north wind brings rain, 'a backbiting tongue' brings
anger. But the verse as it stands in our translation inculcates a
most important lesson." We therefore take the proverb as we find it
in our Bible, as setting forth--
+I. An unrighteous action producing a righteous emotion.+ We have
before had brought before us in this book the peculiar iniquity of
backbiting and its evil results (see ch. xii. 17-19, 22, page 274).
The special unrighteousness of the act lies, of course, in the fact
that the person who is the subject of it, being absent and ignorant
of the charge brought against him, has no opportunity of defending
himself. A feeling of indignation against such an act, and an
expression of it in the countenance, is therefore demanded from every
lover of truth and justice. He who will calmly listen to a tale of
slander and show no token of disapproval, makes himself a partaker of
the sin. But it is impossible for a righteous man to act thus. When a
putrid body is presented to our bodily senses, if we are healthy men
we experience a feeling of revulsion which we cannot conceal. And so
if a man is morally healthy he must experience and reveal a strong
dislike to the backbiting tongue.
+II. The unrighteous action overpowered by the righteous emotion.+
When the heavy rain-clouds which overspread the sky are dispersed and
driven away by the wind, they show themselves to be the weaker of the
two contending forces. And so when the backbiting tongue is silenced
by the look of righteous indignation, it gives proof that, however
strong the workings of evil are, the power of goodness is stronger.
Those who set their faces against this or any other vice, may always
draw encouragement from the fact that there is a reprover within the
breast of the wrong-doer, which in spite of all efforts to stifle it,
seconds the reprover from without--wherever the conscience is at all
awake, it says "Amen" to a faithful rebuke, whether administered by
word or look. And so it is that a countenance upon which is written
righteous anger is so potent a check to a backbiting tongue.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
It is a great encouragement to tale-bearers, to observe their wicked
stories are heard with attention. If a man looks upon them with a
cheerful countenance, and listens to their tales, and makes them
welcome to his table, they naturally conclude that the person to whom
they speak has as bad a heart as themselves, and they will not fail
to bring him new stories of the like kind, as soon as they have got
an opportunity to learn or to make them. But if the receiver of
stolen goods is a sharer with the thief in his guilt, and if any man
that encourages another in evil partakes in his sin, then he that
hears the backbiter with complacency is little better than himself,
and would probably follow the same trade if he had the same talents
for it. We cannot, therefore, clear ourselves from the sin of
backbiting, unless we refuse to receive a bad report of our
neighbour, and testify our displeasure, by all proper methods, at the
base conduct of the assassins that would murder in the dark the
good-name of their fellow-creatures. When the murderers of Isbosheth
brought their master's head to David, judging from their own
disposition that it would be an acceptable present to him, he
treated them in such a manner that no man ever sent another present
of the like kind to him.--_Lawson._
There is a place for anger as well as for love. As in nature, a
gloomy tempest serves some beneficial purposes for which calm
sunshine has no faculty; so in morals, a frown on an honest man's
brow is in its own place, as needful and useful as the sweetest smile
that kindness ever kindled on the human countenance. . . . We don't
want a fretful passionate man; and if we did, we could find one
without searching long or going far. We want neither a man of wrath
nor a man of indiscriminating, unvarying softness. We want something
with two sides; that is, a solid real character. Let us have a man
who loves good and hates evil, and who, in place and time convenient,
can make either emotion manifest upon his countenance. The frown of
anger is the shade that lies under love and brings out its
beauty.--_Arnot._
For Homiletics on verse 24, see on chapter xxi. 9, page 613.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 25.
COLD WATER AND GOOD NEWS.
+I. Two blessings often ardently longed for.+ In these days of
travel, many more can enter into the spirit of this analogy than in
the days of Solomon--the comparative ease by which men can reach the
most distant lands, and which in one aspect brings all places and
people so much nearer together than in ancient times, is on the other
hand the cause of far more separation between those who are bound
together by tender ties, and fills far more hearts with an anxious
longing for tidings from far countries. No more apt illustration
could be used to picture such a condition of spirit than that of
_thirst;_ for as _it,_ if of long duration, prostrates the frame and
renders every other blessing of life incapable of affording any
comfort, so often does a long delay of tidings concerning those most
dear paralyse all the energies of the soul, and render it unable to
gain comfort from any other source. The wife whose husband has been
long fighting for his country on the distant battle-field, or the
father whose son has been for years seeking his fortune in some
far-off land, turns often with distaste from all the comforts and
interests which surround them, and would willingly sacrifice many
near blessings in exchange for cheering news from those beyond the
seas. They are like the traveller in the desert, whose gold cannot
allay his consuming thirst, and who would willingly give a bag of
pearls for a cup of cold water.
+II. Two blessings bringing like results.+ Hagar and her son wandered
in the desert till the water was spent in the bottle, and then mother
and son gave up all for lost and lay down to die. We may take it for
granted that neither the youth nor his mother were easily overcome or
quickly daunted, but thirst and its attendant evils would soon have
slain them as certainly as a band of desert robbers. But when God
showed to Hagar the well, and they had drunk of its waters, it was as
though a new life had entered into them, and hope and energy
returned. This is a type of what has happened to many a heart-sick
soul since those days. Jacob was going down to his grave still
mourning for the son lost so many years ago, and life, we may well
believe, had lost its interest for him when his sons brought the
astonishing tidings, "Joseph is yet alive, and is governor over all
the land of Egypt." And the old man renewed his youth, and, so to
speak, began to live again, so life-restoring often to a thirsty soul
is good news from a far country.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
_A far-off land_ sends specially _good news_ because we faint the
more, and long the harder, for the very reason that it is so distant.
They come more seldom. And our relations with far-off lands are
weightier and more critical than those beside us. So much for the
secular significance. But oh! the spiritual! The righteous scarcely
are saved (1 Peter iv. 18). We are in a wilderness (Rev. xii. 6, 14).
Our enemies are legion (Ephes. vi. 12). We run the gauntlet with
daily foes (Ephes. v. 16); and that with daily changes in their
attempts to trip us (Prov. v. 6). The sinner, wherever he may be met,
is faint with fatigue. Our Saviour knew this when He shaped His
appeal "Come unto me, all that labour," etc. (Matt. xi. 28). Now,
high over all the odes of comfort is the _"good news from a far-off
land."_ All right there, come anything! A man's life may have been a
perfect failure, _quoad_ the opinion of the world; but if he have
Heaven it has been the very best--there has not been an hour of it
that has not been "marshalled by a Divine tactic," the best for the
man and the best for his part in the war.--_Miller._
We shall especially apply the subject--to _heaven_--good news from
heaven. There are several things that make good news from a far
country as grateful as "cold waters to a thirsty soul." _I. If the
country reported is altogether unlike our own._ The human mind is
always interested in what is novel and romantic--strangeness has a
strange fascination for the soul. What charms have the reports of
Captain Cook, Moffatt, Livingstone, for all minds. . . . _II. If the
country reported has conferred an immense benefit on us._ Supposing
that we had once been in a state of abject slavery, and that the far
country reported to us had effected our emancipation and guaranteed
our liberty, with what interest should we listen to everything about
it--the act that served us would invest all the incidents connected
with this history with a special charm. . . . _III. If the country
reported contained any that are dear to us._ New Zealand, Vancouver's
Island, and many other countries, are extremely interesting to many
families in this land, on account of the friends they have living in
them. . . . _IV. If the country reported is a scene in which we
expect to live ourselves._ With what interest does the emigrant
listen to everything referring to that land whither he is about to be
wending his way, and which he is adopting as his home. Heaven as a
far country pre-eminently meets all these conditions of interest.
There is the _Novel._ . . . How unlike that country is ours. Here is
a sphere for the play of the romantic. There is the _Benefactor._
What benefits that far country has conferred on us! Thence we have
received Christ the Redeemer of the World, and the Blessed Spirit of
wisdom, purity, and love. There are our _Friends._ How many of those
who we have known and loved are there. How many such are going there
every day. Some of us have more friends in heaven than on earth.
There we _expect to live._ There we expect an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.--_Dr. David
Thomas._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 26.
THE EVIL RESULT OF MORAL COWARDICE.
+I. There can never be a good reason why a good man should waver or
bow down before a bad man.+ Many reasons often exist why one bad man
should fear another bad man, they are both on the wrong side, both
arrayed against the moral order of the universe, and therefore are on
the _weakest_ side, and cannot count upon the support of any superior
and all-powerful force. Neither of them has conscience or God upon
his side; each one has to fight his battle on his own charges, and
can with no confidence foretell the result. But the want of firmness
on the part of a righteous man in the presence of wickedness--even
when that wickedness is allied with all the power that it can
arrogate to itself--is contrary to reason. For as surely as light
must defeat the darkness, so surely must right in the end prove
itself victorious over wrong. A good man has the whole force of the
moral universe upon his side, and is assured both by experience and
by Divine promise that if he holds fast to the end he shall be more
than conqueror.
+II. The wavering of such a man pollutes the very sources of social
morality.+ Unreasonable although it is, yet it is not out of the
range of human experience. "The best men are but men at the best"
says an old writer, and in times of great trial they often give
evidence that it is so. Good and noble men have sometimes trembled
and given way before the terrors of the stake, and far less terrible
suffering has often sufficed to shake the constancy of true men who
were less courageous. But whenever such a fall takes place it is a
heavy blow to the cause of right and truth upon the earth. A good man
is like a fountain of pure and living water. He is a source of moral
life and health in the circle in which he moves; even if he does not
put forth any direct or special effort for the advancement of
morality, his life will as certainly have an influence for good as
the lighted candle will illumine the darkness around it. But if he
shows himself a coward when exposed to loss or danger for the sake of
right, it will do as much harm to the moral health of the community
in which he lives as would be done to its bodily health if the stream
from which its members drink were polluted at the fountain head. The
mischief done in each case may not show itself by any startling
results. The poison in the water may not _kill,_ but only lower the
standard of health in those who partake of it, and so a moral fall in
a good man may not lead other men to open apostasy from the right
path, but it may make the walk of many unsteady. Christ tells His
disciples this same truth when He calls them the _"salt of the
earth,"_ and asks _"if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall
it be salted"_ (Matt. v. 13). In other words, the good are the
conservators of the moral purity of the world, and if any one among
them ceases to sustain this character he is not only a loser himself
but a source of loss to others.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Lord Bacon gives this proverb political application: "It teaches that
an unjust and scandalous judgment in any conspicuous and weighty
cause is, above all things, to be avoided in the State;" and in his
Essay (lvi.) of Judicature, he says; "One foul sentence doth more
hurt than many foul examples; for these do but corrupt the stream,
the other corrupteth the fountain"--_Tr. of Lange's Commentary._
Eastern _fountain and springs_ (where the rains are only periodical,
and at longer intervals) are of no common price. The injury of
_corrupting_ them is proportionate. The well is therefore a blessing
or a curse, according to the purity or impurity of the waters. _A
righteous man_ in his proper character is "a well of life, a blessing
in the midst of the land." But if _he fall down before the wicked_ by
his inconsistent profession, the blessing becomes a curse, _the
fountain is troubled, and the spring corrupt._ What a degradation was
it to Abraham to _fall down_ under the rebuke of an heathen king; to
Peter, to yield to a servant maid in denying his Lord! How did
David's sin _trouble the fountain,_ both to his family and his
people! How did the idolatry of his wise son _corrupt the spring_
through successive generations!
When a minister of Christ apostatises from the faith (and mournfully
frequent have been such spectacles) or compromises his principles
from the fear of man, the _springs and fountains_ of truth are
fearfully corrupted. When a servant of God, of standing and
influences, crouches and _falls down under the wicked,_ the
transparency of his profession is grievously tarnished. Satan thus
makes more effective use of God's people than of his own.--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 27.
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING.
For Homiletics on the first clause of this verse, see on verse 16,
page 703. A reference to the Critical Notes will show that, owing
partly to its elliptical form, the rendering of the second clause has
been much disputed. The reading found in our version is, however,
quite admissible on the principles of Hebrew interpretation, and
accords well with the first clause. The analogy teaches--
+I. That a desire for the good opinion of others is right and
salutary.+ As honey is not only a pleasant but a wholesome article of
food, so the wish to stand well with our fellow-men is a
God-implanted feeling which is very beneficial both to the individual
man and to society as a whole. He is a churlish being who does not
care what other people think about him, who sets at nought their
esteem or their blame, while a right regard to their judgment of us
insensibly produces a beneficial influence upon our conduct and
temper.
+II. But it is a desire which must not rule our life.+ Just as honey
must not be substituted for plainer food, or made the staple article
of diet, so a desire for the good opinion of others must not be put
before higher motives--must not be made the ruling principle of life.
This proverb may be linked with the preceding one to some extent, for
the lack of firmness which good men sometimes display in the society
and under the influence of worse men than themselves is often due to
a desire not to lose their good opinion--not to be thought obstinate,
or morose, or conceited. But when any question of right or wrong is
at stake the approval or disapproval even of those whose goodwill is
most precious to us must be cast aside.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
There is such a thing as _vain glory._ There is such a thing as a
person's indulging an insatiable appetite for applause or honour.
There is such a thing as _"searching it out,"_ looking ever after it,
eager to get it, and touchily jealous of every omission to bestow it
and every deficiency in its amount; exploring for it in every
possible direction; listening with an ear on the alert to catch every
breathing of adulation; _fishing_ for praise; throwing out hints to
draw it forth; eulogising others, to tempt a return; saying things in
disparagement of oneself, for the sake of having the
contradicted--things which, said by another, would stir the hottest
of his blood. The temper of mind may be put in exercise, in regard to
greater and to smaller matters. It may assume the form of a proud
ambition, or of a weak-minded vanity. But in either case it may with
truth be said that _"it is not glory."_ A man's honour should rather
_come to him,_ than be eagerly solicited and searched for. It should
not be made _his object.--Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSE_ 28.
A DEFENCELESS CITY.
The other side of this picture is given in chap. xvi. 32. (See page
497.)
+I. Such a city as is here described proclaims the lack of a wise and
powerful governor within.+ The walls and buildings of a city are
constantly exposed to influences which promote decay, even if no
hostile military force attacks them. The everyday exposure to storm
and sun and rain will have a tendency to make the mortar crumble, and
the bricks or stones to become loose and fall away. Hence, if a wise
man governs a city he will make it a part of his constant duty to
watch for the first signs of weakness, and if he has the authority
which his position ought to put into his hand, he will cause each
breach to be repaired as soon as it is discovered. And when we see a
city whose walls are in a perfect condition--where there are no
fallen stones and no crumbling mortar--we feel at ease that there is
rule and authority residing there. But _"a city broken down and
without walls"_ tells plainly the opposite story. Now every human
spirit in this fallen world is exposed daily, and sometimes hourly,
to influences which tend to irritate and vex it, and so to destroy
its means of defence against temptation, and lower its dignity and
mar its moral beauty. And if a man yields himself up to these
influences, and allows them to hold undisputed sway over his life, he
proclaims himself to be without those essential elements to his
welfare and happiness--wisdom to see his danger, and power to guard
it.
+II. Such a city gives an invitation to the invader without.+ If a
fortress is known to be well fortified, if there is no weak or
unguarded point, an enemy will not hastily try to take possession of
it. Its strength will oftentimes be its security against attack. But
if its fallen towers and tottering defences tell of weakness and
anarchy within, its condition will tempt the foe to enter. So if a
man gives evidence that he has no control over his passions, both
evil men and evil spirits will mark him for their prey, and will make
it their business to lead him from one sin to another--to make him
not only a negative but a positive transgressor. Such an one, in the
language of Paul, _"gives place to the devil"_ (Eph. iv. 27).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
To come to particulars; if any be angry or given to wrath, will he
not quickly be led captive to revile and commit murder? If the
affection of covetousness possess any, will he not easily be drawn to
deceive and steal? The like is to be said of all the passions of the
mind, which, if a man cannot bridle or govern, they will carry him
headlong with violence into all mischief and misery, as wild and
fierce horses oftentimes run away with an unguided coach or
waggon.--_Muffett._
* * * * * *